What kills me is that my High School cut all classes like this from when I was a kid. I took sewing, baking, cooking, wood shop and metal shop. And also accounting that taught us how to do our taxes. Kids today have zero idea about any of this. Thank you for being here, being you and sharing it with us! ❤️
Because we settled on being a consumerist society that only wants people to buy rather than learn and empower our youth especially during difficult times. Hence why RUclips and diy are so popular with younger generations... We just want to learn to be self sufficient while also balancing school, work, and building a "career". Absolutely crazy
I see people say things like this all the time, but I graduated just 3 years ago and had all of these classes offered to me. Financial literacy classes were even required to graduate.
I agree Home EC was priceless. I grew up having to care for myself and my brother from a young age so it helped me accomplish that. My kids got classes like flowers arrangement but the class really didn't teach them it was more like a free time class we had to pay $80 for. Now my adult daughter is learning to sew and I'm bringing out the exercises I learned in Home EC. My other adult daughter is learning to cook so doing the same with her.
I'm not inclined to be too critical of today's schools. I'm retired & volunteering at a grade school close to me. Mostly working with 3rd graders. The classroom is a joy; the whole school actually. They have all kinds of neat learning devices that we didn't have when I was that age. The ones I really like are the little colored blocks ...the blue ones represent one hundreds, the orange represent 10's, & then small blocks are just for ones. Great way for them to grasp numbers & do their math.
I’ve been sewing since I was seven, now in my seventies. I was a professional historical costumer until my children were born & we had to move to my hometown to take care of my ailing mother. I was only able to occasionally sew for about 15 years. When my husband retired, he began to grow out his beard… it came in white as snow. He reminded me of a promise I made: if his hair turned white as his father’s, I would make him a Santa Suit. We laughed, but a few months later, in a shopping line he was approached with an opportunity to work as a family party Santa. So the crazy began. I couldn’t find cotton velveteen in red, & so arrogant in my (half forgotten) mad skills, I decided to use a beautiful upholstery fabric. That wasn’t a new thing. My ancient Elna SU handled handled upholstery like a trooper. I designed & drafted a pattern, using a commercial pattern. But this fabric was a nightmare. It cut well, but it resisted everything but simple straight seams. Curves of any kind were impossible. Collars were no-go, easing it in place as well. It snapped even # 20 needles like straw. I struggled, wrestled, and invented colorful phrases. It looked good enough done, Hub was happy. But I knew I had been bested. I spent the next seven years reworking it. This year it wanted replacing. I hadn’t thrown out the excess Hub had insisted on to replace the entire thing. I had to take a go at it again. #cringe. But I knew my enemy, planned my campaign over and over until I knew I was ready. On last stretch now & looking good. Go me. Fingers still crossed,tho. I watching your vids while hand-sewing. Ever entertaining, and I applaud your passion teaching skills almost gone extinct. Go you! Cheers!
When my daughters were little I enjoyed making Christmas dresses for them. One year I tried stretch velour. I remember telling my mom-“please remind me of this conversation, don’t ever let me choose stretch velour again”. (The dress looked cute though).
Even more experienced sewers can have trouble with the harder fabrics. My SIL called me in desperation some years ago. She was attempting to make bridesmaid and flower girl dresses for herself and my niece out of a semi-sheer woven very slippery fabric and despite years of sewing on "normal" fabrics she could not even get pieces pinned properly. Off I went and we spent a whole weekend on nothing but those two dresses. She taught me the fabulous word "slimpsy" for slippery flimsy (and very difficult to work with!) fabrics. In return I taught her how to support the fabric so it would not stretch, weight it down to cut, use tons of pins taking tiny across-sewing-line bites so it doesn't shift on long straight seams (along with fore-and-aft slight tensioning while letting the feed dog pull the fabric), and covering the feed dog with masking tape so it would not leave "gripper" marks as it fed. 100% French seams (she'd never tried those). Hand-basting on all the curves for sleeves-neckline-bust, stay-stitching, tear-away stabilizers - the whole works. The dresses came out great and they got lots of compliments at the wedding. That stuff was far more challenging than some super-soft silks I've worked with - the silks at least stay woven as you work with them, and those fabrics were so frail they tried to fray themselves to pieces if you looked at them sideways! Only thing I can think of that was worse was a fabric (again I got called in desperation) that was both slippery and highly textured, that fought back tooth and nail. It was sure pretty, though.
Your story reminds me of one of mine. We lived in Europe in the past. One time I bought some beautiful fabric to make blouses fo rmyself. My friend told me, "I would have left that on the shelf"! LOL It did turn out well. I was not a beginner sewer at all, so that was a plus. Thanks for sharing this story!
The first garment I ever sewed was a tulle petticoat. I am a researcher by nature and I was able to look up what needle, what thread and how to feed the fabric. Basically if you are going to pick a difficult fabric, don't be surprised when it requires a lot more time just to plan!
Even though I've been sewing for decades, I still make this mistake. I get so wrapped in seeing all the pretties and forget to weigh the fussy demands of the fabric type against my low threshhold for frustration. I am also very annoyed with the current trends of putting stretch in normally non-stretchy fabrics. I know how to handle denim but most are stretchy now and I don't like using them.
I’ve been sewing for more than 30 years, and the “newest”, thing I’ve learned, is that pinning and cutting fine fabrics, can be a nightmare. I have made myself a notebook, where I write what experience I get from a new project, and what to take notice of the next time, I have something similar to work with. I’ve learned, that when working with viscoses, it’s a good idea, not to cut on the fold, as the fabric will shift and slide while cutting- again, a nightmare 🪡🧵
One of the first things I ever sewed was a pair of pyjamas for my granddaughter in lovely stretch tee-shirt type fabric. Luckily, I’d watched enough tutorials, this channel included that I knew to use a zigzag stitch.
My first project in home economics in 1963, was a plaid cotton., for a dress. I shouldn’t have chosen a plaid but my mother explained how to cut it, and I did. That thing turned out perfectly matched and my teacher couldn’t believe I had done it myself. Fast forward to two years ago, when I returned to sewing after years away. I didn’t have the sense to be skittish about any fabric and started out with some horrible ones. I was so discouraged after the first few fails that I nearly quit. I finally got a success and went from there. I am still very nervous about some but I think this is the year to finally use them, again.
*[Looks over at the pile of jersey knit stretch fabrics he bought for some of his early projects...]* Well, at least I knew about the needles and stitches, right? 😅
When I was a young teen I really wanted to learn sewing. I chose a great pattern, bought all the thread and buttons. All good there. Got to the fabric and completely blew it. Silk. I chose silk. My mom tried to help me work through it but it was pointless. I gave up sewing for over 20 years because I realized it was far more involved than I had originally thought it was. Now, at 50, I’m getting into it again. I’m only working with cotton until I get used to it. Things are going so much better now.
I use quilting cotton for most of my projects. Its fairly cheap, super easy to get (Walmart even has it), and comes in a wide variety of colors/patterns. And if you make a big mistake usually you can use the fabric for another project. Which is really helpful for a beginner. Fear of failure is a huge barrier.
You can learn for making terrible fabric choices - I learnt just how blue and inventive my swearing could be ;) On a more serious note I learnt that once you make 3 mistakes in a row its time to put down the sewing and get a cup of tea and some fresh air.
Years ago I decided to make a nightgown for my sister as a Christmas gift. This project is the reason that I refuse to sew knits even to this day. My first choice of fabric was not available so I ended up with an extremely drapey jersey-type knit. I didn't know I needed special tools so I ended up making separate trips to the store for needles, pins, and interfacing. I let the fabric drape over the side of my table as I cut out the pieces. I didn't (couldn't) find the straight grain. The fabric kept running away from the scissors. I cut out two left sleeves, but no right sleeve, I decided to add a lace ( lace!) overlay to the sleeves and yoke. I couldn't tell the right from the wrong side of the fabric. Pinning the gathered body of the gown to the yoke took hours! But - before this incident I had no idea there were different types of pins or different needles for lighter weight fabrics, and it had never occurred to me that fabric should be supported if it draped off the side of the cutting table. Mistakes are profitable if I examine what went wrong and try to learn something from them. By some miracle the final result was wearable and my sister was very happy with the gown. (Unsolicited recommendation) Sandra Betzina's book All New Fabric Savvy examines more than 100 different fabrics, and gives detailed recommendations for tools and sewing techniques for creating the garments best suited for the fabric.
If you want to use knits, look for cotton interlock knits without any elasticated threads as spandex or lycra. It looks the same on both sides of the fabric, are a lot less stretchy and can be sewn as normal woven fabrics. You will need to use a zigzag or a triple stich.
Double knits like Ponte de Roma are good starter knits as well. They don't roll and are usually not super stretchy (thought you still need to at lease use a zigzag or other stretch stitch).
