Learning to Sew

So if any of you follow me on Pinterest (which I know a lot of you do), you have probably noticed that while most of you are pinning adorable Christmas decorations, recipes and crafts, I have been pinning sewing tips, sewing blogs, sewing tutorials and sewing pattern wish lists.

I have always wanted to sew.  My mom can sew.  She learned in the 7th grade and then re-taught herself when she was living the fabulous single gal life in D.C. after grad school.  Sometimes we would sew together as a I got older.  In middle school, I really wanted some new skirts. We went to Hancocks, picked out a pattern, fabrics and other tools.  When we got home, we sat in the basement and cut out the pattern size and sewed together.  It was a lot of fun.  

So fast forward a few years, and I asked for a sewing machine for my birthday.  Its a basic machine but it does everything I want it to do.  

 

The Brother LX2500 and my newest best friend!

 And I signed up for a Basic Sewing course at the local community college.  And I LOVE IT!  I am having a so much fun.  Our instructor, Ms. Edna, is so old-school.  We learned about pattern selection, pattern layout, pattern alterations.  It's an 8 week class and we are making a dress.  This dress to be exact.  I am making the scoop neck with quarter length sleeves.  Stay tuned for its debut in a few weeks.

 

 But I wanted to go ahead and get started.  I am having so much fun but I didn't have the patience to wait until the end of of my class to spread my wings and sew on my own.

So, on Veterans Day, I bought a Sew Simple Apron pattern, fabric from the remnant bin and went to work.  I was pretty pleased with the results.   Before I did anything, I watched a ton of videos from Professor Pincushion to work up my confidence.  I had never even thread my bobbin before.  But I did it, from start to finish.  

I learned valuable lessons.  I am happy with the way my first project turned out.  I messed up on the rick rack a lot bit but overall, it was great.  And fun.

Ta Da!

Now I am working on this skirt.  I love the shape of it.  I think it is a great winter skirt.  I hope to finish it by Friday.

I really love the design!

 I want to keep sewing.  The biggest challenge is making it affordable and economical.  To do that, you have to buy your fabric when its on sale, and a build up a stash.  You might not use it right away, but just wait for it.  Its also important to buy your other supplies while on sale. And never overlook Walmart.

So stay tuned. I'll be sharing a lot of projects.