Your first project start to finish: plan, sew, finish and file

The project you chose at setup, planned from your own sheets, tested on the real fabric, sewn in order, checked, given a care note, and filed in the binder.

1. Plan the project from your sheets Understand

Most of the plan may already exist in pieces. Stitching and tension started the stitch sample log, Choosing and preparing fabric the fabric sheet with your shrink test, Everyday mending the mending log, and Patterns and fit the measurements. A project plan pulls them together on one sheet before any fabric is cut: the finished size, the cut list, the fabric and notions, and the order of work.

The plan sheet on the project page has a field for each: project, finished size, pattern (or none), size chosen, seam allowance, fabric, interfacing, notions, test sample done, and the care note. The cut list has one row per piece with its quantity, cut width and length, grain, and whether it is interfaced. The order of work was seeded from your setup with the steps for your project; tick them as you go and use the note column for what you changed.

Plan in this order. Each item depends on the one before it.

1. Finished size. Measure the thing it has to fit: the pillow form, the books the tote will carry, your hip. Labels and real objects differ.
2. Cut sizes. Add seam and hem allowances with a calculator. Cut size is the size of the piece before sewing; for a rectangle, the cut width is the finished width plus two seam allowances (cut size calculator). Physical principle
3. Fabric length. Lay the pieces in rows across your fabric's measured width after preshrinking, and add the lengthwise shrinkage from your shrink test if you buy before washing.
4. Notions. Thread, interfacing, elastic, hook-and-loop tape: on the shopping list.
5. Order of work. The steps, with pressing between them.

The four projects follow. Read the one you chose; the pillow cover is our default.

The envelope pillow cover

An envelope pillow cover has one front piece and two back pieces that overlap across the middle, so the form slides in through the gap and no zipper is needed. Utah State University Extension's Four Square Pillow shows the logic: four 8 in squares joined with 1/2 in seams make a 15 in front for a 14 in form, so the finished cover is the form's size. Two back pieces of 9 1/2 × 15 in, each with a turned and stitched opening edge, overlap behind it, held with 3 in of hook-and-loop tape. Utah State's Reversible 18" Tied Pillow says the finished cover should fit snugly and that you should measure the form before buying, because labels vary. Preference

The pillow calculator applies the same logic to any form:

• Front = form + 2 × seam allowance, each way.
• Each back = half the front's cut width + half the overlap + the hem allowance on its opening edge; same height as the front.

The overlap and hem figures are our assumptions: the calculator's defaults are a 4 in overlap and a 1 in double-fold hem (turned 1/2 in, then 1/2 in). A wider overlap gaps less and takes more fabric; change the figure in the calculator if you want more. Convention

Optional: a strip of hook-and-loop tape, about 3 in, centered on the overlap as Utah State places it, sewn to the backs before the cover is assembled.

The tote bag

The University of Kentucky's 4-H junior sewing guide (4JD-01PB) has two bags that between them give a tote's cut sizes and methods. Its Drawstring Shoulder Bag cuts two body pieces 15 × 16 in with a 1 5/8 in square notch cut from each bottom corner, and two straps 33 × 2 3/4 in. Its Go Green Tote Bag uses 1/2 in seams throughout, edgestitches its straps after pressing 1/2 in under each long edge and folding them in half, finishes the side seams with zigzag or overcasting, and turns its top edge 1 in and 1 in again into a double-folded hem with the strap ends caught in. Preference

The square notches make a boxed corner: after the side and bottom seams are sewn, each notch is opened and flattened so the side seam lies on the bottom seam, and the raw edges are stitched straight across. The bag gains a flat bottom. By our arithmetic, the bottom's depth is about twice the difference between the notch size and the seam allowance, 2 × (notch − seam allowance): with a 1 5/8 in notch and 1/2 in seams, about 2 1/4 in. Fold a paper mockup to check it before cutting canvas. Test it

Canvas straps and a top edge carry the weight, so interface them. New Mexico State's Guide C-208 describes interfacing as woven, knit or nonwoven, sewn in or fused; choose a weight for the canvas from its guidance and the interfacing's own instructions, which also say whether to preshrink it (Choosing and preparing fabric). A canvas tote needs a heavier needle than a pillow cover: find it in the needle finder and confirm it on the test sample.

