How To Hand Sew – The Beginner’s Tips

Once you’ve mastered the basics of hand sewing, you can expand your skill set to include a variety of useful and appealing stitches. Hand sewing has advantages over machine sewing, despite being slower. It’s inexpensive to get started, simple to do in a pinch, and provides excellent control. You can save money by learning to sew by hand instead of paying for professional alterations or repairs.

How To Hand Sew – The Beginner Sewing Tips

It is never too late to begin if you are new to sewing. To make your sewing journey easier, we’ve compiled a list of the fundamentals of how to sew by hand for beginners. We have included the following topics:

• Essential tools & equipment;
• How to start and end sewing by threading and tying the thread;
• Some basic hand stitches you’ll need to know;
• The most common types of fabric
• Basic sewing accessories you should have.

Though this post is intended for beginners learning to hand sew, the additional information may be useful as you advance your sewing skills.

Essential Tools & Equipment

1. Needles

Hand needles come in a variety of shapes and sizes to suit various tasks. They are classified primarily by the sewing task and are distinguished by the size and length of the tip, body, and eye. As a beginner, you can buy assorted needle sizes in a pack, then gradually add on the expert range as you progress.

How do you choose which needle to use for your sewing project from the various sizes available? Since cotton fabric is typically used by beginners because it is the easiest to work with. A universal needle is all you need for basic stitches with regular sewing thread. If you need to embellish your project with thicker thread or yarn, use a needle with large eyes, such as a Tapestry needle or an Embroidery needle.

Here are some examples of needles available on the market and their applications:

• Universal/all-purpose sewing needles have a sharp tip, a round eye, and a medium length. They are ideal for all household sewing tasks and can be used on practically any fabric.
• Embroidery needles – Similar to universal needles, but with sharper eyes for easier threading of multiple threads, pearls, floss, or ribbon. They can be used for cutwork, smocking, heirloom sewing, and more.
• Quilting needles is Similar to Universal needles but shorter in length. This small, agile needle is often used to sew small stitches in tailoring.
• Tapestry needles have large eyes that can hold multi-strand embroidery floss, crochet threads, and thicker fibers than regular sewing thread. Their blunt tips allow them to pass through loosely woven fabrics without snagging or piercing. These needles can be used for various needlework techniques, including embroidery, sewing, cross-stitch, knitting, crocheting, and others.
• Darning needles are thicker and longer in length than standard sewing needles. They are used for basting stitches and darning with wool or cotton.
• Beading needles are very thin and long, making them ideal for passing small beads through. It is long enough to string several beads at once.
• Doll needles – Similar to a darning needle, but much longer, typically ranging from 3 to 6 inches in length. The elongated shape of the needle allows it to reach through layers of fabric or stuffing. It is used to stuff and upholstered items.
• Leather needles have sharp triangular points that easily pierce through leather, vinyl, plastic, and other tough materials. They can be used to sew leather coats, pants, and hats and to add finishing touches to heavyweight craft projects.
• Self-threading needles, also known as calyx-eyes, have a slotted top to facilitate threading and piercing. Pull the thread down from the top of the needle to the thread.

2. Thread & Wax

Threads are available in a variety of materials, thicknesses, and colors. For normal sewing projects, there are cotton thread, polyester thread, nylon thread, waxed thread, invisible thread, and so on. There’s also floss and yarn for decorative sewing projects like embroidery and needlework.

For beginners, you’ll need some basic thread colors to match the thread color to the fabric color. Cotton or polyester threads in white, black, red, blue, green, and yellow are ideal for use in an emergency.

Using beeswax in your hand-sewing project will greatly simplify your life. Why? When you run your thread through the beeswax, it gets a nice coating that makes it smoother, keeps it from tangling, and strengthens it. Read more on How to wax the sewing thread.

3. Cutting Tools

Scissors are the basic tools you will need in sewing. There are several types of shears and cutters in the market for different specialties. For beginners, depending on what you plan to sew, you may choose the appropriate cutting tools to buy. I showed some samples in my picture, which I am currently using for my sewing and quilting projects. From right to left:

• Sharp Tip Scissors are useful for thread snipping, detail cutting, and snipping.
• Thread Snippers are used to cut thread and snip fabric.
• Sharp General Purpose Scissors are used to cut paper, felt, leather, and other non-fabric materials.
• Fabric shears, also known as fabric scissors or dressmaker’s shears, are scissors designed specifically for cutting fabric.
• Pinking shears have saw-toothed blades that cut fabric with a zigzag edge. These shears are primarily used for finishing fabric edges to prevent fraying and add a decorative touch.
• Roller cutters, also known as rotary cutters or fabric cutters, are popular sewing, quilting, and crafting tools. They are made up of a handle and a circular blade that glides smoothly across the cutting surface.

