I want to learn to sew.

In My Humble Opinion
1

Every day I walk past this fabric store and I want to make stuff out of the fabric I see in there. Also, I am sick of not being able to mend my own clothes, and I think it would be cool to make stuff for myself in my own size without having to spend hours in fitting rooms at the mall.

So, does anyone have good suggestions for a beginning sewer? I don’t have a sewing machine yet. I’m signing up for a sewing class taught through the local fabric shop, at which I can use their sewing machine, and then afterward I’m planning to get one, after I have a bit more sewing knowledge under my belt.

It’s a bit discouraging, because every time I talk to someone I know who’s a good sewer, and I ask, “Oh, did you take a class?” they say, “Nah, I learned from my grandma at age 4.” So I feel a little bit behind the curve on this one, considering that I am 26 and the only thing my grandma ever sews is cross-stitch patterns on her pillows.

Anyway, thoughts, comments, suggestions, welcome.

2

I used to enjoy sewing by machine or hand when I was younger. Then came the day when I sewed my finger using a machine…I’m a little wary now.

3

Don’t get discouraged.

A few years ago, I wanted to learn to crochet. There weren’t any classes nearby, so I got a book and taught myself. I ran into the same thing as you do, people would say, my grandma taught me when I was little.

The only thing my grandma taught me, was how to be neurotic.

But, I learned. You will too.

4

My grandmother couldn’t sew for beans. She was a wonderful cook, but the mysteries of the needle and thread evaded her. Somehow, my mother learned to sew, and she taught me when I was very young. Once she taught me the basics, I figured out the rest by making mistakes, reading books, and following directions. We did have a semester of sewing in Home Ec, but by the time I got to that class, I was way beyond the silly drawstring bag and jumper that they had us make.

So, taking the class is a great idea! May I suggest that you stick to substantial fabrics until you’re really comfortable. Few things are more discouraging than trying to form a thin, gauzy fabric into something lovely, even when you know what you’re doing. There are tons of super simple patterns available - stick with them till you’re really comfortable with the techniques and terminology.

Good luck and have fun!

5

No worries. You will start off with really basic patterns and materials.
Soon you’ll see clothes differently, learn to deconstruct them in your mind.

Most items are relatively easy to make, assuming you have average intelligence and a good pattern.

You didn’t know how to work a car or a computer until XX age, but now I bet you feel pretty at home with them. THe same thing will happen with a sewing machine.

I think its absolutely WONDERFUL you are doing this. Takes courage to learn a new skill, to venture into a new world. I so hope you enjoy this. Making your own clothes, pilow cases, bags, curtains, place mats etc etc is such a GREAT WAY to express yourself and use yoru creativity. Super!

Making things for others become treasured gifts, too.

Be paitent and compassionate with yourself…and have fun.

6

Well, I sew pretty well, and I learned as an adult, too. It can be done!

A class is a terrific idea. Pick a simple pattern to start with - almost every pattern company has “learn to sew” patterns, though not all are equally appropriate. Burda, for instance, gives some people fits. Kwik Sew, for all their spelling problems, produces some very good beginner’s patterns, and I see they’ve recently updated their basic book. It needed it - the directions were great but the photos and drawings were just horribly out-of-date.

Learning to sew is like learning to cook - you’re not going to get fantastic results right away, but you have to make mistakes to learn to do it right. Don’t fret if you have to throw your first few projects away. If you really want to do it, you will.

7

I’m completely self taught and I’ve made some pretty nice things. This is the only picture

8

I’m completely self taught and I’ve made some pretty nice things. This is the only picture I can link to and show you something I’ve made. As you can see, I mostly do Halloween costumes for my boys. This Harry Potter robe is still going strong :slight_smile:

The patterns usually list their level of difficulty and you can start with something simple like pillows or curtains, and work your way up. Good luck with your class!

9

most of my major sewing experience came from a year or two of Home Ec back when i was in high school… now many, many moons ago. before that, it was just things like sewing buttons back on or fixing seams that came undone.

i’m not a big-time sewer, but i have done things like replace the outer collars on our hunt coats and formal men’s jackets, as well as make myself some riding aprons. (guess i’m fairly specialized in my applications here.)

the biggest pieces of advice i could relay? to borrow from This Old House: “measure twice; cut once.” go slow; it’s usually easier to keep control of the machine if you stitch at a lesser speed. don’t be afraid to take it apart and re-do it if you don’t like the way it worked out the first time. and the best piece of advice from Home Ec: press everything after each step for more professional-looking results. (seems to really cut down on that “you can tell it’s home-made by the puckered seams” look.)

good luck. you’ll be so proud of something that turns out well.

