New to sewing

Ella_Wood

Hi I would like advice what to buy as I have just got a sewing machine and I need things to get started. What would you say are needed I will get pins and that but do I need pinking shears ? Thanks

Gigervamp

Pinking shears are expensive, but they do help to stop fabric fraying at the cut.

Get decent quality threads. Don't buy the cheap reels of thread like they might have in a set in £land. Lower quality threads have a habit of breaking easily.

When you first make something on your machine, have a practice on some scrap fabric first to familiarise yourself with the machine and check the tension.

Evil_Olive

It depends what you're planning to sew really.
I mostly make clothes, I've got a pair of pinking shears but I hardly ever use them.
They're for cutting the edges of seam allowances after you've stitched them - the zigzag shape helps to stop the fabric fraying in the wash.
A friend of mine does a lot of craft sewing and she often uses hers for a decorative edge on felt and other fabrics or on small projects where it's just easier for the tiny edges.

For clothes, I always just zigzag stitch along the edges of all seam allowances before stitching the seams and this does the job better on most fabrics in my opinion and produces a firmer, safer guard against fraying. Pinking helps most on firmly woven fabrics like stiff cotton or gabardine, but not so much on loose woven fabrics that fray really easily. Some people like to use them on very thick heavy bulky fabrics like a wool boucle to avoid even the tiny bit of extra bulk that the zigzag stitching would add. And they can be the best solution for fine fabrics like chiffon which are hard to zigzag neatly and if a sheer/chiffon item is unlined, pinked edges will show through less - but as you are only starting out I'd avoid both these types of fabric anyway as they're difficult to sew and it's really hard for a beginner to get a good finish with them.

If I were you I'd do without them and just buy a pair if and when you find you actually need them.
If you do, DON'T scrimp on them - I would say that it's even more important that your pinking shears are high quality than your cutting out scissors as the blades have to be very well and precisely made indeed to cut such a complicated shape smoothly and sharply (in fact, never scrimp on any type of scissors that will be used for sewing full stop!) A good pair will genuinely last you a lifetime - mine belonged to my mum before me - they were her 21st birthday present back in the 60s which shows they were expensive back then too

miffy257

Congratulations on getting a sewing machine. For cutting any fabric you will need a good quality pair of scissors, buy the best you can afford and only use them for fabric. If you have children hide them away in a secret place as they will be easily blunted by card or paper. A small pair of embroidery scissors for cutting thread and a stitch ripper for undoing mistakes are essentials too. You may be lucky to have a stitch ripper included in your sewing machine accessories. A good tape measure, pins and needles for hand sewing will be needed too. As a previous poster said don't skimp on threads for your machine as cheap threads will break and you will get very frustrated. If you have cheap threads save them for tacking. Hope you enjoy your new machine and happy sewing

culpepper

spare bobbins are handy as you will probably find you need black and white often and have them loaded up and then need to use the odd other colour. It is such a faff having to unload a bobbin because there isnt a spare one to use for a specific job requiring coloured thread. You need to make sure of the depth of the bobbins for your machine as there are different depths. I have a brother and a janome machine and they cant interchange bobbins.

carlamarie_2

It might be worth have a nosey on the crafting board on here, there is a few threads on sewing, in particularly 'the sewing thread' Im a novice sewer and have recieved many tips from the girls on there

kboss2010

Instead of buying expensive lining fabrics, buy old curtains/pillowcases/bed sheets from charity shops and chop them up. It'll save you a fortune!

For smaller items, buy "fat quarters" off ebay. (If you don't know what that is, go here http://quilting.about.com/od/stepbystepquilting/ss/fat_quarters.htm ) They're originally sold for quilt making but are great for small items like purses, bags, notice boards and the like.

theoretica

miffy257 wrote: »

For cutting any fabric you will need a good quality pair of scissors, buy the best you can afford and only use them for fabric. If you have children hide them away in a secret place as they will be easily blunted by card or paper.

Believe this! Good scissors need not be expensive, but really do keep them for cloth only. For most of the rest get started and see what you are missing!

You can get cheap weak thread for basting - often in colours that are easy to see - sewing a line by hand with big stitches quickly before going over it with the sewing machine. This is better than pins for trying out fitting and also you don't want to sew over pins as if is bad for the needle! But pins are faster so sometimes one, sometimes the other. Charity shop sheets are good for trying out patterns for fit before cutting the proper cloth. I also use tailor's chalk for marking patterns on cloth before cutting. Do you have a steam iron?

Gigervamp

Regarding pinning fabric, put the pins at a 90 degree angle to the line that you'll be stitching. This allows the thread to go over the pin and your needle is less likely to be damaged.

Ella_Wood

Thanks for all the advice I do have a steam iron so can use it to press things

hardpressed

And please don't do what I've seen some of them do on The Sewing Bee programme put pins in your mouth! I flinch every time I see it.