Last week I received this email from a reader:
Hello,
I want to get into stitching but have never really done it before. I’m an at home Mum. Where do you suggest I start?
Whoa! That’s actually a really hard question to answer. Of course I’d love to encourage this adventurous lady, but I’m a bit stuck to know how to advise her. She’d like to learn to sew using her sewing machine (to make clothing for her children), and also do a little bit of embroidery.
What would you suggest? I really look forward to hearing your answers so that hopefully together we can encourage a beginning stitcher. 🙂
White Threads is the blog of Yvette Stanton, the author, designer, publisher behind Vetty Creations' quality needlework books and embroidery products.
That is a hard one – thinking back to when I started as a child. my mother and gran encouraged me. Looking at sewing for her children, I would select a simple shirt or shorts or skirt ( age dependent ) as completing something is always rewarding.
As for embroidery I would get a basic embroidery book – perhaps from the library – and do a sample sort of stitchery to start. Cross stitch is rewarding as well.
The possibilities seem almost endless.
I hope that she enjoys her craft work.
Thanks for your input, Heather. 🙂
Many years ago I taught someone to use her sewing machine..as she asked for. she didn’t ask for any tuition on fabric, and eshewed all offers regarding cutting patterns, sizing and other ‘boring’ stuff. I suggested she begin her adventure with pot holders, get understanding and practice at sewing straight seams, turning fabric, finishing etc. They glazed over eyes should have alerted me to the message not being understood……………fast forward a few weeks.
SOS call. I arrived and was greeted by a crate of expensive fabric in various stages of decimation. She’d tried to jump off the deep end and create patchwork piecing in an exotic star pattern, and a selection of clothes – all cut skew-wiff….this all morphed into being my fault because I hadn’t told her about warp and weft etc……
needless to say i’ve not bothered to try to teach anyone else how to sew….people simply underestimate the time it takes to prepare for a basic garment, or the time it takes to learn the skills to make a half decent job of creating one.
I found the experience very disappointing, but hope there are others who have had success stories of lighting a creative spark.
I started with cross stitch which was printed on fabric then on to counted cross stitch. That was in the last 4 years am 66 also have started Hardanger. Must admit it would be nice to have video tutorials as o. You tube as so etimes instructions are hard to decifer but then I got onto Mary Corbet and she in turn mentioned you Yvette. So I have another great teacher have bought several of your books as you are highly recommended by Mary plus as I am in Australia. Postage is so much less. Mary does have you tube step by step tutorials. If that is any help. And your own instructions are terrific . So hope this is of help .so now I will try all these new to me surface embroidery stitches. As was familiar with back stitch and chain and stem. But the more you get into it the more amazing lovely things to learn are there. Oops am going on and on.
Thanks Irena and Joanne.
I also had an emailed response:
“My suggestion would be for her to check out her local community college courses. They are quite reasonably priced and mostly held at night which might be a help to her as she is at ‘at home Mum’. I know our local one has a range of different dressmaking course plus a ‘get to know your sewing machine’ course.
As to the embroidery, some of the community colleges do offer beginner embroidery as well or perhaps she could go to her local embroidery store (of which there are less and less each year I know) and enquire as to whether they hold ‘beginner’ type embroidery classes or know of somewhere that does.”
I would suggest that she firstly separates the two adventures because that will make each more achievable.
For starting some embroidery a good choice would be to buy some white pillowcases and try some stitching on the end that does not fold over. This could be as simple as some lines of running stitch or as elaborate as a cross stitched heart. One of those wash-out pens will help. Or she could buy a child’s kit from the craft store and have an attempt at that.
For using the sewing machine I suggest some shorts for the children. She could embroider a motif on a pocket and attach that to the shorts by machine or she could embroider on the front of the shorts after they are finished. There are some good blogs, websites, and youtube clips available for free. The pattern she buys for the children’s clothes will take her step by step through the project.
Library books will have projects like bags and cushion covers, but might not have anything that children could wear. There are excellent classes available in person and online which would cost something but she may not have the time available.
My son learned sewing at school. Then he bought some patterns and just had a go.
My daughter taught herself to sew by buying long dresses from the op shop and cutting them up. She made a few disasters but she was proud to wear them.
First, find the magic castle, then take yourself inside!
Thanks Louise!
I think that separating the two, as Louise suggests, is a good idea as they are very different fields and it will be hard to master both at the same time. I think that the personality of the beginner and what she wants to achieve is also important. If I had started out by making a pillowcase I would probably never have taken up sewing! I wanted to be able to wear the end product. So, I would choose a simple garment, such as a skirt, made out of an easy to manage cotton. There are lots of simple patterns out there. But a skirt isn’t going to inspire someone who never wears one so it still depends on the learner (although I would always suggest cotton as a beginner’s fabric).
Of course, the ideal way is to learn dress-making and pattern-drafting at the same time. This way she will never be dependent on commercial patterns and their often very dodgy instructions
Thanks Bel. 🙂
Another emailed response:
“Perhaps we all get there in different ways, may be our stories will help some one else find their own path. I went into my nearest Needleworkshop and bought 2 Cross Stitch kits. The 1st one was very easy, but I never finished it. The second, a little more intricate took 2 years on and off. By then I was hooked and away I went, enrolling for every needlework workshop I heard of and was often well out of my depth but it was all part of the journey. Class mates were friendly and I always learnt something. When asked to join the local Embroiderers Guild that had just started I went along to find they were all “Old Women”, I was just forty. Now 25 years later I am still there getting older and more passionate and enthusiastic about embroidery every day.
Machine sewing I was fortunate enough to learn at school, but I would try the local sewing machine sales shop to see if they know of anything. Good luck, I hope this might be helpful. These skills have given me hours of endless pleasure as well as enabled me to make and mend my children and grandchildren’s clothes.”
Hi folks, my suggestion is to visit your local Spotlight store or sewing centre. They do in store sewing classes some free some at cost. For embroider, if you cant follow books then find a Guild. Check on line for this, all states have an Embroidery guild and they are great. I have learnt so much from them. I now teach sewing and embroidery thanks to the help of these places.
Joylene
I taught myself embroidery by using the magazines “Classic Inspirations” published by Country Bumpkin in Australia and “Stitch” which is published by the Embroiderers Guild in the UK. These two give you an introduction to a wide range of techniques, hand and machine, traditional and contemporary. Many of the projects are aimed at beginners. I also learn a great deal from blogs – “Needln’thread” by Mary Corbett is particularly good, again on a wide range of techniques and also basic “how to”s.
The first dressmaking I did was a nightdress for myself – I think I was about 8. Nothing with set-in sleeves or zips, I’d suggest!.
Embellishing a pilliowcase is a nice idea – a row of feather stitch would be very much the sort of thing that used to be used, and it shouldn’t take more than a couple of evenings, so it would be a small project to try out the skill.
Thanks very much Joylene, Laura and Rachel. 🙂