Since I’m new to the whole sewing world, I put together a Sewing 101 – Guide for beginners, like me.
I included everything I believe is essential to start sewing from a sewing dictionary, threading a machine, tools, fabric and easy sewing patterns.
Sit back and enjoy all these great sewing tips and tutorials.
This post also contains some affiliate links for your convenience. Click here to read my full disclosure policy.
Sewing 101 – Guide for beginners, like me…
Before we can actually start sewing, I believe it’s important to know all the necessary sewing terms.
Amber from Crazy Little Projects created an AMAZING Sewing Dictionary with Pictures.
Now that we have a useful dictionary to refer to, we should probably get to know our sewing machines.
Sarah from Dwell on Joy created a wonderful Sewing Machine 101.
(I’m sorry, Dwell on Joy no longer has a website. I will look for another sewing machine guide to share with you.)
This guide is very useful, full of photos and explanations. At the very end of the post she shares easy step by step sewing projects she created.
What’s really encouraging is that she was a beginner just like us when she created these posts.
We now know our sewing machines better, now it’s time to thread them. SCARY!!!
I know it seems scary, but once you know how and you have done it a few times, it’s really easy.
This video on how to thread your machine, is fabulous. YAY!
I found a great website called How To Sew from Better Homes and Gardens, they have a bunch of wonderful resources.
You might want to surf around their website, there’s lots of resources available to you.
Our sewing machines are threaded, now we need some tools to create some beautiful projects.
Pickup Some Creativity put together a Sewing 101 – Supply Must Haves.
They also have a GREAT Sewing 101 section, you should check it out.
One of the tools that I’m nervous about using is the Rotary Cutter. I actually already have one along with a self-healing cutting mat.
Purl Soho has a complete Rotary Cutting Tutorial section. It’s quite amazing.
We have our tools, we know how to use our rotary cutter… now we need some fabric.
A great place to get fabric is from Fabricworm. Not only is the selection GREAT, the staff is AMAZINGLY helpful.
You’ll want to check our their blog, they often have sales worth checking out.
Before we start to sew our new fabric, we might want to pre-wash it before we start.
Make It & Love It shows you how to pre-wash your fabric.
Make It & Love It is JAMMED PACKED full of helpful Sewing Tips.
I’m going to reference 3 more of their tutorials, but there’s a BUNCH more on their site.
Fabric is washed now perhaps we’ll need some interfacing for our project.
What is interfacing? Good question.
Our friends at Make It & Love It explain what it is, which we need and why we need it.
It’s sewing time!! But what stitch? Make It & Love It share basic stitches.
You’ll probably need a zipper… thanks Make It & Love It for the great Installing a Basic Zipper tutorial!
Craft Snob had a great Sewing 101 series, however the website is no longer updated.
She did share a wonderful sewing tutorial for beginners on my blog a few years ago: Triplet Tote Sewing Tutorial for Beginners.
It’s a fabulous tutorial!
I talk more about it towards the bottom of this post.
Now that we know all the basics, we need patterns to start sewing. A great place to start is at The Sewing Loft.
Heather has a great blog where she shares lots of tutorials. She also has a shop where you can purchase patterns.
Want more patterns? How about stopping in a Noodlehead?
She’s AMAZING!! And offers soooo many FREE Sewing Tutorials. I’m dying to try them. Really worth checking out!
Another great resources for sewing projects is Allfreesewing. So many great projects for every level. I have a few of my sewing projects there too.
Guess what? I attempted my very first sewing project!! YAHOO!
I used this fabulous step by step tutorial for beginners.
Trust me, if I was able to make a Triplet Tote (a tote with three compartments) you can too!
Tissue Cozy Sewing Tutorial for Beginners
Now that we tackled all these greats sewing tips for beginners, if you’re looking for some great sewing tutorials, you’ll want to check these out as well!
I have a collection of the best sewing projects of 2013, 2014, and 2015!
Top 35 Sewing Projects of 2015
Top 30 Sewing Projects of 2014
Top 25 Sewing Projects of 2013:
20+ Sewing Tutorials for Beginners
I hope you enjoyed this Sewing 101 Guide for Beginners (like me).
I very much LOVED putting it together.
Do you have some sewing sites to recommend to me?
P.S. If you are looking for more sewing projects, check out my sewing section.
Sarah Caraway
Sunday 19th of January 2014
Christine, Love this sewing section! Stumbled across your blog through the Frugal Crafty Blog Hop and wandered on to this page because I've been re-learning how to sew. Thanks for gathering all of these great beginner's resources!
Sara
Monday 9th of December 2013
Thanks you SO much for including me in this list. What a great roundup!
Nicole
Monday 4th of November 2013
Bookmarked this page to help refresh my memory on all of my sewing skills. It does come back though! Thanks for sharing!
Lucy
Monday 23rd of September 2013
I have been a sewer since I was very young. I am always happy to see someone else "get the bug". Can't wait to see your sewing projects! Please come check me out and hopefully I may be able to inspire you :)
Deonna
Thursday 15th of August 2013
The dictionary is so great. I have mostly taught myself from online tutorials from blogs and have even blogged about sewing myself but this helps! I will be referring back to this post quite often