You’ve got your sewing machine, you’ve got your thread, and you’ve got a head full of ideas. You want to get the most out of your sewing machine, and I’m here to deliver you the best sewing hacks to make your life and your sewing the best it can be.
The following is a list of what I consider to be the most useful sewing hacks that will save you time, save you money, and make sewing more fun. These are for everyone to use no matter what your sewing level. Here we go!
Sewing Hacks To Make Your Sewing Easier
1: Bumpy Fabric
Have you ever been sewing lumpy fabric and found your presser foot giving you a hard time? Well, the next time you find yourself sewing terrycloth or fleece, I suggest placing a thin strip of plastic, even something like a plastic bag, over the fabric. Your presser foot will glide over it like an ice skater.
2: Binder Clips
When you need to create some sewing bindings, take some binder clips from your kid’s school supplies and use them to hold everything in place. The binder clips are tough and easy to use and they are excellent when binding.
3: Sharpen Those Scissors
Keep your scissors razor sharp. You can do this by having only one pair of scissors that you use to cut through fabrics. By using the same pair of scissors for paper, fabric, and thread cutting, they are going to get dull. Separate your scissors and have one ultra-sharp pair for cutting fabric.
4: Freezer Paper
For cutting out your patterns, the best thing you can do is use freezer paper. By pressing freezer paper directly onto your fabric, you can cut it easily without having to use any pins or weights. It doesn’t even leave any residue behind, and you know you are going to get a perfect cut every single time.
5: Dental Floss
If you are a parent, you are probably used to your children popping off their buttons at an alarming rate. You are probably also sick to death of stitching the same button back on two or three times a month. To rectify the situation, try swapping thread for dental floss. Stitching a button using dental floss should keep it from popping off all the time because of how stringy and flexible the dental floss is.
6: Wax
Here is a great hand-sewing hack for you. To make your threads tougher, coat them in wax. You can get a specialized tool for this at any local hobby store. By running your thread through the wax, it is going to be much stronger for when you are sewing shirts or jeans. This is a great hack for all the hand sewers out there.
7: Double Thread
If you want to sew with a delicate decorative thread but are worried about the thin thread breaking, simply thread it through the needle alongside your normal thread. Because it is so thin, it should fit perfectly through the machine just like your normal thread does. By using two threads through the same system, you will get double the support for those flimsy decorative threads that might otherwise break.
8: Sharpen Pins
Here’s an idea. Rather than use a normal pincushion, try making one with steel wool on the inside as the stuffing. The steel wool will keep your pins and needles super sharp because every time you poke them into the pincushion, they will be sharpened. If you stuff the pincushion with steel wool and rice, the rice will help absorb any excess moisture.
9: Ribbon Necklace
Try looping a long piece of ribbon through the handles of your scissors so that you can hang them around your neck and stop losing them once and for all. Not only will you look like a professional, but you won’t have to go fumbling after your scissors every 10 minutes.
10: Always Pre-Shrink
To keep your homemade clothing from shrinking and becoming useless or unwearable, always pre-shrink. Prewash all of your fabrics before making them into clothing. If you are afraid of your fabric unraveling, quickly zigzag stitch the edges before throwing it in the wash.
11: Non-Slip Paddle
A slippery paddle is nothing new. If you have trouble with your foot slipping from your sewing paddle, try wrapping an elastic band or two around it to keep your feet from slipping off.
12: Nail Polish Buttons
Another great way to keep buttons from snapping off is to layer them in clear nail polish. The nail polish will bind nicely to your threads and keep them in place so that the button doesn’t break free.
13: Glue Gun Sewing
Let’s say your sewing machine is broken, or maybe you don’t have a sewing machine but still need to complete an easy sewing project. Take out your glue gun and use that instead of threads. It may be messy and sloppy, but it will work.
14: Straight Tip
Nothing is more agitating than trying to get the tip of your thread through the needle hole. To avoid a nightmare scenario with an uncooperative thread, simply spray the tip with hairspray so that it stays totally straight.
15: Circle Sewing
Trying to sew a perfect circle is almost as hard as trying to draw a perfect circle. A great hack is to find a small round object the same size as the circle you want to sew. Anything from a tin to a can to a flat lid will work perfectly. Use the object as a guide and draw your circle around a piece of sandpaper. You can then use double-sided tape to fix the sandpaper to your object.
Get your fabric in position and hold your tin to the fabric with the sandpaper side touching. The sandpaper will work to hold the object to the fabric while using the object as your template. You can now follow the circumference of your circular object to sew a perfect circle. Just make sure that you go slowly so that the fabric won’t pucker.
