Basic Sewing by Hand Tutorial (2024)

More by the author:

This is a basic tutorial on how to sew.

Before you sew, make sure you have the right basic materials.

Spool of thread.
Scissors.
Sewing needle. Of course.
And the fabric that you are sewing together.

I'm using a bit of fabric for this demonstration so hopefully its enough to learn from. The two pieces of fabric are different colours because it won't cause confusion that way.

This is for a project in my film class. It deals with filming and sewing deals a lot with filming. Many props and costumes are sewn so its a valuable asset to anyone who wants to make a movie.

Weave the thread through the loop on the one end of the sewing needle.

Weave it until it's half way through the thread and fold the thread in half. Make sure the two ends of the thread are close together.

Before sewing, you need to tie the end of the thread. Tie at least 2-3 times so it's nice and secure.

Now to start sewing.

Push the needle through where you want to start sewing, but not right on the edge, at least a centimetre away.

Pull it all the way through until the knot that you had tied on the end hits the fabric.

Now take the sewing needle and put it back through the fabric beside the other spot you went through. Keep it at least half a centimetre apart and pull it all the way until you can't anymore.

With the the needle being on the other side now, go back through beside the spot that you came out of.

*If you're running out of thread on the needle, make sure you leave enough to tie 2-3 knots and cut it from the thread but not too close to the knot. Repeat steps 1-3.*

Keep sewing, almost like a back and forth motion. Most important thing is to keep each little about the same length apart. (Use first picture on this step for reference.)

Once you get to the end, tie a secure knot about 2-3 times.

After tying the knot, cut it but not too close to the knot.

Now you have finished sewing and to see how well the sewing went, flip the fabric to see how well it looks. There should be no threads showing so it could look professional.

I have one tip about sewing: When picking the thread, try to keep it as close to the same colour as the fabric so if it does show through, it wouldn't be as noticeable.

Even though this tutorial was just about basic sewing by hand, you can make many things from just sewing by hand. Sewing simple stuffed animals, simple pillows, and even costumes. Sewing by hand though takes much longer to do but its useful for anyone who has no access to a sewing machine.

Here's some links to examples of things you could sew. Depending on how well you can sew will determine on how the end product will look:

Stuffed Animals:
Novice
Expert
Pillows:
Novice
Expert

So that's the end of my tutorial and hopefully it has helped you to do basic sewing.