Elastic-waist pants or a skirt

Two routes. Pants come from a commercial pattern: Patterns and fit chose the size and worked out the ease, and the guide sheet gives the pieces and the order. A skirt can be drafted from the hip measurement with Utah State's Youth Elastic Waist Skirt method, which the skirt calculator follows: Preference

• Circumference = hip × an ease factor: 1.2 semi-fitted, 1.3 loose, 1.5 very loose, 2 extra loose.
• Fabric width = circumference + 1 1/4 in (two 5/8 in allowances for one center back seam). USU's example: a 30 in hip × 1.2 = 36 in, + 1 1/4 = 37 1/4 in.
• Fabric length = finished length + 2 3/4 in for the casing and hem. USU's example: 22 + 2 3/4 = 24 3/4 in; it adds an extra 1/4 yd (9 in) for shrinkage and straightening, 33 3/4 in, rounded up to 1 yd.
• If the width needed is more than 44/45 in, USU cuts two panels, each half the circumference + 1 1/4 in, with two side seams.

USU lists the skirt as not suitable for plaids, one-way designs or flannel. It uses 1 in elastic bought at least as long as the waist, and a casing at least 1/8 in wider than the elastic; Oregon State's 4-H Casings and Crotch Seams sheet says at least 1/4 in wider. Neither gives a length to cut the elastic; both fit it on the body (Closures and elastic). Convention

For pants, Oregon State's sheet reinforces the crotch seam: sew it at 5/8 in, then a second row 1/16 in from the first in the seam allowance, and a third 1/4 in beyond that between the notches; trim close to the stitching between the notches only. Convention

A batch of five repairs

The mending project is five items from your mending log, each repaired by the method Everyday mending and Hems taught and logged as you finish it. Choose five that are worth repairing and within this manual: buttons, split seams, falling hems, small holes and tears, pants to shorten by a hem. A broken zipper in jeans or a coat, taking in or letting out a seam, and anything lined go to a tailor (Everyday mending), and can be the sixth item: the decision and the questions written down count as handling it. Sort each into hand, machine or either before you start, and gather the kit once (kit checklist).

2. The test sample on the real fabric

A test sample is a seam sewn on scraps of the project's own fabric, preshrunk as the project will be, with the planned needle, thread, stitch length and seam allowance, before anything is cut. It settles the questions a calculator cannot: whether the tension is balanced on this fabric, whether the stitch length suits it, whether the needle skips on canvas, whether the press setting marks it. Test it

1. Cut two scraps about 6 × 8 in from the selvage end or the waste beside a piece. For a tote, include a strip of the interfacing fused to one scrap.
2. Sew the project's seam: the same allowance on the same number of layers, backstitched at both ends (Stitching and tension). For a tote, also sew a scrap sample of the real thickest point: a strap end folded the way the plan folds it, caught in the double-folded top edge, with the interfacing, and count the layers on your own sample. Confirm the needle and machine handle it before you cut the canvas.
3. Read the stitch on both sides. Upper thread on top, bobbin thread underneath, meeting in the layers, means balanced. If not, rethread with the presser foot up before you touch the dial (the check order).
4. Press it at the setting you tested in Cutting, marking and pressing, and look for shine or marks.
5. Try the finish and the closure. The seam finish on the raw edges; a casing with a length of the elastic; a hem with its two folds.
6. Log it. One row in the stitch sample log, then tick "test sample done" in the plan. Pin the sample into your sample book (sample book).

For a mending batch, the test is on an inside seam allowance or a hem's turned edge of each garment: thread color, stitch visibility, and the press setting for its fiber.

3. Sew it in order

An order of work is the sequence of steps in which each seam can still be reached and pressed: hems on edges that will be enclosed come first, seams that cross others come after the first is pressed. Oregon State's 4-H pressing sheet says to press each seam before it is crossed by another. Convention The steps below match the seeded order of work. Tick each one off there and use its note column for anything you change.

Pillow cover

1. Measure the form across the middle, seam to seam.
2. Work out the pieces with the pillow calculator and fill the cut list.
3. Preshrink the fabric the way the cover will be washed, and square it on grain (Choosing and preparing fabric).
4. Sew a test sample and log the settings.
5. Cut one front and two backs on grain (Cutting, marking and pressing).
6. Hem the opening edge of each back with a double fold: press 1/2 in to the wrong side, then 1/2 in again, and stitch close to the inner fold (Hems).
7. Stack and pin. Lay the front right side up, then the backs right side down on it, raw edges matching the front's, hemmed edges overlapping at the center.
8. Sew all four sides at the seam allowance, pivoting with the needle down at each corner and backstitching where you start and stop. Utah State shortens the stitch for about 1 in either side of each corner to reinforce it.
9. Finish the raw edges if the fabric frays: stitch the finish you chose in Seams and a first piece along the allowances of all four sides, then check that no raw edge is left uncovered.
10. Clip the corners diagonally, turn right side out through the overlap, push the corners out gently, and press.
11. Insert the form, check against the quality list, and write the care note.