I actually tell people the opposite because the cotton interlock fabrics I always see are extremely stretchy with very poor recovery so they're very difficult to sew (stretched seams, skipped stitches, "lettuce leaf" hems, plus they stretch out and lose their shape when you wear them), whereas fabric with spandex (aka Lycra) in it usually has very good recovery so it's much easier to work with (as long as you use a stretch needle). If you accidentally stretch the fabric too much while you're sewing it will still go back to its original shape because of the spandex, and you're much less likely to get those wavy lettuce leaf hems. I always recommend that people who want to try something with knit fabrics either start with something that has spandex in but isn't super stretchy, it or with firm ponte type knits that don't stretch as much like Kelly said (or maybe polyester interlock if it's not too stretchy).
Yes indeed. I've been sewing for more than 50 years, and recently I made a summer outfit from crinkle gauze - and spent time curled in the fetal position after dealing with this. Never again. Texture matters.
Maybe not the best time to mention it but if you must sew denim.......keep a hammer handy. Works wonderfully for those massive seams. Beat the daylights out of the seams before stitching. Mood enhancer as well!
I have learned 1 million things in VSS. The most important is that the sewist must be the boss of that fabric...my words, not Evelyn's. Manipulating fabric is essential. Start with cotton, as Evelyn suggested. I have separated the rayon fabric which I have curated until I am more confident. Almost there. Rather than a fabric story, I will share this. For years I did not respect the importance of different needle types and sizes. I have embarrassing anecdotes. Yikes! Sew on and Sew forth.
My granddaughter is at the beginning of her sewing journey and I’ve been sharing your videos with her because you are such a good teacher. I’m also learning a lot from you, just in your videos. I used to think I knew how to sew, but boy was I mistaken. It’s a joy to share your videos with her. ☺️
Yes, Evelyn is a very good teacher. As a part of her Vintage Sewing School, I can say she has taught how to do different things in ways I never understood before!
I use mostly 100% cotton or flannel when sewing because I am usually making nightgowns for my granddaughter or pjs for my grandson. Or quilting. I really don't sew for myself.
I literally just found the stretch stitch on my sewing machine (just altering and repairing my clothes for now, getting to know my machine and my tolerance for things going wrong). And this stretch stitch is the most exciting thing ever, I have repaired about 6 tank tops that had popped seams and even a pair of leggings! It's very exciting to find new things to learn on a machine and I have been doing this kind of work on my clothes for years. Hoping next year will be the first year of making my own clothes so I really needed to get to know my machine properly first.
Haha of course my first sewing project was a t-shirt in a knit fabric. OH MY it was the worst! Everything that could go wrong went wrong (although I used the zig zag stitch)😂 Hope more people get to see this video before hitting the hard-fabric-wall!
When my daughter was a infant, we didn’t have a lot of money, but my FIL worked at a paper mill. They use cotton knit t-shirt material to make paper (who knew), but only white. He used to bring home the colored fabric for rags. The pieces were big enough for baby clothes. I made lots of pants for my babe. I don’t remember how I knew to use different needles, but with the correct needles, her clothes came out just fine. Seam finishing t-shirt material without a serger is a pain. When she was older, she liked me to make her skirts - same material, same source.
Hi! Love your videos. I’ve been sewing since I was a kid, literally learned at my mother’s knee. But I retired a few years ago and found all I really wanted for everyday was knits: sweat pants, hoodies, tank tops, tee shirts and sports bras. My retirement project was to “Master Knits” and what a journey it’s been. Three years and many you tube videos later I can easily do all of the above. It took a lot of trial and error-mostly error-but I’ve learned a lot. (Still have not mastered underpants). Knits are a completely different ball of wax. I think it is wise to advise newcomers to avoid them. But once you master the basics they are tons of fun. Thank you for all your good advice and sound instruction. I’ve learned a lot from your videos!
Ha ha. I'm 72. RUclips wasn't around then, and neither were you, for that matter. 😃 So, I had to learn the hard way. I began sewing on my mum's treadle machine and it actually could manage some difficult fabrics. But when I moved to electric machines, that's when I discovered how different fabrics needed different tools etc. It did mean that I threw away many sewing projects to the point that I just gave up. I thought I had no talent for sewing. Now, of course, when I sew, I read directions carefully and don't try to be too inventive. It is dull but effective. Thanks, Evelyn, you are a gem. ♥
Thank you. I am just learning to machine sew after sewing by hand since I was a child. I have just finished sewing an elaborate jacket by hand, which took a month to sew. But I really want to overcome my fear of machine sewing so I can sew all of my projects faster. 😣
Trust me, it’s going to be so so worth it! And everything is learnable, there’s so much information nowadays on the internet! And even if you make mistakes, if you stick to it, you will learn and progress! A sewing machine is a must if you care about your eyes especially but also when it comes to saving time. There are very simple to use and uncomplicated machines on the market, you should start with such a machine. Good luck!
You will love my Crash Course then at Vintage Sewing School is everything getting stated with your machine! www.vintagesewingschool.com/courses/crashcourse
Your logic makes perfect sense, but as a beginner, I believe that challenging yourself with more difficult fabrics, and patterns equips you better than the bare basics. In my opinion, you'll become a better sewist with a diverse skillset.
I am mostly self-taught, and have thrown away SO MANY pieces of fabric and just cried while I did it! My biggest goofy fabric choice (which turned out, surprisingly, to be the items I am most proud of) was faux fur. I was making halloween costumes for our family a few years back, we were going as vikings, and I wanted to make full length capes. Well, of course they had to have fur on the collar! I struggled and struggled with them, but was able to get it to work. That was the project where I really learned that not all fabrics work the same, and that certain ones are definitely more advanced. I altered my best friend's wedding dress this past year, and that was when I decided I never wanted to work with organza ever again! (At least not until I get much better!!!) Then just recently I made three costumes for my church's Easter cantata, two out of jersey knit and one out of a linen-rayon blend. I will 100% work with the latter again, as it was really user friendly. The knits though, oof. I now have an assortment of needles though, and have learned so much about them! Microtex, stretch, jersey stretch, 70/75/80/90/100/110, it's all part of the process I guess! That is when I started looking for tutorial videos and stumbled across this page. I subscribed and am considering doing the school as well! Thank you for presenting the information in a way that isn't condescending and admitting your own mistakes along the way!
Georgette, ugh. Not only was it slippery, it was sheer and needed to be lined. The only color I could find to match at all was cotton gauze (another fun fabric). I did finally figure out the georgette behaved better when severely starched, lol. The perils of buying fabric online.
My first ever project was a Simplicity medieval dress that had super poofy long sleeves made out of chiffon. I couldn't even get them cut out so I found a velvet in a similar color and made it a "winter dress". It came to nought because I got the bust crooked so I would get wardrobe malfunctions anytime I moved my arm a particular way. So now, 20 years later, I am getting back into sewing and making a 1930s outfit pants, backless shirt and bolero out of quilting cotton.
When I started sewing, I found denim to be an easy fabric to work with. Denim is a stable fabric and my sewing machine goes through a big heap of thick fabric easily. The same goes for cotton corduroy. Both are fabrics I have used often without knowing they count as hard to work with.
I always recommend quilting cotton as a beginner fabric, too. Good to know I’m giving good advice. It comes in so many patterns and colors, and makes great a-line dresses or tops for summer as a beginner project.
Honestly my advice, for myself at least, would be to pick a fabric with clearly distinguished right and wrong sides. I just finished making my first dress which is green with beige details. Both the fabrics have very similar right and wrong sides, only slightly different textures but the colour is almost identical. Well guess who managed to sow one of the skirt panels wrongly as well as in the belt detail sow the wrong side and the right side together 🙃 The skirt panel seam I ripped open and sewed again but the belt I just let it be. My mother swears that no one else can really see it besides myself and I can’t see it when I’m wearing it so I’m just going to let it be because I realised it so late it would’ve been a lot of work to redo. But the fabric I bought for my next project thankfully has a print on the right side and is plain on the wrong side so hopefully won’t do this mistake again!
Been there, done that, and feel your pain. Even now I find myself studying some fabrics, trying to decide which is the right side. Sometimes I just pick one and mark all the pieces with a big R with chalk or water-soluble marking pen.
Once I pick a "right side" I make sure I scribble all over the "wrong" side with chalk, I also mark stitch lines too cause I'm, er, not a very accurate sewist...
I'm so glad you mentioned difficulty in laying out and cutting: after 40 years of experience I still find crepe-de-chine or charmeuse of any fibre a *nightmare* to lay out and cut, but actually pretty easy to sew (once I've managed to recover). I started learning with cotton and cotton/polyester blends - not all that successfully. I still did not have much experience when I took the plunge and purchased wool flannel and wool crepe. The cost per metre made me think hard about this, but several experienced people told me they were so co-operative that if I were careful I'd have no trouble. The laying out, cutting, sewing, and pressing were extremely rewarding, and the results gave me a huge confidence boost.
I think we all have at least one project with snapped seams from before we learned what a stretch stitch was! I have a skirt with a tie-on waistband and there are so many seams I need to re--sew before I can put it back in my wardrobe.
