| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| maggie14 |
Posted - Dec 06 2009 : 1:34:22 PM
Hi Ladies, When did you first learn how to sew? I learned how to sew by hand when I was 8 years old.
Hugs,
Channah
If you can dream it, and if you are willing to put forth the work and effort, you can have anything you envision. |
| 25 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| HeatherAnn |
Posted - Dec 18 2009 : 11:59:38 AM
I had the hardest time learning the sewing machine. my mom showed me how patterns work and zippers and button holes, but I comepletely didn't understand tension. I would get sooo frustrated! My mother compared me to her mom, who would curse and yell and her machine and then oil the crap out of it thinking that oil would 'fix it' and all that did was make that old machine smoke! ha! I was determined though! My mom had her machine from the 60's and I jammed that thing up really good on more than a few occasions. my moms idea of explaination left a lot to be desired. but just a few months ago I happened into a seamstress job (by God's grace! we sure need this income right now) and the job came with a super fancy machine, and the machine actually explained tension to me! whoda thunkit?! So now I'm sewing right along, no problems at all, although I couldn't stand the idea of someone who knows what they are doing watching me, because I get the job done, but I'm sure there are more conventional ways to do things :)
and I taught myself to knit about three years ago, and crochet about 6 months ago and I'm still learning embroidery, and I really want to do a pretty red sampler, does anyone know if there are any books out to show what a good sampler looks like?
Heather Ann
Apartment Farmgirl
"You got to look at all the good on one side and all the bad on the other and say 'Well, alright then.'" - Aunt Eller, Oklahoma
www.plumblossomknits.etsy.com |
| Red River Hen |
Posted - Dec 17 2009 : 11:13:45 AM
My mom taught me to sew, she always made all my clothes and my sisters clothes. I had alot of feedsack dresses because Daddy was an exterminator and he sprayed our local feedmill so they gave him free empty sacks :) Boy I wish I still had some! They are EXPENSIVE now if you find them! Even then my grandmother ( nana ) was my biggest influence. She did it ALL. She even made trash cans from magazines and newspapers, made all her rugs, cloths, tablecloths, ect ect and had a garden that was unbelievable! Then her rose garden...mmmm can smell those roses...knew the bible inside and out. I remember my late daddy saying when she passed from this life....if she doesn't make it to heaven, none of us stand a chance.....
~Count your blessings instead of sheep~ (Bing Crosby) ~Nancy~
SANTA BRIGADE
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| 2quilter |
Posted - Dec 16 2009 : 6:45:17 PM
Grandma taught me as well, I don't know exactly when.....and my friend Debbie never believes me when I tell her that sometimes sewing by hand is easier than sewing on a machine.....and that a pattern is not always needed....I never took home ec. either...I was going to be one of those 'modern city girls' who didn't need to know that stuff.....and now nothing could be further from the truth....in today's society is needed more than ever. Schools should bring back that kind of stuff....instead of.....(don't get me started.....).... I can't imagine a day now without sewing...in some form....it's my sanity. Either quilting, sewing, knitting, crocheting or embroidery is as necessary to me as breathing. Thank you Grandma for giving me the sewing spark that I have today. I miss you very much!
When life hands you scraps, make quilts! |
| Bellepepper |
Posted - Dec 16 2009 : 11:00:49 AM
I started sewing, machine and hand when I was 8. Had just joined 4-H and Mom bought a new Singer Featherweight. I still have the machine and it sews great. That was 62 years ago. I also still have the apron and hand towel that I made. My first projects.
Belle |
| maggie14 |
Posted - Dec 15 2009 : 2:15:59 PM
welcome Mary Beth!! Thank you so much for sharing your story!!
hugs,
Channah
If you can dream it, and if you are willing to put forth the work and effort, you can have anything you envision. |
| MaryBethNE |
Posted - Dec 15 2009 : 1:52:04 PM
Hi, I'm new here.
My grandmother taught me to sew by hand when I was 6. She gave my cousins and I a bag of scraps and told us to make our dolls some clothes. We had a ball. Then when I was 10 she tried to teach how to sew on a sewing machine. I was such a tomboy and could only think about being outside. When I was in junior high my mom made me take sewing as a 4-H project. I managed to make a simple half apron. Then my freshman year I had to take home ec. I hated it. I did make a full apron then. Then my mom put a portable sewing machine in my room and I found I really enjoyed playing with it when I didn't have to sew for someone else. Then in college I really started to sew because I could make clothes cheaper than I could buy them. I lived with my grandmother while I was in college and she taught me so much about tailoring and also about adjusting pattern sizes.
