Sewing is fun and rewarding, especially when you start small with a good foundation. The actual act of sewing is something some of us do on autopilot, but have you ever thought about what goes into the actions of sewing? If you have ever tried to teach someone else to sew, you quickly realized how something that becomes quite natural and part of your muscle memory takes some practice to learn how to do!
What is a Straight Line Sewing Guide?
A straight line sewing guide is a downloadable pdf that you can print out at home and use on your sewing machine! Does it sound easy? It is! You can use regular printer paper and decide whether or not you want to print in color or black and white. You can even color in the pumpkins if you print it in black and white. You can also get some of Carol Doak’s Foundation Paper which will come in handy for a lot of different sewing projects, from paper piecing to template sewing. It will offer a softer paper for your needle to sew through and you can place it into your printer and print just like you do with regular paper.
These are helpful to warm up with if it’s been a long time since you have used your machine or if you are brand new to sewing. By using something like this you can feel how quickly your needle goes when you press your foot down on the pedal, maneuver your sewing sheet in order to make sure you are sewing on the line, and do it in a fun way!
Benefits of Using a Straight Line Sewing Guide
Why Paper is Easier to Use than Fabric at First
You may think that it’s a little silly to print out a Sewing Guide and use it on your machine, but it is so much easier to learn how to sew on the paper first and here’s why:
- You do not have to worry about any seam measurements at first. You can simply line up the dashed line in the middle of your presser foot and needle and sew away!
- The margins are big for learning from your mistakes. If you veer off of the line, you can adjust the direction of your paper and learn how to correct the mistake. There isn’t as much grace when it comes to sewing a 1/4″ seam in order to piece fabric together. Don’t worry, if you follow along you’ll soon know what that means!
- You can print off as many Sewing Guides as you need to in order to feel confident before you move on.
How Often You Should Use a Sewing Guide
It may be a good idea for you to print off one of my Sewing Guide Sheets before you start sewing for the day. With each of my beginner friendly patterns, there is a sewing guide that relates well to the techniques that you will need to make the pattern. If you feel like you need to freshen up on a certain skill, find the Sewing Guide Sheet and practice a little before trying to tackle it on your fabric.
Glossary Definitions to Keep Handy
A working understanding of your machine and what each part is and does are important to develop as you learn and teach others to sew. Here are some of the glossary definitions you’ll use with these Straight Line Sewing Guides:
Sewing Machine Glossary
How I Instruct My Daughter When Using the Sewing Guide
The hardest thing for me and my daughter to distinguish between were the term Presser Foot and when I was speaking about her foot. It may help to use the term Pedal instead of foot. She was very eager to do it again and again, making for a really sweet way to bond with one another during an afternoon!
Download Your Sewing Guide
Make sure to let us know in the comments how the Sewing Guide worked for you or a beginning Sewist! We are sure to learn a lot as we engage with one another in the Sewing Circle!
Until next time, keep sewing <3 Kate
Sewing Guide Downloads
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[…] you’ll see my 6 year old daughter using the Straight Line Sewing Guide. The hardest thing for me and my daughter to distinguish between were the term Presser Foot and […]