For our 200th episode, we asked our listeners the question we ask all our guests: “How did you learn to sew?” In this episode, we share some of the many great responses we got – funny, touching stories of discovering this skill we all love.
The transcript for this episode is on this page at the end of the show notes.
Previous Episodes:
- Episode 94: Why Do We Sew?
- Episode 99: Patternmaking with Suzy Furrer
- Episode 199: #SelfDrafted with Donny Q
Mentioned in this Episode:
- The Banana Splits
- Curvy Sewing Collective Community – Facebook Group
- Helen’s Dressed-Up Godzilla Figurine (with Bonus Dressed-Up Hedgehog Stuffy)
- Sarah’s Wedding Dress
Sewing Patterns:
Transcript:
Helen: We are recording today on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the Coast Salish and Kwakwaka’wakw peoples, including Tsleil-Waututh, Squamish, Musqueam, and K’ómoks first nations.
Hello, and welcome to Love to Sew. I’m Helen, the designer behind Helen’s Closet Patterns.
Caroline: And I’m Caroline, the owner of Blackbird Fabrics.
Helen: We’re two sewing beds who love to sew our own clothes and want to encourage you on your sewing journey, too.
Caroline: Join us for today’s topic: How I Learned to Sew.
Hi, Helen.
Helen: Hi, Caroline.
Caroline: Oh my gosh. This is our 200th episode of Love to Sew.
Helen: Two hundred episodes. How many hours is that?
Caroline: I don’t think I want to know.
Helen: That’s a lot of sewing talk. Like, people said we were going to run out of ideas. They said… No, just kidding.
Caroline: And look at us now!
Helen: But seriously!
Caroline: It’s true.
Helen: So many episodes of sewing tips, techniques, tools, fabric deep dives, amazing guests, and community stories. And we are so grateful to you, our listeners, for making this possible.
Caroline: Yes, you’ve listened to the episodes. You’ve commented on social media. You’ve sent us emails and voicemails. You’ve supported us on Patreon, and we’ve learned a lot from you. We’ve laughed at your jokes, and we’ve been inspired by your makes. It’s been such a great journey.
Helen: It really has. I can still remember the very beginning of this when we were meeting regularly talking about the idea of starting a podcast and trying to figure out how it was going to be and what kind of guests we were going to have and what kind of topics we would do and how often we would record. And I still think back on that, like, four years ago, and we had no idea where that was going to take us.
Caroline: Yeah, and, I mean, we’ve seen a lot of changes in our lives over the last four years. We’ve both moved. I’ve moved several times. You moved away from Vancouver. Our businesses have evolved and changed and grown, and our lives have changed. We both got dogs. It’s been a real, real exciting time. And, just, I’m grateful to have our listeners there for us through all of it and listening along on our sewing and life journeys.
Helen: It is pretty special to have this audio documentation of this phase of our lives because it has been so exciting, especially seeing our businesses grow alongside the growth of the podcast and being able to share that with all of you. So, again, just thank you so, so much for listening, whether you’ve been listening all along or you just got here. Thank you, seriously, so much.
Caroline: Yeah. Thank you so much. We actually have people email us and say things like, I feel like you are my friends, or you’re my sewing buds. And it’s true; we feel that, too. We feel like we’re friends with all of you, and we’re so thankful for you. So, yay.
Helen: And because it’s our 200th episode, we have a very special one planned for today, but before we get into it, let’s answer a listener question.
Caroline: Yes. This one comes from Sarennya, “I came across the Uniform Project where she wore the same black dress with different accessories for a whole year. I love the idea of having a uniform dress which is adaptable and could form the basis of my wardrobe. Can you suggest any patterns that might work well for this?”
Helen: Thanks so much for your question. And for those of our listeners who don’t know, the Uniform Project is a very interesting and cool thing. Sheena wore the same little black dress for a whole year. The dress that they designed buttons through on one side and has a dart and a centred godet on the other side.
And Sheena wore it front ways, back ways, open, closed, tucked in, uh, and paired it with lots of different other garments as well. It wasn’t just wearing the dress. You can check it out in the link that we’ll put in the show notes. It’s really inspiring how many outfits that they were able to make with just one dress and different accessories. And Sheena took every opportunity to fundraise for schools in Mumbai and Pune with this project and we will link, of course, in the show notes, as we said.
