Alteration Tips for Every Beginner

Alterations can be a very fun and rewarding hobby. You can alter clothing to curtains, and just think of the money you can save. By learning how to do alterations you can ensure that when your button pops off, or your hem comes out of your pants, that you can quickly and easily fix it.

When we were growing up most of our mothers and grandmothers knew how to sew. As clothing has become cheaper and cheaper, sewing has become almost a lost art among the younger generations. Thankfully, the past few years has seen resurgence in sewing and other handcrafts. This is leading to a new availability of information on how to do alterations and supplies to use.

Alterations require a unique set of skills. These skills are not complicated to learn, but there is a definite learning curve in learning to do alterations. If you jump in with both feet without a few basics you are surely setting yourself up to fail. The best way to develop your sewing skills is to start slow, learn, and work your way up to more complex projects as time goes on and you learn what you are doing.

The first step in starting to do alterations is to gather up all of the items you need to complete your project. Get out your sewing machine booklet and thread your machine. Make sure, before you ever even attempt a project, that your machine is threaded correctly and working well. Practice sewing straight lines on a piece of scrap fabric or a paper towel. This will save you a lot of frustration.

Before you start your project, take the time to go through all of the instructions and make sure that you clearly understand them. Be sure you understand everything before you start your project so do not make costly mistakes or waste time having to redo.

An important thing for you to remember when you first start doing alterations is that "Rome was not built in a day." Start slowly and take your time. As you do more projects you will start to feel more confident in doing alterations. After all, you are learning how to do alterations to look better and have some fun in the process.

I have put together a guide with some tips to make doing your alterations a bit easier. You can get it at www.doityourselfalterations.com/tips. It will give you some good suggestions to help you picking thread colors and threading your sewing machine and a lot more.