Sewing Multiple Items

Those of us who do crafting for craft fairs, bazaars, etc are always on the lookout for “short cut” ways to get our products cut and assembled.  Even those doing sewing and alterations can take advantage of the hints and tips I want to offer for cutting down on the sewing time, and completing those projects a little faster.

* As an example, if you are making a few jean purses or making fabric flowers for projects, cut out all that you’re intending to make at the same time (say 15 jean purses, or enough fabric strips to make 30 or 35 of the fabric flowers).

* Pin all the pieces that need to be pinned together, then stack – ready for the sewing machine.

* Do the sewing, production style — sew all the shoulder straps at the same time so you can turn them all at once.

* Sew seams, running from one set of seams to the next to the next, etc – by doing this you are saving on thread (not having long pieces of threads to clip) as well as getting through the process faster.

* If you are able to cut back on the number of pins you use to hold seams during the sewing process, the sewing will go much faster.  Practice on “working” the seams with your fingers while sewing, rather than pinning every few inches.  This works well, especially if the seams are fairly short

* By using production sewing methods, the craft items can be turned out much faster, which actually makes the cost per item less (less time used), and you could be using the extra time making other items, or doing other sewing.

For those who are doing sewing or alterations, the same process applies, except that you’ll want to sort your “sewing” / “alterations” by color and type of fabrics.  By doing this you can keep white thread in the machine longer, or red, or whatever the color is that is predominant on the sewing you have to do, as well as the same needle.  You’d be surprised at how much time can be used when changing the thread colors.

I’m all about saving time — I figure whatever time I can save on specific sewing projects is time that I can spend on additional sewing, reading or just being with the family.

If you have any “time saver” tips and techniques you’d like to share, let us know and we’ll be sure to pass them along.