I LOVE all the problematic fabric, viscose, silk, viscose jersey, tencel, all kinds of knits, they are the stuff my dreams are made of for wearable garments. Some of them can even behave themselves but that is heavily dependant on the manufacturer, some viscose is better than other. Worst one to this day is woven polyester/viscose lining that kept running away from everything, scissors, pins, needles ... and frayed the moment I touched it. To top it of it was my first ever skirt, so I remember a lot of unhappy hours of trying to tame it. Second worst was actually pure cotton jersey that I used for t-shirt and almost cried when I couldn't stretch the strip. And since it almost didn't stretch at all, it didn't fit properly, costly mistake that I overlooked when ordering (other fabric were with elastane).
Mine was a kind of crepe. It has a decent stretch to it and nothing I could find left a mark on it. I made the lining/toile out of a thin cotton - it turned out great, but making the dress was so hard. But it did teach me to check the sewing techniques required for any fabric I chose before starting (I still buy the fabric and think later 😂)
I literally just placed 2 orders for fabric. Which included Chiffon, Stretch Cotton for, you guessed it… T shirts lol, some jersey, some tulle and some gorgeous very slippery poly cotton that even the video makes it look like satin. And 6 yards of wool! I started sewing in August of 23, so I’m pretty sure that after watching this video, I will be buying a large plastic tote for my purchases and wait for a while before attempting to make anything with any of it! In the meantime I have a lot of beautiful prints on cotton to practice with. Thanks for saving me a lot of aggravation lol.
the first dress i ever made by machine was a bias cut 30s gown. i used stretch velvet and lined it with the slinkiest polyester satin. it ended up looking beautiful, but i had to cut out the lining pieces again and again because they would not go symmetrical! the back of the dress was a funky “x” shape made from two loops, and the pile of the velvet prevented them from sliding across each other as my shoulders moved. like i said, the dress looked lovely and worked well for the event, but i only wore it once before repurposing the skirt. i learned a lot!
Another fabulous video with wonderful advice! I've learned that the fabric is often more important than the pattern because you can make the same garment out of 2 different fabrics, and they will look like totally different garments. Side note: I don't mean to be "knit"-picky 😆, but not all stretchy fabrics are knits. If a woven has some sort of elastane incorporated (i.e. spandex, Lycra), it will also stretch. The way I like to explain the difference to fabric novices: woven fabrics have a perpendicular yarn structure, while knits look like they're made of teeny tiny chain links.
I have a lot of gorgeous fabrics. This video hits the head on the nail and is perhaps the reason I haven’t started sewing anything yet. I am too afraid to cut the fabric and ruin them. 😂😂😂
Thank you for making this video. My new sewing students have brought in SUCH difficult fabrics that they have collected! All beautiful but requiring advanced techniques. Very discouraging to try to work with slippery fabrics. I hadn't thought of denim! Good point. I would add plaids and directional fabrics. In our circle skirt class a student chose the cutest squirrel and snowman print but it was very directional, so the panels ended up being partially upright and partially sideways when sewn together. :(
I started sewing on silk chiffon. But I hand sewed it. Cutting was the hardest part. I read to soak it in gelatin and then iron it through a baking sheet to make it more stable and that was so much better. I’m so glad I started on that because after that I got into quilting and that made everything quilting a dream. So easy. I do quilt with a machine now. I don’t think I will ever put chiffon or organza near a sewing machine, much better to sew by hand and just not deal with the stress.
Great tips!! My nightmare fabric combo was velvet and lame'.....needless to say, there was upside-down nap issues a d bits of metallic thread everywhere....it became a toss in the garbage at some point!!
I've been sewing for a few years now but I'm still not comfortable with sewing knits. It's beyond me how some people just start with knits and sew very little else. Coincidentally these people also always have kids so that might be a reason why they break out the fun Bob the Builder jersey more often than me 🤣
I started with knits and did a terrible job with them without knowing LMAO only bc the fitting process seemed safer for a beginner since stretchy can… stretch and fit your proportions even if it isn’t really the right fit I was scared of wovens! now that I know all that I know about sewing I love stable wovens way more 😭
Sewing with knits is something doable at home, but you need to know the rules of it. You can’t just do it like I did, using a straight stitch, not using a special needle for this kind of fabrics, nor a special pattern and knowing nothing at all about it! :))) I think sewing with knits is a totally different science. If you know how it’s done, you’ll be successful at it.
New sewer here, definitely working with knits. I've learned the best way to manipulate it through practice, the best stitches to use, and the types of needles that work best. I took your advice and just went for it! I can always purchase more fabric
So helpful, wish you'd been around to give such great advice when I started sewing. Yes, I have a photo of an outfit I made as a teenager, silky blouse and lightweight overdress, it was so difficult it put me off trying again for a while, I thought I couldn’t sew. Glad that you're showing new sewers that all is possible, you just have to know the way it works.
I can highly recommend starting with plain weave cottons. They're just by far the easiest to work with. *However*, I personally learned a lot by sewing doll clothes (for like big baby dolls). Including how to work with knits, slippery satins and organza. The doll clothes mean you don't use much fabric, and it's not like an actual person will wear the clothes, so it's a great way to work on low stakes projects.
I also make doll clothes to practice different skills. It also allows me to make things that I personally would never wear but that I think are adorable. And because they don’t require as much fabric, I can purchase scraps or a thrift store item to salvage fabric for a fraction of the cost.
I have been sewing over 55 years. I have sewn many gowns and period clothing for theater costumes, etc. All these projects were for someone else never for me. Two years ago I decided that I should be sewing for myself. Oh my goodness there is so much difference trying to fit yourself than another person. I'm learning different fitting techniques for fitting myself. The learning process goes on. the 3 P's is so right.
I think, sometimes the best way to learn is to fail a few times. I’m sure we’ve all struggled with various things, awkward fabrics included. But I find I do learn more from my failures than my success.
Well I did some of that list at the beginning. I was sewing for babies at the beginning so lots of stretch and thick fabrics! I made sleepers and form fitting cloth diapers. There was lots of cursing and some of the first few things were very wonky and weird. Back then I took a few courses and watched shows on sewing then just figure it out. It’s not always pretty and sometimes we swear off something but we usually survive it and eventually learn better methods
When I was a beginner, my experienced Mum was always there to ask. Now, I love sewing stretch velvet skirts, knits & satin. They're definitely not for beginners but with practice, it's possible & they turn out beautifully.
I attempted making a stretch knit garment in my naive preteen years... The hem resembled wavy-leaf lettuce. Maybe it's time to revisit sewing knits as an older, wiser sewist.
I apparently still haven't learned how to sew a straight line... I started sewing on denim and horse blankets and stretch crushed velvet which is very forgiving in fit but is not only stretchy but also slippery and the first dress I made was lovely slippery satin. Enh. You use what you have and learn what you will from it... I learned to hand crank Mom's old Kenmore machine through the thick denim seams so the needle wouldn't jam mid-stitch, the time I worked with a sheer, I hand-sewed it and finished the seam allowances with a tight whip stitch though a French seam is what I'd do now...and from sewing stretch crushed velvet (not only stretchy but also slippery) I learned to cross my pins to keep things in place so when I did the satin dress it actually wasn't bad at all. I never stretched my stretchy fabric very far so never really popped any seams but at least I know now to choose something appropriate to the stretch!
One of my first projects on returning to sewing was using knits because I thought, oh, stretchy fabrics, if I don't get the fit exactly right, it will be fine. I didn't try sewing for another 2 years after than! Then I went the opposite way and tried making a denim skirt. After breaking a needle I realized I needed specialized needle and a jig. Another couple months and I thought, oh, I'll try something super lightweight. Yup, too sheer. Finished it but it was too messy to actually wear. Switched to quilting for a few years -- ah, charm squares -- no problems cutting or sewing straight. Built up my confidence and a slippery minky fabric nearly did me in! But at least this time I knew it was the fabric and not me.
My fabric disaster was when I decided to use my clothing scraps to make a quilt. Looked great until I hand quilted it and some of the pieces started separating at the seams. 30 years later I still need to pick out some of the quilting to replace the pieces. Learned about fabric on that quilt.
Early sewing mistake switching from cotton (what I started with when learning from my class and grandmother) to trying to make a Halloween cloak of velvet and spider mesh put me off sewing for years!!! 10 years later still have both fabrics and the mess of a project and the velvet fabric scraps came in handy for donating to a theatre.🤣
I just made my first ever blanket(set) for a friends upcoming baby and decided to do a minky with fleece backer. Boy that was just such a funnnnnn time lol. Did a smaller one for "baby"(made it 1 yard so it would be useable longer) and one twice as large for momma. Even just doing such a basic craft with those two fabrics was pretty challenging. The stitching itself wasnt too too awful as I have a Pfaff 2124 with IDT that I refurbished myself which helped albeit it still did end up bunching slightly due to these 2 fabrics. Getting the fabrics together in preparation was the biggest difficulty though I would say. All in all I'm glad I did it though.
Of course I picked a knit fabric for an a line skirt! Couldn't figure out why my machine kept eating my fabric! Learned I had to have a different size needle. Also learned I had to use a zig zag stitch. It turned out great but I didn't know any of that to begin with!
