EXPOSING SEWING HACKS: let's test and rank them 👀 | WITHWENDY

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ABOUT:
Hi, I'm Wendy, and I have been on a sewing journey ever since my mom taught me how to make little outfits for my dolls. I studied engineering and business, had an office job for two years, and then quit to embark on a lifelong sewing adventure on Youtube. Subscribe to join me on the adventure, and maybe make your own clothing too! Thanks for watching ❤️

[punkee]

Labels definitely do make an item look more finished, but as someone who has cut every tag out of every article of clothing I’ve ever owned, I simply cannot imagine adding a label onto something that I’ve made

[xingcat]

"Ask Yourself If You Have Standards" is a terrific name for a category.

[victorialevy]

Turn your bias maker tool upside down, so that the folded edges are underneath, and it will work more smoothly and consistently. And shoot just a light spritz of starch on there first before running it through the tool and it’s magical.

[Nicoya]

The rolled hem hack belongs in "there's a tool for this". Like, rolled hem presser feet, folder attachments, etc, are a dime a dozen and with them being made out of polished metal instead of paper they work way, way better.

[Tessq]

A ballpoint needle is made specifically for sewing knits and really helps with skipped stitches!

[tessiagriffith]

As someone who has to remove every trace of any tag from a garment before I can wear it, watching you sew in a tag to something you made is wild!

[andanotherthing...]

One extra tip; when changing the serger threads, I set all four tensions to zero. Then the threads slide right through like a warm knife through butter. 😊

[mog-gyveroneill]

Never have I seen a person more invested in actually learning something from these hacks without actively trying to debunk them first! I've used the glue one for many years, and the overlocker hacks are PRICELESS!!

[marieanne]

you don't need a special sewing company glue pen. The dollar store glue sticks are exactly the same. I use it a lot for quilting. I had the fancy sewing one, other than that it's pink, it's exactly the same. And they make the Uhu sticks in pink that fade when drying too now.

[Darenim]

I've also had skipped stitches because of a dull needle! So, if your machine skips, sometimes switching to a new needle might help.

[ginninadances]

I was forever changed on gathering when I saw you can zig-zag stitch (longest and widest seeing) a string or floss in between and then the gathers are magically easy to adjust

[tobeseve]

I sew professionally, at my job we mostly make boat covers for dinghy boats (among some other stuff, including sails). We actually exclusively glue our seams, and never use pins. But we don't use a glue stick, we use seamstick, which is basically just double sided tape designed for sewing. We have it in 1/2" and 1/4" for different stuff. For sails, it's for two main reasons: One, it keeps the seam exactly the same width, which is important because sails have to be PERFECTLY the same shape. Two, the more holes you poke in the sail cloth, the more air passes through, so we have to limit that as much as possible. For covers, we mostly just use seamstick for time, but also because the material we use is SUPER thick and heavy duty, so pinning it would be an absolute nightmare and it would be almost impossible to keep the seams flat. I'm so used to gluing seams at this point that when I have to pin fabric for my own personal projects I usually don't bother. (It is an incredibly bad habit). I will say from experience though that the downside to glue is that it WILL gunk up your machine, especially if you use it a lot. So if you don't know how to take your machine apart, clean it well, and then put it back together I really do not recommend it. (Or, maybe do it anyway? I didn't know anything about fixing sewing machines before I started working where I do, but out of necessity cause most of our machines are from the 70's or 80's and we mercilessly abuse them, I've gotten pretty good at fixing them.)

As for the thread thing? I've seen it awhile ago to tie thread together to feed it instead of feeding it manually, (as an aside the reef/square knot is extremely common in sailing and I always forget that's not everyone's first instinct to tie two things together) but the thread we use is basically equivalent to fishing line since the stuff we sew is designed to sit all day in direct sunlight, and even with the smallest possible knot it doesn't feed through well. But I guess it would work pretty well with normal thread.

[DaniiiiPhantom]

I only really hand sew to mend things and the most magical thing I learned was the ladder stitch. It's not a hack, it's just a type of stitch. But I didn't believe it would bring two sides of a hole together so beautifully until I tried it!

[annazett]

Funnily enough, the overlock "hack" is a legit part of the manual to my overlock machine, and it's a cutie from the end of the 60ies/early 70ies. So that one has been around for a long time 😄 I'm debating with myself, if you can call it a hack, if it is an actual part of the official user guide 🤔 But in the end, I'll go with yes, because a lot of people in this comment section found it so useful ❤

[JessJeans]

With stretchy or slippery fabrics ive used tissue paper under the material and always works great!

[lynalurex]

totally SHOCKED that people unthread the whole overlocker to change a single thread the only way i've ever known is the knot "trick". i only take the needle thread out, turn all tension selectors to zero and pass the chain until the new thread (and knot) comes out. then put needle thread in place and done! loved the video wendyyy

[babiesinajar]

I am sure somebodys said this already but rolled hem foots exist and they work way better than the cardstock method! It still takes a bit of babysitting but doesnt all sewing go that way anyway 😢

[AshleySamM]

I'm embarrassingly proud of myself for knowing and already doing the hacks that worked. Small victories😂😂

[bethanyhutchinson]

Ooooh, the last hack!! I need to do that! I’ve always just swerved off, but the pivot method!! 👌🏻

[vincentbriggs]

When turning an edge right side out, especially if it's scalloped or otherwise fiddly and hard to press, dipping your hands in a bit of water makes it so much easier to work that seam to the outside!