And as for patterns, we think that maybe the Kalle Shirt Dress by Closet Core could be a great choice for this because it can be worn open or closed, I really like the way that Sheena did that with her dress, belted or not belted. And it would look like a nice shirt if it were tucked into dress or pants. We also love the look of the Hexham Dress by Muna and Broad which would make a great knit option if you wanted just a simple knit garment that you could wear for your uniform project.
Caroline: Mhm, I feel like any kind of button up shirt or shirt dress could work so well cause it’s so versatile. You can use it as, like, a layering piece, almost like a little light jacket, and then you could also wear it as, like, a full garment, like a dress or a top or tucked in, or I don’t know, there’s just so many options there. So I like that suggestion.
Helen: And I think black is an obviously good choice. Um, going with any kind of neutral probably makes sense in this case, so you can mix it with lots of things.
Caroline: Yeah, whatever your version of black is, like what Donny Q said about, um, his version of black being beige.
Helen: Yeah, or brown. Some people’s neutral is, like, leopard print.
Caroline: Yeah, that would be cool actually.
Helen: It would be.
Caroline: Okay. So for this episode today, we asked you the question that we ask all of our guests, and that is: how did you learn to sew? Which is so special for this episode. I’m so excited to read all of these wonderful sewing stories. We got so many responses, and we wish we could share them all. So thank you to everyone who wrote in with their stories. But before we start, I think we’re going to share ours, right?
Helen: Yeah, of course. I think we have shared these on the show before, but, I mean, it’s always fun to repeat and share again. So Caroline, tell me how and when did you learn to sew?
Caroline: So, okay. It’s hard to say exactly when. I often say I was, like, eight or nine years old, but some of my earliest memories of sewing are my mom sewing Halloween costumes growing up. And I always think of sewing as something that’s, kind of, just always been in the background of my life because I always knew that my grandmother sewed and my great-grandmother sewed, and there’s always been a sewing machine, or there was always a sewing machine, in my house growing up.
But yeah, I took an interest in sewing when I was around, like, eight, nine, maybe 10 years old and started making bags out of old pairs of jeans. And my friends started asking me to make bags for them. And I actually started charging for those bags which I always laugh about now. Um, but yeah, that’s when I learned to sew. And my mom was the one who taught me. I, kind of, forced her to teach me how to use her sewing machine so I could do that.
And then I kept on sewing throughout my teenage years. I never used patterns. I just traced shapes that looked right or used, like, existing clothing as templates. And then I went to college to study fashion design in, like 2006 to 2008, but sewing my own clothes didn’t really stick until around 2010, 2011, when I discovered the online sewing community.
Helen: And that’s when you were hooked?
Caroline: Yeah. The rest is history. What about you, Helen? How did you learn to sew?
Helen: Well, a very similar sewing story because I don’t entirely know exactly when it happened, but it was around the same age. And I also grew up watching my mom sew our Halloween costumes and also sew her own clothes, and one of my very early sewing memories is touching the hot iron after being told, “Don’t touch this. It’s hot.”
Caroline: Of course.
Helen: Of course I had to try. And I also remember vividly going to the fabric store with my mom and being small and, like, I can remember the angle looking up at the bolts and touching them with my hands and looking at all of the patterns on the catalogue racks and being particularly interested in, like, the teen patterns, um, which are, uh, extra exciting in the nineties, lots of grunge pants and raver, kind of, style aesthetic for the teen patterns. So it was really fun to look at all of those.
And I just loved going to the fabric store, and I did make a few garments when I was around, like, 8, 9, 10, and I also enjoyed sewing bags and other accessories. And in high school, I really enjoyed my home ec classes and my home ec teacher, Mrs. Orchard, and I spent a lot of extra time in her classroom, outside of class. And I sewed all sorts of things. She was very encouraging, gave me fabric and things to work with and just really, um, encouraged me in my sewing journey.
And I was really into wearing what I made to school the next day. I would get very excited about finishing the project so that I could wear it the next day. And I remember a lot of, like, knit circle skirts where you, kind of, cut a circle and then you cut a smaller circle for the waist, and then you just slap a waistband on there, and there you go.
And lots of sleeveless tops, no pattern used, just like you said, figuring out shapes and cutting them out. And I also sewed my jeans into skirts, um, and took in tees that I thrifted at Value Village so that they would be tighter. I really liked everything tight. And, uh, so I had a lot of fun altering clothes, too.