I just bought velvet and satin….not exactly a beginner, but it seems like I’m about to enroll in Vintage Sewing School so I don’t royally mess up these projects
Many years ago I made an adorable pair of slacks and when I washed them they shrunk, mostly in length and could not wear them. This was a few years ago and many fabrics now are more stable. But I was young and on a very small budget. If it's machine washable I prewash.
Your comment about learning to stitch a straight line in the beginning made me chuckle. When I first started learning to use my mom’s sewing machine, she was trying to teach me all the things she knew as an experienced sewist. Meanwhile, I was struggling to sew a straight line. I gave up and ended up teaching myself years later when she bought a new machine and gave me her old one. Lesson one: got the machine serviced and it solved so many problems, lol. I don’t know how she sewed so well on a machine that hadn’t been serviced in 20+ years.
For my first-ever sewing project, I thought I would cut up an old bedsheet and turn it into shorts. While old bedsheets are usually a great choice for beginners, mine was made of satin. I actually did get it to stay put though--- but I had to baste EVERY SINGLE SEAM before sewing.
Basting is your FRIEND. I thought basting was "too much work" until I realized it was actually 'too much work" to keep having to rip seams out that had shifted while I was sewing them! Also...GLUE. Sometimes a dab of quilting glue is the answer to hold small seams together while being stitched.
After successfully making some cotton masks, I decided to try to make a tool bag out of denim. When it came time to attach the handles, a couple of stitches in the needle snapped and the machine made a strange noise. The machine never worked right again. (it was a pretty cheap machine). Went out and got a Singer Heavy Duty machine and switched to duck canvas. Much less scary. It worked great! Some day I may be brave enough to make a shirt or something.
The first few sewing projects I did included hemming jeans (after a few broken needles I came online and got proper denim needles and found a guide that included the least folds; and I chose a satiny stretchy material for a cushion cover (I did have a sewing instructor for this one and she did warn me, and I would say I only have myself to blame, it is still one of my favourite things I've made.
I've never tried corduroy, but I am sure that I would have made the same mistake. Sometimes we learn more from mistakes than we do anything else. Sew on.
I'm relatively experienced in sewing but I have this lovely gold tinted crepe back satin fabric that just feels like I'm trying to sew a liquid instead of a fabric. No matter how ready you are sometimes you'll have to take your time and be careful to succeed.
Excellent advice. My daughter's first attempt at sewing was in home economics class. She was only 12 or 13 years old and her first sewing assignment was to make a fleece sweatshirt with elasticated cuffs, hem and neckline. Disaster! What a horrible project to begin sewing. She is now in her forties and has recently bought a reconditioned sewing machine and is interested in sewing again.
That just seems cruel to start them off with knits. People laugh at the old home ec apron, but updating it to a modern style in a fun quilting cotton would be so much better, and they could wear it in the cooking part of the class.
I agree pure linen is rewarding when done right... but we have to work for that reward! To reduce a fabric's mobility when cutting out, I sometimes prepare by putting a piece of sticky tape along the fabric on the diagonal. Test first, of course, to make sure that the tape won't pull away too many fibres when removed. And then there's the fraying...
@@tomscrafts I've found myself using random things like mugs for fabric weights which I prefer to pins for linen 😂 I'll have to try tape. The good thing about linen though is it's easy to see the grainline
Oh Evelyn. I appreciate your channel so much and I wish I had watched this 2 months ago when I began my sewing journey. All of my first projects have been done with the fabrics you've listed. :C smooth slick thin fabric and corduroy...
My sewing journey began 25 years ago with sewing belly dance costumes: so basically knits and chiffon for big swirly circle skirts. Thankfully I got help from my teacher and my mother and as the results did not have to be perfect, the frustration was not as high… I also did a lot of hand sewing, a necessity for embellishments. Only recently have I discovered the ease and joy of sewing linen and coton.
I would add plaids and fabrics with naps. Matching plaids is a skill and remembering to lay out napped fabrics properly is something we have all learned the hard way!
I am still a novice, but I started with cotton muslins, quilting cotton and linen and practiced the basics on non-garment sewing projects like grocery totes and med sized zippered bags. I found the smaller the bag, the more challenging the project. I feel ready now to graduate to basic woven shirts and shorts before I tackle knits.
I bought a beautiful silk and use pattern weights to cut it but while sewing it I noticed that the pieces lenght weren’t matching??? My fabric probably moved even with the pattern weights I probably would have needed to use more weights,. I solved my problem by making a diagonal hem to my maxi dress! It looks beautiful and nobody knows that’s not what I intended but me, and now you lol
I am learning how to sew and my first sewing project was a turtleneck made of stretch jersey. I'm so grateful I had your youtube videos and those of other creators which taught me to use ballpoint jersey needle and a coverstitch on my sewing machine and I'm excited to learn and make more! Thank you for sharing all your knowledge with us beginners ❤
I learned the hard way that not all fabrics are the same. and what you have in mind is totally different to the final result. I love your videos and thanks for all these useful tips.
For my first sewing project as a kid, I decided to make pjs out of a beautiful pink... seersucker. They were very comfortable in hot weather, but good grief the puckering did not play nicely with my mother's temperamental old sewing machine.
Yep! Teaching myself to sew, my first dress was a 1987 Batwing dress pattern using a silky fabric. The headache from that experience had me put the sewing machine aside. Four years later, a short course at TAFE and I am back at it. Making better fabric choices.
I'm currently wrapping up a project that is a cross between number 2 and number 4 on the list. Chiffon? Georgette? IDK. But it frays like mad and it's like trying to sew water. I needed bias binding/tape for the edges and the pieces kept slipping out of alignment so that even using my engineered 45 degree tool didn't help. Ultimately had to pin those to not have them shift. Thankfully I've been sewing French seams for years and decided to join the skirt to the bodice and stitch the shoulders with French seam technique. It'll be a lovely dress when it's done, but definitely not a fabric for a beginner!
I know this might be quite personal to the beginner sewers journey, but could you do a video talking about the best beginner patterns to do and not to do? Love the video! Thank you 🤍
Some of the big pattern companies actually have a range of simple patterns for beginners - Vogue have a line marked 'very simple'. Look on the back of pattern envelopes and you can often see a difficulty rating, and you can find some really lovely garments in these lines.
@@kittling5427 thank you :) I did know that part luckily, I was more just wondering if there was a few specific beginner ones that would be recommended. Thank you for the insight!
A-line shift dresses are my favorite to start with. Made in a pretty quilting cotton print, they’re great for warm weather, and wash well. You get to practice straight lines, simple darts, and facings. Do one with sleeves first. Sleeveless ones usually have a one-piece neck and armhole facing that’s a little tricky to attach. You’ll learn to attach a zipper, too, although I prefer to do mine by hand. A basic a-line skirt is another good beginning project, and looks good with t shirts and knit tops you probably already own. Look at the finished garment measurements on the pattern pieces themselves to help with getting the right size and fit.
I couldn't find the waffle weave I wanted recently for a bathrobe, so I went with cotton bubble gauze. Wow. A challenge to cut, and you can't press it; that will change both the shape and size. I also made several mistakes in the assembly. On the plus side, I found that cotton bubble gauze is forgiving; it will hide mistakes. I'm happy with the end result (a very comfortable and light-weight bathrobe) but I would never recommend cotton bubble gauze to a beginner.
In middle school home ec I chose to sew a mini skirt and crop top (the 80's!) I decided on knit fabric. THE WORST! I can't believe my teacher didn't guide me otherwise lol
What kills me is that my High School cut all classes like this from when I was a kid. I took sewing, baking, cooking, wood shop and metal shop. And also accounting that taught us how to do our taxes. Kids today have zero idea about any of this. Thank you for being here, being you and sharing it with us! ❤️
Because we settled on being a consumerist society that only wants people to buy rather than learn and empower our youth especially during difficult times. Hence why RUclips and diy are so popular with younger generations... We just want to learn to be self sufficient while also balancing school, work, and building a "career". Absolutely crazy
Schools now are not like what they used to be like before. How I wish to go back in time.
I see people say things like this all the time, but I graduated just 3 years ago and had all of these classes offered to me. Financial literacy classes were even required to graduate.
I agree Home EC was priceless. I grew up having to care for myself and my brother from a young age so it helped me accomplish that. My kids got classes like flowers arrangement but the class really didn't teach them it was more like a free time class we had to pay $80 for. Now my adult daughter is learning to sew and I'm bringing out the exercises I learned in Home EC. My other adult daughter is learning to cook so doing the same with her.
I'm not inclined to be too critical of today's schools. I'm retired & volunteering at a grade school close to me. Mostly working with 3rd graders. The classroom is a joy; the whole school actually. They have all kinds of neat learning devices that we didn't have when I was that age. The ones I really like are the little colored blocks ...the blue ones represent one hundreds, the orange represent 10's, & then small blocks are just for ones. Great way for them to grasp numbers & do their math.
