Learning to sew....

tigerfeet2006

I've just been given my SIL's old sewing machine and I have been looking for lessons in my area and at the moment there are none.I also want to perfect my hand sewing as well. I have however just picked up the Readers Digest Complete Book of Sewing

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Readers-Digest-Complete-Guide-Sewing/dp/0276446410/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1302465400&sr=8-1

Which is fantastic. Well worth the money.

angeltreats

tigerfeet2006 wrote: »

I've just been given my SIL's old sewing machine and I have been looking for lessons in my area and at the moment there are none.I also want to perfect my hand sewing as well. I have however just picked up the Readers Digest Complete Book of Sewing

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Readers-Digest-Complete-Guide-Sewing/dp/0276446410/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1302465400&sr=8-1

Which is fantastic. Well worth the money.

I was going to recommend this very same book but you beat me to it! You can probably find a copy in the library or charity shop (maybe an earlier publication but this really doesn't matter). It's an incredibly useful book with great diagrams and explanations.

sp1987

I watched quite a lot of youtube videos to learn. What made it worse is it tends to be 14 yr old girls making an entire prom dress like it is second nature, with captions like 'look how easy it is'. Meanwhile I was there, with my hand stuck in the machine....heh, only kidding.

I cannot do anything 'exciting' but I can make straight lines and bags/purses and sew in zips. I only want to have a little go and I've managed that so far.

Have a look on freecycle for sewing machines as they sometimes pop up. If you don't end up using it you can always pop it back on for the next person.

GettingItRight

Hi all, thanks for your responses and thank you for the resources you have supplied.

purpleivy - I have looked at the website and will have a browse through the forum.

tigerfeet2006 - Thank you for the link to the book. It sounds promising and I will try to look into this book a little more. The reviews are very positive for this edition.

meritaten - I will look for a youtube video, but thank you for your time in writing out how to perform the herringbone stitch. Much appreciated.



I am looking to hem my own trousers primarily, but depending on how well I do, I may look at further sewing projects - nothing to extreme though. I think the sewing machine idea can wait. I think hand stitching would be an important skill to gain.

GettingItRight

sp1987 wrote: »

I watched quite a lot of youtube videos to learn. What made it worse is it tends to be 14 yr old girls making an entire prom dress like it is second nature, with captions like 'look how easy it is'. Meanwhile I was there, with my hand stuck in the machine....heh, only kidding.

I cannot do anything 'exciting' but I can make straight lines and bags/purses and sew in zips. I only want to have a little go and I've managed that so far.

Have a look on freecycle for sewing machines as they sometimes pop up. If you don't end up using it you can always pop it back on for the next person.

Good idea, thanks!

LolaLemon

GettingItRight wrote: »

I think the sewing machine idea can wait. I think hand stitching would be an important skill to gain.

best thing ever is hand sewing. i would strt with some scrap fabric first to practice with... once you are confident with how stitches should be (tigght slck etc) then u will be more comfortable using a sewing machine.
i am not the best at sewing, but i cn make a few different things on my really old sewing machine (its older than me and hadnt been used for 25 years!)
if u ask at ur local church if they have any classes or groups. even pop along to their pensioner groups, as they will have loads of help for you

ellawaude

Start small; lavender bags are useful for practising both hand sewing and machine sewing.

Cut two squares of fabric, any size you fancy but not too big 10cm2 is ideal.
Pin the pieces so the patterns are on in the inside, don't worry you will see them again.
Sew almost all the way around leave a small gap, about a thumbs width unsewn.
Turn the lavender bag the right way round. Poke the fabric through the small hole, this can be quite fiddly and the (blunt) end of the pencil might help.
Fill with lavender as desired.
Hand sew the hole up.

The best bit about lavender bags is you can experiment with different decorative stitches, fabrics and they make great gifts too.

Sewing is easy when you know how, but I'd recommend starting small and getting more adventurous later on.

GettingItRight

I have some old t-shirts which are now not my size. I cannot see myself getting into them any time soon, so I will probably cut some of these up to practice with.

I decided to buy the Readers Digest Complete Book of Sewing. Having done a little more research it looks like it could be very helpful for what I need.

As mentioned earlier, I will leave the sewing machine idea alone. My mum has told me that she has an old Singer machine which still works, so I can borrow that for when I want to practice.

Pink.

Hi GettingItRight,

As your thread has dropped down the board I've added it to the main thread on learning to sew which has lots of advice. These threads may help too:

Does anyone else sew their own clothes

Any sewing machine recommendations?

learning to use a sewing machine

Pink

GettingItRight

A big thank you for that. I will read the whole thread and those links you have provided on Friday, when I get a little more time to sit in front of the computer.

Please accept a big gold star from me. Thanks again