In my attempts to become more self sufficient, I decided sewing would be a useful skill to have. So, I created list of sewing related things I wanted to learn. That list was:
- How to understand patterns
- How to hand sew
- How to use the sewing machine
- How to use the serger
- How to sew on a button
So, I asked my mom to help me through the world of sewing, and I was off!
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Learning How To Read A Pattern
In my limited experience, trying to read a pattern can be likened to reading in a foreign language. When you have no idea what a seam allowance, or salvage is you tend to get lost, overwhelmed, and a bit frustrated. Strike that. A lot frustrated. The patterns I had seemed like they were organized for experienced sewers. So when you’re a complete noob on the subject, it’s easy to get hung up on this first step.
That’s what happened to me. Trying to learn this terminology and understand what the squiggles and shapes meant just aggravated me. And really truly, I was ready to give up then and there. Thankfully, I had my mom to talk me down from the ledge, and walk me through exactly what this tissue paper with words and shapes meant. Now, I’m not saying I’m a master at reading patterns now, however, I have officially made it to the upper stages of being able to successfully muddle through it.
Hand Sewing
I could never understand why both my mom and grandma despised hand sewing. Every time a project required it, they groaned and grumbled. Well, now that I’ve tried hand sewing, I can understand their resistance. In hand sewing’s defense though, I started with leather.
Until I tried sewing on a button, which I’ll talk about later, these leather straps were the first thing I had tried to hand sew. I had no idea how much different leather and fabric were to work with! Because of leather being a tough skin, my fingers were raw by the time I finally finished sewing the straps, shown below, together. I also had to use a bigger needle which, I also now realize, made this one of the hardest projects I could have tried first.
Using The Sewing Machine
Finally. The sewing machine! When I think of sewing, I automatically think of this miracle machine. I say miracle machine especially after my hand sewing horrors with the leather. I’m slowly getting a greater appreciation for the women in the past left to mend clothes by hand.
For this part of my sewing adventure, I chose to sew a pocket. This was one of the easiest parts of my experience. It was a little tricky shifting the fabric so I could curve around the corners, but when in doubt, I simply stopped and tinkered about with my fabric pieces until I felt comfortable enough to start the machine again. Now, I do have faint memories of when I was little, and my grandma first taught be how to sew. But seeing as how that was, well, forever ago, going back to sewing was like learning it all over. As a complete newbie.
Using The Serger
To serge or not to serge, that is the question. A question I asked my mom a few times. She grabbed a few clothes from my closet and compared the different stitching showing me something I hadn’t noticed before. Typically clothes are serged on the inside and you don’t want the stitches to be seen. If the threads are noticeable from the outside however, you’ll want it to be sewn because it looks better.
With that knowledge in hand, I practiced on the edge of a specifically cut piece of fabric. We didn’t actually have the right color string, but we figured it worked out because, well for one, I could see it. And for two, we would be able to sew it to different colored fabrics and it wouldn’t look too bad. Here’s my handy serging below.
Sewing on Buttons
Last but certainly not least, I learned how to hand sew a button. Really, this was the reason I wanted to learn to sew. You always hear of adulting people, cooking dinner, cleaning house, and fixing buttons. So, I finished with a flourish as I sewed my first button.
Well, I didn’t have any clothes to fix, so my mom found a spare piece of fabric for me, and I got too it. She showed me how to prepare the thread and tie it in a knot. Then she set me to work with the simple instructions of, start from the bottom and sew the button on. So I did.
The Final Product
Now, I didn’t want to just have random scraps of fabric laying around with bits of stitching in them. I wanted a full project that I could say I made. Something I accomplished. So here is the finished product from my adventure through the world of sewing!
Now, this is not my original design nor am I affiliated with the original creators. I saw a picture of this beautiful steampunk apron, and was inspired to try and make it myself. To the person who created the original design, I admire your creativity! Here’s the original apron.
That’s It!
I probably started with one of the most difficult projects I could have considering I had to hand sew leather, sew at some interesting angles, and eventually make my own pattern for this beauty. All in all though, I’m glad I made it and gained the experience I did. Plus now, I have an apron I can say I made myself! I just won’t mention the hole I accidentally tore in it with the rivets…..
If you’ve enjoyed this post on the Welcome To My Shoes blog, I know you’ll love my post on when I built a table! I post every other Tuesday so be sure to subscribe to my news letter so you don’t miss a thing! Oh, and before you go, do you have any experience sewing? What was your first experience with this interesting skill? Do you have any suggestions of what I could have done differently or what I should work on next? Make sure to leave a comment below with your answers and share this post on your socials! I’ll see you in a couple weeks as I continue exploring the world one step at a time.