sewseamless

Believe it or not, your first sewing project is almost
complete!

The next instructions on your pattern guidesheet
usually indicate buttonholes and hemming. Again, I'm
going to deviate slightly from pattern instructions. As
you did with the sleeve, turn up the skirt hem (wrong
side to wrong side) approximately 1/4 inch and sew.
This is to help beginners to do a hand hem.

If you're comfortable enough to simply zigzag around
the bottom of the skirt and tackle the hand blind hem
stitch, then by all means go ahead. This particular
hem stitch is a little bit more professional looking, but
might not be as easy for beginners to master.

The very last thing we need to do is to make
buttonholes. (Practice making buttonholes on scrap
fabric first!) Most patterns have these marked on the
pattern piece itself, but in my experience, these
markings aren't always accurate. On my dress, I will
measure about one inch down from the neck edge and
mark my first buttonhole. My project only has three
buttons so I space them about 2-1/2 inches apart.
How far from the edge you would like your buttonhole
doesn't matter too much for this particular garment. I
personally start my buttonholes from 1/4 inch to about
3/8 inch from the finished edge of the garment.

When sewing, you never stopped learning! I recently
read a tip that suggested that about one half the size
of your button is the suggested distance that the
buttonhole should be placed from the edge of the
fabric. For example, if you're button is a 1/2 inch
button, then the buttonhole should start approximately
1/4 inch from the edge of the fabric.

Remember that girls' garments lap right over left, while
boys' garments lap left over right.

Now that you have completed sewing the buttonholes, it's
time to do all the hand work required on the garment. On
today's machines, this garment could be completed
almost entirely on the machine because many modern
sewing machines have edge finishing stitches of some
kind,and hem stitches, as well as the ability to sew on
buttons. I have always preferred to hem and sew buttons
on by hand.

The first thing that can be done is to sew the facing to the
shoulder seam (usually a catch-stitch).

It is up to you to decide whether or not you want to hem
the sleeves and the skirt first or sew the buttons on first.
I personally like to hem first and sew the buttons on last.

Here are some tips for sewing on buttons that have holes
in them instead of a shank. Put a pin or a toothpick on
the button and sew the thread over that. Once the button
is secure, wind the thread around the underside of the
button on top of the garment and then tie off. This makes
a thread shank.

The very last thing to do is to hand hem the sleeves and
the skirt. Illustrations of the fell stitch and blind hem
stitch can be found here.

I like to listen to music or watch tv while I'm hand
sewing.

Congratulations! You have just completed your first
sewing project/garment! Press it well and show it off.
(Don't worry about giving this garment to anyone
specific--this information was given in order