Needle and thread skill

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Was in a large national department store this past weekend and noticed they had ONE (1) sewing machine on the sales floor. Maybe they had a run on these things during black Friday, but I seem to recall they used to have a half dozen different models at this very same store 20 years ago. Related - a couple months ago I was in a fabric store and noticed the median age of customers appeared to be close to retirement age. Have sewing skills become so rare that stores no longer carry these once common items?

I remember we had to take Home Ec classes in junior high (this included boys and girls had to take at least one shop class). When was the last time you sewed something beyond a shirt button?

2

I’ve sewed split hems and such, but making clothes from scratch (unless I’m knitting) isn’t my thing. My mother had an entire room devoted to sewing with cupboards stuffed with fabric.

3

My mother had a sewing room as well and used to buy patterns to make uncool clothes that my brother and I were generally embarrassed to be seen wearing in school. In retrospect I have to commend mom for her frugality and skill. Nowadays it seems the only folks demonstrating proficiency with sewing skills are those actively involved in SCA or ren faires.

4

I think it’s a time thing too. Plus there’s a greater proliferation of options to buy your clothes ready made. Sewing your own is a hobby now, not a necessity.

5

Sewing is a hobby that has seen a huge uptick in the past decade. A department store is the wrong place to look for sewing machines, though. These days people look for them at fabric stores. National retailers like Jo-Ann carry some. Independent quilt shops carry more–as well as the fancy embroidery machines. Nearly any town big enough to have a Main Street will have a quilt shop.

And then there is online retailing. When I bought a machine five years ago, I knew what features and brands I liked, so I comparison shopped and ordered mine.

6

Last thing I sewed (apart from mundane repairs) was a 7’ long stuffed squid for my daughter. The sewing was the easy part. I had to scale up and draw a pattern working from a smaller picture. Then there was the stuffing - I do so hate that part, especially on long, narrow tubular parts. But it looked really cool, so there’s that.

By the time I had to take HomeEc in 9th grade, I was proficient in making clothes - my mom taught me when I was maybe 11 or 12. So while my classmates were struggling to make a drawstring bag, I finished the bag and the dress that we were all supposed to make, plus I made a skirt and vest set that I wore that Easter. Easiest “A” ever! For a long time, I made most of my clothes, but it’s gotten to where it’s cheaper to buy garments. I did a lot of sewing when we had boats - covering cushions, making sail covers and pedestal covers and winch covers. I’ve even upholstered a couple of sofas and several chairs in my time, and made more drapes than I can remember.

But these days, the sewing machine is mostly relegated to repair jobs.

7

Sewing is regaining popularity. Simple skirts and tops, decorating projects, baby clothes (omigod, the prices of new baby clothes!), etc. are all gaining in popularity.

I also do hand embroidery and that’s gaining some ground thanks to Sublime Stitching by Jenny Hart and the sharing on Flickr of vintage transfers. Yes, I have kitten days of the week dishtowels that I use. Embroidered handkerchiefs, too.
The first thing people say when they find out you sew is “Can you repair jeans with a broken zipper?” I can, but I won’t. Take 'em to the cleaners and let them wreck their machines and good nature doing that thankless task.

Sewing and knitting are like sex. If I love you, I’ll do it for nothing. If I don’t love you, there’s no amount of money in the world you could pay me.

8

My daughter is into cross-stitching, hard core.

9

I used to do cross stitching, but I got tired of being bossed around by some stupid color chart. If I want to make green cats, by golly, I’ll make green cats.

I’ve done the drunk roosters on a couple of items, but I like them in color.

I still do freehand cross stitch, but this is not mine.

https://www.flickr.com/groups/hooplove/pool/
I’ve got to do some Betsy Dean rabbits. they look slightly deranged.

Sublime Stitching:
http://sublimestitching.com/collections/patterns-all-mix

10

Yes, go to the specialty quilt/fabric stores, or even Joann’s. The choices in machines are astounding! And expensive, too!

Every time I am at Joann’s or the Evil Hobby Lobby, there were always people looking through the patterns, and there is always a line at the cutting table. So someone is making clothes.

11

I busted out a brand-new machine my wife bought years ago to whip out some auto interior projects and in the twenty minutes it took to read the directions and figure out how to work the damn thing, it broke! :mad:

Back in the box it went. Still sitting where I put it, disgusted.

12

Thirty seconds ago–just sewed up a torn seam on some trousers. (And okay, I only did that chore, which I’d been putting off, so I could post to this thread. Peer pressure!)

13

This. A hundred times! :smiley:

I sew quite a lot of my professional work clothes, which consists of dresses and jackets. I have a very pear-shaped figure, and I like my dresses lined. I have learned through some trial and error, to fit my own body well. I know what looks good on ME, and what patterns work for ME. Yes, I appreciate your compliments on my outfit, and NO, I will not, ever, make one for you! :stuck_out_tongue:

I sew for many reasons. It is a good creative outlet, and I like the customization and uniqueness of styling my own things, my way. I guess what mainly drove me to it was spending hours shopping for clothes and finding nothing that fit, or was ugly fabric, or was shoddily made, etc… After awhile, I just concluded that I would rather invest these wasted hours in making something I truly loved.

