MACHINE SEWING CLASS

FREE

2516 Enrolled Beginner Level

Enroll to get:

11 lessons accessible anytime, anywhere
Learn by doing with hours of project focused instruction
Complete material lists and downloadable project resources
One-on-One help with your questions

Learn the basics of sewing on a home machine, and working with different types of fabric! In this class you’ll get to know your sewing machine and be introduced to a wide range of simple machine sewing techniques, tools and materials. Then we’ll practice these skills by applying them to some practical projects. Working with both stretch and woven fabric, we'll start from the basics and use our skills to create a grocery bag, a stuffed creature, a stretch scarf, a simple zipper case, and a pair of pajama pants.

Our lessons will cover essential skills like threading and troubleshoot your machine, choosing fabric, sewing seams, finishing edges, sewing stretch fabric, attaching zippers and buttons, gathering, and following simple patterns. By the end of this class you’ll feel comfortable with a home sewing machine, and be ready start creating your own unique and awesome sewing projects.

With the skills you learn in this class, you can enter the Soft Toys Challenge!

About the Teacher

Mikaela is a F.I.T. trained costume and experimental fashion designer, who has done her best to make playing dress-up into a career. She has trained in both the costume and fashion design industries, and works with all kinds of materials and techniques including sewing, leatherwork, LEDs, fiber optics, painting, sculpture, laser cutting and 3D printing. She spends most of her time figuring out how to fuse traditional garment design and construction with simple wearable tech to create clothing and accessories that turn her into a time traveling cyborg superhero!

She is a former Artist in Residence at the Autodesk Pier 9 workshop, and currently an in-house content creator for the Instructables Design Studio.

Lessons

Lesson 1: Welcome to Machine Sewing!

Get an overview of what we're learning and making in this class, some tips about choosing sewing machines, fabric and tools, and an introduction to your instructor.

Lesson 2: Sewing Tools and Supplies

This lesson is where you'll find links to all the tools and materials you need for this class, as well as brief discussions of what each tool is used for. Everything you need to get started!

Lesson 3: Meet Your Sewing Machine

Get to know the main tool we'll be using in this class by learning bout it's basic parts and functions. Learn how to thread your machine and start sewing your first few stitches!

Lesson 4: Sewing Straight Seams

Understand how to use your machine to join two pieces of fabric together with seaming an topstitching, and learn about the importance of pressing your fabric as you sew. Then use your skills to start constructing a grocery bag.

Lesson 5: Hemming and Seam Finishing

The edges of fabric need to be finished so they don't fray, and in this lesson, we'll learn some techniques for creating easy hems and seam finishes, the we'll use these techniques to finish our grocery bag.

Lesson 6: Sewing Curved Seams

Sewing beautiful curved seams requires some special techniques, so in this class we'll learn how to sew curved facing and paneling and then practice these skills by creating a cute stuffed creature from a simple pattern.

Lesson 7: Sewing Stretch on a Home Machine

You don't need a serger to sew stretch fabric! In this lesson you'll find out how to use the stretch stitches on your home machine to sew fabrics like jersey and spandex, then we'll use these techniques to create a stretch infinity scarf.

Lesson 8: Sewing Zippers and Buttons

Learn some easy techniques for attaching different types of zippers, creating buttonholes with your machine and sewing on buttons. Practice attaching a zipper and sewing in a lining when we make a simple zipper case.

Lesson 9: Gathering and Sewing Elastic

Create decorative and practical gathering in your sewing projects by using elastic drawstrings or gathering stitches. Apply these skills to create a pair of pajama pants by following an easy commercial sewing pattern.