And another thing I wanted to mention cause it’s a nice early sewing memory is that my Aunt Judy, uh, used to so custom handmade, uh, Barbie clothes for me when I was little. I was really into Barbie and I had a whole Barbie World set up in my bedroom on this shelving unit. So it’s like a multistory Barbie situation, where it was like, you’re looking at a building but it’s, like, cut open. You could see all the, like, floors, and there’s different things happening on each floor.
And I was really into Barbie, in part, I think because of the fashion, and I really loved the clothes, and my Aunt Judy would sew me these custom Barbie clothes, and they were absolutely gorgeous. And I just remember being so excited whenever I would get those in the mail. So that’s a really lovely, early sewing memory for me.
Caroline: Aw, that’s such a sweet story. I love the vision of you, like looking up at the fabric bolts in the fabric store and probably feeling really small next to all those fabrics, but it’s such a sweet, sweet memory.
Helen: Yeah, and like you, I didn’t get back into sewing my own clothes and really excited about sewing my own wardrobe until later on, like, I think 2015 was when I started the Helen’s Closet blog. And that was when I got back into sewing, and it’s, so it’s only been six years, and that always shocks me, or seven years now, I guess it’s 2022, but it always shocks me to think about what a short amount of time that really is and how much I’ve accomplished in that time and how much sewing I’ve done and how much more confident I feel in my sewing now.
Caroline: Yeah, it’s awesome. Well, I’m excited to get into some listener stories, and we’ve, kind of, grouped them as we usually do. Our first group of stories belongs in a popular category which is self-taught sewists.
And our first story is a voicemail from Hannah.
Hannah: Hi, I’m Hannah. I’m 22, and I’m from Germany. Um, you recently asked how we learned to sew. Um, so here’s my story. When I was, like, 11 or 12, I just randomly started making these, like, cases for the flip phones we had back then, um, like little pockets where you could put your phones in.
And I made them from old jeans, and I sewed them by hand because obviously, I didn’t have a sewing machine then. And I also had no idea how to sew anything really. So it was no surprise that they didn’t fit at all. Like, I couldn’t even put my phone into them, but I had so much fun. So that was, like, before Christmas.
And so for Christmas, my parents just took the plunge and gifted me a sewing machine. And I had never thought about that, or even a possibility of sewing with a sewing machine, but obviously, they took the right plunge because ever since then I’ve been enjoying sewing, and I have several sewing machines now. So they were definitely right with gifting me that.
But here’s another funny little anecdote because I was listening to your episode with Suzy Furrer the other week. I think it’s, like, Episode 99 or something. And she said that she was actually scared of sewing into her fingers at first. And I remember on Christmas morning, um, we opened presents, like, on, uh, Christmas Eve. So on Christmas morning, I was so excited about my sewing machine, but at the same time, I was also so immensely scared of sewing into myself, like, sewing into my fingers and my hands, um, that I was actually not brave enough to just try out the sewing machine.
I had to wake up, wait until my parents woke up and then they, you know, were sewing with me, but that’s just a little funny thing that I like to remember when I think about how I started sewing.
Caroline: Thank you so much for calling in, Hannah. It’s so cute to picture you sitting there on Christmas morning, just dying to sew, but waiting because you’re so scared. And I’m glad that your fear is a thing of the past and that now you’re a long time sewist, but I can totally relate to that, kind of, overwhelm of looking at a sewing machine and being like, oh my gosh, how do I work this.
Helen: Definitely. Daisy of DIY Daisy wrote in, too. If you don’t know who she is, please check her out. She has fabulous sewing tutorials and such a bright wardrobe. She wrote, “I just plugged in a machine and started fiddling until I understood how it worked. I was a brave 13 year old until I stitched through my finger, and dad had to detach me from the machine.”
Caroline: Oh my goodness. Daisy, this is horrifying and also somehow inspiring. You can sew through your finger and survive the experience, everyone. And she kept sewing. I don’t know. I think that’s really brave.
Helen: It is. And Carla wrote to us via email.
Caroline: “My sewing adventure really started when I got engaged and could not, for the life of me, find a colour coordinated vest (also known as a waistcoat), for my then husband-to-be’s suit. If I found one, it didn’t fit him properly. He is well over 6 feet tall and super skinny. So I decided to make one…welt pockets, brocade fabric and all the things one avoids for a beginner. But I dove in and while I made lots of mistakes, it was still lovely and wearable by the end. Ever since I’ve had the bug and my sewing space has grown from one end of our dining table to a whole corner of our basement just six years later. Still loving it!”
