How to sew If you're one of those people who faints at the sight of a needle, please don't read on. But if you're just simply someone who wishes she could mend her torn tshirts, reaffix that button, and shorten the hem of her jeans, this is the right place.
Sewing is an art, and to do it well, you need, besides just the tools, patience and accuracy. It's a skill that improves with practice and can transform cloth into clothing. It's a skill used by tailors and seamstresses, grandmothers and shoemakers, surgeons and ...yes... ordinary people.
So know this: it will take some practice. It will take effort. It will take time. But you can make that perfect seam: the one that lies perfectly flat, where the thread is nearly invisible and the stitches look so even they appear machine-made, but couldn't possibly be. Where the edges are neat and finished, and there's not a stray thread anywhere.
But you must start at the beginning. Begin with a colored thread and a kind of blunt needle, something fairly large for starters and a big piece of scrap fabric (medium-weight cotton, preferably, like an old kerchief or pillowcase in a light color). Wear a thimble on your less-used hand and use your writing hand for the needle.
1. Thread the needle. This can take time if you can't see well or the hole is particularly tiny. Nickel-sized needle-threaders are inexpensive and can save you a lot of trouble. You can wet the end of the thread or the needle hole to help pull the thread into the needle. Pull the thread through so that it is doubled and about a foot and a half long. Knot the ends together (roll around a finger and scrunch, then pull tight to make a knot, or just loop the two ends over and pull both through the loop) so that a big enough knot is formed that won't go through the needle hole.
2. Poke the thread through the cloth from the top. Use your thimble to guide where the needle goes through and to pull it out on the other side. Pull all the way slowly and steadily, so that the double threads don't get knotted up. Pull until the thread won't go anymore and the knot is on the top. Don't pull too tight.
3. Poke the needle up from the bottom, about a quarter inch or half centimeter away. Hold the cloth tight with your thimble hand so that the other hand can poke the needle through. Try to keep it in a straight line from the knot (you can also make marks on the cloth to help you stay in a line). Again, pull all the way through until you can't anymore, but not so the cloth wrinkles up.
4. If you continue like this, up and down, you can make a straight stitch or tack that will be temporary. If you snip off the needle and pull the knot, though, the entire thread will slip out.
5. To make a more permanent stitch, go back from the second hole into the first one. Now you have a stitch on top and one on the bottom. Then, from the bottom, go to the next hole, a quarter inch away from the second hole, again in a straight line. In this way, you will go in holes 1-2-1-3-2-4-3-5-4-6-5 etc. One side will have a dashed line (the right side up) and the inside will have a ongoing line of threads that overlap. This is called backstitch.
6. When you've finished stitching, pull the thread up (or down, depending on which is the right side). Leave a few inches and knot the threads together. Snip off the excess.
7. Ta da! You've successfully completed your first sewing. Try this with two pieces of cloth together or two sides of the same piece of cloth, folded together. Good luck!