4. Sewing Pins

Sewing pins are essential sewing tools that are used to hold fabric layers together temporarily during the construction process. They are available in a variety of sizes, lengths, and types, each serving a specific purpose.

For beginners who usually sew with cotton fabrics, you can purchase the blue Glass Headpins shown in the photo above. Learn more about the different types of pins here.

5. Pincushions & Storages

A pincushion is a pad or stuffed cushion used to hold pins and needles. Insert pins and needles so you can easily access them when needed.

If you are crafty enough, you could make your own pincushion with storage space for all of your basic sewing necessities. All you need to do is glue a standard pincushion to a metal candy box, and you’ve got yourself a DIY pincushion sewing kit. Alternatively, you can sew yours with the free pincushion patterns, including my popular turtle pincushion sewing kit free pattern.

7. Erasable Fabric Markers & Chalk

Most sewing projects require making marking on the fabric. Choose the one that best suits your project, and you’re ready to start tracing or marking your pattern on the fabric.

RIGHT: The most common marking tools for tailors are tracing paper, a tracing wheel, a tailor’s chalk, and a chalk pen or colored pencil.

CENTER: Liquid water erasable and heat erasable markers would be more practical for general sewing hobbyists.

LEFT: Consider getting a transfer pencil if you do embroidery or other decorative sewing. Trace your pattern onto mirror-image paper, flip it onto the fabric, and iron to transfer the drawing.

8. Seam Ripper

A seam ripper is a useful sewing tool for removing stitches and undoing seams. It has a handle and a small pointed blade that cuts thread easily without damaging the fabric.

Place the pointed end of the seam ripper against the thread and slide it underneath a stitch. Slide the blade along the length of the stitch, cutting through the thread with gentle pressure.

10. Other Tools

Here are some additional tools that will help you with your hand-sewing project.

• Tweezers – Point-tip tweezers are useful for shaping the edges and loosening threads from the seam during unpicking. Blunt-tip tweezers, on the other hand, are ideal for turning small parts inside out and stuffing poly-fill into cavities.
• Tailor Awl – A tailor awl is used for detailed work such as shaping edges, feeding fabric into sewing machines, and loosening threads. It is used to pierce thick fabric and leather.
• Needle Threader – Needless to say, a needle threader is a tool used to thread a needle. It is extremely useful if you have poor vision or lighting, and threading is difficult without a tool. There are manual and automatic needle threaders; click the links for videos on how to use them.
• Thimble – If you’re concerned about pricking your finger, a thimble can be handy. It not only protects your fingers, but it also allows the needle to be pushed through stubborn fabric layers when necessary.
• Finger Grips – To keep your fingers from getting sore while sewing. They also provide a good grip for the needle when sewing thick layers. In some cases, it can be used in place of a thimble.

How Do You Start Sewing By Hand?

1. Thread Your Needle

Threading a needle is a simple but necessary sewing skill. Begin by cutting a length of thread about 18-24 inches long and slightly moistening the cut end to stiffen it. Use your dominant hand to hold the needle and your non-dominant hand to hold the thread. Align the cut end of the thread with the eye of the needle and gently push the thread through from front to back. If you’re having trouble, a needle threader can come in handy. Pull the thread through, leaving a short tail, and you’re ready to begin your sewing project.

2. Knot The Thread To Begin Sewing

There are several ways to tie a knot in your thread before sewing. I’ve been using the basic one since I was a kid. Pinch the thread between your thumb and forefinger, then wrap it around your index finger several times. Then, rub your thumb toward the end of your index finger and twirl to mix up the loops at the index finger. Next, gently pull the thread to tighten the knot near the end while easing the coils out of the finger. Trim any excess thread tail once the knot is secure.

3. Sewing Your Project

Place your fabric between your non-dominant hand’s thumb and middle finger, leaving the area you want to sew accessibly.
With your dominant hand, grasp the needle between your thumb, index, and middle fingers.
Choose a comfortable grip that allows you to move the needle easily.

Bring the needle up through the fabric, leaving the knot on the wrong side. To make a straight stitch, insert the needle only a short distance into the fabric. Repeat, making sure the stitches are evenly spaced.

4. How to knot to end your sewing:

You want to finish sewing and tie a knot in the thread so your stitches don’t come undone. Allow at least 2 inches of thread allowance when making a knot at the end of sewing. First, make a tiny stitch near the end of your sewing (try to catch only a few threads of the fabric). Wrap the thread around the needle two or three times. Gently pull the needle out and tighten the knot near the fabric by pressing your thumb against the thread coils. Lastly, trim the excess thread near the knot.