learn to sew

And am now officially learning to sew. It’s most of what I do now. I take a proffessional course. I’m getting a lot better!

And I ended up doing everything on the machine after all. Since I’m teaching myself, I have to make up my own solutions to problems, and I don’t now if they are the best available, but the dress is there and it’s wearable! Btu I still have a lot to learn.

I found my manual leaflet, I re-threaded the machine, and I tried again – the thread still got entangled. Then I tought, maybe it’s just not tight enough, and I was correct! But the fabric was by now ruined.
I went back to te shop and asked for a new fabric, that’s easy to sew for a non-experienced user of a sewing machine. Today I sat down and drew the shape of a dress – made sure it was easy to sew, mostly straight lines. Then I cut it, and doing so, I had this thought: there are places where it’s going to be hard to use the machine, but they are very small. I can do those by hand, as long as I complete a project. So I only sewed the sides, and I’m finished with that by now, and it’s all been just today! I would have continued, but I need to measure it on my daughter first. But it has the shape of a dress already, and I’m so excited!

first time since we’ve moved. My accuracy has improved, but I got entangled a lot. I’m not sure why. Maybe I need to thread the machine again, maybe I don’t remember correctly, but where is my manual leaflet?... Ah, the pleasures of moving.

I ended up cutting out the back and the front, and I tried to sew the edges. Well, I did, but I had to stop and start again every few stiches. My daughter will be able to wear it, if I ever complete it, but examining it closely – it looks bad.
Will I ever be good at this?..

(I’m fond of streams of conciousness, hihi.)
What I need now, is a project. It would give me a much needed sence of progress, and would clarify in my mind what I still need to learn. If I fail, it will be an instructive failure, and if I succeed I’ll have a dress to show for my efforts…
Here is the fabric that my daughter has chosen: it displays the taste of a 4 years old girl, but it’s easy to work with. Now I’m going to cut it.
Here I have to admit again that I’m clueless.
I take a dress of my daugher that is similar enough to what I plan to do. I draw. I make some of the changes I want as I go. I draw half the back of the dress, I fold the fabric in two and I cut. Here is a back of a dress! A real one! I can see that I’ve made some errors, but it doesn’t have to be perfect! As long as she can wear it, I’ll be very satisfied.
Now I have to close the edges of the fabric. Or maybe it’s better to cut the front first? What should I do next? No idea, but it occurs to me, that if I cut two parts now, and leave them by the machine, by the time I get back to it there will be bits of fabric everywhere and I won’t find anything. It’s best to finish with one piece and then put it away. Okay, I’ll do that, and if I regret it later, let it be a lesson for me! To the machine!
Wait, first I have to experiment with the fabric and thread, find the right tension, right? Also I want to get the feel, how to support the fabric, how to stay very close to the edge.
Thread, I said?
I have this white thread, will it do? Okay, it’s close enough. So now…
Now I… I thread the machine again! So I need to de-thread it. Now. Wait, first I do the bobbin thing! Yeay! Ok, so this goes from here, to here, ok… bzzzzzzz! I did the bobbin thing! I’m do good at this!
(Yawn). It’s bed time.
Let’s continue this next time. Good night!

I’ve made several good practice seems! I’ve been using old T-shirts that my ex-husband has failed to take out of my house although I’ve asked him numerous times… ha-ha… I cut them open and sew! I’ve tried a few zigzags and patterns. I follow along my manual leaflet, it’s very informative. I’ve come as far as overedge stitching, which seems very important to me, and it’s harder than what I’ve done so far because I have to be very accurate. This I still have to practice. Also I have to learn the different technics for different types of fabrics and finishes, but I have time for that.
My first project is going to be a dress for my 4 years old. A very simple one, out of two pieces of fabric, but one that she can wear outside. Next I’m going to try a skirt for myself – out of some very thin and airy fabric, because it’s so hot and humid here in the summer.

Last night I finally had some time. The kids went to bed at a reasonable hour and the house was reasonably clean… I sat down to figure out my Singer. I figured out how to thread it (where “figured out” equals “managed to follow it through with the manual and will need it again next time”). It was so much fun! Then I cut open an old shirt that’s too small for the kids and tried to sew along one edge. It started nice enough, for a beginner. Then it got stuck. It was hard to remove the fabric from the machine and to pull out all the thread that’s got stuck inside… I’m not sure, but I think my mistake was, when I got a little excited (“Wew! I’m sewing! Look at me, I’m sewing!”), I pulled and pushed the fabric instead of just leading it through. The moment I noticed I was doing it, and the manual states clearly not to, that’s when it got stuck.
Well, that’s as far as I got this time. I hope to have better success next time!

I’ve been wanting to learn to sew for a couple of years. My goal is to make clothes for myself and my children, that look like nobody else’s, that are exactly like I want, that haven’t been sweated on in a sweatshop. My two problems were: I had no one to teach me – never mind, I’ll teach myself, it’ll take more time and trial and error but I’m sure I can master it eventually – and that I don’t own a sewing machine. It’s not easy to find them where I live!
My first trials were done manually, but since I don’t really know what I’m doing, it took a lot of time to find out if I was in the right direction or not… and I don’t have much free time…
Yesterday was my 30th birthday, and when I walked in, I found a huge gift box on the table. “What is this huge present?”, I told my SO, “What’s wrong with getting me a CD?”... Then I started opening it, and when I could see the word “Singer” on the box, I gave out a scream! My love got me a sewing machine! What a perfect present!
So now I’m gonna have to learn how to use it…