I’ve been sewing since I was seven, now in my seventies. I was a professional historical costumer until my children were born & we had to move to my hometown to take care of my ailing mother. I was only able to occasionally sew for about 15 years. When my husband retired, he began to grow out his beard… it came in white as snow. He reminded me of a promise I made: if his hair turned white as his father’s, I would make him a Santa Suit. We laughed, but a few months later, in a shopping line he was approached with an opportunity to work as a family party Santa. So the crazy began. I couldn’t find cotton velveteen in red, & so arrogant in my (half forgotten) mad skills, I decided to use a beautiful upholstery fabric. That wasn’t a new thing. My ancient Elna SU handled handled upholstery like a trooper. I designed & drafted a pattern, using a commercial pattern. But this fabric was a nightmare. It cut well, but it resisted everything but simple straight seams. Curves of any kind were impossible. Collars were no-go, easing it in place as well. It snapped even # 20 needles like straw. I struggled, wrestled, and invented colorful phrases. It looked good enough done, Hub was happy. But I knew I had been bested. I spent the next seven years reworking it. This year it wanted replacing. I hadn’t thrown out the excess Hub had insisted on to replace the entire thing. I had to take a go at it again. #cringe. But I knew my enemy, planned my campaign over and over until I knew I was ready. On last stretch now & looking good. Go me. Fingers still crossed,tho. I watching your vids while hand-sewing. Ever entertaining, and I applaud your passion teaching skills almost gone extinct. Go you! Cheers!
Timestamps yo!
3:20 Knitts
4:36 Sheer fabrics
5:46 Denim or anything super thick
6:45 Silky, slippery, drapey fabrics
When my daughters were little I enjoyed making Christmas dresses for them. One year I tried stretch velour. I remember telling my mom-“please remind me of this conversation, don’t ever let me choose stretch velour again”. (The dress looked cute though).
Even more experienced sewers can have trouble with the harder fabrics. My SIL called me in desperation some years ago. She was attempting to make bridesmaid and flower girl dresses for herself and my niece out of a semi-sheer woven very slippery fabric and despite years of sewing on "normal" fabrics she could not even get pieces pinned properly. Off I went and we spent a whole weekend on nothing but those two dresses. She taught me the fabulous word "slimpsy" for slippery flimsy (and very difficult to work with!) fabrics. In return I taught her how to support the fabric so it would not stretch, weight it down to cut, use tons of pins taking tiny across-sewing-line bites so it doesn't shift on long straight seams (along with fore-and-aft slight tensioning while letting the feed dog pull the fabric), and covering the feed dog with masking tape so it would not leave "gripper" marks as it fed. 100% French seams (she'd never tried those). Hand-basting on all the curves for sleeves-neckline-bust, stay-stitching, tear-away stabilizers - the whole works. The dresses came out great and they got lots of compliments at the wedding. That stuff was far more challenging than some super-soft silks I've worked with - the silks at least stay woven as you work with them, and those fabrics were so frail they tried to fray themselves to pieces if you looked at them sideways! Only thing I can think of that was worse was a fabric (again I got called in desperation) that was both slippery and highly textured, that fought back tooth and nail. It was sure pretty, though.
Your story reminds me of one of mine. We lived in Europe in the past. One time I bought some beautiful fabric to make blouses fo rmyself. My friend told me, "I would have left that on the shelf"! LOL It did turn out well. I was not a beginner sewer at all, so that was a plus. Thanks for sharing this story!
Slimpsy!!!!!! I am adopting this term!!!!
The first garment I ever sewed was a tulle petticoat.
I am a researcher by nature and I was able to look up what needle, what thread and how to feed the fabric.
Basically if you are going to pick a difficult fabric, don't be surprised when it requires a lot more time just to plan!
Even though I've been sewing for decades, I still make this mistake. I get so wrapped in seeing all the pretties and forget to weigh the fussy demands of the fabric type against my low threshhold for frustration.
I am also very annoyed with the current trends of putting stretch in normally non-stretchy fabrics. I know how to handle denim but most are stretchy now and I don't like using them.
I’ve been sewing for more than 30 years, and the “newest”, thing I’ve learned, is that pinning and cutting fine fabrics, can be a nightmare. I have made myself a notebook, where I write what experience I get from a new project, and what to take notice of the next time, I have something similar to work with.
I’ve learned, that when working with viscoses, it’s a good idea, not to cut on the fold, as the fabric will shift and slide while cutting- again, a nightmare 🪡🧵
One of the first things I ever sewed was a pair of pyjamas for my granddaughter in lovely stretch tee-shirt type fabric. Luckily, I’d watched enough tutorials, this channel included that I knew to use a zigzag stitch.
My first project in home economics in 1963, was a plaid cotton., for a dress. I shouldn’t have chosen a plaid but my mother explained how to cut it, and I did. That thing turned out perfectly matched and my teacher couldn’t believe I had done it myself. Fast forward to two years ago, when I returned to sewing after years away. I didn’t have the sense to be skittish about any fabric and started out with some horrible ones. I was so discouraged after the first few fails that I nearly quit. I finally got a success and went from there. I am still very nervous about some but I think this is the year to finally use them, again.
*[Looks over at the pile of jersey knit stretch fabrics he bought for some of his early projects...]* Well, at least I knew about the needles and stitches, right? 😅
When I was a young teen I really wanted to learn sewing. I chose a great pattern, bought all the thread and buttons. All good there. Got to the fabric and completely blew it. Silk. I chose silk. My mom tried to help me work through it but it was pointless. I gave up sewing for over 20 years because I realized it was far more involved than I had originally thought it was. Now, at 50, I’m getting into it again. I’m only working with cotton until I get used to it. Things are going so much better now.
I use quilting cotton for most of my projects. Its fairly cheap, super easy to get (Walmart even has it), and comes in a wide variety of colors/patterns. And if you make a big mistake usually you can use the fabric for another project. Which is really helpful for a beginner. Fear of failure is a huge barrier.
You can learn for making terrible fabric choices - I learnt just how blue and inventive my swearing could be ;) On a more serious note I learnt that once you make 3 mistakes in a row its time to put down the sewing and get a cup of tea and some fresh air.
Years ago I decided to make a nightgown for my sister as a Christmas gift. This project is the reason that I refuse to sew knits even to this day. My first choice of fabric was not available so I ended up with an extremely drapey jersey-type knit. I didn't know I needed special tools so I ended up making separate trips to the store for needles, pins, and interfacing. I let the fabric drape over the side of my table as I cut out the pieces. I didn't (couldn't) find the straight grain. The fabric kept running away from the scissors. I cut out two left sleeves, but no right sleeve, I decided to add a lace ( lace!) overlay to the sleeves and yoke. I couldn't tell the right from the wrong side of the fabric. Pinning the gathered body of the gown to the yoke took hours! But - before this incident I had no idea there were different types of pins or different needles for lighter weight fabrics, and it had never occurred to me that fabric should be supported if it draped off the side of the cutting table. Mistakes are profitable if I examine what went wrong and try to learn something from them. By some miracle the final result was wearable and my sister was very happy with the gown.
(Unsolicited recommendation) Sandra Betzina's book All New Fabric Savvy examines more than 100 different fabrics, and gives detailed recommendations for tools and sewing techniques for creating the garments best suited for the fabric.
I grew up watching Sandra on PBS! I also went to one of her classes in the 90s. She’s awesome.
If you want to use knits, look for cotton interlock knits without any elasticated threads as spandex or lycra. It looks the same on both sides of the fabric, are a lot less stretchy and can be sewn as normal woven fabrics. You will need to use a zigzag or a triple stich.
Double knits like Ponte de Roma are good starter knits as well. They don't roll and are usually not super stretchy (thought you still need to at lease use a zigzag or other stretch stitch).
Stretch velvets are nice, too. The nap sticks to itself and it’s a firmer fabric. You can elevate a basic knit tee with it, too.
I actually tell people the opposite because the cotton interlock fabrics I always see are extremely stretchy with very poor recovery so they're very difficult to sew (stretched seams, skipped stitches, "lettuce leaf" hems, plus they stretch out and lose their shape when you wear them), whereas fabric with spandex (aka Lycra) in it usually has very good recovery so it's much easier to work with (as long as you use a stretch needle). If you accidentally stretch the fabric too much while you're sewing it will still go back to its original shape because of the spandex, and you're much less likely to get those wavy lettuce leaf hems. I always recommend that people who want to try something with knit fabrics either start with something that has spandex in but isn't super stretchy, it or with firm ponte type knits that don't stretch as much like Kelly said (or maybe polyester interlock if it's not too stretchy).
Yes indeed. I've been sewing for more than 50 years, and recently I made a summer outfit from crinkle gauze - and spent time curled in the fetal position after dealing with this. Never again. Texture matters.
Maybe not the best time to mention it but if you must sew denim.......keep a hammer handy. Works wonderfully for those massive seams. Beat the daylights out of the seams before stitching. Mood enhancer as well!
I have learned 1 million things in VSS. The most important is that the sewist must be the boss of that fabric...my words, not Evelyn's. Manipulating fabric is essential. Start with cotton, as Evelyn suggested. I have separated the rayon fabric which I have curated until I am more confident. Almost there. Rather than a fabric story, I will share this. For years I did not respect the importance of different needle types and sizes. I have embarrassing anecdotes. Yikes! Sew on and Sew forth.