Helen: Wow. This is amazing, Carla. You really dove into the deep end of sewing, and you made something special and unique for a loved one. And if you’re out there listening and you want to learn to sew, or you want to level up your sewing, be like Carla, and just go for it. What would Carla do?
@ErikaDeperika commented on Instagram, “As a teen I got clothing allowance (I don’t know if it’s a thing in the rest of the world, but halfway through secondary school, most Dutch kids get a fixed monthly allowance for clothes to practice managing a slightly bigger budget than just pocket money, that should be used for slightly more necessary purchases than pocket money). Anyway, I got a baseline budget with the promise that if I could show from my bookkeeping that it wasn’t enough, I could get more. I was super goth at the time and those clothes were expensive. But I felt more like learning to sew than like doing bookkeeping so off I went. Almost 20 years later I’m still not sure whether my mom and dad consider this a parenting success or not.”
Caroline: I mean, it sounds like a win-win situation to me. You got your super goth clothes, and your parents didn’t have to increase your clothing allowance, and you didn’t have to crunch any numbers. Plus, you learned a useful skill. I love this.
Helen: You know, I actually had a clothing budget as a child slash teenager as well. My parents gave me, I can’t remember, I think it was, like, $25 a month or something, but I could save it throughout the year and have more, and it was a great way to learn about using money and have a little bit more autonomy when it came to shopping.
Caroline: Yeah. That’s such a great concept. Okay. @EpochSewing wrote to us on Instagram, ”I felt desperate to help with the Covid-19 pandemic so figured I could get a machine and learn how to make masks to give out. Literally, blind ordered a machine online. Made a bunch of masks after watching a YouTube tutorial. After making too many to count, I said “hmmm wonder if I could make a dress?” Being 6’1”, ready-to-wear has never fit. I made the Seamwork Georgia. I did pretty much everything wrong: the facing was inside out, I didn’t add length and the sleeves were a nightmare. But my goodness I was HOOKED! Haven’t looked back.”
Helen: This is so cool. I love that you began sewing with something you knew that you could make and then progressed to things you thought were too hard at the beginning, but you did manage to get there. And I wonder how many sewists started out making masks at the beginning of the pandemic when there was that PPE shortage. And now that masks are widely available, I think people are still sewing. I hope people are still sewing. They haven’t put their machines back in the closet, and it’s been really exciting to have new people joining the community these past couple of years.
Caroline: Yeah. I’d say if the last couple of years or any indication, like, we definitely have gained a lot of people in this sewing world. It’s exciting.
Helen: Yes, it is. @ArtInStitchTute, cute, wrote, “I was 8 years old and my sister was 10. We had only one TV and she said, since she was older, she got first dibs. It was 1969, and I wanted to watch the show Banana Splits. She wanted to watch something else, and she won. I took my mom’s sewing machine out and made a pair of pants and a jacket by the time our parents came home. One of my arms was sewn upside down (shoulder seam to underarm seam), but I’ve been sewing ever since (I’m 60), and I teach sewing classes now and do alterations. #DoWhatYouLove”
Caroline: We have listeners learning at all ages in these letters. I love this, and this is such a classic younger sibling problem. If you can’t get the older sibling to let you watch what you want, so you have to figure out something else to do. But I, kind of, love that you started sewing to keep yourself entertained.
I can’t say that I would’ve just jumped to pulling out a sewing machine and making myself an outfit if my sister decided she wanted to watch TV, but it’s awesome that you still love sewing and that you’re still doing it now. So I think that’s a win as well.
Helen: Yeah, it is. And I have sewn a sleeve in upside down, so I know how you feel.
Caroline: Oh yeah. @Taylor.Hart.Fabrics commented, ”I learned to sew about 4 years ago by listening to podcasts like yours, watching videos on YouTube, going to a local sewing class, reading books like David Page Coffin’s Shirtmaking, and sewing as often as possible. Sewing has become a passion, and I practise almost every day.”
Helen: Okay. So this listener was mostly self-taught, but they also took a class, and I love this hybrid approach. There’s always more to learn in sewing, and it’s really nice if you can get into an in-person class to learn some more, and it’s so nice that Love to Sew helped you learn, too. Thank you for sharing.