I am so grateful that my mom and grandma kept after me and made sure I had the basics down.
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| shepherdgirl |
Posted - Dec 13 2009 : 5:12:04 PM
Boy, you wanna talk about a "Late bloomer" katmom! I took sewing in home-ec in 8th grade. I was so HOPELESS at it my poor teacher gave up on me! (she was a dear sweet woman nonetheless). I learned to cross stitch when I was 22 or 23. My mom taught me. I went NUTS with the cross stitch till I couldn't stand it anymore (and never DID finish a project). Sadly, my mother died when I was 25 and I inherited her old Singer (nearly the same age as ME). I was determined to learn to sew if it KILLED ME. My husband couldn't stand the sound that old monstrosity made and it would shake the whole house and mess up the tv, so he bought me a really NICE machine (and expensive, for what it does) for Christmas that same year.
Needless to say, I CAN use a sewing machine(some), but I HATE them! I have taught myself to sew by hand and use that technique more often than not. I find it very theraputic for some odd reason. I don't, however, tackle BIG projects by hand, like curtains, or any other project requiring yards and yards of fabric. I'm surprisingly very good at it. (NOT tooting my own horn here, just stating a fact that surprises even ME!). I even won a quilt square contest one time for my hand sewn piece. Talk about a HAPPY surprise! Now if I can just figure out how to read those darn crochet patterns (which grandma tried to teach me when I was 11, but just didn't get it. STILL don't), AND remember how to cast the yarn onto knitting needles.(which my BROTHER tuaght me the basic stitches of... sigh....). My motto is "I'll keep learnin' till I'm DEAD! Even if it KILLS me!" (LOL!)
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. ~~ George Carlin |
| nitere |
Posted - Dec 12 2009 : 5:16:55 PM
My grandma taught me how to sew when I was 6 (both by hand and sewing machine) At the same time my mom taught me to cross stitch. It was a good year! :)
http://www.buraellen.blogspot.com |
| Faransgirl |
Posted - Dec 12 2009 : 10:28:44 AM
I learned to hand sew and embroidery when I was 4 or 5. I started sewing on the machine when I was six and my Mom was working. I wanted Barbie clothes and she set up the machine showed me how to thread it, gave me a pattern she had purchased and a box of scrap fabric and left for work. I spent all day making Barbie clothes. I have been sewing ever since. I was making my own clothes and my younger sisters clothes when I was a teenager. I have also learned to crochet when I was 12, and knit when I was in my twenties. I am now learning to quilt at 53.
Farmgirl Sister 572
May the force of the horse be with you. |
| knittingmom |
Posted - Dec 12 2009 : 09:31:37 AM
Probably when I was about 9. I made a quilt for my dolls.
"There is no foot so small that it cannot leave an imprint on this world" |
| vtstevens |
Posted - Dec 09 2009 : 01:04:05 AM
My mom taught me to sew when I was 8. She had an old Sears Kenmore sewing machine, purple metal, heavy. I made really simple shifts, that I actually wore to school!! Gradually I would sew more and more til I would sew up in the attic, along, listening to my cello records, til 5 or 6 in the morning. I would then sleep til 2 or 3 in the afternoon (this during the summer). My folks were really good about my teenage schedule.
Virginia
I don't suffer from stress. I'm a carrier.
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| katmom |
Posted - Dec 08 2009 : 10:48:09 PM
I was a "Late Bloomer"..lol!
I learned to sew on a sewing machine when I was 14. I started cross stitching when I was 22 and crocheting about 4 years ago..... yep, late bloomer! hahaha!
But better late than never!
>^..^<
Happiness is being a katmom.
