top stitching

I would love to be able to make things beautifully, but right now my sewing is very patchy. This is partly due to a slapdash temperament, but also because I have cobbled what I know together, rather than learning formally. I did a basic sewing class at Grace Bros when I was 13 (remember when they had fabric and haberdashery in department stores?), and Textiles at school in year 9 and 10, but mostly I've learned from my mum, craft books or just by figuring things out. This means that there are lots of simple things that I dread doing, like zippers, and other things that I don't know how to do properly. One thing I could never work out is why when I hemmed jeans or did decorative top stitching, the stitches kind of disappeared into the fabric. Hooray for the internet. Last week I found this post on Pink Chalk Studio via Whip Up, and after a quick trip to the monster that is Spotlight I now have a denim needle, top stitching thread, and can do nice visible top stitching. Yay! Reading craft blogs has definitely been a big help, not just for practical sewing tips like this one but also for inspiration. I don't know if I ever would have started knitting if I hadn't been tempted by all the gorgeous things I kept seeing other people make.

There are so many fabulous tutorials out there, but a couple of good ones I've seen lately are this bias tape one from Angry Chicken and this elastic casing one from Jade. And Collette has lots of really useful links and tips on the Tessuti blog, like how to cut delicate fabric. Hopefully one day I'll get to do a sewing class like this one and learn how make things properly, but until then the internet is my classroom. If you have any links to other good tutorials or sewing / knitting tips, please share.

Comments

[Allison]

Oh that course looks great. I'd love to be able to do it one day too.
I've learnt to sew a bit like you. looking it up in books as I need to know a new skill. I must admit, it does give me a little sense of pride to know that I've worked it out by myself.
Of course, you certainly couldn't call my sewing "beautiful"

[Jade]

I think you can also get topstitching needles. I saw some the last time I was at Tessuti. And thanks for the shout-out...I'm still thinking about what to blog for the next sewing tips post.

[di]

I agree totaly- so many good and useful things to be learnt from the internet, and it all comes down to people being part of a sharing community. It's a great place.

[Alison]

I must admit Amy's bias tutorial did change my bias life.

The fabric looks lovely with the red top stitch