17 Tips to Sew High-Quality Clothes
You don’t have to be a professional fashion designer to create high-quality clothes. With a little bit of care, planning, and attention to detail (and a lot of practice) everyone can learn to create their own clothes that are much higher quality than your average store-bought garment.
If you are just starting to sew, don’t be too intimidated by this list. There is a learning period for everyone before their clothes start to look professional, so give yourself some time for learning. Try one or two new things from this list with every project that you do, to add the skills to your repertoire. This way you won’t get overwhelmed by trying to do everything all at once.
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1. Sew a seam, finish the seam, press the seam. Always.
The easiest way to immediately make all of your hand-sewn garments look significantly better and more professional is by taking care of your seams when you sew them. Make a habit of this process and never skip it:
- Sew a seam.
- Finish the seam.
- Press the seam.
No matter what type of fabric you’re using or what type of garment you’re making, you always want to follow this process. Not only will this make your garments look better inside and out, but it will also help them last longer since the fabric won’t be able to fray away, and the seams are set in place with heat.
2. Make a mock-up first
Making a mock-up before sewing your final garment gives you the chance to work out any kinks in the sewing process and fine-tune the size of your garment before cutting your nice fabric. I can’t tell you the number of times that this has saved me from making a gigantic mistake and wasting a whole lot of fabric (or the number of times I skipped the mock-up and regretted it).
If you’re just beginning to sew, creating a mock-up as your first round with a new garment gives you the chance to practice. You can also practice a new skill, such as adding a zipper or creating buttonholes, before trying it on your final garment.
If you’re more of an intermediate sewist, this might not be necessary for every single garment that you make. But anything that’s a bit complicated, you’re not sure will fit quite right, or you want to make adjustments to, can really benefit from a mock-up so you can get the final garment exactly right.
3. Learn how to understitch
Do you have trouble with facings that always seem to pop out of your neckline or just won’t fold neatly? Understitching can solve all of your problems, making all of your edges and facings look perfect and professional with just one extra line of stitches.
The idea is to sew the facing of your garment to the seam allowance on the inside. This causes the facing to easily tuck under the neckline, creating a nice and crisp edge. This is a trick that you should do with all of your facings:
- Sew your facing to your neckline as usual. Don’t forget to clip your curves if necessary.
- Fold out your facing and the seam allowance from the neckline. The facing should be on top of the seam allowance.
- Edge-stitch inside the facing to tack it down to the seam allowance.
- When finished, fold the facing over and press it. You’ll find that it easily sits flat and stays in place.
4. Pre-wash your fabric
It’s a good rule of thumb to wash your fabric before you cut it. The main reason for this is that fabric can shrink when it’s washed. You don’t want to make a beautiful hand-made garment only for it to shrink and become unwearable after you wash it. If you use interfacing with your garment, the fabric can also shrink and bubble around the interfacing, making it look really ugly and permanently wrinkled.
I’ll be the first to admit, I have not always followed my own advice on this one. Most of the time, it’s not a big deal, and your clothes will end up okay. That being said, I’ve also regretted not following the advice. I’m specifically thinking of a lovely pair of overalls I made that shrank when I washed them. Oh well, you live and learn.
In general, fabrics that use rayon and natural fibers (cotton, wool, linen, silk) are more likely to shrink than polyester and other plastic-based fibers. Knit fabric is also more likely to shrink than woven. So if you don’t want to pre-wash all of your fabrics, take the fiber and weave into account.
Nowadays, I get most of my fabric from destash fabric thrift stores. Since these are second-hand fabrics, I have to wash them when I receive them anyway so I haven’t been running into problems with shrinkage very often anymore. (Learn more about how to shop for fabric second-hand to reduce your carbon footprint)
5. Do NOT skip stay-stitching
You know the step in the instructions where they tell you to stitch through a single layer of fabric? I know when I first started sewing, I had no clue why I would need to do that, so of course, I skipped those steps.
That was a mistake. If you skip stay-stitching, you’ll likely end up with stretched-out necklines and armhole seams. The facings won’t fit properly and they will gape and refuse to sit flat.
When you skip stay-stitching, the edges of the fabric pieces will start to warp out of shape the more you handle it. Any edge that’s cut on a curve or diagonally on the bias can end up being accidentally stretched out as you pin the fabric pieces, press them, and move them around.