Maggie @MaggieWhoSews wrote, “I taught myself to quilt from books in the nineties. After my kids were born, I learned how to make clothes by following indie patterns. Each pattern was a lesson. Eventually I started sewing for myself and got help from FB sewing groups like the Curvy Sewing Collective! (I’m a co-editor nowadays, and I’m still learning.)”
Caroline: It’s such a good idea to learn the basics of sewing and then to learn by following indie patterns. There are pattern companies out there that make great instructions to learn from. I have to shout out to you, Helen, cause I think that your instructions teach sewing so well. You always have little tips and tidbits throughout, and you have a few patterns in your library that are very much geared towards beginners. Like, am I wrong? The Donovan skirt as one of them.
Helen: Yes, correct. I love putting in all of those little tips because even if you are a long ways along in your sewing journey, you still might not know why you do certain things. And it’s so interesting to me to find out that when I’m sewing.
Caroline: Mhm, okay. @Sew.Sher commented, “I taught myself to sew using sewing books from my local library”
And Anna @blumzie wrote, “YouTube and library books!”
Helen: Books are such a great underrated way to learn to sew. Some sewing books are structured like a beginner sewing course. So you won’t have any gaps in your learning and getting them from the library is a great idea because you’d spend $0 and you learn a new skill.
I, when I got back into sewing, picked out some sewing books from the library, and I learned a lot from them, like, just reading them cover to cover. And even though not all the knowledge sticks because it’s all overwhelming at the beginning, you will reference those books again and again and come back to that, you know, the third or second time you read it. And, and it will stick in the end.
Caroline: Mhm. Yeah. Yeah. It’s so nice to have, like, a handful of, of reference books in your sewing room to just have on hand, if you ever need a little bit of support.
Helen: Or if you want to sew, but you don’t have the energy to actually sew, you can just read about sewing.
Caroline: There you go.
Helen: Okay, Blair left us a voicemail.
Blair: Hi, this is Blair from Chicago, Illinois. Uh, so a lot of people assume that I learned to sew from my mother, but she never sewed. I taught myself, but she’s very proud that I taught myself how to sew. So she will frequently brag to people how bad she was at sewing and that she got a C in home ec. And I always think that’s very sweet because she loves to tell people that I taught myself. But that’s my sweet little sewing story. Thanks. Buh-bye.
Caroline: Blair, this is so cute. You should be proud of being self-taught. It’s not easy. And you did it. You go, Blair.
Helen: Yes.
Caroline: Okay. Next up @Millennial_Mom16 wrote, “I was always curious about the vintage black mechanical Singer that my aunt used to sew on, but as a child I was never allowed to work on it. Growing up in India in the the 1990s, studies were always preferred to sewing if you want to get ahead in life. I finally learned to sew when three months pregnant with my baby, in a new country. I spotted a Brother machine at a local reuse centre in Austin, Texas. This place, Austin Creative Reuse, sold upholstery samples, which I had hand sewed as a wall tapestry earlier. So when I saw this 80s Brother machine at a very low price, I thought, ‘why not?!’ Once the machine was home, I started watching YouTube videos on threading the machine, sewing basic things. I made quite a few functional, wacky, imperfect clothes for my kiddo, who enjoys watching me sew. As an engineer, I love to reverse engineer outfits and sew entirely pattern-less most times. Thank you for this platform and for letting me share my sew-story!”
Helen: Thanks for your story. That creative reuse centre sounds so dreamy, and it’s really smart to look up YouTube videos for your specific machine. There’s lots of great information out there made by sewing machine manufacturers and hobbyists. I also love that you made clothes for your kiddo. Little kids often don’t notice if something is imperfect, I mean, rarely, I would say, notice if something is imperfect. So they are the perfect Guinea pigs for your creations when you’re just learning.
Caroline: Yeah, this is a great story. And I totally pull up YouTube anytime I have a new gadget or machine. When I got a new sewing machine last year, I was, like, immediately YouTube, show me how to thread it. Show me all the details. I’d much rather watch a video than read a big old instruction book.
Helen: Yeah, same. Okay. @GardenGrounded wrote, “When I was 8 I used to sit for hours at our old White sewing machine which was set up in an unfinished basement with terrible lighting. I taught myself to sew making clothes for my troll dolls. Most of the time the bobbin thread was balled up in a nasty mess, but I would just soldier on and had the best dressed trolls.”
