learn to sew

I finished my first dress. I made it with no pattern, which means I did some things the long way around and made some stupid mistakes, but it worked out in the end.

I’ll post a picture when I get a chance to take one.

I got a bee in my bonnet last night to make a dress before I go to Kansas, since I won’t get to play with sewing at all while I’m gone. And I determined that I’d just do it myself—no pattern. Forget the fact that I have awesome vintage (and new) patterns that I could use; I want to do it the hard way.

At any rate, I have all my pieces cut. Except pockets—I may want to add pockets. And I’ve done some sewing. But I’ll have to reconceive some things tomorrow as I try to finish the project.

If it works out, I’ll post pictures.

Last night I finished a skirt I started 7 years ago. Great progress, huh? I started it with my mom’s old sewing machine and then the thing broke. I didn’t know how to fix it (I didn’t really know how to sew, actually), so I gave up. I only recently starting learning to sew in a more organized fashion, with a new sewing machine, so I pulled out the skirt. It still fits and all it needed to be complete was a little touch-up around the zipper and a hem. I’m also going to sew on some decoration, but I haven’t done that yet.

Yay, seven-year-skirt!

Evidence that I actually did play with my sewing machine. ;)

I made this. I like it a lot. It’s very comfortable and it got lots of compliments today (and not just from Aaron, either).

I did very little with it and what little I did took way too long and was done awkwardly, but it’s progress. I merely created a halter top from a scarf. I’ll do that again in the near future and do it better next time. But I like it, even rough as it is. :-)

I forgot to note that I have moved past this initial step. I took the machine out of the box and set it up. Took me over an hour to figure out how to thread it. The manual was not in the least helpful, but I finally found the information I needed online.

Since then, I’ve used it once or twice, but I haven’t had the time to sit down and work out any proficiency or to try to make something that’s more than a square. (I made a purse, with no pattern. It is decent, but has some issues. The most fun part was trying to figure out how to solve the problems I’d created for myself by inadvertently going about the steps in the wrong order. Better next time—whenever that is.)

I bought a sewing machine. It’s still in its box.

I bought fabric and downloaded an easy skirt pattern. Both are tucked away neatly in my dresser drawer.

Next step: set up sewing machine.