Like most sewers, I first learned from my mother. My mother used to have her own shop selling handmade toys and she would sew frequently for us – clothes, Halloween costumes, as well as clothes for herself.
When I was a teenager I started to appreciate it more. My mom showed me her machine – I was terrified of threading it and remained so until my Singer with numbers right on the machine! – and I dabbled here and there. As a family of 10, we didn’t have lots of money to spend on clothes. I would find clothes at the thrift store and upgrade them to my liking – nowadays known as “upcycling.”
When I moved out on my own, I bought a simple Singer at Target with a birthday gift card. I jumped right into sewing curtains, shower curtains and pillows for my new apartment. It wasn’t until I became pregnant with my daughter that I discovered the amazing world of online tutorials, and then I really took off! With every tutorial I learned basic construction and finishing techniques, and the possibilities grew. I started making simple baby clothes, toys (blocks, tag balls) and learned the correct way to make pillows and curtains – oh man, did I cringe when I saw my previous home décor! As my bookmarks menu grew and grew, I would try to catch up by night.
Which brings me here. I mostly began sewing again to save money – it’s much easier to get something custom and to your liking by making it yourself than buying it. This is not always the case – my love of sewing has also led to a love of designer fabrics – but there’s definitely a huge satisfaction and sense of pride in seeing something in a store and immediately thinking, “I could make that, and make it better.”
I try to encourage anyone I can, I can’t help but be passionate about it! I wish I had more sewing friends, but I d belong to an online sewing forum, where we share completed projects and can turn to for help when we get stuck. Love those ladies!
Enough about me, I’d love to hear how you guys started sewing!