Caroline: I’m sure you did. I would love to see a troll fashion show. Can we make that happen? I used to dress up my My Little Ponies, and I had this Godzilla figurine, and I would, like, put all of my scrunchies on it, so it would look like it was wearing this, like, multi-tiered dress situation. And then I definitely took photos of it. I still have those pictures, so I’ll try and find one for the shownotes
Caroline: That is amazing.
Helen: Yeah, this reminds me too. Like, one time when I was a teenager, I think I sewed my mom a pottery apron. And I didn’t check the tension and I sewed the whole thing. Not even really, like, looking at it or maybe I did look at it. I just didn’t realise it was wrong. But on the backside, the bobbin thread was all wackadoodle, like, the whole bunchy and, and it was not, the tension was not right. It wasn’t set in there right, but the top looked fine. So I was like, this is fine. It’s acceptable. The front looks good. The inside doesn’t matter. Let’s move on.
Caroline: Yeah. Oh yeah. No, I’ve definitely sewn things for, like, you get through so much time sewing, and then you realise that, like, the bobbin thread is, like, all messed up and then you have to make that decision: do you redo it or do you just roll with it?
Helen: Just fold it under and try again.
Caroline: Okay. Our next group of stories is a smaller group and it’s sewists who learned to sew at school. Annabelle @Annabelle._.Cooke wrote, “I learnt to hand sew at school when I was 7 but at 11, we were taught to use the machine. I remember they printed out a road map, complete with roundabouts, et cetera, on a piece of thick interfacing and we had to do our ‘driving test’. Needless to say, my tendency to end up on the wrong side of the road classified me as a dangerous driver.”
Helen: This sounds like a very interesting lesson plan. Uh, it sounds pretty hard to be honest. I don’t think I could do something like that when I was just starting out. I remember sewing on a paper towel in home ec class. We had to try and, like, stay, stick on the lines, but there definitely wasn’t a dangerous driving situation.
Caroline: Can you imagine? Slap-, getting slapped with a ticket or something?
Helen: Okay. Lesley @Eve.N.Maurice wrote, “When I was in middle school, girls were required to choose cooking or sewing as an elective. I chose sewing because I thought it was ‘less domestic,’ or like what mom did. It wasn’t super enjoyable, making my first project – a brown polyester wrap around skirt and matching vest (I wanted floral fabric but mom thought that would be more practical). I felt proud enough to wear the outfit to school. (Although the skirt unwrapped and flew off me in front of an assembly of kids during a talent show). Later, I came back to sewing when I used my roommate’s antique machine when I was in grad school – I almost broke the machine, and she was not happy. Sewing has always been challenging for me, and I have taught myself along the way, and I love it now and can’t imagine not having sewing in my life.”
Caroline: Okay, we can’t gloss over the talent show bit. The dangers of wrap skirts.
Helen: Yes!
Caroline: Let this be a lesson for all of us. Tie those wrap skirts tight. This is too funny, and it’s great that you came back to sewing later on, and I’m so glad that you’re still doing it. Thank you so much for writing in with your story, Lesley.
Helen: Yes. Thank you. That one was quite funny to read. I like that you said that sewing is challenging, even though you’re still doing it. It’s still challenging now. And I feel that way about sewing sometimes. It’s definitely not always smooth sailing.
Caroline: Oh yeah. Okay, Amanda @TrashCanToFashions left us a voicemail.
Amanda: Hi, Love to Sew. I’m a longtime listener, first time caller. My name is Amanda, and I am from Houston, Texas in the United States. I go by @TrashCanToFashions on Instagram, and I wanted to share my story of how I learned how to sew. I always wanted to sew, and, uh, when I was maybe five or six, I, a family friend, um, gave me some thread, scrap fabric, a needle, and I just played around sewing things. I don’t think I ever sewed a secure seam. Um, but I try to make doll clothes at the very least. And unfortunately, my parents were not very supportive, and so sometimes when I listen to your podcast and hear people talking about how their mother taught them how to sew, or grandmother, I get a little bit sad because my parents definitely didn’t support any of my interest in, I guess, more of the traditionally domestic sphere. Um, so they thought that I should be studying harder instead of sewing clothes. Uh, but I always wanted to sew clothes.
So, and that was in high school. I, um, stumbled upon a theatre class that was a theatre costuming class. And, um, signed up because I needed an extra or one more arts credit. And we learned how to sew by sewing a pieced pillow. Um, our sewing teacher was great, and he really helped me figure out how to piece and sew things and finish my final project which was a dress, ah, for the dancers in that season’s production. He, so most of it, I think I cut out the pattern and sewed a seam or two.
