My sister, my mom, my grandma are/were wizards with sewing machines. When I was younger, almost all of my clothes were handmade by my grandma or my mom. My sister sewed up tons of doll clothes. My grandma even sewed all the cushions and linings for the Model T my grandpa re-assembled.
I tried making pants from a pattern once. I didn’t want MC Hammer pants, but… yeah. I did manage to make a satchel in Home Ec.
Give me a needle and thread, though, and I’m good. Sewing buttons, hems, fixing tears, and creative stitching are no problem.
I don’t see an option that fits me - I sew fairly well, but I can’t do ‘anything’ particularly not detailed handwork. But I design my own patterns, rather than working from bought patterns. Design is what I enjoy.
I can follow a pattern. but - Boriing!
I can sew from a pattern, do my own invisible hems with needle and thread, sew buttons, do simple alterations, and even hemmed some jeans with ‘invisible’ thread. I’ve made dozens of skirts, shorts, blouses, and dresses since high school days and made elaborate Halloween costumes for my daughter, for years. I made her a quilt using the designs on all her favorite t-shirts, cut and transferred on blocks of fabric (and I did it all by eyeballing it, using a queen-size sheet as a reference. It came out very nicely!). I also made her a silk and taffeta kimono robe which was a bitch to cut and sew as pieces kept unravelling, I had to do the collar and lapels by eye as the pattern made no sense, and I encased each and every raw unravelling seam in binding tape. Took forever, but it looks like a designer original costing $$$. Right now I have a stack of mending, dull stuff, and would love to make something cute for me or my daughter but it’s too hot in the house to set up the machine…If y’all need something hemmed, I charge $10 per pair of slacks or shirt sleeves! Very professional! I could make some money doing this for all the old ladies around here…
My middle school required a half semester of Home Ec each year, with half the class learning to sew the first year. I still know how to sew on a button.
The OP could have been written by me! I was taught to sew very young, and I still own and use the machine I learned on over 50 years ago. My dad was an explosive ordnance demo guy, so my mom started me out making sandbags.
I progressed to Halloween costumes and by the time I was in high school I made nearly all my clothes. As Fairy Chat Mom notes, girls were prohibited from wearing pants, especially jeans, to school in the '60’s so it was mostly shifts and baby doll dresses. I did advanced stuff like beesom (?) pockets and even drafted my own patterns eventually. One of my many jobs as a teenager was alterations and hemming for neighbors and baby sitting clients.
I’ve also made cushions and sail & binnacle covers for the boat and upholstered chairs and repaired window screens with that old Singer. I’m currently contemplating a slipcover for the living room loveseat and drapes for the den.
Wait a sec - Dr. Woo - that’s too weird!! Except I’m on my 4th sewing machine, not counting the Singer treadle machine that I inherited from my grandmother.
I made a dress on it when I was in high school. It was a challenge - no zig-zag, no reverse - just simple straight stitches. The main mistake I made was using some of the thread that I found in one of the drawers - it was close enough to being dry rotted that the dress started falling apart. :eek:
Forgot to mention I like to buy things at the thrift store and fix them up (nothing ready-made fits me well. Nothing!) I took home economics eons ago and we all made aprons, but I didn’t get into sewing until my teen years. My grandmother was a seamstress and gave me a few pointers, then I was on my own. You should have seen some of the getups I whipped up back in the 60’s and 70’s! White velvet hot pants and vest! Paisley mini-dresses, romantic voile blouses with big poofy leg o’mutton sleeves and a hundred buttons, slinky snakeskin print pants and tunic, and some adorable princess seamed jumpers. (wish I still had that navy blue one, lined and everything.)
I think there is a dividing line between being able to sew a button on and being able to do a convincing hem. I can do buttons easily, but doing a great looking hem is beyond my skill. Lucky for me my wife is an expert at home seamstress.
I chose the first option. I’ve done everything from actual clothes to housewares, upholstery, and costumes. My biggest piece recently was a fully lined black silk frock coat for a costume piece.
My favorites are a red silk Victorian I did last year, including the hat and a Crusades-era military tunic with hand embroidered sleeve insets (tiraz bands). I have made historical clothing from shoes and stockings to corsets and veils.
I tend toward wrap skits and peasant blouses for work clothes, although I’m on a vintage 1950s kick, thanks to Butterick and Vogue.
My next big housewares project is recovering a small sofa…although upholstery has little to do with sewing and more to do with glue and staples, a few seams are still needed.
I know how to sew from a pattern and I have a sewing machine, but I hardly ever use it. These days, fabric is so expensive and off-the-rack clothes so inexpensive that I don’t see any point to it. Maybe I’d take it up again if there was something I really wanted that I couldn’t find ready-made at a reasonable price in a store. That situation hasn’t arisen in 15 or 20 years.
This is pretty much me - when fabric got so expensive that it was cheaper to just buy a shirt at Sears, I was pretty much finished with sewing my own clothes. I still sew the occasional Halloween outfit, I hem and replace buttons, but that’s about it.
I’m pretty sure I could sew on a button or repair a hem., but it might be a good thing you didn’t write “and” there. ETA: buttons, in case it isn’t obvious which one I meant. I know how to sew on a button.
I’ve sown a button back on with great success, but I don’t know about this “repair a hem” business. I may or may not recognize the need to do so, as the situation arises. If and when that happens, I’ll do what I did about the popped-off button: Find a how-to video on YouTube, then buy one of those little sewing kits.
I hadn’t sewn a thing in my life until 2 months ago. An absolute bargain sewing machine sale came up, and it’s been one of many things on my to-learn/try list so I bought it and enrolled myself in a beginners class. One month later and I can thread my machine, have made 2 hot water bottle covers, 2 cushion covers and a big zippered cover for the oversized dog bed. And blind-hemmed 2 pairs of pants
I also have an a-line skirt pattern that I’m about to take the plunge and attempt my first piece of clothing! It’s so exciting to learn something new and turn fabric into something useful
Still haven’t ever sewn a button on, but I’m going to YouTube that and teach myself soon
I can and do sew (clothing mostly for my youngest daughter nowadays, special things occasionally for my older daughters, quilts, stuffed toys, dolls) crochet very well, and do some hand-dyeing. I spent a lot of time with my grandparents when I was little, learning about handicapping and progressive politics from my grandfather, sewing and crocheting from my grandmother.
I grew up to be a trial lawyer and when people find out about my needlework they react strangely–one person (whose case I rejected but who happened to know me slightly personally) told me that I couldn’t be a good lawyer and “creative” at the same time.
I find it peculiar that certain activities–sewing maybe more than anything–are still so laden with gender stereotypes. I taught my son basic sewing skills and even his very young and liberal-thinking friends think it’s odd.
I am somewhere between “could make anything from a pattern” and “can sew on a button.” I have made slipcovers and pillowcases, and some simple skirts. The most complicated thing I have done is making matching cord trim for a pillow.
That said, I hate sewing. HATE. I view it as a necessary evil.
I could make some money doing this for all the old ladies around here…
