I've not had too many successful attempts at sewing in my life. For example, that skirt I was making for my brother's wedding earlier this summer...still not finished. The body of the skirt is all assembled, but I got stuck at the part where I'm supposed to attach the waistband to the body (every way I try looks backwards). And let's not even start talking about the overwhelming feelings of anxiousness I have when I think about attaching the zipper. (And it doesn't help that everyone I ask for help openly admits that zippers -- or sewing in general -- is their one downfall.)
But I am undeterred! Me and my mad sewing skills will prevail and conquer! -- They will, that is, once I develop them to a recognizable level. And sew (get it -- sew..so..ha!) I'm practicing. Again.
I have a box on the floor of my bathroom closet which is full of flawed clothing. Every article in there either doesn't fit because it's too tight or too stretched out, has a hole in it, or has bleach stain spots on it (blast those laundry accidents!). And some of the clothes are just, well...old, and my good fashion sense won't be caught dead wearing worn, out-dated clothing. This collection has been growing for many months now and is getting to be pretty good-sized. So what do you get when a desire to practice sewing and a large box of old clothes collide? I'll tell you what...Free Fabric!
I hate to see perfectly good (or mostly good, anyway) fabric go to waste. Not that donating to the Goodwill is a waste. But I want to practice sewing. So I've pulled out my old cutting mat and used a 40% off coupon to invest in a rotary cutter and for the last few nights I've been cutting 6-inch squares out these old clothes. And now I have a growing stack of perfectly usable fabric waiting to be introduced to the sewing machine. I'm thinking that I might be able to turn these squares, along with some matching supplemental (and discounted) fabric into a practice patchwork quilt. You know...to prep me for the real one I'm also scheming to make.
Sew (again...ha!) we'll see how it goes. Or at least how long it lasts. Of course, a real incentive to master quilt-making are these blasted cold winters Indiana gets. You know...I'm really not looking forward to another winter here. Autumn is already threatening and before you know it the chilly misty fogs we wake up to in the mornings now will turn into frosts which will then turn into snow, and then we'll be spending our time all cold and huddled in our apartment as we sit and watch ice form on the insides of the windows. That's why I need to learn how to make quilts. So at least I can watch the ice crystals form from inside of a warm, homemade blanket.
3 comments:
This was such a sew great article - i'm sew excited about soing!
Despite (or perhaps because of) my absolute inability to use a sewing machine, (nay--even dread thereof), I have a great deal of respect for those who have a clue when someone says something about the tension on their machine... Or who know how to thread the darn things... WOW! I get all admiring-eyed just THINKING about it! :^)
And about those quilts--yeah--my mom's been on a quilt kick lately, but even working on these things during cold months can be benificial, especially if you have to do any hand-sewing. There's roughly 60lbs (roughly, I said) of warm fabric planted square on your lap. Lucky, lucky, warm sewing-person you.
I'm fairly novice at sewing as well, but it sure is fun to learn! Just learn from your mistakes. My first pair of pj's turned out horribly wrong. First too large, then waaayyyy too small when I tried trimming them down. The second pair turned out MUCH better.
Also, when making skirts you can always avoid zippers by doing elastic waists, drawstrings, buttons, hooks, etc. My sewing machine has an automatic button holer, and it is fabulous. Makes life sew much easier.
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