The Why of Sewing 5: Avoiding Bad Tutorials
There are so many tips and tricks and tutorials online and some of them are handing out great advice, but not all the advice is good. Here are a few things that if you see happen in that video you should immediately take a larger grain of salt.
Red Flag #1: Sewing over pins
Sewing over pins is controversial. Some will tell you it is fine, and it almost never causes a problem. Which may be true, but what they donโt tell you is what actually happens if your needle hits a pin. The best case scenario of a needle hitting a pin is a bent pin and a damaged needle.
Sewing machine needles are not designed to hit metal, ever. At the very least every time the needle passes through the fabric it becomes less and less sharp. Hitting a pin will destroy the tip. It can also bend the needle. Or it can break the needle. It can cause the needle to jam up and disrupt the timing of the moving parts inside the machine. A machine with broken timing is generally repairable by a professional, but do you want to spend $100 and loose access to your hobby for a week because you didnโt want to remove a pin? That may be the worst case scenario to you - but remember that broken needle? If you are lucky, the thread through the eye keep all the bits of the needle in one place, but when the needle breaks fragments sometimes go flying. They can fly into your machine, causing damage (again $100 and a week of lost sewing time). Or they can fly out into your room, lurking toย be stepped on by yourself, or your child, or your pet. OR they can fly intoย your face. Many a sewist has a tale of a needle fragment bouncing off their glasses or having to take a trip to the ER because they didnโt have glasses on. It isnโt how frequently a problem occurs when sewing over pins, it is how disastrous the outcome has the potential to be when it does occur.ย
When it comes down to it, sewing pins is a dangerously bad habit that can damage your machine and your person. If you see someone sewing over pins in the tutorial you can lay money down that they a) do not know better or b) know and do not value your safety.
Red Flag #2 Not Pressing Seams
If you are watching the tutorial and you never see the creator pressing, or see evidence that seams are pressed be wary. I see this most often in "tutorials" made by folks who have just learned a very little bit and want to monetize their new knowledge. If the seams in their final product look like they laid a hardcover book open on a table, that is a big red flag.
I saw something somewhere long ago that said โSewing is just ironing with extra stepsโ and no truer meme has ever been made. Wish I could find it. No teacher worth your time is skipping the ironing. Look for the following things: ironing on camera, mentioning that pressing should be done at certain points, and of course nice flat seams.
Red Flag #3 Big Changes with an "Easy Method"
Beware of โeasyโ tutorials that make a significant change to a garment. Your jeans will not become high or low waisted from anything short of taking them apart and remaking them. They can become shorts rather easily. Yes it is possible to turn jeans into a skirt but I am old enough to know better. It wonโt be easy and it will not be cute. Best case scenario you will look fundamentalist.
Making one garment into another kind of garment is usually more difficult than sewing from scratch.
Orange Flag #1 Unfinished Seams
I am calling this an orange flag, but ONLY an orange flag if the original tutorial was focused on costumes and cosplay. If the tutorial is teaching you to make anything that needs to survive more than a couple wears and washes this becomes a red flag.
It is common in cosplay to leave seams unfinished, as an item has limited wear and washing in its future. Unfinished fabric edges fray from washing and friction, some fabrics fray faster than others and leaving your seam allowances on a regularly worn garment as naked as a jaybird is a glaring mark of inexperience.
There are many types of seam finishes, and there are times when seams DON'T need extra finishing, but a good tutorial will either show the finishing, describe ways to finish the seams, or explain why they don't need to be finished. Some examples of seams that can be left to fly free are seams on the bias, most knit fabrics, and seams that will be enclosed in a lining.
Orange Flag #2 Gimmicks and "Hacks"
Lifehack has become code for a gimmicky trick that rarely works the way it is shown via television magic. If you see a nifty trick in a short video, look at the account it comes from. If everything they post is about gimmicks or shortcuts - using straws or cardboard contraptions to do things in sewing with no explanation of how they are normally done, be wary. It is one thing to show a tip, but if all they do are 30 second gimmick videos - it is unlikely that those tricks will actually work when you try them. Most will likely be no better or worse than a waste of your time.
Now that I've given you things to avoid, here are some youtube channels I personally watch and love and learn from.
If you do not know how to sew - start here https://www.youtube.com/@Evelyn__Wood Even if you are not into vintage style I think Evelyn Wood is one of the best at explaining how sewing is done to the beginner.
This is the only channel I actually tune in for live videos, but even if you don't catch it live Saremy has a wealth of knowledge and always goes into why things work the way they do. https://www.youtube.com/@SewSewLive
Sewing therapy is another channel where you can just watch someone go through the process of sewing from start to finish. She shares tips, and there is nothing better about learning the order of operations than just watching someone sew an item. https://www.youtube.com/@SewingTherapy
If you do not have or want a sewing machine start here. https://www.youtube.com/@sewncompany - Many years ago the creator and I lived in the same city and would occasionally cross paths. I don't think she knows me from Adam but I love her tutorials and she has been kind and gracious in every encounter we had. Her tutorials include both right and left handed instructions!
General tutorials from someone who knows what they are doing https://www.youtube.com/@ProfessorPincushion
Garment Sewing content that includes tips as well as styling ideas. Karina does a lot of pattern testing and I think does a really good job at showing how to incorporate the garments into everyday life. https://www.youtube.com/@LiftingPinsandNeedles
If you want to learn to quilt, start here https://www.youtube.com/@JustGetitDoneQuilts
and here https://www.youtube.com/@thelasthomelyhouse - this one is a lot more inspiration for me than a tutorial but its kind of a combination.
Stitch with Rachel has lots of quilting tutorials and inspiration and is really great for English and Foundation Paper Piecing tutorials. https://www.youtube.com/@stitchwithrachel
