What I have learned about sewing...

• Take your foot off the pedal when threading the needle...I must admit, I still need to work on that :o
• Spray starch is pretty much a necessity for me.
• Iron, Iron, Iron
• Pin, Pin, Pin-
  you can never use too many pins, just be careful to find them all and don't drop them.
• If you want to invest a tool-get a sharp seam ripper.
  I had a whole bunch of those tiny seam rippers that come with your machine or in a kit or the dollar store-you know what I mean.  Anyways, one day I decided to invest in one, it wasn't the MOST expensive one but it was a nice one and it made a HUGE difference.  When you sew a lot, you also redo a lot.  You will be thankful for a sharp seam ripper.
• When learning to sew, use patterns.
  It helps because you don't have to draft a pattern which can get a little complicated and frustrating.  Plus it has step by step instructions.  You don't have to buy a pattern from Joann's, they have a lot available on Etsy that are cheaper and you can contact the maker if you have any questions on a technique.  
• Initial projects take FOREVER but after that it's usually smooth sailing.
  I like to make dresses for Claire Bear and I love this peasant dress pattern I bought on Etsy.  The first one I made was a little sketchy but I learned how to sew it and now I can whip out a few in a day (if I wanted to).  
• Even scrapped projects are a success.
  I have made quite a few things and they haven't turned out the way I wanted BUT I learned while making it...hopefully.  Therefore, it was not a failure but a success at learning.
• Finished seams make a garment look SOOOOOO much better.
  I hated finishing my seams in the beginning.  If you have a serger, obviously you don't need to worry about all the different seam finishing styles.  My personal favorite is the french hem.  It makes the garment look finished and you don't have threads flying everywhere or frayed inners.
• Sewing can save you money IF you do it right.
  When I first started I paid $80 to make two dresses.  TWO dresses.  I was so upset and I couldn't return the fabric, oooh, it still steams me now.  Since then I have learned how to shop the sales and use coupons.  When you learn to shop sales and use coupons, you can save a lot of money.  I rarely purchase fabric at full price or I guess I should say I rarely pay more than 4 dollars a yard for fabric.  So BE CAREFUL when you go shopping for fabric.

Here's what I created this morning.  I like it.  I need some nice light summer shirts and I found this red striped fabric in the remnant bin at Walmart.  I didn't have enough for a full shirt so I used some white fabric I had lying around.  I got the pattern from here:  Easy Shirt Tutorial

I wanna make it a bit more fitted but I think I would have to put in a zipper or something because the fabric doesn't stretch and I wouldn't be able to get it over my shoulders.  But hey, I like it.

How I found her while sewing.  I love her.