How to Sew By Hand: Complete Sewing Tutorial

Have you ever lost a button on a shirt? Or had a sleeve or pant hem come partially undone? These are small sewing projects that can easily be fixed by sewing by hand with a basic sewing kit. Basic sewing skills to fix everyday wear and tear of clothing and household items is a useful skill to know.

Here is a look at some basic hand sewing techniques.

Keep a sewing kit on hand in your home so you have all the necessary supplies to fix basic tears and broken seams. You don’t need a sewing machine to attach a button or mend a hem. Here’s an idea of what your sewing kit should have inside.

• Needles: You’ll only need one to sew with, but generally a few different needles come together in a set. Make sure you get a hand-sewing needle and not a machine sewing needle. For a knit fabric, you might use a ballpoint needle, or if you’re working with a very open weave, like burlap or a sweater, you can use a tapestry needle.
• Thread: A sewing kit should have several different colors of thread in it so that you can match the thread color to the color of the item. Any cotton or nylon thread will do for your hand sewing project. You might want to seek out specialty thread if you’re working with a delicate item, like silk, or if the fabric fiber is thicker. If you’re working on an embroidery project, make sure to use embroidery thread.
• Scissors: You’ll need a basic pair of sewing scissors to cut the thread and trim any loose ends. Avoid using any regular desk or paper scissors; you need to get scissors made for sewing, as they are made for cutting thread and pieces of fabric to avoid fraying.
• Thimble: A thimble isn’t crucial for a hand-sewing project, but if you’re worried about pricking your finger, a thimble can be a helpful tool. Some sewers find it difficult to sew while wearing a thimble, while others find it a valuable resource. It’s up to you if you use one.

You’ve probably heard the phrase “threading the needle,” which means to create harmony between conflicting sides, but actually threading a needle for your hand-sewing project can feel like just as difficult a task. You can buy a needle threader, which will help with this task; however, you can follow these simple steps to perfect your needle-threading technique.

1. 1. Cut a piece of thread at an angle. Use your sharp sewing scissors to cut the thread at about a 45-degree angle. This will make the thread less blunt and therefore easier to feed through the needle.
2. 2. Position the needle correctly. Hold the needle up between your thumb and index finger and hold the thread in your other hand. Make sure you have a good light source so you can see the needle’s eye.
3. 3. Feed the tip through the eye. Carefully feed the tip of the thread through the eye of the needle. If you’re having trouble, you can moisten the tip of the thread with water or saliva and gently run the damp thread through your thumb and index finger to flatten. This will make it easier to thread the needle.
4. 4. Pull to create a tail. Once the thread is through the eye of the needle, pull on the end of the thread so there’s enough thread, about a four-inch tail, so the needle won’t become unthreaded.

There are several sewing stitches that can be accomplished through hand sewing:.

1. 1. Backstitch: Backstitch is a basic hand embroidery stitch that creates a line of stitches, without a break between them, so it looks like a continuous straight line of thread.
2. 2. Ladder stitch: Also called a slip stitch, the ladder stitch creates a mostly invisible seam and is a great hem stitch. Use a thread color similar to the item color and the seam will blend into the fabric.
   
3. 3. Running stitch: This is a long straight stitch, generally used as a basting stitch, which means it will temporarily hold two pieces of fabric together and can be easily taken out later. Basting is used for a variety of reasons, but it is also a good idea to baste slippery fabrics, like silk or rayon, before machine sewing as the material can sometimes stretch with the machine.
4. 4. Blanket stitch: The blanket stitch is a decorative seam-finishing technique that is meant to be visible and is generally used in hand embroidery or to finish the edges of quilts or pillows.
5. 5. Whipstitch: The whipstitch is a simple seaming technique that is comprised of a line of short diagonal stitches that are invisible on the right side of the fabric.
6. 6. Catch stitch: The catch stitch takes on a zig-zag pattern, and it’s invisible on the right side of the fabric, making it great for a blind hem. The catch stitch is a great flat stitch technique for seaming two pieces of fabric with a slight overlap.

• Thread the needle. Thread your needle and tie a knot at the end of the thread.
• Create your desired stitch length. Feed your needle up through the fabric, from the wrong side of the fabric to right side, and then back down, from right side to wrong side, to create your desired stitch length.
• Using the same stitch length as a guide, come up through the fabric about a stitch length away from your last entry point.
• Feed the thread through the fabric. Next, feed the thread back down through the fabric, right side to wrong side, using your last entry point at the end of the previous stitch and pull through.