10

I learned to sew in college (in a costume design class actually). My mom can sew basic stuff but not of dress-making caliber. As soon as you have some knowledge of sewing you will begin to be appalled (offended at times) at how shoddily modern clothes are made. “I can’t believe they’re charging [exhorbitant amount] and its just serged together!”

Be warned – “Hours spent in the fitting room” will turn into “hours adjusting the fit.” Making your own clothes is not faster, and not necessarily less expensive, than buying. Once upon a time it undoubtedly was – but fabric has gotten more expensive while low-couture (trendy stuff you can buy at Target) has gotten cheaper.

Good luck! I have a velvet tank dress I made for my final project in college… It doesn’t fit anymore (LOL) but I do take it out sometimes and admire the workmanship. Wow… I did that!

11

When I was 14 my mother signed me up for beginning sewing classes (along with my older sister) because she thought it was a skill every girl should know. She sewed herself, but didn’t have the patience to instruct. I took to it like a duck to water and have sewed ever since. My sister didn’t get the bug and never sewed again. A few years later I took a more advanced class that helped me get to the point that I could actually wear the clothes I made without looking like I was in costume.

My advice is to start small. It’s easy to get discouraged when the wool blazer you attempt to make looks nothing like the one on the pattern cover. So begin with easy fabrics and easy patterns. As you get better, start adding features like button holes, fitted sleeves, etc etc Also, don’t overlook sewing for home decoration. Curtains, bed skirts, table clothes, quilts, and tons of other stuff can be made very inexpensively if you can sew.

12

MsWhatsit, go for it! :smiley: Sewing can be a lot of fun. Just start with the easy patterns, and as you get more practice with it, you can really have fun, learn a skill, and save some money. Be patient with yourself. You’re going to make mistakes. But once you get the hang of it and start making clothes, you realize just how much money you’re being overcharged for something as simple as a skirt or blouse.

After I took lessons, I really began to look askance at designer clothes. I still can’t wrap my mind around how a designer skirt or dress, say something minimalist by Donna Karan or Calvin Klein, can cost hundreds of dollars when you can whip it up for a few dollars yourself. :confused:

13

I read the title of this thread (at first) as “I want to learn how to saw”, and was all set to explain the complex process of 1. Buy saw. 2. Obtain thing to cut. 3. drag pointy side over thing. 4. count fingers at end.

Sewing, though, is a bit more complex. I learned to crochet last summer. I still have half a crocheted hat in my room waiting to be finished. Takes a LOT of patience.

14

I’m the only one in my family who can sew. I taught myself.

I’m a guy.

Hey. Technically, a sewing machine IS a power tool

15

Several of my friends have taken classes given by our local fabric store. They can do much more than I can, being self-taught and really bad at following instructions. It only cost about $50 for a 6 week night class (2 nights a week). You might want to look into it.

16

**Shirley’s Helpful Hints In Learning To Sew **

  1. Learn to say shit, damn, fuck.

:slight_smile:

17

Sewing with Nancy and Singer Sewing Essentials are great books to help you learn to sew.

My mom is a great seamstress but hates to sew and would never teach me. She did the next best thing and bought me a good machine and two how-to books and I taught myself at 19 years old.

Three things to remember:

Quality fabrics lend themselves to quality clothing

The seam ripper is your friend

The ironing board and iron stays up the entire project to you are never tempted to skip over the pressing.

Have lots of fun!

18

**Shirley’s Helpful Hints In Learning To Sew **

  1. Learn to say shit, damn, fuck.

:slight_smile:

Ok, here are my two bits:

Buy a buttload of the basic, discount cotton material to fool around with. Buy it diamonds, break open some bubbly…no wait…I mean, to experiment with in a non-biblical way. It makes it easier to learn a new project by knowing ahead of time that the material you are using is ok to destroy. Muslin is my favorite because it is usually available every now and then for some ridiculously low price of .88 a yard. That way , once you have the hang of the neck line or the mysteries of a zipper/sleeve figured out, you can go on to the nice material.

Something no instruction book or sewing machine operational manual ever told me: The top thread and the bottom thread (Spoolie thingie and the bobbin thingie) should be the same weight and kind. I kept on jamming my machine and destroying material because I had two different kinds of thread going on my machine. It was my MIL, the Uber-seamstress, who watched me and then said, " Oh, ja, you are usink two different kindz of thwead. Zat iz yourr proooblem rrright zhere."
Don’t bite off more than you can chew. Translation: Keep it simple.

