My mother is a master seamstress. She can wip up a dress in 5 minutes flat (OK, maybe more like an hour, but the point is, no time at all). She made a me Flower girl dress, a Prom dress, a bridesmaid dress, mission dresses, a temple dress, and my wedding dress. And countless other "no big occassion" dresses. Now she makes dresses for my daughter. She is amazing. She tried really hard to pass that skill on to me. And I tried really hard to make her sorry she even tried. It may be hard to believe, but I was kind of a punk in my youth and gave my parents some trouble.
So I never really learned to sew. But a lot of the lingo and basics rubbed off on me anyway, despite my best efforts to avoid it. Now, in my older and wiser days, I realize what a complete idiot I was. Oh how I wish I were even a moderately talented seamstress. Oh how I wish I had listened to my mother! When she said "some day you'll wish you knew how", she was right!
I have decided to put in the hard work now and learn. My plan is to avoid patterns for a while -they scare me. I'm going to just do some little oh-so-easy projects. Like Grosgrain ribbon belts
, placemats turned into purses, and appliqued tees. I might even endeavor to make a pillow case into a skirt for Naomi. Hopefully this will help me be more at ease with a sewing machine and then I can move on to actually following patterns.
So today my Mother-in-law dropped off her sewing machine for me to borrow. I'll use hers for a bit and if I really do pick up sewing as a skill I'll ask for one of my own for Christmas or my birthday or something. I'm excited to get started, but don't actually have any ribbon or fabric to start with! UGH!! Another reason to go to the store - shucks!
So my question to you is...Do you have any other great, easy projects that might be fun for me to start with?
So I never really learned to sew. But a lot of the lingo and basics rubbed off on me anyway, despite my best efforts to avoid it. Now, in my older and wiser days, I realize what a complete idiot I was. Oh how I wish I were even a moderately talented seamstress. Oh how I wish I had listened to my mother! When she said "some day you'll wish you knew how", she was right!
I have decided to put in the hard work now and learn. My plan is to avoid patterns for a while -they scare me. I'm going to just do some little oh-so-easy projects. Like Grosgrain ribbon belts
, placemats turned into purses, and appliqued tees. I might even endeavor to make a pillow case into a skirt for Naomi. Hopefully this will help me be more at ease with a sewing machine and then I can move on to actually following patterns.So today my Mother-in-law dropped off her sewing machine for me to borrow. I'll use hers for a bit and if I really do pick up sewing as a skill I'll ask for one of my own for Christmas or my birthday or something. I'm excited to get started, but don't actually have any ribbon or fabric to start with! UGH!! Another reason to go to the store - shucks!
So my question to you is...Do you have any other great, easy projects that might be fun for me to start with?
7 comments:
I am the other way around... when I learned I didn't dare do anything withOUT a pattern. I started with the easy skirts, and then moved up. Other easy things (but I hate to do them) is curtains.
You get an 'A' for effort and maturity! I'm glad a little rubbed off anyway.
my first sewing project was a scrunchie, too bad no one wears one anymore. unfortunately that's still the sewing level i'm on. i make bags for the girls too, a girl can never have too many purses to put stuff in...
my first and only sewing project was a duffle bag, grey with hot pink handles. The only problem with my bag is that I wasn't payng attention when I did the handles and they were lopsided which actually made for a nice shoulder strap. . .
I have no suggestions but wish you much luck!
I kept Margaret's sewing machine when they went to Brazil. Sad to say, it sat in my closet the whole 3 years. I hope you get more use out of it than I did. Have fun!
I "learned to sew" for one of my Laurel projects. I can no longer remember how to sew a button or a seam, but at that point I sewed a bookmark, a skirt, a dress, and a baby quilt (very easy pattern). I wish I still remembered, but I really didn't have much patience for it.
I think bags are fun. You can buy cute handles and put them on a very simple bag. Here's a good pattern I found on a blog:
http://dandelionmama.wordpress.com/2007/10/19/how-to-totally-easy-totes/
It's very easy and cute. I made a version 1.5X as big for my Primary bag.
You are so ambitious! Good luck with your projects!
Oh, also throw pillows in funky fabrics are a fun, easy project.
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