Sewing tips please!?

Question

Hi, so my mother has a professional sewing machine that was broken for a while and she had it fixed i was soo excited!cause i just got into the whole DYI stuff! so i had a couple of projects in mind so i started them and i did my very first line not only was not straight but it was soo horrible! i couldn't believe that im not even able to sew a straight line with a sewing machine! so do you have any tips on how i can get it straight? thanks!

Answer 1

Three tips:

1) Practice

2) Watch the edge of the seam allowance, not the needle.

3) Steer, don't pull or yank.

The beginners I've taught over the years have all started with sewing on paper.  Unthread the machine completely, (leave the needle in) and find a piece of paper -- a piece of junk mail does fine.  Put the paper into the sewing machine, line up the edge of the paper with the seam allowance mark on the needleplate, drop the presser foot and sew.  The stiffness of the paper will help you keep things lined up.  The hitch is, you can only use your right and left index fingers to guide the paper, so you don't develop the common habit of trying to haul the fabric around under the needle.

When you can sew straight lines (just keep trimming down the paper!), try sewing to a corner, stop with the needle down, raise the presser foot, rotate the paper, lower the presser foot, keep sewing. Continue all around the paper.  

When you're happy with straight lines and corners, cut a piece of paper into a curved shape, and sew along the edges of the curve.  When you're happy with the curves, both inside and outside, then you're ready to try fabric.  You'll need to do a bit more steering with fabric than two fingers, but you don't need to drag fabric through the presser foot.  Or try to hold it back because the machine's sewing faster than you want.  <g>

The reason for not watching the needle is that if you're sewing with a complex stitch, trying to watch the needle will almost always lead you to try to correct the line of stitching, usually to the detriment of your accuracy.  Also, learning to watch the edge sets you up for success with a serger.

Answer 2

get a pen and draw a str8 line on the fabric