...there's no point in choosing a F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S style, then spending your precious time and skills making a great garment if you don't use a suitable fabric! this doesn't mean that you *must* stay with the fabrics recommended on your pattern envelope, but you *should* choose something that will work with your chosen style...

...ooh, yes, this is one of our obsessions!

...we're *huge* fans of laundering the living daylights out of almost all of our fabrics *before* we even think about cutting into it...

...you need to pre-treat your fabrics (which means wash and dry or dryclean) *exactly* as the finished garnment will be treated, and you need to do this at least 2 or 3 times with each piece of fabric...

...this means that:

a) you'll see if your fabric shrinks, and if so, by how much;
b) you'll see if the color bleeds, fades or otherwise changes;
c) you'll see if the grain or selvedge distorts;

...what do we mean by the 'extras'?...

...we mean things like trimmings, notions and interfacings...using high-quality goods will make your garments look, wear, and wash so much better...

...for instance, a lower quality fusible interfacing will quickly distort your garment, causing ripples, bubbles and a horribly shoddy look-whereas a good quality interfacing -fusible or sew in- will enhance the look and drape of your garment...

...sounds basic, doesn't it? but you'd be amazed at how many sewers ingnore this one. as a rough rule of thumb, the tighter the weave or knit of your fabric, the finer your needle should be...

...if you're not too sure what needle to choose, here's a good way to decide...

...so important! it's crucial to choose the correct type of thread...the right thread has to be compatible with the structure and fiber content of your fabric, as well as being suitable for the project you are working on...

...although there are many types of threads, for this tip, we're just going to deal with the ones you'll use in your sewing machine...

...if you want great looking garments, you'd better get to know & love your iron!

...your garment needs to be pressed at various stages of construction; here's what we do...

...before we cut our garment out, we press the fabric completely flat-unless of course it's a crinkled-finish fabric, in which case we give it a light steam, just to get any unwanted wrinkles out...

...*obviously* we press any interfaced pieces-collars, plackets, cuffs, facings-once the interfacing is applied, but we also press the actual piece when we, say, put a collar together, or prepare a cuff...

...we have to be honest here, for years we really didn't see the point of basting (that's what happens when you are taught sewing by a really uninspiring teacher, *sigh*)...but having tried it, we think it's a fabulous trick to have up your sleeve!

...here's how-and when-we do it...

...basting is basically a method of loosely stitching together a seam or part of a seam; we do this whem for whatever reason, pins just won't do...

...basting is also great when you really need to *see* how a seam lays when it's sewn, but you also want to be able to adjust & restitch the seam...