I used my mom’s sewing machine for the first time when I was about 6. I made a lot of my own clothes for years. I’ve sewn drapes and curtains and cushions. I’ve upholstered. I made sail covers and winch covers for boats we’ve owned over the years. I’ve altered and repaired. It always struck me as a handy skill. Yet of my parents’ 5 offspring, I’m the only one who learned to sew. I tried to teach my daughter, but she didn’t care.
I was *required *to take sewing in school (back in the olden days when girls were *required *to wear skirts or dresses to school) and since I already knew how to, I was making myself a skirt and vest outfit while my classmates were still struggling with the drawstring bag assignment. I don’t pretend to be an expert - I know my limits - but I get the feeling I’m more of a anomaly than the norm.
I can mend by hand and hem. It’s a useful skill I picked up in elementary school when they still taught home economics to all the kids in class. My kids can’t even fix an open seam. Self reliance is not on the curriculum anymore, I guess.
I can mend by hand and do the usual buttons and hems etc but I do not have the confidence to make clothes for myself. I used to do a lot of fancy dress parties and have made some (for me) quite complicated outfits with the help of a friend who is very good at dressmaking.
I’ve had a sewing machine for several years and I’m sure if I had time and inclination, I could teach myself to make simple clothes but so far it remains a distant dream.
I can sew a from a pattern.
I used to make some of my own clothes and made almost all of my nieces Halloween costumes when they were little.
I’ve never done anything tailored and if I was going to make something now I’d try to avoid zippers or buttonholes. Maybe if I practiced on a few scraps I’d pick it back up.
One of the things I want to do when I finally move is have my sewing machine set up and start using it. Right now I don’t have a big enough place to set it up.
Mom made sure that her three boys were self sufficient when we left the nest. I can fix buttons and repair a hem ( cuff ? ) on a pair of pants. While the use of a sewing machine looks pretty straight forward I have never used one.
When I was a kid, my mom made extra money doing alterations for various women. I’d come home from school to find some lady in a slip in the living room changing into different dresses so Mom could pin them up or mark them as needed. She had some clients for years!
The most I ever did for anyone else was make curtains for a guy I knew when I was in college. I miscalculated and while the final product did cover the window, it didn’t come out the way I’d hoped. After that, I kept my sewing to myself.
My mom taught me to sew (she is an amazing seamstress) and when was young & poor I use to sew all sorts of things. Nowadays I use my sewing machine mostly for repairs and the occasional pillow cover.
I remember making a lovely summer dress for my younger daughter when she was about 4. It had little ruffled cap sleeves and bow in the back and was made with a blue flower vine patterned fabric - it took me a while to make it and it came out so nice. I put it on her and she looked so cute. We went about our day and everywhere we went, people were telling her how sweet she looked.
She flat out refused to ever wear that dress again.
I can sew a lot of things, have a sewing machine and am not afraid to use it! People have brought me all manner of projects, which I was always willing to take a shot at! Pretty much, if you can think it up, I’ll try and put it together for you! It’s never dull. Well, except when it’s all altering pants, hemming skirts and making prom dresses, of course!
When people start with…“I’m not even sure it can be done…”, I’m all in!
**Lenore **- that brought back a childhood memory:
Somewhere along the line, my mom got a bolt of madras fabric for cheap. She set to work and made tops for herself, me, and my three sisters, plus shorts for Dad and my bro. We all wore them to a picnic (late 60s or early 70s, so I would have been in middle or high school.) I wish I could find the photo of the 7 of us in those outfits - it would be an intrarwebz sensation!!!
I could work my way through simple projects, with time and patience.
My middle school required that everyone take what was basically a modern Home Ec. course and there was a sewing unit. We were all supposed to make our own sweatshirts using a sewing machine. I don’t think 99% of us finished the project.
Last year, I wanted to order a large bed for my dog and thought the prices were much too high. I bought some clearance fabric and some stuffing, on the spur of the moment, thinking I’d borrow my mom or grandma’s sewing machine, but it turned out that both machines had been misplaced (the owners have passed on). With the help of Youtube and some tutorials, I was able to make a cushion and cover by hand that has held up perfectly, but in the future, I’ll just pay, unless someone has a machine to loan.
I can use a machine; my sisters taught me when I was a kid. I sew by hand anything I put a hole in that I want fixed because its silly to throw out clothes. To me, sewing a hole is no different than getting out a tool box & fixing anything else that happens to break.
You just do it because it needs to be done, and when its done, its done, and you move on.
FairyChatMom, I am able to sew, being taught both at home and at school. I count my sewing machine and serger as two often used machines. Nearly every week there is something needing a seam, or a hem. I sew curtains, pillows, dog coats. I do simple alterations, but do not have the patience or exact enough skills to sew fine clothing.
Yes, I hope you find the fun photo of the seven of you in the madras outfits.
I can sew simple things, both by hand and by machine. I have made my own pillowcases and curtains, and let out some clothes, and made very simple alterations.
I cannot follow a pattern at all. I can’t do it in anything - not for knitting, or crocheting. I have an incredibly hard time translating the 2D models to my 3D hands.
I voted “anything with a pattern” but really, I’m one tick below that. I can follow a pattern and could make “anything” in theory. But in practice I shy away from anything too tailored. I can adjust patterns to give me a sleeve I prefer or change the neckline.
I wouldn’t attempt a really tailored suit or pair of pants.
My grandmother was an outstanding seamstress and every time I get out my sewing machine I kick myself for not learning everything I could have from her. I thought there’s be a lot more time.
When I was in fifth or sixth grade, everyone was required to take a home ec course. This would have been in 1948 or so when I think in most places only girls were required to. At any rate, I can and often do sew a button back on and I have also sewed a seam (using a stitch, I am sure it has a name, in which you come back to just before the previous exit to enter again), although it would have been a while ago. I have never used a sewing machine, although my wife can and does.
About 50 years ago, a colleague of mine paid $2.00 (think $20.00 today) to get a dry cleaners to sew a button on his shirt. I was horrified.
I’m somewhere between the “anything” and “anything with a pattern”. My mom sewed all our clothes save underwear and socks until she went to work after the divorce, so Little Me spent a lot of time watching her sew and asking annoying questions, although she never “taught me to sew” with intent and/or focus. So I’ve got definite gaps in my knowledge, but can muddle my way through most things, and I’m pretty adept at altering patterns to make them more what’s wanted or to account for sizes under/over the pattern provider’s sizes. I’ll go to considerable lengths to avoid zippers and buttonholes, though! Luckily, lots of things I make use grommets and lacing instead.
But as I tell my friends who ask, “I’m a costumer, not a seamstress. If you want it to look amazing from the fourth row, I’m your gal. If you want it to withstand close scrutiny, better look elsewhere.”
…and they never grok how difficult curtains and tablecloths actually are. Straight lines and precise 90 degree angles and every piece must be exactly the same? Arrgh. Give me a corset with lots of curves and the ability to put in more darts where needed instead, please.
I can sew anything from a pattern, and I’ve made a couple patterns myself. I can also make new cloths using old cloths as a pattern. I’ve been sewing for well over 30 years, and one of these days I might even take a class to fill in my knowledge gaps.
I’ve tried to sew buttons back on before but I’m not good enough to trust myself after those couple attempts, as they keep falling off. So I don’t get any practice because I don’t want to sew buttons on that will just fall off again, which they will because I don’t have any practice.
