I've been trying to hand-sew some small projects for a while now, but my stitches always come out kind of crooked and uneven. I've watched videos but I feel like I'm missing the technique or practice. Is there any trick to keeping stitches straight and even when I'm sewing without a machine?
The key is to mark the line before sewing: with a pencil or tailor's chalk, draw a straight guide where you want the seam to go, then follow that line stitch by stitch. Also, try to keep the spacing between stitches as even as possible (a lot of people use a ruler to measure every so often and check), and make sure you're driving the needle perpendicular to the fabric, not at an angle. Practice really does matter a ton, but if you start with small projects and fabrics that aren't too slippery, you'll see your hand gets used to it pretty quickly.
What most people don't mention is that hand tension is more important than any visual trick. When you sew, you tend to unconsciously clench your fingers if you concentrate too hard on the line, and that pulls the thread and warps everything. Try to relax the hand holding the fabric; I know it sounds weird, but it works. It also helps a ton to use a needle finer than you think you need - a thick needle takes up more space in the fabric and is more likely to drift.
The other tip I never see: place the fabric on a hard, flat surface, not in the air. When you're sewing while holding everything in your hands, the fabric moves without you noticing. If you rest it on a table or a rigid tray, each stitch stays more controlled. And while you're at it, make smaller stitches than you think you need - short stitches are easier to keep straight because you have less distance where you can mess up. Practice this on scraps first, no pressure.
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