But it wasn’t until I was in college that I signed up for a summer camp and, uh, didn’t realise that it was for children. And so as a 20 year old college student, I spent a couple of weeks at a sewing camp, um, alongside some seven, eight years and learned how to sew a bag. So that taught me how to operate my sewing machine, uh, operate a sewing machine.
And after that I gained a little bit of confidence and bought my own sewing machine, um, bought a[n] online class on Craftsy to learn how to sew a skirt. And then from there, just learned from YouTube videos, tutorials, books, podcasts, and I’m still learning how to sew to this day, so that’s my story. And thank you for letting me share. Buy-bye.
Helen: Thank you so much for calling in, Amanda. It’s amazing that your high school had a theatre costuming class, and it is so funny that you signed up for a kid’s summer sewing camp, but I bet you still learned a lot. I mean, you said that you learned how to make a bag which sounds great. And you’ve had quite a journey. I feel like a lot of our listeners can probably relate to what you said about your parents, overlooking your creative interest in sewing and wanting you to focus on more, um, academic studies and things like that. And I think that’s a relatable experience, and I’m glad that you stuck with it and you followed your creative spirit when it came to sewing.
Caroline: Yeah. Okay. Our next group of stories come from listeners who learned from classes outside of school.
Helen: Sarah wrote to us via email, “Funny story: I learned to sew because I was getting married and thought, ‘I don’t want to spend thousands of dollars on a dress that I’ll only wear once!’ So, I started taking sewing lessons and with the help of my teacher, Elizabeth, I made a simple knit dress, then a structured woven dress and then a wedding dress… Helen, I can identify with your tendency to dive in the deep end when it comes to new hobbies!”
Caroline: So casual, it’s like woven dress and then a wedding dress. Of course, naturally.
Helen: Those are the tiers. You need one beginner project, one intermediate project, and then you’re advanced.
Caroline: That’s definitely the deep end for sure though. And Sarah sent us pictures with her email, and the dress looks amazing. And this is another story where someone dove into the deep end of sewing and ended up with something to be really proud of. We’re going to post the pics in the show notes so you can see, too, but it is a pretty gorgeous dress. And I can’t believe this is your third project.
Helen: I know. It is stunning. Even just managing this amount of fabric at the machine would be so challenging.
Caroline: Yeah. Oh my gosh.
Helen: Amazing job.
Caroline: It’s very beautiful.
Okay, Betty @AuthenticLabel wrote, “Our Singer Sewing Centre in our small rural city offered week-long summer sewing classes. My mom registered me. A great activity for teenagers in our town. I chose a difficult dress pattern, making it in a wool plaid, to maximise my learning. I’ve not forgotten the many lessons I learned. That was 54 years ago.”
Helen: I love the idea of choosing a difficult project to work through with a teacher, so you get that one-on-one help. And I’m sure that after the week was over, Betty was miles ahead of the students who chose to make an apron or a pillow case. So diving in, again, with those more challenging, even though they’re intimidating, can sometimes really pay off.
Caroline: Yeah, absolutely.
Helen: Regina @McIntyre_Reggie wrote, “My great grandfather was a tailor. My mom made my clothes, and I made clothes for my Barbie doll. My mom also sent me to the Singer sewing store to learn how to sew, and growing up my sister and I spent HOURS sewing and looking at patterns.”
Caroline: Another listener who learned from the Singer sewing classes. I, kind of, wish we still had those, but you can still find sewing classes at fabric stores a lot of the time. And now with the internet, it’s not difficult to find a ton of sewing information online on any topic.
Helen: True.
Caroline: Okay, Nic @FabricFromMyGrandma, “My grandma was a fabulous and prolific quilter and we made a dress together when I was in college (that never fit well). As she was getting older, she asked us to put our names on all of her things, which I wasn’t really interested in doing, but one day I half jokingly said ‘I want everything in your sewing room.’ No one else had expressed interest, and it absolutely delighted her. She made sure everyone knew that it was all mine – all of the fabric, her machine, the wall hanging (which you can see featured in many of my posts as it now hangs in my sewing room!). When she died in 2015, it all came to me. I never got to learn from her, and I’ve largely taught myself and taken classes, but I sew on her machine, I still have a lot of her fabric, and I just stopped using her cutting table after my dad (her son) helped me build a bigger table. Love you Grandma!”
