painting by Louis Aston Knight, Pennyslvania 1873-1948 By
learning to press a hem before sewing, and then stitching a
straight stitch, you nearly have all the skill you need for just
about anything you wish to make. Your iron will be the most
important tool you have in sewing, and if you do not have one,
you can get a small iron for crafts, which can be placed on a
towel on the table next to your sewing machine. If you want to
learn to stitch straight and evenly, you can always use a
checked fabric, and sew along the pattern on the fabric. I use
large gingham check fabric when showing beginners how to
straight-stitch, and all projects are made using the checked
fabric. The above sketch shows a way to plan out the sewing
projects you wish to complete. Sketching out all your ideas can
help you determine how much fabric you will need. When you do
not have enough, you can always use a different fabric, as I
have done with the muslin, that still matches it. When you have
sketched every thing you can think of that