Household Hints Index

Sewing Hints

Buttons...
Organize loose buttons by stringing them on twist ties, then simply twist the ties to prevent them from falling off.

Update a blouse or jacket by changing the buttons.

Sew buttons on with nylon fishing line or dental floss. If you need a different color, finish the job by using a little matching thread to cover the white.

Creases...
To remove creases from permanent-press fabrics, use two to three tablespoons of white vinegar to one or two cups of water. Soak a cotton pressing cloth in the solution. Squeeze out excess moisture. Place cloth over the crease or wrinkle, and press with a hot iron.

Hemming...
To get rid of hemlines when lengthening blue jeans, color over the hemline with a blue crayon. Cover your ironing board with newspaper or cloth, and iron in the crayon color by pressing the jeans wrong-side-out.

To get rid of crease marks when lengthening clothes, dampen the crease mark liberally with white vinegar. Place a damp cloth over the crease mark and press with a hot iron.

To do a quick hem on a pair of blue jeans, turn them up and tape with silver duct tape. It lasts through many washings. If the blue jeans shrink a little, simply tear off the duct tape and re-do.

Patterns...
If you have a sewing pattern that you will use often, transfer the pattern and all the markings to non-fusible lightweight interfacing. It will last a long time.

Pinking Shears...
To keep shears sharp, cut through a sheet of folded aluminum foil or coarse sandpaper.

Pleats...
To change pleats in slacks, dip a cloth in a solution of 1/4 cup white vinegar and 2 cups water. Wring out thoroughly and cover the old pleat. Press with low setting on steam iron.

Pressing Cloth...
Dampen a brown grocery sack, and use it as a pressing cloth.

Quilts...
Use an old blanket as the batting for a quilt.

Sewing...
Leftover rickrack, binding, elastic, etc. can be wound around an empty thread spool and secured with a straight pin.

When basting, thread the needle, but don't cut the thread from the spool. This way you won't have to keep re-threading the needle.

Thread...
To prevent tangled thread when sewing by hand, knot each strand separately instead of knotting them together.

Trash...
Tape a small bag to the sewing table to get rid of the pesky threads and scraps. When the bag is full, just throw it away and replace with a new one.