A Reflection

It has been a year since I started to sew my own clothes.  I had been away from sewing for about 10 years doing the mom thing, the wife thing and oh yeah go back my career thing.   When I was a stay at home mom and pregnant with my youngest (she is 12 this year) I was a a yard sale and saw this 1960's Singer sewing machine with most of the attachments, original manual and built in cabinet.  I had been wanting to sew and this seemed like the time to do it.  I tried out the machine and it worked so I bought it for $25.00 and also got a box of patterns and fabric.  I had not sewn since Grade 8 home economics but I thought I could teach myself.  I did learn and I had a computer back then but there was really nothing on sewing.  I sewed the usual - curtains, pillows, sachets, and I also mended clothes for my daughters but that was it.  Fast forward to December 2009 - I was looking for a dress to wear to a Christmas Party and could not find one that fit me properly.  I had been noticing too that the quality of garments being sold had also gone down, flimsy fabric, buttons that are too loose and the same style in most stores and nothing I liked.  So I thought... this year I am going to try and sew some skirts  & dresses.  I got my self a new Singer Precision on sale, watched the dvd it came with and delved into the Internet on how to sew.  

Mini-me was interested from the get go and together we sewed Mother Daughter skirts!

I did not use a pattern, just our measurements and my vague memory of sewing a skirt in high school.  

I then started reading how to sew books and started to sew a bubble dress for my Model.  Right from the beginning she was my dress form when I was teaching myself.  She stood there while I pinned and draped and hardly complained. lol!  She has that perfect body shape to sew clothes for.  That was then, now she runs when she sees me with fabric in hand!

It was not as easy as I thought to sew a dress and I used my seam ripper many times and it took me a long time to finish but she liked it & wore it!  I then sewed some skirts for Easter from the book Chic & Simple Sewing.

These skirts were worn all through spring and into the summer.

I sewed more projects but I will post them another time.  What I didn't expect when I started sewing my own clothes was that I did not purchase any new clothes for 2010.  That was just a side effect of sewing my own clothes, I did not need to buy anything new.  I already had enough jeans and pants and tank tops in my closet (I have not yet mastered that though I am staring to sew my own pj's so that is a start I guess).  I still buy shoes & purses because hey lets not go crazy here!  I love shoes!!!! I also like the creative outlet designing my own clothes has given me.  When I think of a design and start sewing it,  I feel great that I am doing something that I love to do!  I also did not expect to blog with  some real great seamstresses from all over the world.  When I started to blog last July, it was more of a diary to keep track of my projects & progress.  Then some real talented ladies started commenting and giving helpful advice through emails.  These are women who are truly creative seamstresses and have sewing their own clothes down to an art form.  I appreciate your kind and thoughtful comments and wish you happy sewing & designing and all the best in 2011!