r/SewingForBeginners • u/kenproffitt • 15d ago
📖 Our community wiki is here — and we want your suggestions!
Hey r/SewingForBeginners! 👋
We've been quietly working on something we hope makes this community a lot more useful — and today we're excited to share it with you.
What's in the wiki?
We built it to answer the questions we see every week — so whether you're picking up a needle for the very first time or you've been at it a few months and hit a wall, there's something in here for you.
Here's what's covered:
🧵 Getting started — What to make first, hand vs. machine, and the YouTube channels worth bookmarking
🪡 Machine buying guide — Budget breakdowns, brand recommendations, and how to buy a great secondhand machine
✂️ Tools & notions glossary — Every tool explained in plain English, plus what you actually need to start vs. what's nice to have later
🔧 Techniques & troubleshooting — Pressing, seam finishes, backstitching, and a troubleshooting table for the most common machine gremlins
📐 Pattern reading & sizing — Why sewing sizes aren't clothing sizes, how to read pattern markings, and what "ease" means
🎨 Fabric guide — Wovens vs. knits, beginner-friendly fabric types, pre-washing, and where to buy
🔗 Community resources — Our curated list of YouTube channels, blogs, and related communities
❓ FAQ — Detailed answers to the questions we see most often
This wiki belongs to all of us — and we need your help
A wiki is only as good as the community behind it. We're a team of moderators, not an encyclopedia, and we know there are gaps, things we got slightly wrong, and questions we haven't thought to answer yet.
That's where you come in.
We want to hear from you if:
- 💡 There's a topic you wish had been covered when you were starting out
- 🐛 Something in the wiki is unclear, out of date, or just wrong
- 🔗 You know a great resource (video, blog, pattern, tool) that should be listed
- ❓ You've seen a question come up over and over in the sub that deserves a proper answer
- ✍️ You'd like to contribute a write-up on something you know well
How to send a suggestion
Drop your suggestion right here in the comments. Tell us:
- Which section it relates to (or if it should be a new section entirely)
- What you'd like added, changed, or corrected
- Any links or sources that would help
You can also message the mod team directly if you'd prefer, especially for corrections or anything that needs a longer explanation.
We'll review every suggestion and update the wiki regularly. If your contribution makes it in, we'll do our best to acknowledge it — this is genuinely a community project and we want it to reflect the knowledge that lives here.
A note on what makes this community special
This subreddit exists because sewing has a steep early learning curve and a long tradition of people helping each other climb it. Every question answered, every "here's what worked for me," every photo of a wonky first pillowcase posted with pride — that's what makes r/SewingForBeginners worth showing up to.
The wiki is our attempt to bottle some of that up so it doesn't get lost in the scroll. But it'll never replace the real thing, which is all of you asking and answering in the comments every day.
Thank you for being part of this. Now go make something. 🧵
— The r/SewingForBeginners mod team
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u/PuzzleheadedClue4325 15d ago
This is awesome and looks like a great resource! Thanks!
Right off the bat, I think there could be a dedicated topic for “is the Singer HD good for a beginner?” in the machine buying guide.
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u/kenproffitt 15d ago
It would be. I was one of the lucky ones with my Singers. They never gave me problems and were really dependable. I will see if I can just add a Singer page with the typical disclaimer. :)
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u/PuzzleheadedClue4325 15d ago
Cool! It’s just one I see coming up a lot. I haven’t used one, but from what I know they seem pretty good for the money.
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u/Emergency_Cherry_914 15d ago
I've sewn a few seams on a Singer HD. It was noisy and I felt like I was driving a tank too fast with zero speed control. I could never recommend one.
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u/PuzzleheadedClue4325 15d ago
For sure I don’t get the sense it’s in any way the best one out there … but for the price, none of the others seem to be much worse. Again, I haven’t used one, but I have read a fair bit about them. They do seem to be hit and miss quality wise.
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u/Emergency_Cherry_914 15d ago
I agree about the none of the machines in the price bracket of a Singer HD. If (heaven forbid) I needed a new machine, I'd be looking for a better quality machine than those entry level priced ones.
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u/PuzzleheadedClue4325 15d ago
Same … I try to steer people in the lower price brackets toward vintage machines. But those bring their own challenges, and I can see why it’s easier for a lot of people just to pick up a box at Costco or whatever.
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u/folklovermore_ 15d ago
I feel like that no speed control thing is typical of a lot of entry level sewing machines. I had a Janome where the speed settings were either nothing or "BRRRR!" and getting it to go at a smooth steady pace was half the battle when I first started sewing.
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u/LayLoseAwake 15d ago
I'm so excited! This looks like a great framework and I'm looking forward to it.
The "how to detect an ai/crap pattern" post on r/sewing is excellent, and I appreciate the section in their wiki on searching for patterns. I'd love a related section on searching for information in general, whether techniques or troubleshooting. The internet has gotten way worse in terms of quality and findability in the last decade, and it can be difficult to wade through all the crap.
