Whether you’re interested in sewing so you can work towards making your own clothes or you just want to take care of the clothes you already have, I firmly believe that everyone should have some basic sewing skills they can pull out in a pinch.

You never know when that perfect pair of on-sale pants will be just two or three inches too long or when your favorite coat will mysteriously lose a button. With some basic skills, you can fix your clothes and edit them to fit you better. (You’ll even be able to start some beginner sewing projects!)

Below, I’ll explain two basic sewing techniques step by step:hemming and sewing on a button. Both techniques are much easier than they look, I promise!

Table of Contents

3 Hand Stitches for Sewing

Tips and Tricks:

• Triple knot your thread ends and begin by sewing from the inside of the fold to the inside of the garment as shown below.
• Catch as little of the outer garment in the stitch as possible so that your hem doesn’t show through.
• Make your stitches small and as invisible as possible. This will get easier and easier with practice and will help insure that your hem will be strong and durable.
• For more help and other hem stitches, check out this link.

2. Replacing Buttons

One of the best ways to change the look of a garment is to sew on new buttons. In order to do this, it’s important to know how to sew on a button.

We’ve talked about how to sew on a button here at CF before, but if you found our basic guide confusing, this one is more detailed and should help your button stay on longer.

1. Thread your needle with thread the same color as your fabric and pull it through until your thread is doubled over. Tie a triple knot, holding both strands together so that your needle is in the middle of a giant loop.

2. Starting on the outside of the garment (where you are going to sew the button on) push the needle through from front to back. This way, your knot will be hidden by the button.