Now the first thing I do after I cut out my pattern pieces is bring them to the sewing machine and stay-stitch all of the curved and diagonal (bias-cut) edges to keep them from warping out of place while I handle the fabric and pin pieces together.
What is the exception to this rule? It’s generally okay to skip stay-stitching on knit fabrics. Knits don’t warp out of place the way woven fabrics do, and you usually want to help them retain their stretch while sewing so you can properly fit the garment. Stay-stitching would prevent the fabric from stretching as much as it needs to.
6. Iron your fabric before cutting your pattern pieces
Don’t cut your fabric while it’s wrinkly. I know it’s a pain, but it’s really important to iron your fabric before you cut it. I used to think it was easier to cut the fabric out first, then iron the pieces since they were significantly less bulky than the yards and yards of fabric. But I’ve since learned that this is a bad idea.
This is because after cutting, once the wrinkles are flattened the whole pattern piece is slightly warped out of shape. It’s not going to line up with the other pieces correctly because none of them actually match the original shape they’re supposed to be. So do yourself a favor and take the extra minutes to iron your fabric before cutting it.
7. Learn how to match stripes and patterns
When using a patterned or striped fabric, you can bring your creations to the next level by learning how to match those patterns along the seams. This takes extra planning when you’re cutting out your fabric. You need to make sure you take the seam allowance into account while cutting, but if you do it correctly, you get a beautiful result.
If you’re working with a curved seam, you won’t be able to match the pattern perfectly all the way along the seam. Choose the most visible area, whether that be the top front, or along the middle of the seam to make the pattern match best.
You can do the same thing with patch pockets. Cut them out to exactly match the fabric they’ll be on top of so the pocket can camouflage into the fabric pattern.
8. Don’t forget to trim your thread
I know this tip is super simple, but I cannot count the number of times that I finished a garment, and ended up finding a trailing thread tail the first time I wore it. It made it look like the seam was falling apart when really, I just forgot to trim the thread.
So this is just a reminder for you to go back and make all your seams nice and neat by clipping all those threads with a sharp pair of thread snips (or embroidery shears). Once you’re finished with your project, go back and give it a once over to make sure you didn’t forget anything.
While we’re talking about thread, don’t forget to remove any basting and gathering stitches that you used in creating your garment. This is especially important if the stitches are visible from the outside of the garment.
9. Learn when to use topstitching (and edge stitching)
Sometimes understitching is not enough. If you’ve understitched your facing and it’s still not staying in place, edge stitching along the top of the neckline might be necessary. You can also top stitch along shoulder and arm seams to tack down the seam allowance.
You also use top stitches as decorative elements and to tack down things like patch pockets. Typically you will edge stitch elements to tack them in place, then top stitch a quarter-inch away to act as a decorative element and sew the design more securely.
10. Don’t forget to clip your curves
Necklines and other curved seams are never going to sit flat and smooth if you don’t take the time to clip the curve close to your stitch line. Clipping the curves gives the fabric the ability to relax and overlap. It won’t bunch up on the inside of the neckline (or another curved area), creating an awkward and wrinkled seam.
When clipping, remember that the tighter the curve you’re dealing with, the closer together the clips in the seam will need to be. So if you have a really tight curve (like around the back of the neck), you’ll want to include a lot of clips. Whereas areas that are more loosely curved can be spaced out.
11. Test everything before sewing anything
Every fabric you use will work differently with your sewing machine. Testing everything that you’re doing on a scrap piece of fabric, rather than jumping right into your garment construction can save you from completely ruining your good fabric.
Things to test before starting to sew your pattern pieces together:
- The stitch length and width to use on your sewing machine
- The type of needle you want to use (delicate fabrics will need smaller needle sizes or even microtex needles, while knit fabrics will need jersey or stretch needles)
- Buttonholes (test to make sure the setting on the machine work, and make sure your button will fit through)
- Test your interfacing before fusing it to your actual pattern pieces
- Practice using a new or difficult material (such as a slippery or stretchy material)
12. Learn to measure your pattern size
When you’re first learning how to sew, you learn how to measure yourself and look at the back of the pattern envelope for the suggested pattern size. This is great for a beginner, but by now you’ve probably realized that it’s not always the best size.
