The following tutorial will guide you through sewing a basic straight seam.  For practice, cut a couple of 6″ squares of fabric, that you can sew together.

Step One:  Place your fabric with right sides together, and line up the edges, where you will sew your seam.

Step Two:  Raise you presser foot, place fabric under presser foot, lining it up with one of the seam measurements located on your needle plate. (It should say 5/8″ for normal seam) You want the edge of you fabric to be on that line.

Step Three:  Lower you presser foot, then sew slowly 3 or 4 stitches, then place the machine in reverse sewing for a couple of stitches (this is to lock your stitches, so they don’t unravel)  Your reverse button should be located either on your front panel of the machine, or on your handwheel.

Step Four:  Now continue sewing forward (at a comfortable speed, to maintain control and keep you stitches straight) until you have reached the end of your seam.

Step Five:  Again, at the end of your seam, reverse a few stitches, and then finish to end of fabric.  Lift presser foot, remove fabric, cut threads!  Congratulations!  You have just sewn a seam!  That was easy, right??

But Wait!

Next, you need  to press your seam.  This is one step that a lot people seem to skip or ignore, but it is extremely important if you want your project to look crisp, and professional.

Lay you sewn piece on the ironing board with seam up.  Separate the seam, and press it open (a little steam is helpful)  Now turn you fabric piece over, and press again.  You should press all seams, and your project throughout the process to give it that nice finished look.

See? It isn’t so hard, but if you prefer a video tutorial, I invite you to watch Simply Sew ~ A Straight Seam

Happy Sewing!
Bonnie

You’ll need: different lightweight fabrics, scissors or pinking sheers (if you choose to cut rather than tear strips), nails, 2x4x8 board, long strand of yarn or thin ribbon

1. Make a “loom”, using a 2x4x8 board and hammering 5-7 nails at each end (I eyeball it, but you can measure between nails, if you like)
2. Choose 3-5 fabrics that work well together and make sure they’re lightweight, for a flexible, comfortable scarf.
3. Tear with grain of fabric (will fray faster, untreated) or cut (with pinking shears) them into approx. 1-2″ strips.
4. Run a strong piece of yarn (cotton is best) or thin fabric ribbon around the nails, back and forth, across length of loom (the more nails you use, the wider your scarf will be). You can choose a yarn to blend in with the fabrics or one that stands out because it WILL show here and there throughout your handwoven scarf.
5. Now, put a placeholder of scrap fabric at each end (loosely weave or just stuff it under the yarn, so that when you’re finished, you will have the free yarn ends to easily tie and finish the scarf.
6. Start weaving fabric strips ~ over, under, etc, each strand of yarn, then double back (opposite: under, over – each time you do a new row, you have to do the opposite of the previous row), until you only have  4″ left, then you may tie on to continue your same strip or start with a new fabric, in which case, you will want have your dangling ends (end of previous strip next to beginning of new strip) next to each to tie off later. I like to weave loosely, but it’s really up to preference.
7. Weave the fabrics of your choosing until you get to the end of the scarf, then remove your placeholder fabric and snip the yarns free. Tie them firmly in square knots and you can leave them hang for a more primitive look or you can snip them off.
8. You’re done! Tip: At any point during your weaving, you can add beads, but they must have large enough holes to accommodate the fabric. Also, I only recommend them near the ends, not in the middle, as that part will be draped around a person’s neck and can become uncomfortable or snag in their hair. Anyway, happy crafting!

NOTES: Fray Stop can be used to help stop the fraying of torn edges, but I like to let them fray. Sheer fabrics can fray pretty bad, though and I would recommend treating them lightly with it.