What Makes a Good Sewer

[the_professors_assistantKeymaster]

This might seem like a dumb question, but I want to get a better understanding of it. Many times people say things like “when you’re a good sewer”, or “when you know how to sew”.  What does a person know, if they know how to sew? I’d like to know so that I’m aware of what I’m working towards.  Is it when a person is capable of creating a difficult commercial pattern dress, without necessarily following the directions and already knowing what to do?

 

To get to that difficult sewing skill, what should I do? Are there any books you reccomend? etc

[the_professors_assistantKeymaster]

I know a lot of home sewers who started out by taking a class/taught by someone they know or are self taught.  I learned in high school but I feel like I owe most of my sewing knowledge from my time working in a fabric store, talking to more experienced sewers and just from personal trial and error.  I definitely don’t have any formal sewing training but I’ve been doing it for a long time. There are many books and websites on sewing so there’s definitely a lot of information out there regarding different aspects of sewing.  I hate to think there’s ever an end to the learning; a point where you’ve learned everything.  There’s just so much.  And really I think sewing, as a hobby, should be more about the journey.  I feel like I learn something all the time.  The ultimate goal for even creating this website, is to share with beginners what I’ve learned and how I go about my sewing.  I feel it’s limiting to say that there’s only one way to do things or everything must completed in a rigid method.  Sewing is really about experience and experimentation.  People do things differently all the time.  Do things always work out?  Nope, not even close.  If I’m creating a project from scratch, I sometimes go through several prototypes because I  learn what works and what doesn’t work. For me, what makes a good sewer is someone who expects that sewing is going to take a lot of patience.  It’s not really something that can be rushed.  When I try to hurry, that’s when the mistakes seem to happen.  Having patience, though, doesn’t mean that there aren’t going to be times when you don’t get frustrated and feel like screaming.  Oh yeah, those times will come!  During those times, it’s important to always take the time to walk away, take a break, maybe come back to it the next day.  I always like to sleep on things and, hopefully, things will be clearer the next day.  It’s amazing how things just seem to work out. Ask a lot of questions.  That’s what I’m here for and a lot of people are here for.  Don’t ever feel like your question is stupid and chances are there are other people who wonder the same thing as you and just were too shy to ask.  It’s always better to ask the question and learn the answer than to just wonder all the time.  I don’t always have the answer but, hopefully, we can all figure it out together. Lastly, don’t be afraid to mess up, because it’s going to happen.  Most of the time, whatever mistake you make can pretty much be fixed.  That’s why we love/hate the seam ripper.  For every screw up, you’re going to learn a lesson and that lesson is more valuable than what you’d learn in a book.  Because actually going through the motion, you learn why something works or doesn’t work.  I can read about techniques but once I understand why something is done a certain way, suddenly that lightbulb goes off and everything makes sense.  That comes from actually doing the technique. Once you start sewing a lot, you’ll begin to notice that you’ll be using the same techniques over and over again.  For example, once you put in facing in a neckline, you pretty much do it the same way all the time.  The facing pieces is stitched together, you do an edge finish, attach it to the neckline, do an understitch, and do a topstitch or tack it down on the inside.  I didn’t have to look that up, because I’ve done it several times and even though details change here and there, it’s pretty much the same. I hope our website will help you on your sewing journey and if there’s ever a technique you want to learn or don’t understand, please send us an email.  Our library is constantly expanding and, hopefully, us showing you how something is done, is the next best thing to having a private tutor.

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