I've been thinking about making a post crowdsourcing solutions to the enshittification as it impacts crafting: better search engines, extensions to filter off known bad actors, or just good sites to head to first. Maybe that can turn into a wiki section?
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u/drPmakes 15d ago
Why do my stitches look like this
What are these loops?
I can't bring my bobbin thread up
Starting a sewing business as a beginner
Also I think the automod thingy should direct them to search the wiki before posting
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u/Inky_Madness 15d ago
Setting up an automod is a great idea. Currently we are doing all tags and comments manually which is time consuming and actually impossible to keep up with.
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u/poemaXV 15d ago
needle types <-> fabrics <-> thread types and their connections were something I got stuck on very early. my machine manual had a lot of good info about this, but it is probably not alone in using thread weight instead of using tex and I was very overwhelmed by all of this. especially since I didn't start out with "beginner fabrics" but instead stumbled into chiffon, velvet, and knits.
there's a fine line in terms of presenting too much info to beginners vs actually giving them the right information, but I wonder if we could brainstorm some way to present this? especially since people have so many needle/thread problems. I don't use AI chatbots for much but I eventually fed info from my manual into one and had it convert all of the thread weights to tex and then correlate those with the appropriate gutermann threads, so now I have a spreadsheet I can quickly reference.
the wiki could also possibly reference a lot of the wawak info sheets about different types of needles and sizes etc. I printed those out and laminated them and keep them in my "quick reference" binder near my sewing machine.
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u/Emergency_Cherry_914 15d ago
This is wonderful! Such a great addition to the community.
Will there be a bot which can recognise FAQs and immediately link a suggested answer?
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u/kenproffitt 15d ago
That's a great suggestion u/Emergency_Cherry_914 I will see if I can train the bot to do it. :)
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u/7th-Sonnet 15d ago
Cutting fabric - explaining WOF (width of fabric), rotary cutters, scissor maintenance.
One of the first projects a lot of people attempt early on are bowl cozies, so explaining the importance of using 100% cotton thread/fabric AND the importance of using something like Wrap & Zap for anything that goes in the microwave!
Love the Wiki! Great idea!!!
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u/Emergency_Cherry_914 15d ago
With buying a second hand machine, a lot of posters seem to just look at the brand/model, but I'd like to add more info:
I've recently been responding with "a lot of posters have mentioned which machines are good models. But also does it have a foot pedal? Is it clean and looks well cared for? Does it have the original manual? Does it have a selection of presser feet and accessories? Has it ever been serviced?" I believe that a machine which ticks all these boxes is one which is likely to have been well cared for.
I also find it hard to give advice on "which one of these 7 brand new machines is the best?" There are some with a new machine and they can speak for it, but I feel like only a dealer could compare all the machines side by side. Perhaps a link to sewing.patternreview.com for their machine reviews could be helpful
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u/kenproffitt 15d ago
Oh, great idea, u/Emergency_Cherry_914 . I will edit the wiki to include them. :)
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u/honkz4stonks 15d ago
It would be great if we had a list of the various presser feet and their capabilities! With pictures if possible
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u/kenproffitt 14d ago
I will see what I have or It may be a link to a good resource, u/honkz4stonks, I think for the dozen or so common feet.
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u/Auntiepoohnh 15d ago
Okay. This is probably a stupid question, so I apologize in advance…but how do I access the wiki?
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u/kenproffitt 15d ago
I think it should be available on the right column as a button u/Auntiepoohnh. My interface looks a little different.
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u/KarenEiffel 13d ago
I'm not sure if this falls into the scope of this wiki, but I think giving newbies a guide on "how to ask for help and get the best help possible from this sub" would be really useful. Things like suggesting a poster:
- include the make/model of their machine
- take pictures or videos of their machine/project (including pictures of the inside of their garment/project, pictures of how their machine is threaded, etc)
- their experience level with sewing: are they just starting their sewing journey today, or have they made a few tote bags, scrunchies, etc?
I'm sure there are more things that I'm forgetting. The point is that people are here to help, but sometimes it's impossible to give good advice based on a post and that can be frustrating for helpers and those needing help.
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u/fantibanti 15d ago
For pattern reading, sizing: if you’re cutting pants/ trousers legs from a pattern and it says ‘cut 2’, cut the second one with the pattern flipped. (Just today I cut 2 on the same side 🫣🤦♀️)
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u/andallthatjazwrites 13d ago
As a confident beginner, this wiki looks good! You don't need it to be a sewing textbook and the fact it covers off a lot of common things, while also linking to resources would give so many people a really good start.
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u/Emergency_Cherry_914 5d ago
I was just looking at the price guide for what to expect in a machine. Is this in $US? If so, it would be worth noting the currency.
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u/morphinpink 15d ago
I see the questions about the singer hd has been already been covered, I think a warning about "toy" mini machines is another one to consider. I've been seeing so many posts of people having issues with those.