Sewing Construction Tip: Do it Flat!

Not too long ago, I was having an exceptionally geeky sewing discussion with a friend. She was complaining about how her old sewing machine does not have a free arm that allows her to easily sew armholes..
When I told her to sew flat instead of round, she just gave me a very blank look. I explained that instead of sewing the front and back seams together, and then set in the sleeves, it is much easier to sew the side seams at the end.

Huh???

1)Attach the front bodice to front skirt.
2)Attach the back bodice to back skirt.
3)Sew shoulder seams.
4)Attach the sleeves to the shoulder without finishing the sleeves first
5)Then sew flat: from the sleeve hem, all the way down the body's seam all the way to the bottom of the skirt.

I told you it was a little geek-like.

Sewing ruffled or tiered skirts the flat way is even easier to do:

Let's say you want to make a simple ruffle or two-tiered skirt:
You would prepare the skirt by gathering the longer pieces to line up with the shorter ones:

Usually, you would sew the seams of the top pieces together and seams of the bottom pieces together.
Instead, sew the front bottom piece to front top piece, and the back bottom piece to the back top piece:
Finally, with the right sides together, sew the side seams! Simple flat sewing without a lot of fiddling:
View from the front after sewing:


You've made yourself most of the skirt without too much hassle. Now finish off the hem at the bottom, add an elastic to the waist at the top, and you are done!