My granddaughter is at the beginning of her sewing journey and I’ve been sharing your videos with her because you are such a good teacher. I’m also learning a lot from you, just in your videos. I used to think I knew how to sew, but boy was I mistaken. It’s a joy to share your videos with her. ☺️
Yes! We don’t know what we don’t know, and the more we learn, the more we realize what we don’t know!😊
Yes, Evelyn is a very good teacher. As a part of her Vintage Sewing School, I can say she has taught how to do different things in ways I never understood before!
I use mostly 100% cotton or flannel when sewing because I am usually making nightgowns for my granddaughter or pjs for my grandson. Or quilting. I really don't sew for myself.
I literally just found the stretch stitch on my sewing machine (just altering and repairing my clothes for now, getting to know my machine and my tolerance for things going wrong). And this stretch stitch is the most exciting thing ever, I have repaired about 6 tank tops that had popped seams and even a pair of leggings! It's very exciting to find new things to learn on a machine and I have been doing this kind of work on my clothes for years. Hoping next year will be the first year of making my own clothes so I really needed to get to know my machine properly first.
Haha of course my first sewing project was a t-shirt in a knit fabric. OH MY it was the worst! Everything that could go wrong went wrong (although I used the zig zag stitch)😂 Hope more people get to see this video before hitting the hard-fabric-wall!
When my daughter was a infant, we didn’t have a lot of money, but my FIL worked at a paper mill. They use cotton knit t-shirt material to make paper (who knew), but only white. He used to bring home the colored fabric for rags. The pieces were big enough for baby clothes. I made lots of pants for my babe. I don’t remember how I knew to use different needles, but with the correct needles, her clothes came out just fine. Seam finishing t-shirt material without a serger is a pain. When she was older, she liked me to make her skirts - same material, same source.
Hi! Love your videos. I’ve been sewing since I was a kid, literally learned at my mother’s knee. But I retired a few years ago and found all I really wanted for everyday was knits: sweat pants, hoodies, tank tops, tee shirts and sports bras. My retirement project was to “Master Knits” and what a journey it’s been.
Three years and many you tube videos later I can easily do all of the above. It took a lot of trial and error-mostly error-but I’ve learned a lot. (Still have not mastered underpants). Knits are a completely different ball of wax. I think it is wise to advise newcomers to avoid them. But once you master the basics they are tons of fun.
Thank you for all your good advice and sound instruction. I’ve learned a lot from your videos!
Ha ha. I'm 72. RUclips wasn't around then, and neither were you, for that matter. 😃 So, I had to learn the hard way. I began sewing on my mum's treadle machine and it actually could manage some difficult fabrics. But when I moved to electric machines, that's when I discovered how different fabrics needed different tools etc. It did mean that I threw away many sewing projects to the point that I just gave up. I thought I had no talent for sewing. Now, of course, when I sew, I read directions carefully and don't try to be too inventive. It is dull but effective. Thanks, Evelyn, you are a gem. ♥
Thank you. I am just learning to machine sew after sewing by hand since I was a child. I have just finished sewing an elaborate jacket by hand, which took a month to sew. But I really want to overcome my fear of machine sewing so I can sew all of my projects faster. 😣
Trust me, it’s going to be so so worth it! And everything is learnable, there’s so much information nowadays on the internet!
And even if you make mistakes, if you stick to it, you will learn and progress! A sewing machine is a must if you care about your eyes especially but also when it comes to saving time.
There are very simple to use and uncomplicated machines on the market, you should start with such a machine. Good luck!
You will love my Crash Course then at Vintage Sewing School is everything getting stated with your machine! www.vintagesewingschool.com/courses/crashcourse
Your logic makes perfect sense, but as a beginner, I believe that challenging yourself with more difficult fabrics, and patterns equips you better than the bare basics.
In my opinion, you'll become a better sewist with a diverse skillset.
I am mostly self-taught, and have thrown away SO MANY pieces of fabric and just cried while I did it! My biggest goofy fabric choice (which turned out, surprisingly, to be the items I am most proud of) was faux fur. I was making halloween costumes for our family a few years back, we were going as vikings, and I wanted to make full length capes. Well, of course they had to have fur on the collar! I struggled and struggled with them, but was able to get it to work. That was the project where I really learned that not all fabrics work the same, and that certain ones are definitely more advanced. I altered my best friend's wedding dress this past year, and that was when I decided I never wanted to work with organza ever again! (At least not until I get much better!!!) Then just recently I made three costumes for my church's Easter cantata, two out of jersey knit and one out of a linen-rayon blend. I will 100% work with the latter again, as it was really user friendly. The knits though, oof. I now have an assortment of needles though, and have learned so much about them! Microtex, stretch, jersey stretch, 70/75/80/90/100/110, it's all part of the process I guess! That is when I started looking for tutorial videos and stumbled across this page. I subscribed and am considering doing the school as well! Thank you for presenting the information in a way that isn't condescending and admitting your own mistakes along the way!
Georgette, ugh. Not only was it slippery, it was sheer and needed to be lined. The only color I could find to match at all was cotton gauze (another fun fabric). I did finally figure out the georgette behaved better when severely starched, lol. The perils of buying fabric online.
My first ever project was a Simplicity medieval dress that had super poofy long sleeves made out of chiffon.
I couldn't even get them cut out so I found a velvet in a similar color and made it a "winter dress". It came to nought because I got the bust crooked so I would get wardrobe malfunctions anytime I moved my arm a particular way.
So now, 20 years later, I am getting back into sewing and making a 1930s outfit pants, backless shirt and bolero out of quilting cotton.
When I started sewing, I found denim to be an easy fabric to work with. Denim is a stable fabric and my sewing machine goes through a big heap of thick fabric easily. The same goes for cotton corduroy. Both are fabrics I have used often without knowing they count as hard to work with.
I always recommend quilting cotton as a beginner fabric, too. Good to know I’m giving good advice. It comes in so many patterns and colors, and makes great a-line dresses or tops for summer as a beginner project.
Honestly my advice, for myself at least, would be to pick a fabric with clearly distinguished right and wrong sides. I just finished making my first dress which is green with beige details. Both the fabrics have very similar right and wrong sides, only slightly different textures but the colour is almost identical. Well guess who managed to sow one of the skirt panels wrongly as well as in the belt detail sow the wrong side and the right side together 🙃 The skirt panel seam I ripped open and sewed again but the belt I just let it be. My mother swears that no one else can really see it besides myself and I can’t see it when I’m wearing it so I’m just going to let it be because I realised it so late it would’ve been a lot of work to redo. But the fabric I bought for my next project thankfully has a print on the right side and is plain on the wrong side so hopefully won’t do this mistake again!
Been there, done that, and feel your pain. Even now I find myself studying some fabrics, trying to decide which is the right side. Sometimes I just pick one and mark all the pieces with a big R with chalk or water-soluble marking pen.
Once I pick a "right side" I make sure I scribble all over the "wrong" side with chalk, I also mark stitch lines too cause I'm, er, not a very accurate sewist...
@@bunhelsingslegacy3549 I also mark the wrong side with giant X. Made that mistake and ripped out seams one too many times.
I'm so glad you mentioned difficulty in laying out and cutting: after 40 years of experience I still find crepe-de-chine or charmeuse of any fibre a *nightmare* to lay out and cut, but actually pretty easy to sew (once I've managed to recover).
I started learning with cotton and cotton/polyester blends - not all that successfully. I still did not have much experience when I took the plunge and purchased wool flannel and wool crepe. The cost per metre made me think hard about this, but several experienced people told me they were so co-operative that if I were careful I'd have no trouble. The laying out, cutting, sewing, and pressing were extremely rewarding, and the results gave me a huge confidence boost.
I think we all have at least one project with snapped seams from before we learned what a stretch stitch was! I have a skirt with a tie-on waistband and there are so many seams I need to re--sew before I can put it back in my wardrobe.
I LOVE all the problematic fabric, viscose, silk, viscose jersey, tencel, all kinds of knits, they are the stuff my dreams are made of for wearable garments. Some of them can even behave themselves but that is heavily dependant on the manufacturer, some viscose is better than other. Worst one to this day is woven polyester/viscose lining that kept running away from everything, scissors, pins, needles ... and frayed the moment I touched it. To top it of it was my first ever skirt, so I remember a lot of unhappy hours of trying to tame it. Second worst was actually pure cotton jersey that I used for t-shirt and almost cried when I couldn't stretch the strip. And since it almost didn't stretch at all, it didn't fit properly, costly mistake that I overlooked when ordering (other fabric were with elastane).
Wow, I wish I had seen this video when I was a beginner!!!😅😅 It would have saved me so much frustration and feeling like I can’t sew!