"I've never met a sewing machine I didn't like!" [/teal] www.katmom4.blogspot.com & http://www.graciesvictorianrose.blogspot.com
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| Red River Hen |
Posted - Dec 08 2009 : 9:44:14 PM
I had to take one year of home ec and hated it too! lol...I already knew how to sew and cook but thought it would be an easy class because of it...WRONG....my teacher seemed to have it in for me and my best friend...I remember my best friend making a pie and leaving an ingrediant out and the teacher said in FRONT of the class....( your as stupid as Nancy )My friend turned the pie upside down and it splattered on the floor...ha... We are great friends to this day and still laugh about it. Ha! Oh another example...class credit...if you made something from home and brought it to school you got extra credit...I took brownies with icing, she would'nt give me credit because I put nuts on the icing....that was 37 years ago and I STILL remember that!
~sitting by the pot bellied stove in the cabin~ Nancy |
| Marybeth |
Posted - Dec 08 2009 : 9:02:03 PM
I remember, I must have been in the second grade, and all us girl cousins had to go to Gramma's house and we learned to embroider, knit and crochet. My mother was a seamstress (she worked at a high class clothing store and sewed for folks at home too) and she taught my sister and me how to sew---I don't remember when---we just always knew how. I hated to sew but when I married and had my girls I learned all over again and made so many dresses for them. And I made my husband's cowboy shirts. At least a zillion of them. That I was good at. Yeehaw LOL MB
http://www.smallcityscenes.blogspot.com
www.strawberryhillsfarm.blogspot.com
www.day4plus.blogspot.com www.holyhouses-day4plus.blogspot.com
"Life may not be the party we hoped for...but while we are here we might as well dance!" |
| Aunt Jenny |
Posted - Dec 08 2009 : 6:07:29 PM
by hand and embroidery when I was 5 or 6..from my beloved grandma. By machine not until I was about 12..home ec at school. I did ALOT of handsewing though.
I still love to sew and embroider.
Jenny in Utah
Proud Farmgirl sister #24
Inside me there is a skinny woman crying to get out...but I can usually shut her up with cookies
http://www.auntjennysworld.blogspot.com/ visit my little online shop at www.auntjenny.etsy.com |
| Sheep Mom 2 |
Posted - Dec 08 2009 : 1:51:17 PM
I started hand sewing doll clothes about 7 yrs old. When I was 8, my grandma gave me her treadle machine so I learned to machine sew on that. By the time I was 12, I made most of my clothes. My daughter had me design and make some of the most outrageous outfits - for a country girl she was always the fashionista. She ended up going to design school and moved to NYC - a long way from a log house on a dirt road....
I also learned hand embroidery, knitting and crochet at around 7 as well. 45 yrs. later and a lot of mistakes under my belt - I just did all the gowns for my sons wedding. I love doing heirloom sewing of all types - esp. victorian/edwardian type white work with all the tucks and lace insertions.
Blessings, Sheri
"Work is Love made visible" -Kahlil Gibran |
| herbquilter |
Posted - Dec 07 2009 : 6:53:03 PM
I started sewing buttons on fabric and handstitching "purses" 6 to 9 years. By the time I was 12 I really got going, then by 14 I was sewing most of my clothes.
I have 5 daughters (17 to 28) They all sew. Even though I never thought the oldest ever would, she wouldn't follow my instructions, nor the patterns and made things up as she went and the zippers.... scary. Now she alters and makes wedding clothes and designs many things. see- www.stylishtailor.blogspot.com
So farmgirl mom's never get discouraged or giveup on those creative, independant children...you never know what they will do to surprise you!
Blessings,
Kristine ~ Mother of Many & MRET ~ Energy Healing & Wellness Coaching Sessions
http://herbalmommasda.blogspot.com/
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| laurzgot |
Posted - Dec 07 2009 : 6:27:14 PM
I learned to sew when I was 7 years old by machine and hand. Learned to sew my first Barbie doll clothes. Even back then when Barbies first came out the clothes were expensive. The only thing was that all my Barbie clothes were done on a Singer 404 (late 1950's) and I still us the same machine and just love it. I do own a few more sewing machines and use those to. Mom insisted that I learn to sew on the machine doing Barbie clothes, then I could sew anything. Just ask my daughte's I did their wedding gowns. Started hand sewing and needlework at the same age.