Yes, those *Learn to Sew Patterns * are pretty fricking moronic, but they are basic. And the rule is for the patterns that have the little slogan " Sew in 2 hours." It’s not the sewing that takes all the time. it is the reading and figuring out of the pattern and the cutting that takes that time. (And for the record, I have scores of those basic patterns that I still haven’t figured out yet. I’m retarded, I’ve decided.

[size=5]And if you only read one thing, read this:

If you have to run into the fabric store to get something, and your brain tells you, " Oh, do I need a #16 needle for the machine?" Don’t argue with your brain on this, just buy the needle or whatever it is, because what will happen is you will not buy whatever message your brain sends a flare gun message up for and then in the middle of your next project you will need exactly what you didn’t get and you will have to stop and go back and get just that ( which is impossible, and I think, against Fabric Store Laws allowing customers to buy just one thing.) and you will end up buying your next seventeen projects on that run in the store. Projects, which, btw, have just set you back another 234 years because you still haven’t gotten to the last impulse projects that you bought when you ran into the store to pick up more thread when you ran out and didn’t stock up when your brain told you to. Which means, the first project that you never finished ( needle broke) will now not get done until the baby you are making it for starts collecting social security benefits.

When I say You in the above forementioned drama, I mean me. YMMV, but I wouldn’t bet on it. (Insert red faced smilie here.)

I am pretty sure that Joanne’s and their competitors filter crack in through the air vents to put women into a shopping frenzy.

19

**Shirley’s Helpful Hints In Learning To Sew **

  1. Learn to say shit, damn, fuck.

:slight_smile:

Ok, here are my two bits:

1. Buy a buttload of the basic, discount cotton material to fool around with. Buy it diamonds, break open some bubbly…no wait…I mean, to experiment with in a non-biblical way. It makes it easier to learn a new project by knowing ahead of time that the material you are using is ok to destroy. Muslin is my favorite because it is usually available every now and then for some ridiculously low price of .88 a yard. That way , once you have the hang of the neck line or the mysteries of a zipper/sleeve figured out, you can go on to the nice material.

2 Something no instruction book or sewing machine operational manual ever told me: *The top thread and the bottom thread (Spoolie thingie and the bobbin thingie) should be the same weight and kind. * I kept on jamming my machine and destroying material because I had two different kinds of thread going on my machine. It was my MIL, the Uber-seamstress, who watched me and then said, " Oh, ja, you are usink two different kindz of thwead. Zat iz yourr proooblem rrright zhere."
**3.**Don’t bite off more than you can chew. Translation: Keep it simple.

Yes, those *Learn to Sew Patterns * are pretty fricking moronic, but they are basic. And the rule is for the patterns that have the little slogan " Sew in 2 hours." It’s not the sewing that takes all the time. it is the reading and figuring out of the pattern and the cutting that takes that time. (And for the record, I have scores of those basic patterns that I still haven’t figured out yet. I’m retarded, I’ve decided.
4 Quick tip for the ever frightening Buttonhole attempt.

Instead of doing buttonholes, you can sew the button atop, and put a snap (male part) on the under material of the button, and then sew on the adjoining peice, the other half of the snap (female part). If that made no sense whatsoever, I could do pantomimes.

This trick came from MIL - Das Uber Seamstress who got it from another Uber Seamstress. It just streamlined an entire project for me.

[size=5]And if you only read one thing, read this:

If you have to run into the fabric store to get something, and your brain tells you, " Oh, do I need a #16 needle for the machine?" Don’t argue with your brain on this, just buy the needle or whatever it is, because what will happen is you will not buy whatever message your brain sends a flare gun message up for and then in the middle of your next project you will need exactly what you didn’t get and you will have to stop and go back and get just that ( which is impossible, and I think, against Fabric Store Laws allowing customers to buy just one thing.) and you will end up buying your next seventeen projects on that run in the store. Projects, which, btw, have just set you back another 234 years because you still haven’t gotten to the last impulse projects that you bought when you ran into the store to pick up more thread when you ran out and didn’t stock up when your brain told you to. Which means, the first project that you never finished ( needle broke) will now not get done until the baby you are making it for starts collecting social security benefits.

When I say You in the above forementioned drama, I mean me. YMMV, but I wouldn’t bet on it. (Insert red faced smilie here.)

I am pretty sure that Joanne’s and their competitors filter crack in through the air vents to put women into a shopping frenzy.

20

This is a public service announcement.
Your eyesight is not failing you duo to lacivious masturbatory practices. It is do to the lead paint the above poster ate as a child that screwed up coding. Possibly her DNA.

Please resume your normal scrolling and please watch for the workers on the side of the super highway.

Thank you for your patience.