The One Sewing Trick That Will Save You Time

Who loves a good time-saver?

**raises hand and yells “Me! Me! Me!**

Life is busy enough already, what with work and kids and managing the household and keeping everyone fed and healthy. And then on top of that you need to get in some time for yourself.

When sewing is your thing and you’ve finally been able to sit down with your machine you want, no NEED, to be able to use your time as effectively as possible. Who wants to waste time chopping and changing between 2 or more of the same projects?!?

Do you know what I mean? When you have decided to sew multiples of the same thing, like those DIY Fabric Face Masks during Corona virus times. (I have now sewn close to 100 😳). Or fun easy-sew bean bags for the kids. Once you’ve gotten started on one, you may as well just plough through at least a few others at the same time.

I really wish I had known of this trick a while back as it not only saves you time, but also your thread! How cool is that?!?

Allow me to show you exactly how it works and you’ll be zooming through your next sewing projects in no time! Let’s go!

The Time-Wasting and Thread-Wasting Problem

If you’ve used a sewing machine for anything, ever, you’d know that at the end of your line of stitching you need to pull the fabric away from the machine and cut the threads before moving onto whatever the next sewing step may be.

So that means, you grab your scissors, snip the threads and you end up with something like this:

This may look like just a few centimetres of thread each from the spool (upper thread) and from the bobbin (lower thread).

It’s likely even more than just a few if you have one of those blades on the side of the machine that will cut through your thread. This is because you have to pull the thread further to reach up and over the blade.

So, for each row of stitching that you need to sew for every identical project (face masks, bean bags, goody bags, even some steps of T-Shirts, leggings, skirts etc) you have several centimetres of thread that you end up trimming off and throwing in the bin. Not a big deal, right?

But when you are sewing multiple projects, those few centimetres of the 2 threads really add up, let me tell you! I have literally used hundreds of metres of thread for face mask and bean bags projects recently!

Wasting thread is one part of the problem. And the other? Time!

You’ve finished one line of stitches and then you want to snip the threads so you can move onto the next step. But wait! “Where have my stupid scissors gone?!?” is something I have muttered more than once in my time at the sewing machine. You need to stop sewing, pull your fabric to the side, find your scissors, grab the scissors and snip through the threads. Then you find the next pieces of fabric to sew, line then up, stitch, and repeat.

Again, it sounds so easy and only takes a minute. “What’s a minute?” you ask. When you want to sew 10 goody bags for a party, or 60 bean bags for your kid’s school class, or 30 face masks for your extended family, that’s a lot of minutes between every step for every single piece!

Now do you see why it might be a great idea to find a better way which saves you time and materials?!?

The Time-Saving and Thread-Saving Solution

In one smooth move, you can solve these 2 problems!

You can complete the same step on multiple pieces one after the other, without all the cutting and fiddling with thread!

Basically, this means you will sew multiple pieces together to form a chain.

Tip #1! This technique works on a variety of fabrics, such as cottons and stretch jersey.

Tip #2! This method will work for any row of stitches that starts and ends at the edges of your fabric. Eg, a straight seam down the side of a skirt joining the front piece to the back would work, but sewing the hem around the bottom of the skirt would not.

Tip #3! You can use this technique using a variety of stitches, including straight or zig zag stitches.

Tip #4! These tips will help you save time and thread whether you are sewing 2 bean bags or 72. The technique is identical!

I’m going to sew a bunch of goody bags one after the other as an example to show you how this technique can be your time- and thread-saving solution. Check it out!

Step 1:

Have your machine set up with the appropriate threads and needle. Have the cut fabric pieces that you wish to stitch together ready to go.

Step 2:

Lay your first fabric pieces in place on the sewing machine and start sewing with which ever stitch you need for your project. Like any other time you begin a row of stitches, be sure to sew a couple of back stitches to hold the thread in place. Sew along the length of your fabric until you read the end of where you need to sew.

Again, sew a couple of back stitches.

Then, with the needle down right near the edge of your fabric, STOP!

Part of the fabric will still be held down by the presser foot.

Step 3:

Without raising the presser foot or the needle, slide your second pair of fabrics into place at the front edge of the presser foot. You will see that there is a gap of about 1cm between the previous fabrics and the 2 layers you have just place on the machine.

Step 4:

Start sewing! Again, don’t forget the couple of back stitches and the start and end of the seam.

And then, just like at the end of Step 2, stop!

Lay the next fabrics in place on your sewing machine and then repeat Step 3.

Step 5:

Repeat this exact same process for as many pieces you wish to sew! Easy, right?!?

You will end up with what looks like a chain of fabric pieces, all held together with a teeny 1cm length of thread between each of them!

Step 6:

Simply snip through the short thread joining each of the pieces.

Now you can go ahead and complete the next step of the project. Maybe you can even use this technique straight away again 😉.

Like I said at the beginning, those few centimetres of thread may not seem like that much, and fumbling around with scissors seems like no big deal, right? But it all adds up!

When time is precious and you really want to get some mass sewing projects done with as little fuss as possible, this technique is a Godsend!

I hope you enjoyed this totally simple, yet effective trick to shaving time (and waste) off your sewing moments.

Happy creating!

Do you have any sewing tricks you would like to share with us? We’d love to hear about them!