All tutorials
FabLab's tutorials are filed under nine headings, so a project can be followed from the first stitch to the last. Sewing Basics covers the groundwork: threading, fabric grain, pattern envelopes, choosing a machine. Hand Stitching and Machine Sewing split the two ways of joining cloth, from running stitch and backstitch through to zips, buttonholes and topstitching. Garment Making builds wearable projects, while Alterations handles hems, waistlines, patches and the small repairs that extend a garment's life. Quilting runs from cutting squares to binding and free-motion work; Embroidery covers surface stitches such as French knots and satin stitch; Bags & Accessories and Home Decor apply the same skills to pouches, backpacks, curtains and cushions. Start wherever your current project is.
Sewing Basics [6]
The groundwork everything else stands on. These guides cover threading a needle and a machine, winding a bobbin, finding the lengthwise grain and the bias, reading the markings on a commercial pattern envelope, choosing a first machine without overspending, and the difference between pressing a seam and ironing it. Work through them and later projects stop failing for avoidable reasons. Unsure where to begin? Start with fabric grain, the one piece of knowledge that most affects how a finished garment hangs.
Hand Stitching [6]
Needle, thread, no machine required. These tutorials teach the core hand stitches one at a time and say where each one earns its place: running stitch for gathering and basting, backstitch where a seam has to hold under strain, whip stitch for joining an edge or closing a soft toy, blanket stitch for appliqué and felt, ladder stitch for an invisible closing seam on a cushion, and blind hem stitch for hems you would rather not see. Tension and stitch length get as much attention as the path of the needle.
Machine Sewing [6]
Everything the machine does better than the hand. Straight seams and a consistent seam allowance come first, followed by finishing raw edges with a zigzag or an overcast foot, installing a zip inside a seam rather than on top of it, sewing a tidy buttonhole, and topstitching that stays parallel to the edge it follows. Machine tension, matching needle size to fabric weight, and knowing when to switch to a walking foot are treated as part of the technique, not as an afterthought.
Garment Making [6]
Projects you can wear out of the house. These builds begin with forgiving shapes — pyjama pants, an apron, a simple skirt — and move on to dresses, a button-up shirt and lined pieces where fit and finish matter. Along the way you will set in sleeves, attach collars and cuffs, insert a zip, and see why adjusting a toile costs far less than unpicking a finished garment. Sizing, ease, and how to read a pattern's finished measurements are covered in the guides that need them.
Alterations [6]
The skills that keep clothes in use. Here you will find how to shorten trousers and sleeves without losing the original hem finish, take in a waist on trousers or a skirt, let a seam out where there is allowance to give, patch a hole so the repair survives the wash, replace a button or a broken zip, and reinforce thin spots before they tear. Each guide says whether the result should be invisible or deliberately visible, and which repairs need a machine.
Quilting [6]
Cloth in layers, held together by stitches. The sequence runs in the order a quilt is actually made: cutting accurate squares and strips, piecing a top with a scant quarter-inch seam, building the sandwich of top, batting and backing, quilting it — in the ditch, in straight lines, or free-motion — and binding the edges so they stand up to handling. Basting methods, thread choice, and keeping a large piece from dragging are covered where they come up.
Embroidery [6]
Stitches that sit on the surface and are meant to be seen. These guides teach stem stitch for outlines and curves, chain stitch for lines and filling, satin stitch for solid shapes with a crisp edge, French knots for texture and flower centres, and backstitch as the dependable outline for lettering. Hooping, transferring a design onto cloth, choosing between stranded floss and perle cotton, and starting and ending a thread without a knot are part of every tutorial.
Bags & Accessories [6]
Small projects that teach structural sewing. A zip pouch comes first — lining, an inset zip, a neat corner — then a scrunchie or a simple tote, before a clutch, a wallet with card slots, a waist bag and finally a lined backpack with straps and hardware. Working in three dimensions, boxing corners, adding interfacing so a bag holds its shape, and reinforcing the points that take the most load are the recurring lessons. A good use for heavier fabric left over from other projects.
Home Decor [6]
Sewing for the room rather than the body, where the pieces are large, the seams are mostly straight, and the fit is whatever your window or table happens to be. Tutorials cover lined and unlined curtains with the heading you prefer, an envelope-back cushion cover, table runners, cloth napkins with mitred corners, placemats and a simple throw blanket. Measuring a drop, matching a pattern repeat, and choosing a fabric weight for drape are handled alongside the construction.