This invisible stitch technique is great for closing hems and finishing linings, and you can accomplish it in a few easy steps.

• Thread your needle and tie a knot at the end of the thread.
• Take the needle from the underside edge of the fabric and come up through the fold.
• Pick up a very small amount of fabric with your needle on the unfolded part of the fabric. Feed the needle through.
• Place your needle back in the initial entry point on the fold and pick up some fabric alongside the fold, moving in the same direction as you did when you picked up the small amount of fabric.
• Feed the needle through and you have created your first slip stitch. Repeat these steps to finish you seam.

A running stitch is basically a longer version of a basic straight stitch.

• Thread the needle. Thread your needle and tie a knot at the end of the thread.
• Pull it tight. Pull the needle up through both layers of the fabric and pull tight. -Sew the fabric together. Feed the needle through both pieces of fabric, about a half an inch from your last insertion point, and pick up about a half an inch of fabric. Pull through. You can adjust this measurement to get the length of stitch you want.
• Repeat. Continue this step until your seam is the desired length.

A blanket stitch is a decorative finishing seam that is meant to be seen and add character to a project.

• Thread the needle. Thread your needle and tie a knot at the end of the thread. Make sure you have a long enough thread to finish the seam.
• Get the fabric into position. You will have two pieces of fabric with the wrong sides of the fabric facing each other and the right sides of the fabric facing out.
• Feed the needle through the top piece. Feed the needle just through the top piece of fabric and allow the knot to nestle between the two pieces of fabric.
• Feed the needle through both layers. Now feed the needle through both layers of fabric, and make sure the needle comes through the same spot. Pull the thread through, and once there is a small loop left, thread the needle through the loop and pull tight to create the first stitch.
• Thread the back and front. Move across, about a stitch-width, threading the need from the back of the fabric the front and repeating the above steps. Make sure to keep the stitch width and length consistent throughout.

• Thread the needle. Thread your needle and tie a knot at the end of the thread.
• Feed the needle through the fabric. Feed the needle from the underside of the fabric and up through the top and hide the knot.
• Stitch diagonally. Working with the two edges of the fabric together with the wrong sides of the fabric facing each other, carefully stitch short diagonal stitch along the seam.

• Thread the needle. Thread your needle and tie a knot at the end of the thread.
• Feed the needle through the underside. Send your needle from the underside of the fabric through the top and pull until the knot hits the fabric.
• Go from right to left. Next, take the needle from right to left and pick up about one eighth of an inch of fabric and pull to the left.
• Pick up an eight of an inch and pull. Now, on the opposite piece of fabric, take the needle from right to left and pick up an eighth of an inch of fabric and pull through. Repeat these steps working from left to right.

Sewing a button on is one of the most basic hand sewing skills, and you can accomplish it in a few simple steps.

• Thread your needle. Instead of leaving a tail and tying a knot at the end of the thread, feed the thread all the way through the needle so that the two ends of the thread are equal in length. Wrap the ends of the thread tails around your index finger a few times and gently roll off with your thumb to create a knot tying the two ends of thread together.
• Feed the needle up the fabric. Starting on the backside of the fabric, feed the needle up through the fabric, and sew a small x as a placeholder for where the button will go. The ends of the x should be approximately where the button holes will be.
• Secure the button. Place the button on top of the x, and place a second needle on top of the button lengthwise. This needle helps leave a little bit of room under the button so you can form a shank later on.
• Sew the pattern. Sew the same x pattern about six times, only this time go through the buttonholes and over the lengthwise needle.
• Remove the lengthwise needle. Feed the other needle through one of the holes and come out just on the other side of the button. Don’t go through the fabric.
• Wrap the thread. Wrap the thread around the underside of the button five or six times, forming the shank.
• Feed the needle through the fabric to the backside. To tie off the thread, feed the needle through the stitches on the back of the fabric, and then tie a knot by feeding the needle through the loop. Do this two or three times and then cut the thread.

There are several ways to tie of your thread and finish your hand sewing project, but this is one of the simpler and most popular methods.

• Feed the needle up the fabric. Once you have reached the end of your seam, feed the needle back up through the fabric about a stitch length from you last stitch.
• Form a loop. Feed the needle through the last stitch to form a loop, and then feed the needle through that loop to tie a knot. Pull tight.
• Form another loop. Once more, feed the needle through the new stitch you’ve created with your previous loop, forming another loop. Feed the needle through the new loop to form a knot and pull tight.
• Cut the thread. Cut the thread as close to the knot as possible.

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