Mine was a kind of crepe. It has a decent stretch to it and nothing I could find left a mark on it. I made the lining/toile out of a thin cotton - it turned out great, but making the dress was so hard. But it did teach me to check the sewing techniques required for any fabric I chose before starting (I still buy the fabric and think later 😂)
I literally just placed 2 orders for fabric. Which included Chiffon, Stretch Cotton for, you guessed it… T shirts lol, some jersey, some tulle and some gorgeous very slippery poly cotton that even the video makes it look like satin. And 6 yards of wool! I started sewing in August of 23, so I’m pretty sure that after watching this video, I will be buying a large plastic tote for my purchases and wait for a while before attempting to make anything with any of it! In the meantime I have a lot of beautiful prints on cotton to practice with. Thanks for saving me a lot of aggravation lol.
Eyelet lace cotton like you are wearing is a bit tricky too...
the first dress i ever made by machine was a bias cut 30s gown. i used stretch velvet and lined it with the slinkiest polyester satin. it ended up looking beautiful, but i had to cut out the lining pieces again and again because they would not go symmetrical! the back of the dress was a funky “x” shape made from two loops, and the pile of the velvet prevented them from sliding across each other as my shoulders moved. like i said, the dress looked lovely and worked well for the event, but i only wore it once before repurposing the skirt. i learned a lot!
Another fabulous video with wonderful advice! I've learned that the fabric is often more important than the pattern because you can make the same garment out of 2 different fabrics, and they will look like totally different garments.
Side note: I don't mean to be "knit"-picky 😆, but not all stretchy fabrics are knits. If a woven has some sort of elastane incorporated (i.e. spandex, Lycra), it will also stretch. The way I like to explain the difference to fabric novices: woven fabrics have a perpendicular yarn structure, while knits look like they're made of teeny tiny chain links.
I have a lot of gorgeous fabrics. This video hits the head on the nail and is perhaps the reason I haven’t started sewing anything yet. I am too afraid to cut the fabric and ruin them. 😂😂😂
Thank you for making this video. My new sewing students have brought in SUCH difficult fabrics that they have collected! All beautiful but requiring advanced techniques. Very discouraging to try to work with slippery fabrics. I hadn't thought of denim! Good point. I would add plaids and directional fabrics. In our circle skirt class a student chose the cutest squirrel and snowman print but it was very directional, so the panels ended up being partially upright and partially sideways when sewn together. :(
I started sewing on silk chiffon. But I hand sewed it. Cutting was the hardest part. I read to soak it in gelatin and then iron it through a baking sheet to make it more stable and that was so much better. I’m so glad I started on that because after that I got into quilting and that made everything quilting a dream. So easy. I do quilt with a machine now. I don’t think I will ever put chiffon or organza near a sewing machine, much better to sew by hand and just not deal with the stress.
I sew a dress made out of velvet. What I didn’t know was that you have to cut all the pieces going the same way.
Tne little black dress in that slinky fabric was an absolute nightmare, I did finish it but I only wore it once
Great tips!! My nightmare fabric combo was velvet and lame'.....needless to say, there was upside-down nap issues a d bits of metallic thread everywhere....it became a toss in the garbage at some point!!
I learned this one the hard way too! 😂😂 it’s funny now but I was so mad back then!!
I've been sewing for a few years now but I'm still not comfortable with sewing knits. It's beyond me how some people just start with knits and sew very little else. Coincidentally these people also always have kids so that might be a reason why they break out the fun Bob the Builder jersey more often than me 🤣
I started with knits and did a terrible job with them without knowing LMAO only bc the fitting process seemed safer for a beginner since stretchy can… stretch and fit your proportions even if it isn’t really the right fit I was scared of wovens! now that I know all that I know about sewing I love stable wovens way more 😭
Sewing with knits is something doable at home, but you need to know the rules of it. You can’t just do it like I did, using a straight stitch, not using a special needle for this kind of fabrics, nor a special pattern and knowing nothing at all about it! :))) I think sewing with knits is a totally different science. If you know how it’s done, you’ll be successful at it.
New sewer here, definitely working with knits. I've learned the best way to manipulate it through practice, the best stitches to use, and the types of needles that work best. I took your advice and just went for it! I can always purchase more fabric
So helpful, wish you'd been around to give such great advice when I started sewing. Yes, I have a photo of an outfit I made as a teenager, silky blouse and lightweight overdress, it was so difficult it put me off trying again for a while, I thought I couldn’t sew. Glad that you're showing new sewers that all is possible, you just have to know the way it works.
Faux fur and velvet, Christmas 2021....a total nightmare and it was only a tree skirt . lol
I can highly recommend starting with plain weave cottons. They're just by far the easiest to work with. *However*, I personally learned a lot by sewing doll clothes (for like big baby dolls). Including how to work with knits, slippery satins and organza. The doll clothes mean you don't use much fabric, and it's not like an actual person will wear the clothes, so it's a great way to work on low stakes projects.
I also make doll clothes to practice different skills. It also allows me to make things that I personally would never wear but that I think are adorable. And because they don’t require as much fabric, I can purchase scraps or a thrift store item to salvage fabric for a fraction of the cost.
That’s a wonderful idea! It might be worth me getting a doll so I can practice!
I would love a video about fabrics to stick to as a beginner for particular items/garments, or maybe substitutions for the fabrics you mentioned
I have been sewing over 55 years. I have sewn many gowns and period clothing for theater costumes, etc. All these projects were for someone else never for me. Two years ago I decided that I should be sewing for myself. Oh my goodness there is so much difference trying to fit yourself than another person. I'm learning different fitting techniques for fitting myself. The learning process goes on. the 3 P's is so right.
I can’t remember how many sewing projects my mother finished for me! Oh the frustration!
I used ALL those materials as I learned to sew. Not the greatest learning, but I survived!
Me too! 😅 but I think that my passion for sewing was really strong to survive that level of dissapointment!
I think, sometimes the best way to learn is to fail a few times. I’m sure we’ve all struggled with various things, awkward fabrics included. But I find I do learn more from my failures than my success.
Well I did some of that list at the beginning. I was sewing for babies at the beginning so lots of stretch and thick fabrics! I made sleepers and form fitting cloth diapers. There was lots of cursing and some of the first few things were very wonky and weird. Back then I took a few courses and watched shows on sewing then just figure it out. It’s not always pretty and sometimes we swear off something but we usually survive it and eventually learn better methods
When I was a beginner, my experienced Mum was always there to ask. Now, I love sewing stretch velvet skirts, knits & satin. They're definitely not for beginners but with practice, it's possible & they turn out beautifully.
I attempted making a stretch knit garment in my naive preteen years... The hem resembled wavy-leaf lettuce. Maybe it's time to revisit sewing knits as an older, wiser sewist.
Ballpoint and jersey needles are a must. Good luck.
And an adjusted pressure foot pressure
Yessss!!! You can do it!
Wash away wonder tape is a miracle for sewing knits. It keeps the fabric from stretching while you sew and then washes away!
I apparently still haven't learned how to sew a straight line...
I started sewing on denim and horse blankets and stretch crushed velvet which is very forgiving in fit but is not only stretchy but also slippery and the first dress I made was lovely slippery satin. Enh. You use what you have and learn what you will from it... I learned to hand crank Mom's old Kenmore machine through the thick denim seams so the needle wouldn't jam mid-stitch, the time I worked with a sheer, I hand-sewed it and finished the seam allowances with a tight whip stitch though a French seam is what I'd do now...and from sewing stretch crushed velvet (not only stretchy but also slippery) I learned to cross my pins to keep things in place so when I did the satin dress it actually wasn't bad at all. I never stretched my stretchy fabric very far so never really popped any seams but at least I know now to choose something appropriate to the stretch!
One of my first projects on returning to sewing was using knits because I thought, oh, stretchy fabrics, if I don't get the fit exactly right, it will be fine. I didn't try sewing for another 2 years after than! Then I went the opposite way and tried making a denim skirt. After breaking a needle I realized I needed specialized needle and a jig. Another couple months and I thought, oh, I'll try something super lightweight. Yup, too sheer. Finished it but it was too messy to actually wear. Switched to quilting for a few years -- ah, charm squares -- no problems cutting or sewing straight. Built up my confidence and a slippery minky fabric nearly did me in! But at least this time I knew it was the fabric and not me.
My fabric disaster was when I decided to use my clothing scraps to make a quilt. Looked great until I hand quilted it and some of the pieces started separating at the seams. 30 years later I still need to pick out some of the quilting to replace the pieces. Learned about fabric on that quilt.
Early sewing mistake switching from cotton (what I started with when learning from my class and grandmother) to trying to make a Halloween cloak of velvet and spider mesh put me off sewing for years!!! 10 years later still have both fabrics and the mess of a project and the velvet fabric scraps came in handy for donating to a theatre.🤣
I just made my first ever blanket(set) for a friends upcoming baby and decided to do a minky with fleece backer. Boy that was just such a funnnnnn time lol. Did a smaller one for "baby"(made it 1 yard so it would be useable longer) and one twice as large for momma. Even just doing such a basic craft with those two fabrics was pretty challenging. The stitching itself wasnt too too awful as I have a Pfaff 2124 with IDT that I refurbished myself which helped albeit it still did end up bunching slightly due to these 2 fabrics. Getting the fabrics together in preparation was the biggest difficulty though I would say. All in all I'm glad I did it though.