Like several of you have stated, I learned the basics of sewing from my mother, in her sewing room in the 70s. She sewed our play (and some school) clothes out of necessity. I liked watching her and she got me started sewing doll clothes from her scraps while sitting on encyclopedias at her big brown Singer machine, that she still has to this day, and yes, it still works like a charm. She still sews, but mainly just home decor things. She also sewed my prom dresses and my big 80s wedding dress, and all were lovely and just what I wanted (at the time, anyway, lol!)

I bought a Janome machine a few years ago for about $500 and I adore it. I got it at a local Singer store. They service and sell machines. I take mine in every so often for a check up.

I think Project Runway has caused some young people to become interested in sewing again. I see many young people in my local Joann’s and Hobby Lobby, but we have a big Art College in our town.

I agree with the posters who said department stores are the wrong place to look anymore. Sewing machines are no longer considered a normal household appliance item, such as a toaster or a stand mixer. You have to go to a specialty store.

According to my mother, the reason to sew these days is not for the economy of it as in her day (because sewing clothes does not save you any money today), it is for the creativity or because you want something specific. My reasons are certainly the latter, so I guess there’s some truth in that.

14

Sewing is having a little Renaissance right now but most of the evidence for this is happening online. There are hundreds of small pattern makers with less than a couple of dozen patterns. Some only have a handful. Lots of online fabric retailers, even ones where you can buy custom print fabric. You upload the design. They print it. Or you can choose from their collection of prints that other people have uploaded to share (and for which the designers get a small fee when someone uses them.) There are hundreds of sewing blogs and websites where people share what they are doing with how tos and finished pieces show offs.

It’s quite lovely, actually. I’ve been sewing for 30 years so it’s nice to have all this information and sharing going on so I can fill in all the technical knowledge holes from being self taught.

But, yeah, if you want a sewing machine you don’t go to Sears. You go to the sewing store or you order online. I bought my serger from Amazon.

15

My Mom and 4H taught me to sew. I have my Grandma’s 1960(?) sewing machine. I never learned how to to close fitting clothes, so I tend to stick to stuff like Halloween costumes for my children. As long as they are big enough, it doesn’t matter.

I also do some embroidery. I like to buy the iron on books and make tea towels and stuff. AS BeeGee mentioned up thread, I like to pick my own colors, so green or purple cats if I feel like it.

16

With the rise of the DIY movement, sewing is having a bit of a good day, but overall, it’s gone out of style because it’s no longer cheap. Even cheap fabric isn’t as cheap as I can buy a moderately priced shirt.

I’m about to make cushion covers for my new camper, and I’m making them with cut up bedsheets. Because I can buy a King size set of decently thick, washable, microfiber bedsheets in a color and pattern I like for $18.99 on Amazon. The same fabric in the store would be $15.99 per yard, minimum, and I’m going to need at least 6 yards.

Today, I can find a shirt at the thrift store for $5 with the tags still on it. I literally could not buy enough fabric for $5 to make myself a shirt, nevermind the time needed to do it.

So I’m one of those who will sew corsets and Ren Fair garb, and the occasional dress or skirt I want to be a custom job, but I’m not interested in sewing everyday clothing or household textiles, with the exception of camper cushion covers, which are insanely expensive to purchase and don’t come in purple, anyway.

17

Sew clothes? Heck, I used to sew shoes and boots! Back in my cobbler days when I had a machine up to the task.

My home machine is a 1910 Singer treadle machine - very simple, very rugged, 107 years old and still working fine.

But, like a lot of crafts, while there’s a bit of an uptick in popularity the skills aren’t nearly as universal as they used to be. The fact a lot of stores push extremely expensive machines isn’t helping new people enter.

18

I failed needlecraft in Grade 7, and to this day do not know how to thread a sewing machine. I’m now 56.

:smiley:

19

I’m 53. My mother bought me a Kenmore machine when I was about 13 and I still have it, barely use it, but will not get rid of it. It’s a great little workhorse - and despite neglect, and only a rare oiling for maintenance, it still chugs along and does what I need it to when I do have something I need to sew. For a basic machine, I would buy a thrift store vintage machine over a new, cheap plastic machine.

Not sure how I learned to sew. I did take home ec in school, as all girls did back in the day, and probably got started there. Taking a college course in apparel pattern drafting and doing the required sewing exercises on the industrial machines was a big boost to my skills.

I used to make clothes for myself - usually just simple skirts and pants, though I have made other things and lots of curtains and household items. As others have pointed out, fabric is not cheap and I can get new clothes for less than the cost of the material. Plus I also shop at thrift stores, and often find beautiful, well made, fine fabric items for a fraction of the cost of doing it myself.

I have started thinking about sewing again. I was looking at simple, inexpensive dresses for summer at a store, and I just couldn’t bring myself to buy one, bargain priced and all, because the pattern of the fabric was just a little off center.

20

You and I are the same age, and you should really consider it! Your sentiment here is exactly what I was saying in my earlier post. One too many disappointing shopping trips and settling for unflattering clothes just wasn’t worth my time anymore.

I also like thrift stores, too. I get really good knits, like tank tops and sweaters and such, that I won’t or can’t sew. I keep seeing tutorials on Pinterest about how to sew your own bras, but even I don’t want to tackle that! :stuck_out_tongue: