Our Top Ten Favorite Sewing Tips by The Nancy Zieman Productions Team

Our Top Ten Favorite Sewing Tips by The Nancy Zieman Productions Team

Whether you’re an accomplished seamstress or a beginning sewist, in today’s blog posting you’ll find practical sewing tips to help you save time and money. Make your next sewing project fun and enjoyable, and receive professional looking results – with our Top 10 Favorite Sewing Tips!

TIP #1. Pre-wash and spray starch fabrics, prior to beginning each sewing project. If your finished project will be laundered, pre-wash & dry your fabric using the same laundering methods. Then, spray starch fabrics, prior to beginning each sewing project with spray starch, or use scent-free & flake-free Starch Savvy.

TIP #2. Press Fusible Interfacing in place using a damp EZ-View Pressing Cloth and Fine Mist Spray Bottle – following manufactures instructions. Or, use a damp flour sack dish towel from the kitchen drawer.

TIP #3. Instead of using straight pins to secure pattern pieces to fabric, use Pattern Shape Weights. Or, use canned goods from the kitchen cupboard!

Or, make your own DIY pattern weights with washers from the hardware store, and scrapbook paper & Mod Podge–from the craft store!

TIP #4. Use a Seam Guide for sewing straight seams. The reusable and repositionable guide sticks to the bed of the sewing machine, and is also great for stitching outer curves, inner curves, and top-stitching!

Or, remove the backing paper from a stack of Sticky Notes–and stick to sewing machine bed!

TIP #5. Begin stitching seams on an “anchor cloth” (small fabric scrap), then smoothly stitch onto project seam – backstitching at beginning and ending of each seam. And be sure to change your sewing machine needle with every new project, or process!

TIP #6. Stitch Knit seams with a zigzag wobble stitch. Set sewing machine for a zigzag stitch with slightly narrow width, and slightly longer stitch length. The seam will have give, yet will appear as a straight-stitched seam on outside of garment!

TIP #7. Insert a Seam Stick (or wooden dowel) into sleeve, or small project areas, when pressing seams.

Or, handstitch a wool rectangle fabric scrap around a rolled magazine – and create a DIY “seam roll”!

TIP #8. Eliminate bulky elastic waistband seams! Instead of seaming elastic ends, pull elastic ends through casing opening, “kiss” elastic – meeting short ends, and zigzag-stitch elastic to a rectangle fabric scrap. Trim away excess fabric, before inserting back into waistband.

TIP #9. Press up even hems with a Hot Ruler.

Or, cut strips from a file folder – the same width as your hem width – and use as a pressing guide!

TIP #10. Clean and maintain your sewing machine according to your sewing machine manual. Turn off and unplug machine, and remove lint from bobbin case with a mini lint brush. Make a DIY mini brush by folding a short section of chenille stem an inserting into a repurposed coffee stir-straw!

Then clean out remaining lint with a Micro Vacuum Attachment Kit.

View over 270 FREE online sewing, quilting, and machine embroidery tutorials. Plus, Team Nancy Zieman shares their top sewing, quilting, and machine embroidery tips and techniques, as well as easy-to-follow project instructions. Share in the fun and discover the absolute easiest ways to sew – right here at The Nancy Zieman Productions Blog at NancyZieman.com/blog.

Watch Stitch it! Sisters with hosts Deanna Springer, Denise Abel, and Dana Casey – real life sisters from Team NZP! The Stitch it! Sisters video series features our latest sewing projects and fun sewing adventures! Join Deanna, Dana, and Denise as they share sewing and quilting project tutorials – featuring our easiest-ever sewing techniques, timesaving tools, and Classic Timesaving Tips by Nancy Zieman. You’ll also find the Stitch it! Sisters on our YouTube Channel at youtube.com/stitchitsisters.

Stitch it! Sisters is a production of NZ Productions LLC. We’ll soon be releasing our new Stitch it! Sisters Season Two Videos right here on the NZP Blog! Make sure you are subscribed to the Team NZP E-Newsletter so you won’t miss a thing. Sign up and receive email updates from Team NZP! at nancyzieman.com/blog/enews.

Explore the Sewing Project Gallery at ShopNZP.com

NEW! Nobody Fights Alone – First Responder Fabrics, Panel & Coordinates now available at ShopNZP.com

Shop Limited Edition Holiday Fabrics & Fabric Panels at ShopNZP.com

ShopTimesaving Sewing Tools by Nancy Zieman Productions for Clover at ShopNZP.com!

For a chance to be one of the random winners of a  Size 80 Universal Sewing Machine Needle from Team NZP, please leave a comment below sharing a sewing project you’d like to make this fall and/or winter.

Nancy Zieman Productions will give away one Size 80 Universal Sewing Machine Needle, to twenty-five US resident in the 48 contiguous states. Winners must reply within 30 days to the official giveaway announcement email message – sent from Nancy Zieman Productions.

Coming to PBS Wisconsin on November 23, 2020 at 7 p.m. CT, and next year to Public Television Stations across the United States, the new documentary by PBS Wisconsin, Nancy Zieman: Extraordinary Grace, tells the story of Nancy’s life through her own words and the insight of those she inspired across a lifetime of family, faith and creativity.

Happy Sewing!

Team Nancy Zieman

Nancy Zieman Productions. LLC.

Stitch it! Sisters is a production of NZ Productions LLC. Content in this feed is © copyright 2020 by Nancy Zieman Productions, LLC and may not be republished without written permission. You’re welcome to forward the email to a friend or colleague but it’s not okay to add the RSS feed automatically as content on a blog or other website. The FTC requires us to tell you that Nancy Zieman Productions, LLC has provided products by other companies in the course of doing business. The FTC requires us to advise you to take this information into consideration when reading this posting.

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