Of course I picked a knit fabric for an a line skirt! Couldn't figure out why my machine kept eating my fabric! Learned I had to have a different size needle. Also learned I had to use a zig zag stitch. It turned out great but I didn't know any of that to begin with!
I just bought velvet and satin….not exactly a beginner, but it seems like I’m about to enroll in Vintage Sewing School so I don’t royally mess up these projects
Many years ago I made an adorable pair of slacks and when I washed them they shrunk, mostly in length and could not wear them. This was a few years ago and many fabrics now are more stable. But I was young and on a very small budget. If it's machine washable I prewash.
My first major project consisted of spandex, cotton duck, and a circle cut from semi sheer crepe. 😂 I learned A LOT from it!
Your comment about learning to stitch a straight line in the beginning made me chuckle. When I first started learning to use my mom’s sewing machine, she was trying to teach me all the things she knew as an experienced sewist. Meanwhile, I was struggling to sew a straight line. I gave up and ended up teaching myself years later when she bought a new machine and gave me her old one. Lesson one: got the machine serviced and it solved so many problems, lol. I don’t know how she sewed so well on a machine that hadn’t been serviced in 20+ years.
For my first-ever sewing project, I thought I would cut up an old bedsheet and turn it into shorts. While old bedsheets are usually a great choice for beginners, mine was made of satin.
I actually did get it to stay put though--- but I had to baste EVERY SINGLE SEAM before sewing.
Basting is your FRIEND. I thought basting was "too much work" until I realized it was actually 'too much work" to keep having to rip seams out that had shifted while I was sewing them! Also...GLUE. Sometimes a dab of quilting glue is the answer to hold small seams together while being stitched.
After successfully making some cotton masks, I decided to try to make a tool bag out of denim. When it came time to attach the handles, a couple of stitches in the needle snapped and the machine made a strange noise. The machine never worked right again. (it was a pretty cheap machine). Went out and got a Singer Heavy Duty machine and switched to duck canvas. Much less scary. It worked great! Some day I may be brave enough to make a shirt or something.
The first few sewing projects I did included hemming jeans (after a few broken needles I came online and got proper denim needles and found a guide that included the least folds; and I chose a satiny stretchy material for a cushion cover (I did have a sewing instructor for this one and she did warn me, and I would say I only have myself to blame, it is still one of my favourite things I've made.
Superb info! Thank you Evelyn. Lu x
My bad choice was corduroy. I did not understand that I had to buy extra fabric because of the nap.
I've never tried corduroy, but I am sure that I would have made the same mistake. Sometimes we learn more from mistakes than we do anything else. Sew on.
I'm relatively experienced in sewing but I have this lovely gold tinted crepe back satin fabric that just feels like I'm trying to sew a liquid instead of a fabric. No matter how ready you are sometimes you'll have to take your time and be careful to succeed.
Thank you. So encouraging
Excellent advice. My daughter's first attempt at sewing was in home economics class. She was only 12 or 13 years old and her first sewing assignment was to make a fleece sweatshirt with elasticated cuffs, hem and neckline. Disaster! What a horrible project to begin sewing. She is now in her forties and has recently bought a reconditioned sewing machine and is interested in sewing again.
That just seems cruel to start them off with knits. People laugh at the old home ec apron, but updating it to a modern style in a fun quilting cotton would be so much better, and they could wear it in the cooking part of the class.
thanks for all these tips and infos, really helpful!!
Linen is my one true love! 😍 But it can be a pain to cut out. I've been sewing for almost 2 years and still find the cutting stage the hardest.
I agree pure linen is rewarding when done right... but we have to work for that reward! To reduce a fabric's mobility when cutting out, I sometimes prepare by putting a piece of sticky tape along the fabric on the diagonal. Test first, of course, to make sure that the tape won't pull away too many fibres when removed.
And then there's the fraying...
Oh no. I bought some really nice linen for a dress. Looks like I'll be making that dress forever...😉
@@TheGalactica2001 no linen is a great beginner fabric! It's really nice to sew with
@@tomscrafts I've found myself using random things like mugs for fabric weights which I prefer to pins for linen 😂 I'll have to try tape. The good thing about linen though is it's easy to see the grainline
Linen is wiggly to cut. But it's gorgeous to sew with! I use tons of fabric weights and pins when laying out pattern pieces.
Oh Evelyn. I appreciate your channel so much and I wish I had watched this 2 months ago when I began my sewing journey. All of my first projects have been done with the fabrics you've listed. :C smooth slick thin fabric and corduroy...
My sewing journey began 25 years ago with sewing belly dance costumes: so basically knits and chiffon for big swirly circle skirts. Thankfully I got help from my teacher and my mother and as the results did not have to be perfect, the frustration was not as high…
I also did a lot of hand sewing, a necessity for embellishments.
Only recently have I discovered the ease and joy of sewing linen and coton.
My mad fabric choice was oil cloth, trying to make a bag! Unless you have a walking foot forget oil cloth!
I would add plaids and fabrics with naps. Matching plaids is a skill and remembering to lay out napped fabrics properly is something we have all learned the hard way!
I am still a novice, but I started with cotton muslins, quilting cotton and linen and practiced the basics on non-garment sewing projects like grocery totes and med sized zippered bags. I found the smaller the bag, the more challenging the project. I feel ready now to graduate to basic woven shirts and shorts before I tackle knits.
I once cut out a dress with a fabric that had a nap that ran the wrong way on one side of the front. One side was up the other down.
I bought a beautiful silk and use pattern weights to cut it but while sewing it I noticed that the pieces lenght weren’t matching??? My fabric probably moved even with the pattern weights I probably would have needed to use more weights,. I solved my problem by making a diagonal hem to my maxi dress! It looks beautiful and nobody knows that’s not what I intended but me, and now you lol
I am learning how to sew and my first sewing project was a turtleneck made of stretch jersey. I'm so grateful I had your youtube videos and those of other creators which taught me to use ballpoint jersey needle and a coverstitch on my sewing machine and I'm excited to learn and make more! Thank you for sharing all your knowledge with us beginners ❤
I learned the hard way that not all fabrics are the same. and what you have in mind is totally different to the final result. I love your videos and thanks for all these useful tips.
Please do a video on tips when sewing with these not so easy materials please xx
For my first sewing project as a kid, I decided to make pjs out of a beautiful pink... seersucker. They were very comfortable in hot weather, but good grief the puckering did not play nicely with my mother's temperamental old sewing machine.
Great ideas
for my first ever garment I picked a thick knit and tried to make a circle skirt, rip 😂 of course it had a pattern, with direction, too!
A 60s style shell top or shift dress is great for quilting cotton.
Yep! Teaching myself to sew, my first dress was a 1987 Batwing dress pattern using a silky fabric. The headache from that experience had me put the sewing machine aside. Four years later, a short course at TAFE and I am back at it. Making better fabric choices.
I'm currently wrapping up a project that is a cross between number 2 and number 4 on the list. Chiffon? Georgette? IDK. But it frays like mad and it's like trying to sew water. I needed bias binding/tape for the edges and the pieces kept slipping out of alignment so that even using my engineered 45 degree tool didn't help. Ultimately had to pin those to not have them shift. Thankfully I've been sewing French seams for years and decided to join the skirt to the bodice and stitch the shoulders with French seam technique. It'll be a lovely dress when it's done, but definitely not a fabric for a beginner!
I know this might be quite personal to the beginner sewers journey, but could you do a video talking about the best beginner patterns to do and not to do? Love the video! Thank you 🤍
Some of the big pattern companies actually have a range of simple patterns for beginners - Vogue have a line marked 'very simple'. Look on the back of pattern envelopes and you can often see a difficulty rating, and you can find some really lovely garments in these lines.
@@kittling5427 thank you :) I did know that part luckily, I was more just wondering if there was a few specific beginner ones that would be recommended. Thank you for the insight!
A-line shift dresses are my favorite to start with. Made in a pretty quilting cotton print, they’re great for warm weather, and wash well. You get to practice straight lines, simple darts, and facings. Do one with sleeves first. Sleeveless ones usually have a one-piece neck and armhole facing that’s a little tricky to attach. You’ll learn to attach a zipper, too, although I prefer to do mine by hand. A basic a-line skirt is another good beginning project, and looks good with t shirts and knit tops you probably already own. Look at the finished garment measurements on the pattern pieces themselves to help with getting the right size and fit.
I couldn't find the waffle weave I wanted recently for a bathrobe, so I went with cotton bubble gauze. Wow. A challenge to cut, and you can't press it; that will change both the shape and size. I also made several mistakes in the assembly. On the plus side, I found that cotton bubble gauze is forgiving; it will hide mistakes. I'm happy with the end result (a very comfortable and light-weight bathrobe) but I would never recommend cotton bubble gauze to a beginner.
In middle school home ec I chose to sew a mini skirt and crop top (the 80's!) I decided on knit fabric. THE WORST! I can't believe my teacher didn't guide me otherwise lol