Tote bag

1. Preshrink the canvas if it will be washed, and square it on grain.
2. Sew a test sample on the canvas with the planned needle and stitch length.
3. Cut the body pieces and straps; fuse interfacing to the straps and top band, following the interfacing's instructions.
4. Fold and edgestitch the straps: press each long edge under, fold in half lengthwise, and stitch close to both long edges.
5. Sew the side and bottom seams, leaving the notches open, and finish the raw edges (Seams and a first piece).
6. Box the bottom corners: open each notch, match the side seam to the bottom seam, and stitch across the raw edges at the seam allowance. Backstitch both ends.
7. Double-fold the top edge with the strap ends caught in, and topstitch. Kentucky's Go Green Tote places each strap 3 in either side of the center.
8. Press, check against the quality list, and write the care note.

Pants or skirt

1. Take and record measurements with a helper (Patterns and fit).
2. Choose the size from the chart and check the finished measurements with the ease tool.
3. Read the envelope for fabric, notions and yardage; buy.
4. Preshrink the fabric and square it on grain.
5. Sew a test sample on the real fabric.
6. Fit the tissue or a muslin if the pattern is new to you (Patterns and fit).
7. Cut and mark the pieces.
8. Sew the seams in the guide sheet's order, reinforcing the crotch seam for pants.
9. Sew the casing, thread the elastic with a bodkin or safety pin, fit it by trying on, and stitch the ends overlapped 1 in, as USU does.
10. Hem, press, check against the quality list, and write the care note.

Mending batch

1. Choose five items from the mending log.
2. Sort each into hand or machine, and gather the kit.
3. Repair the first item and log it: date, method, result.
4. Repair the remaining four, logging each.
5. Press each item and return it to the closet.

Pressing between steps is part of the work, not a finish at the end. Press each seam flat as sewn to set the stitches, then open or to one side as the step says, using the setting your test sample confirmed (Cutting, marking and pressing).

4. Check it, and write the care note

A finished item gets one careful look against a list before it goes into use. The Pacific Northwest Extension's Quality Standards for Sewn Items/Projects (PNW 197), written for 4-H judging and self-evaluation, judges the result rather than the method: by its introduction, a detail should be attractive or inconspicuous, flat and smooth, free from bulk, secured by stitching a uniform distance from an edge or fold, functional and durable. The list below takes the parts of its checklist that apply to these four projects. Convention

For a mending batch, check each item where it was repaired: is the button secure and does it pass the buttonhole; does the closed seam hold without puckers past the original stitching; is the hem even and the same length both sides; does the patch or darn lie flat? Write the result in the log's status column: confirmed when it held through a wear, provisional until then.

If an item fails a check, write what you saw in the order of work's note column and decide: fix it now (unpick and resew a puckered seam), accept it, or carry the lesson to the next project.

The care note

A care note is the washing, drying and pressing instruction you write for the item you made, taken from the bolt end of its fabric. Under the Care Labeling Rule (16 CFR 423.7), manufacturers and importers of fabric sold from bolts for home sewing must put care information on the end of each bolt or roll. That bolt end, which you recorded in the fabric sheet in Choosing and preparing fabric, is your source (Choosing and preparing fabric). The rule's text says it covers manufacturers and importers; we give no advice on labeling anything for sale.

The rule's glossary defines the words a bolt end uses. "Warm," for example, is an initial water temperature of 87 to 111 °F (31 to 44 °C), and "machine wash" with no temperature given allows hot water up to 145 °F (63 °C). Convention When the item combines materials (canvas and interfacing, cotton and elastic), we suggest writing the gentlest of their instructions; the interfacing's and the elastic's own packaging say what they take. Write the note in the plan's care field. For a gift, copy it onto a card that goes with it.

