How to Baste Fabric

Basting fabric is an old fashioned trick that tailors use to hold seams in place without pins. It is easy to do, it just takes a little time. Anyone can do that can thread a needle. It is a great way to make adjustments to clothing before sewing a permanent seam. Usually it is used before finishing a seam with a sewing machine but can be used for other applications.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

1. Cut a length of thread about 36 inches long. Thread the one end through the eye of a needle. Knot the farthest end to keep it from slipping through the fabric.
2. Hold both sides of fabric together with the outsides facing inward. In this way, all the stitching is hidden from view when fabric is reverted back to being outside out.
3. Now poke the needle through the both layers of fabric and pull all the way through until you reach the knot. Now on the same side that the thread came through, move over about a half inch and poke the needle back through the layers.
4. Continue threading the needle and thread back and forth through the layers of fabric until the section being connected is finished. Either tie a loose knot or leave a long piece of thread hanging for ease of removal later.
5. Now the fabric is ready to be sewn with the sewing machine. No pins will have to be removed and for the most part, you can sew right over the basting line. Once the permanent seam is finished, remove any knots from the basting thread and pull firmly to remove.