Sewing For Beginners: Sewing Your First Stitch

Let’s actually get to the point!!! We’ve all been waiting to get our machines up and running and sewing!!! We are going to start small, and just like before, if you’re already a bit experienced, just hang in there with us until we all catch up! In this fourth lesson, I am going to practice several times sewing a simple  line. Seems simple, and it will be once you’ve practiced a bit.  After your machine is threaded (Sewing Lesson #3), take a scrap piece of all cotton cloth.  A cotton cloth is going to be the easiest to start learning with. Notice the grooves under your presser foot (at the needle).

Very carefully, run your fingers underneath the presser foot to feel the rough “teeth” (these are called feed dogs).  These feed dogs will be what helps pull your cloth.  One of the most important things to know is that when you sew, there is no need to pull or tug your cloth.  The feed dogs pull it for you (in fact, you can actually mess up your project and worst of all parts of the machine if you pull and yank too hard).

We are going to begin by sewing without using our hands just so you can see for yourself. Put your cloth underneath your presser foot.  There is a lever toward the back that is going to lower the presser foot down tighter around your cloth-your sewing project will not work if you don’t lower it. Just to see the machine in action, we are going to zip a scrap piece through. Once your cloth is under your machine, lower the presser foot, simply press your foot pedal and see what happens (don’t hold the cloth). You will see the cloth move in a fairly straight line all by itself!!!

*The video tutorial will show you, but whenever you begin sewing, you have to do something called backstitching. When you have sewn the first few stitches, you are going to actually reverse your direction and sew back over your first few stitches so they never come loose.