How to Bind a Quilt: Strips, Corners and a Neat Finish
Learn to bind a rectangular quilt: calculate strips with diagonal join loss, sew mitered corners, join the tails, and choose a hand or machine finish.
SewingPath Editorial6 minOctober 11, 2026
Guides
Sewing guides that answer the question you typed
How to thread the machine. Why the thread keeps nesting underneath. Which needle for which fabric. What a serger actually does. Short answers first, no assumed vocabulary, and no pretending we tested something we researched.
Looking for something to make instead? The project library is the outcome half of this site — guides teach a skill, projects produce an object.
Showing 1–24 of 36 guides
Where to Take Sewing Classes Now That Joann Is Closed
Joann's stores closed in 2025. Where beginner sewing classes are now, how to find one near you, what to ask before booking, and a free online course.
SewingPath Editorial9 minOctober 1, 2026
Free Online Quilting Course for Beginners
A free, no-signup quilting course in eight lessons, from your first quarter-inch seam to a finished, bound 36-by-48-inch lap quilt, and the tools it needs.
SewingPath Editorial9 minOctober 1, 2026
Learn to Sew Clothes: Free Online Course for Beginners
A free, no-signup course for learning to sew clothes: nine lessons from threading a machine to PJ shorts, a wrap skirt that fits and a shirt dress.
SewingPath Editorial7 minOctober 1, 2026
Free Hand Embroidery Course for Beginners
A free, no-signup hand embroidery course: set up a hoop, learn eight stitches on a sampler, then transfer a design and finish it in the hoop. No machine.
SewingPath Editorial9 minOctober 1, 2026
Sewing Lessons for Kids: A Free At-Home Course for Parents
Free sewing lessons for kids that parents can teach at home: hand sewing on felt first, then a real machine with an adult beside them, with safety basics.
SewingPath Editorial7 minOctober 1, 2026
How to Use a Sewing Machine Step by Step: A Beginner's Guide
How to operate a sewing machine step by step: the parts, threading, the bobbin, a first seam, backstitching, pivoting at corners and finishing off.
SewingPath Editorial12 minOctober 1, 2026
What Do I Need to Start Sewing? The Beginner Supplies List
Every sewing supply a beginner needs, sorted into must-have, nice-to-have and later, across hand sewing, machine sewing, cutting, marking and pressing.
SewingPath Editorial8 minOctober 1, 2026
Free Mending Course for Beginners: Fix Clothes by Hand
A free, no-signup mending course in six lessons: hand stitches, buttons, a fallen hem, a split seam, a small tear and shortening trousers. No machine.
SewingPath Editorial10 minOctober 1, 2026
No-Sew Fleece Tie Blanket: Sizes, Yardage and Knots
How much fleece to buy for a toddler, child, throw or adult-length tie blanket, the corner-square math behind it, and four ways to finish the fringe.
SewingPath Editorial6 minSeptember 27, 2026
Best Sewing Machines for Making Clothes
Five sewing machines for making clothes, researched from spec pages, listings and owner feedback: the garment features that matter and the ones that do not.
SewingPath Editorial7 minSeptember 27, 2026
How to Sew a Christmas Stocking: Draft Your Own Pattern
Draw your own boot-shaped stocking template in any size, then sew a lined stocking with a cuff and a hanging loop. No PDF download, no printer needed.
SewingPath Editorial10 minSeptember 22, 2026
Should You Prewash Fabric? How Much Cotton Shrinks
Fabric makers' own shrinkage figures by fiber, when to prewash and when to skip it, how to handle precuts and dye bleed, and a swatch test for your fabric.
SewingPath Editorial7 minSeptember 16, 2026
How to Hem or Shorten Jeans and Keep the Original Hem
How to shorten jeans and keep the original hem, by machine or by hand; what to do on tapered and barrel legs; and the needle and foot setup denim needs.
SewingPath Editorial10 minSeptember 4, 2026
Machine Embroidery for Beginners: What the Machine Does
How machine embroidery actually works: hooping, stabilizer, file formats, thread and needles, what a 4-inch hoop really limits, and what to make first.
SewingPath Editorial9 minSeptember 3, 2026
Quilt Size Chart: Standard Sizes, Batting and Backing
Every standard quilt size in one chart: the mattress each covers, the drop it assumes, the batting to buy, backing yardage and binding strips.
SewingPath Editorial10 minSeptember 3, 2026
How to Finish Seams Without a Serger: 5 Ways Ranked
Pinked, zigzag, turned and stitched, French and flat-felled: what each finish suits, the seam allowance it needs, and the mistake beginners make.
SewingPath Editorial8 minSeptember 3, 2026
Sewing Machine Needle Sizes Chart: 80/12, 90/14 and Which Fabric
Sewing machine needle sizes explained: what 80/12 and 90/14 mean, a size chart by fabric, why a 9 is finer than a 14, and how to read the colour bands.
SewingPath Editorial8 minAugust 31, 2026
Sewing Patterns for Beginners: How to Pick Your First One
How to choose your first sewing pattern: formats, what beginner really means, sizing versus ready-to-wear, ease, PDF or paper, and legit free patterns.
SewingPath Editorial8 minAugust 28, 2026
Beginner Sewing Kit: The 5 Essentials
The five supplies to buy when you own nothing: thread, fabric scissors, a seam ripper, hand needles and pins, plus how to give the kit as a gift.
SewingPath Editorial9 minAugust 3, 2026
How to Wind a Bobbin (and Why Yours Keeps Jamming)
Winding a bobbin evenly, seating it in drop-in and front-load machines, and why a soft bobbin leaves a nest of thread under your fabric.
SewingPath Editorial7 minAugust 3, 2026
Sewing Machine Tension Problems: Causes and How to Fix Them
What sewing machine tension actually is, a symptom table for reading your test seam, and the seven checks to run in order before you ever touch the dial.
SewingPath Editorial12 minAugust 3, 2026
How to Sew a Buttonhole With Your Machine, Step by Step
One-step and four-step buttonholes explained: interfacing first, setting the buttonhole foot, testing on the same layers, and cutting it open safely.
SewingPath Editorial10 minAugust 3, 2026
Serger vs Sewing Machine: What Beginners Actually Need
A serger trims, sews and overlocks in one pass — but it cannot do zippers, buttonholes or topstitching. Why it is a second machine, not a first.
SewingPath Editorial9 minAugust 3, 2026