I'm almost obsessive about ironing as I go and getting the right professional looking seam finishes.   Tip for beginner sewists:  Keep a scrap of fabric from your current sewing project and practice sewing a few seams on it, making needle types ,  seam types , and tension adjustments before sewing your garment.  And load up 2 or 3 bobbins beforehand.  You'll thank yourself later.  😊

I can tell you there are few things more validating than for someone to stop, look again and then say, "You MADE this?" in a tone that borders on awe. You walk taller for days, and you certainly enjoy what you  made all the more.

A friend told me not to say homemade or even handmade but custom made! Pressing is imperative for a finished looking garment.

Now that JoAnn’s isn’t around I’m learning more about each type of fabric. I’m used to feeling fabric before I buy, but I can’t do that any longer. Buying fabric online is scary!

You are the best sewing teacher, for sure !

Oh, for the days of old, when we had real fabric stores, not quilting, not hobby, real all fabric stores!  Where I live in Texas, they have mostly disappeared.

Avoiding fusible interfacing on  light to mid weight woven fabric has been a game changer for me.  I use self fabric or silk organza hand basted in place for collars, cuffs and   Plackets.  What a step up it makes!

I started sewing at 8 yrs old by hand - doll clothes ' no lonely sock had a chance ' and I'm always happy to learn something new every day over 60 yrs later! I strive for the exclamation " you did that"?

Even some of the "professional" garments are poorly constructed. Thank you for the tips!

Evelyn is so special; her skills are clearly unattainable (for me), and yet it encourages me to strive for the excellence I can achieve. Thank you for sharing your gifts! (And I remain so thankful to God you maintain good health!)

Evelyn, thank you for all your sewing tips! And we cannot rush! Every time I hurry to finish a garment, I skip a necessary step. Then I don’t like the item and totally remove all the seams and slowly resew. I have learned all these tips are essential. I have now gotten to the point, since fabric has to be ordered online where I live in SW FL, I make a muslin. Yes, it takes time but I can address all the issues prior to ruining my fabric. Thank you for all you do to help us make better garments!

I'm 66 and have been sewing since I was 8. I've had a Pfaff 7570 for almost 30 years. This year I decided that #6 was far more important than I ever dreamed. It is a game changer.

One thing that's helped me immensely probably isn't a choice most people would make. Rather than taking my fabric to the sewing machine with pins to keep things aligned, I pin, then hand-baste, removing the pins as I go, THEN use the sewing machine. The difference in the end product is night and day, plus actual time at the sewing machine is reduced significantly. Use a contrasting thread to make it easy to see and remove the basting stitches. (Plus I never knot basting at the end, just leave a long loose thread.)

As a bonus, you can try on a piece (carefully) before machine stitching, which makes it SIGNIFICANTLY easier to make adjustments.

One thing my mother always said, "Anyone can sew if they have an iron." Ha! She drilled that into my brain. 😂

I'm a member of VSS and I've learned soooo much last couple of months.
Evelyn thank you so much for this wonderful space to learn.

French seams are my "secret weapon" for children's clothes, since children have such sensitive skin, and for many other garments.  Not only do clothes last longer, it makes the clothes look almost as nice on the inside as they do on the outside.

I've been sewing 40+ years and have implemented these along the way.  I recommend that if you are a new sewer or get a new  machine, you create a sample book for it.  Use a sturdy cotton, a knit, and a sheer for each stitch, presser foot, and technique you know/have.  Staple it to a piece of cardstock with all settings and notes beside it.  This is especially useful when starting out with a serger or coverstitch machine.  On each sample, try different settings and leave the mistakes in!  If you rip the poor choices out, you will try the same mistake again another time because we all forget.  Lol.   Put all your sample pages in a binder, and you have a complete and personalized sewing course at your fingertips.  Yes, it's boring.  Yes its time consuming, but only once. Ripping out and redoing all your seams in a garment or getting so frustrated that you give up sewing is also time-consuming and expensive.   The next step is interfacings.  Try as many kinds and weights of interfacing on as many kinds and weights of fabric as you can.  Again, make a sample binder with notes.  Also, some fabric companies have sample paks you can get to decide on your purchases.  My last tip... dont take yourself too seriously.  If its not fun, you won't do it.

Funny story I made a jacket no one had any idea I made it ….I was so afraid of making button holes so I sewed the buttons on jacket and used safety pins to keep the jacket closed 😢 working on my confidence to do better

Here's a tip about ironing.
Move the ironing board perpendicular to your sewing table at your dominant hand, and drop the board to table height. Sit in a chair that swivels.
Sew your stitches, pivot, iron, pivot back and start your next set of stitches.
Was making a size large male robe (think wise men in a Christmas play)
So bought a piece of wood Masonite, cut it to fit the surface of the cutting table, covered one side with several layers of quilting cotton and some cotton canvas, then moved the sewing machine to the cutting table. Sewing under the arm, down the side was almost 7 feet of stitches!
The robe never left the table, was stitched, ironed, stitched, ironed, until completed!
So move your iron to your sewing machine, or move your sewing machine to the iron!

I have been exploring all my presser feet and what they can do.  The right foot makes a world of difference in ease and quality of sewing.