Before Sewing:
Read through the entire pattern. Study the pattern and plan in your mind the project from the beginning. Look at the project from the whole picture. Time spent on preparation pays off with a beautiful finished piece.

Always test your machine: machine tension, needle, needle size, stitch size. Test on a piece of the real sewing fabric before you begin. Plan topstitching, buttonholes, pocket treatments, et cetera. Plan seam finishes. Plan interfacing. Make tests and samples.

Trim and press out the wrinkles of each necessary pattern piece. Check the measurements of the pattern with your desired finished measurements. Make adjustments to the paper pattern if necessary.

Prepare fabric: preshrink if necessary, press, check grain. Decide a plan of action for cutting: i.e. bias cutting, straight grain, cross grain, folded, laid flat.

Pinning:
Use the correct pins for the project.
Pin grain lines first. Pin all pieces before cutting.

Cutting:
Use care in cutting: cut on the pattern cutting lines. No More Notches: use factory clips.

Sewing:
Always sew from the bottom up (unless impossible).
The seam allowance is 5/8” for commercial patterns, 1/2” for the industry.
Pin perpendicular, never sew over pins, and throw out bent pins.
Use as little thread as possible on the finished piece.
The seam ripper is your friend!

Sewing Room:
We will be responsible for our sewing room. We will spend the last 15 minutes doing clean up: lights off, iron off, threads and scraps put into the trash.