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My wife is/was a professional seamstress,but I like to shop! The machine[s] get used for alterations[hers] and creating "home decor" lol I am out all the time,so I can justify buying new or consigned used because I think clothes are plenty cheap enough if you take the effort to look for them marked down. I would like to learn to sew Sunbrella and heavier fabrics though as that saves a lot of money.
I was taught to sew by my mother years ago, in case I ever needed to mend something. I also took home economics in high school the first year that they allowed boys to take it. I remember when I still live at home my older sister used to sew her clothes and she had one of those clothes dummies that she could fit her clothes on, I tried it on one day and rearrange the shape to my shape. She was mad as H*ll and threaten to tell our parents what I like to do.
Haven't thought about sewing since then.
As a child, my mother showed me how to needle and thread sew, telling me it would help me in later years. In my teen years, she introduced me to the machine telling me the same. She created in me a kind of love and respect for this craft, which I have used throughout my life.
Now, while most off the rack fit pretty well I still have to put these crafts to use as pant legs and some skirt hems are just too long. She wasn't wrong and just another time Mother knew best.
Bobbi
That's how I see it. I used to make tops/skirts/dresses from patterns for my wife. It's about patience and following directions. Sewing skills learned along the way just make you better and faster.Quote:
Originally Posted by Madeline80
I saw the question posed in the OP two ways. Did Linda mean "drawn" as a gender-role thing, or as a practical thing? My answers would be no and yes. Not all women are drawn to cook or sew, and not all men hunt and fish and change oil in the car. Some men sew and knit. And wear makep and women's clothes. haha
Long ago, my wife bought a new sewing machine when she thought the old one was broken. It wasn't, so I kept it and still use it. I have always used it for hemming my pants, sewing patches on my hunting and fishing clothes, and other small sewing projects. And for hemming skirts that need to be shortened.
I've always being drawn to sewing but like everything else there isn't time in the day for it all. I loved the patterns you could buy and often wished I could make one.
We had an old singer sewing machine at home and I often used it for one thing or another.
As it happens I learned to hand sew early basically because my Mother was too busy to repair or alter my clothes, boy clothes that is. I found I had a talent for it. In the army reserve I was the go to guy for patches because I did it so neatly. I also altered my uniforms.
At one stage I toyed with the idea of going into fashion design when it looked like my chosen career path of being a pilot was faltering. Yes I know that is odd! I'm sorry now I didn't go down that career path.
Come to think of it I have missed my real vocation.
Well, you have just demonstrated that not only do you know nothing about sewing, you know nothing about anchoring a boat. ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Tara D. Rose
Yes, it's pretty impractical to take the necessary time to actually create a blouse or dress by sewing, but you advocate discarding a perfectly good, expensive piece of clothing because a seam has pulled out? Ten minutes of your time, five of which would be spent selecting the matching color of thread, and the garment is as good as new.
Boat anchors work by having a specific shape that digs into the bottom and holds the boat in place, not by weight alone. A sewing machine would make a pretty inefficient boat anchor.
BTW: As for people being "poor" when the sewing machine was invented 100 years ago, (actually, it was over 160 years ago), many people are still "poor" enough in 2013 to mend clothing rather than discarding it. And some of us just don't like to throw things away if they still have some use.
Exactly. Actually, it's easier because the fabric has some stretch to it. Wood and metal do not.Quote:
Originally Posted by Madeline80
Just about all of my tops have the side seams taken in on my Pfaff. Before that, I was using my grandmother's Singer Featherweight. I don't love to sew, but I love the fit I'm able to get so easily.
The thought of getting a sewing machine has occurred to me just to do alterations. I like it when clothes fit right whether male or female.
I can barely manage to sew on a button or hem a pair of pants. I'm much to klutzy to be able to make decent-looking clothes. :(
I learned to sew mostly from books. I assume they are still available, otherwise, I'll bet there are instructions on the Internet.
I learned to sew and cook in home economics class in 6th grade - while the girls were taking wood shop!:heehee: We traded off half way through the year. I still cook quite a bit, but only sew when necessary.
Um no, I can't see myself sitting at a sewing machine ever. Of coarse if I did make my own clothes then there would have been more to purge back in the day of purging lol To me it's just easier to go buy my clothes.
Here's what I meant that sewing is ideal for a CD. Women's clothes are shaped for women's bodies. A skirt can fit perfectly at the waist & balloon at the hips. Sewing gives you the freedom to buy any style you want & make it fit the way you want. To me that seems incredibly rewarding. I understand those who say they don't have the time. I'm retired so now its a great pastime.
Sewing isn't just about saving money by mending your clothes. Some people just like to sew. And if you're good at it, you can make high quality clothes to fit you perfectly. It's like hunting and fishing in this way: I could buy a lot of meat and fish for what I spend on hunting and fishing equipment, clothes, gas, etc. etc. But it's not about the money. It's about doing what you like. And not everyone likes sewing. In that case, find someone to sew for you and make your alterations.
OT: I always thought "dudes" were the folks who went to dude ranches.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jenniferathome
My dad was a man, and I am, too, at least to look at me. My dad did a fair amount of sewing, and since he was by profession an engineer and was into top-of-the-line tools and building things, I always thought of sewing as a "techie" thing, not a "girl cooties" sort of thing. When I got married, I sewed the skirt my bride wore (she didn't go for the white bridal dress thing, she wanted us to match, and she had me wear brownish-yellow corduroy pants.)
I sew my stuff because I can't buy skirts and dresses that fit me and look the way I want them to look. In women's sizes, I'm somewhere around US size 24 to 30, and all they make for women in those sizes are what I call "American burqas." (Back when I was married, I was frustrated that all the cute women's clothes I wanted to buy for my wife stopped at around size 10 -- she was more like size 18.)
One dress or skirt may take 3-6 months to make, but when it's done, it fits and it flares and swirls and looks exactly the way I want it to -- or else I rip out a few seams and fiddle with it some more. And if I make it, it has pockets!
I see no connection. My first wife hated to sew. My present wife has never attempted to sew. I do such things only out of necessity.
when i was in eight grade i took home economics, i did so a quilt. it was fun i liked it. took it every day for a whole semester.
My mom use to make a little extra cash doing alterations for people once in a while. In the early '60s all the teenage guys were getting their pants pegged, and she did that too. So she taught me the basics of sewing, but I never did much with it.
I have started again, after 25 years.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jenniferathome
I was quite good at it in school, and I'm finding, particularly in formal wear, the style in my head, I just can't find.
But then, I am good at building things..
I'm a dude, and I am into sewing, as well as crossdressing, cooking, hunting, and shooting.
Essentially, I am a twisted dude!
The dude comment reminds me of my last trip to London. I arrived at customs and the INS agent said" Have you ever been abroad before?" I replied "no, but I sure have thought about it lately!" thanks to slapstick comedy.
I learned to hand-stitch when I was 4. I learned to crochet when I was 5, and was sewing on my mom's machine when I was about 8. I also learned to cook when I was 6, and was doing most of the family's laundry by the time I was 8, and cooked meals every day by the time I was 16. I was quite the little housewife, and this freed my mother up to get a job collecting from insurance companies for a treatment facility, a nice extra income.
I wanted to take home economics, but back in those days (1968-9), boys were not allowed to take home economics, we HAD to take shop instead. I took metal and plastics.