Laurie
suburban countrygirl at heart |
| MasterGardener |
Posted - Dec 07 2009 : 1:07:10 PM
I learned to crochet the chain @ about 9 yrs, then to embroider @ about 11 yrs, then in the 7th grade had Home Ec and love, love. loved it, but no sewing till 8th grade I learned to run a sewing machine. Loved it, love it still! Learned to knit @ about 12 yrs, but didn't do more than one potholder. Last year I learned to crochet, that's @ 49 yrs, & this year, @ 50, I've re-learned to knit and I'm finding it most satisfying! I am in love with FIBER! (Inside and outside!) Love linen, to sew with and to crochet with, then the wool for knit, silk for any reason, and good ole cotton for the knit or crochet dishcloths.
Say to them, may the Lord bless you and protect you, May the Lord smile upon you and be gracious to you. May the Lord show you His favor and give you His peace. (Numbers 6:23-26)
.• ´¨¨)) -:¦:-¸.•´ .•´¨¨))
((¸¸.•´ ..• -:¦:- -:¦:- Chandra
-:¦:- ((¸¸.•´Farmgirl Sister #64
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| KayB |
Posted - Dec 07 2009 : 12:53:50 PM
I started embroidery when I was very young, thanks to my Grandma. I learned to knit at 10 thanks to Heather in my 5th grade class. I didn't learn to sew until my mom made me take Home-Ec for 5 years and I hated every minute of it. Now, I have to mark and pin everything or I can't put it together. My mom used to ask me why I was marking, pinning, etc., and why my sisters didn't and I told her - 5 years of forced Home-Ec that they did not have to take.
KayB
Life's a dance you learn as you go |
| Red River Hen |
Posted - Dec 06 2009 : 7:44:43 PM
I started sewing when I was 4 years old, heavens, I won't let my grandkids NEAR my machines, lol....I am still sewing on the one I started on. A singer 401A!! LOVE that machine! My mom gave it to me after my late dad had given her a high dollar machine that she never cared for. She gave that one to me and belly ached about losing her best one, the old singer so I found her a reconditioned one on ebay. She is happy now too :) I also used a treadle machine back then also. Started by making cloth dolls, wish I still had them, at least I have my machine :) The machine is a 1956!
~sitting by the pot bellied stove in the cabin~ Nancy |
| 1badmamawolf |
Posted - Dec 06 2009 : 5:23:23 PM
I seem to remember I was about 5 when my G/ma started teaching me, and I made little quilts for the puppies that summer, ( with alot of help,lol), then around 10-11 I learned basic machine sewing, and here I am 40 years later, and still learning.
"Treat the earth well, it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children" |
| LakeOntarioFarmgirl |
Posted - Dec 06 2009 : 4:58:10 PM
I learned to sew when I was 9. My mom had me take lessons from Sears with two of my friends. We took the lessons for a few weeks, then had to have a fashion show wearing what we had made! I know I made a yellow and orange flowered dress (this was the late 60's). Despite being painfully shy, I did a good job, and didn't freak out at the fashion show! I love to sew to this day.
My mom sewed a lot when I was growing up. My gramma and aunts sewed a lot too. And, my great gramma sewed all the time.
I taught myself to hand stitch in my 30's when I first learned to quilt. I don't like it, though I love embroidery, but when I taught my 2 grand daughters to sew a few weeks ago, I told them they had to learn hand stitching before using a machine. I told them that they might not have use of a machine at times, but they could always hand stitch what they need to.
Brenda
FarmGirl # 711
If you rest, you rust. Helen Hayes
http://theviewfromhere-brenda.blogspot.com/ |
| Laila |
Posted - Dec 06 2009 : 3:46:20 PM
I learned to sew when I was 8 years old. My mom was a 4-H leader. We started to sew by hand and then graduated to machine sewing. I remember making clothes for my Barbie doll.
Laila |
| Moodene |
Posted - Dec 06 2009 : 3:40:17 PM
Learned to sew on my grandma's treadle sewing machine on my 7th birthday which I do have. Both my mother and grandma were seamtresses. My mother worked at Astroworld(Amusement park in Houston, Texas) for abour 27 years before she retired and the park is no longer there. Hand sewing came after that with the patience of my grandma.My mom had no time for it..lol. Grandma always told me that if ya want to sew, you remember the 3 P's of sewing.. Practice + Patience= Perfection. Practice is learning the sewing machine,learning sewing skills,working w patterns,asking questions,taking classes etc. Patience is taking time to sew your projects slowly because you learned new skills along the way. Perfection is after you have practice your sewing skills and having the patience to make your garments- it comes out perfect the way you want it!
Farmgirl #801
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