If you want to figure out what size is best for you, the best thing to do is measure the actual pattern piece and figure out the end measurements of the garment. This will give you a much better idea of the fit to expect so you’ll know if you need to go down or up a size from what’s suggested on the pattern.
Remember, you generally want to pattern pieces to measure a little bit above your actual body measurements. If it was completely skin-tight, you wouldn’t be able to move at all.
13. Use high-quality fabric
If you want to sew high-quality clothes, you need to use high-quality fabric, of course. But of course, that’s easier said than done if you don’t know how to find a quality fabric. As you sew more and deal with many different kinds of materials, you’ll start to get a feel for what’s good quality and what’s not.
In the meantime, these tips can give you a basic idea of what to look for in quality fabric. These aren’t hard and fast rules you need to follow since the type of weave and fiber used to make the fabric always need to be taken into account, but they are a good starting point for beginners:
- Does the fabric fray too much? If so, you may want to avoid the fabric, especially as a beginner.
- Are there visible pilling or pulled threads? If it’s already pilling a little before you buy it, the fabric may be of lower quality
- How does the fabric feel? Does it feel like plastic or something that would be comfortable to wear?
- Is the color consistent? If the fabric is supposed to be a solid color, there should not be any patches that are off. A shoddy dye job is an indication of low-quality fabric.
- Does stretch fabric recover easily? After you stretch the fabric, does it bounce back to its original size, or stay stretched out?
Learn more about how to choose high-quality fabrics to work with
14. Learn how to make pattern adjustments
Unless you are very lucky, no standard pattern size is going to fit your body perfectly. If you want your handmade garments to look professional, you’ll need to learn how to make adjustments to the pattern so that it will fit your body measurements.
Simple pattern adjustments to start with include shortening and lengthening the pattern, to account for your height. There’s the obvious shortening and lengthening of sleeves and pant legs, but you can also adjust the length of the torso and the area between the waist and hips.
You can also merge two sizes into one. For example, merge a size 10 bust with a size 12 waist. As you get more confident with your pattern editing skills, you can make other adjustments as well. Including a bust adjustment, a broad or narrow shoulder adjustment, and a curved back adjustment, to name a few.
The more you learn what types of adjustments your body needs from the standard pattern sizes, the better and more professional your final garments will look.
15. Stabilize knit fabrics where necessary
Knit fabrics are stretchy (usually), which makes them really comfortable to wear. However, they do have the tendency to slowly stretch out over time. This is especially common along seams that take a lot of pull and weight from the rest of the garment. Mostly I’m talking about shoulder seams.
As you wear your shirt, the shoulders will slowly start drooping as they lose their elasticity. To prevent the seam from completely drooping out of shape, add a strip of stay tape to the shoulder seams. Stay tape is basically like a little strip of fusible knit interfacing. It lets the seam retain a small amount of stretch while preventing it from stretching out too much.
Stay tape can also be very useful along wide necklines and pocket openings. Any area that’s going to take a lot of weight, since these are the areas that are more likely to stretch out over time.
16. Choose your interfacing carefully
When choosing an interfacing to use with your facing pieces, you always want to pick a type of interfacing that more or less matches the weight of the fabric you’re using. So if you’re sewing with a very lightweight fabric, you need to use a lightweight interfacing to go with it.
Using a type of interfacing that does not match the fabric properly, will make that part of the garment look unnaturally stiff, like a piece of cardboard was put inside the fabric. Or if you use an interfacing that’s too lightweight for the fabric, it won’t add the structure that’s necessary for the garment you’re making.
17. If you don’t like it, unpick it and try again
One of the best things about sewing as a hobby is that many mistakes are very fixable. If you sew a seam and something doesn’t look right, you can unpick the seam and try again. Unpicking is a pain, but it also gives you the opportunity to learn from your mistakes and try again. Always keep a sharp seam ripper on hand to help you undo your mistakes
Of course, unpicking too many times will weaken the fabric a little, so you don’t want to unpick the same seam too many times. You also need to be careful not to rip the fabric, so put on an audiobook and take your time taking the seam apart so you can make it look that much better.
