Learning to hem

Text: an original contemporary personal account-style practice extract.

In my first sewing lesson, I appreciated being allowed to practise on a scrap before touching the trousers I had brought. I also found the teacher’s contrasting thread helpful because I could see every stitch against the cloth. The practice seam looked uneven, but it was easy to unpick. Later I used matching thread on the trousers. Nobody promised that the repair would be invisible. The lesson made me more patient about checking a fold before trying to hold it permanently in place.

From the extract, give two things the writer found helpful in the first sewing lesson.