5. File the binder, and what to sew next

The sewing binder is the set of sheets you have kept through this manual: the machine record and stitch sample log, the care log, the fabric sheet and shopping list, the mending log and kit, and the project plan, cut list, order of work and measurements. They live in this browser only. The binder page exports them, with your setup and progress, as one file you keep; it prints them, and it imports the file into this manual on another device.

1. Complete the plan. Every field filled, the test sample ticked, the care note written.
2. Photograph the finished item, and keep the photo beside the exported file; write its file name in the plan's notes so the two can be matched later.
3. Export the binder and save the file somewhere you back up.
4. Print the machine sheet and keep it with the manual, as the binder page suggests.

The essential sheets on a first pass are the machine sheet, the stitch sample log, the care log, one fabric row, the mending pile, and the plan and cut list. The rest can wait.

What to sew next

We recommend no product. These are options by the skill they add, each built on a chapter you have done:

6. See it See it

• Utah State, Four Square Pillow: the front-equals-form-plus-seams logic and an envelope back with hook-and-loop tape, step by step.
• Kentucky 4-H junior sewing guide (PDF): the bags behind the tote, with cut sizes, strap folding and the double-folded top.
• Utah State, Youth Elastic Waist Skirt: the skirt drafted from the hip, with its worked example, casing and hem.
• PNW 197, Quality Standards for Sewn Items/Projects (PDF): the full checklist behind section 4, by garment area.

7. Practice Practice

Minimum: one envelope pillow cover, or the project you chose, from plan to binder. Time: about four hours for a pillow cover; longer for a tote or garment. Materials: the machine, the needle and thread from your sample log, preshrunk fabric, the pillow form (or the tote's interfacing, the garment's pattern and elastic, or your mending kit), pins, shears, an iron, and the plan sheet.

1. Plan. Measure what the project has to fit, run the calculator, and fill the plan and cut list.
2. Sample. Sew, press and log a test sample on the real fabric; tick it in the plan.
3. Cut and mark. Cut each piece on grain and tick it in the cut list.
4. Sew in order. Follow the order of work, pressing each seam before the next crosses it.
5. Check and note. Go through the quality list, write what you found in the notes, and write the care note.
6. File. Photograph it, export the binder, and put the item in use.

8. Your sewing Your sewing

9. Check your work Check your work

Criteria

• Was the finished size taken from the real object or body, not a label?
• Does the cut list show every piece with its size and grain, and are the figures the calculator's?
• Was a test sample sewn on the real fabric before cutting, and is it in the sample log?
• Was each seam pressed before another crossed it?
• Does the item meet the quality list, and are the misses written down?
• Does the plan carry a care note from the bolt end?
• For anything made for a child: no drawstring at the neck or hood, and a snug fit or a daytime use for anything worn to sleep?
• Is the binder file saved?

Worked example

In the fictional example, Dana's finished size is her measured 17 1/2 in, not the label's 18. Her cut list carries the calculator's figures and her sample is logged with its needle, thread, length and tension. She tests the fit on the first cover before cutting the second set, which settles the "potentially snug" assumption by the try rather than by a guess. Her care note is the bolt end's wording. Once her plan is complete and her binder saved, she meets the criteria. Whether the overlap gaps after a few months on the sofa is still open, and is a note for the next cover.

Common mistakes

• Cutting before the sample. A tension or needle problem then shows up on the project itself.
• Trusting the form's label. Measure it.
• Hemming the backs after assembly. The opening edges are hemmed first, while they are flat.
• Pressing only at the end. Unpressed seams make the next seam inaccurate.
• Cutting elastic to a formula. Fit it on the body.
• Skipping the care note. The bolt end is easy to lose; copy it while you have it.
• Not exporting. Clearing the browser clears the binder.

What is still unresolved

How the item wears. The quality list checks it the day it is finished; washing, use and time show whether the seams hold and the fabric behaves as its bolt end said. Note what you see in the binder after the first few washes. Fit beyond length and simple width, alterations beyond hems, and anything electrical on the machine remain outside this manual.

10. Knowledge check and scenario

Checklist

• The plan sheet and cut list are filled in from the calculators.
• A test sample on the real fabric is sewn and logged.
• The project is finished, checked against the quality list, and in use.
• The care note is written in the plan.
• The binder file is exported and saved.
• I sewed one variation from the Go deeper list. (Go deeper; optional)

Have you just done what this manual teaches? If it is still fresh, we would like to hear about it. We are looking for volunteer guides to add a few short passages from their own experience to this manual. Write to guides@learnthings.online for the details.