sewseamless

As you can see, the pins are placed near, or in, the seam
allowance portion of the pattern pieces.

Once your pattern is all laid out and pinned, it's time to
cut. Take long cuts, using the entire length of the scissors,
not short cuts using only the front of the scissors.

Those notches* are important; they help you match the
correct pieces together.
*(Note that some notches are cut outward and some
notches are cut inward toward the seam allowance.)

Also, on some of the facing pieces, it may be necessary to
turn the pattern pieces over (wrong side up, with the
printed side toward the fabric), especially if they need to
be placed on the fold as the back facing pieceusually does.

Once you've cut out all your pattern pieces and the
corresponding interfacing pieces, it's time to head to the
sewing machine!

Fusible interfacing should always be pre-shrunk.
Some seamstresses hand wash interfacing and
hang it to dry, while others shrink the individual
pieces, which is my preferred method because I
am usually working with fairly small pieces.

I cut out my interfacing pieces and hold a steam
iron over it (glue side up!) for a few seconds,
sometimes giving it a shot of steam. Be careful
because you can shrink it too much!

(I learned the following method of applying fusible
interfacing from watching Sandra Betzina's show
on HGTV. (Unfortunately, that show is no longer
airing.))

To apply the fusible interfacing, place it glue side
down on the wrong side of your fabric piece.
Place a press cloth over it and lightly spray with
water. Hold the iron down on top of the interfaced
piece--lots of steam and lots of pressure will give
you good results. Count for ten seconds, then lift
the iron up and move it to the next spot on the
piece, repeat. Repeat until the entire facing piece
has been interfaced. ( When applying fusible
interfacing, use a press and lift motion instead of
sliding the iron along as you would with normal
ironing.)

Turn the interfaced piece over (the right side of
the fabric will be up, facing you), and place the
press cloth on top and repeat the above steps.
Allow the interfaced piece to cool before moving it.

Always make sure that you thread your sewing
machine with the presser foot up.

Make sure that the sewing machine is threaded
correctly and the tension is set correctly. Refer to
your sewing machine manual for this information.

Make sure that the bobbin is full and correctly
placed in the sewing machine.

Once the above steps are complete, make sure
that you lower the needle to bring the bobbin
thread up to the top.

Now you're ready to begin sewing!