Sew Confident: Essential Techniques for Beginners

Class Preview

Learn essential techniques every new sewer should know! Create the projects you want with confidence and polish.

Preparing, Cutting & Marking Fabric

Meet sewing expert Angela Wolf as she highlights the techniques you’ll learn to sew garments with professional-looking results! Gain familiarity working with a variety of fabrics, and see how to prepare and lay out pattern pieces. Plus, Angela shares her preferred method of marking and cutting out fabric.

Sewing & Pressing Seams

Master the art of sewing the perfect seam! Angela illustrates how selecting the right stitch length is key to achieving the best results. In addition, get expert tips on pinning and sewing straight and curved seams, and learn the proper technique for pressing tricky seams.

Seam Finishes

Discover simple — and effective — ways to prevent your seams from fraying. Angela demonstrates a variety of finishing techniques, ranging from the quick and easy pinking method to the polished-looking overlock stitch. Working with lighter-weight fabrics? Angela shows you how to sew an elegant French seam.

Interfacing

Gain confidence applying fusible and sew-in interfacing to your projects with Angela’s guidance. Learn which kinds of interfacing work best on cuffs, waistbands, zippers and necklines. Then, get in-depth instruction on the proper techniques for applying interfacing to your fabric.

Stitching Options

Give your garments a polished look with topstitching, staystitching and understitching. Angela outlines each technique in detail and offers expert advice on selecting thread, handling the fabric and keeping stitches in line. You’ll be impressed by the professional results!

Darts

Learn the essential skill of adding shaping to your dresses, tops and waistbands. Discover the correct method of pinning darts for smooth, flat seams. Then, practice sewing and pressing bust and waist darts to achieve a fitted — and flattering — look.

Buttons

Nervous about adding buttons and buttonholes to your garments? Angela demystifies the process, sharing tips and tricks for making them look perfect every time. Learn how to accurately mark and sew each button, then see how to make clean buttonhole cuts without frayed edges!

Invisible Zippers

Round out your repertoire by learning how to install an invisible zipper. Learn Angela’s simple technique for marking and placing a zipper on a garment, keeping crossing seams perfectly aligned. In addition, gain confidence attaching the zipper to the fabric using a zipper presser foot.