Helen: Aw, thanks for this story, Nic, you had a hybrid experience, your grandma, classes, self-teaching, and it seems to have worked out great for you, and what an amazing gift and a great way to remember your grandma.
Caroline: Yeah. This story really resonated with me. I never got to meet my grandmother who sewed, but when I was learning, I was surrounded by her sewing machine. And I remember there was this huge box full of all of her fabric and notions. You could literally climb into it. It was, like, practically a furniture box filled with fabrics in our storage room. And I still have some of her things in my sewing room to this day. It makes me feel connected to her, and it did at the time as well. So this one really hit, hit my heart strings.
Helen: Speaking of heartstrings, this leads us into another big group of stories. Sewists who learned from family members, and Alisa @Sloths.And.Orchids wrote, “When I was about 5, I wanted to make a dress for my doll, so I went into my grandma’s closet and pulled out a beautiful silk dress. Obviously I found the perfect fabric! I cut out chunks of the dress and carried on with my couture garment when my grandma came in… She was a seamstress, and instead of getting angry she praised me and asked me questions about my project. She is long gone now, but I believe it’s her encouragement that made me passionate about sewing and all kinds of needlework.”
Caroline: Okay. This one is funny, but also really heartwarming. This is such a patient grandmother, and that’s the kind of teacher you want. And the fact that she came in and saw that you had cut up her beautiful silk dress and didn’t get angry and just embraced it and asked questions. I mean, I don’t know, that’s really, really sweet.
Helen: Right? This is the kind of patience I want to have in my life moving forward. I’m going to be thinking of this grandma.
Caroline: Yeah. Shelby @SLPardy wrote, “When I was 9, I stole some fabric from my mom’s stash, cut out pieces, and STAPLED it together into a dress for my sister. It was so form fitting, my mom was worried the staples would stab her when she took it off. She taught me to sew soon after, hoping to save my sister’s skin lol.”
Helen: Another fabric ruiner! Or should we call them experimental sewists?
Caroline: I love this one. There’s definitely, uh, been staples in my life in sewing, especially in the early days. There’s a, there’s a place for them. Um, but this is so funny that your mom was worried about the staples stabbing your sister. It’s a very mom-like worry.
Helen: You can make garments with, using unconventional methods to attach pieces together. Especially if you go on YouTube and Google, like DIY top. You’ll see people glueing fabric together, staples, I mean all sorts of methods. And if it works, it works.
Caroline: Yep.
Helen: Alright, Sam left us a voicemail.
Sam: Hi, this is Sam, and I’m from St. Louis Missouri. I learned the basics of sewing from my mom. Uh, she learned to sew in school, took three semesters, and learned all the proper techniques, but then when trying to learn how to actually make things from her, it was very frustrating because she wanted to do it right. And I was a kid and didn’t care.
So eventually I, um, graduated college and I said, Hey, that sewing machine that you bought me, I want it. And I then taught myself the rest of it from all sorts of videos and books and whatever I could get my hands on. It’s been fun. Love the podcast. Bye.
Caroline: I’m so glad you got back into sewing, Sam. It sounds like you were frustrated early on, but then you, kind of, took it in a different direction and did things her own way, which is very cool. And this is also a good reminder that you may not mesh well with every teacher, even your own family members. If you’ve had a bad experience with a teacher, don’t give up. Try somebody else.
Helen: Yes, definitely.
Caroline: Okay, Andrea wrote, “My grandma taught me as she’d taught my mum. Recently, I asked my mum if her grandmother taught her daughter. She laughed and said no, she was far too grand to sew. They lived on a large farm in Windsor. Every year the dressmakers would cycle to the farm for a week and make all the dresses and coats. They also taught my grandma to sew over that week, once a year. How patient they must have been with a treadle machine and a young girl circa 1912!”
Helen: This is so interesting. So your grandma taught you and your mom, but she learned from travelling dressmakers. The world has changed so much in the last 100 years. Those dressmakers must’ve been patient, but your grandma must have been very determined to learn, too.
Caroline: Yes.
Helen: Eleanor wrote, “I wanted to get a job working in my college theatre costume department. I lied and said I could sew to get the job. I went home for fall break and said- Mom, teach me how to sew in 3 days. And she did. Thanks, Mom!”
Caroline: Wow, Eleanor. They called your bluff, but you’ve managed anyway, and you have a great mom. Okay, Kasiah left us a voicemail.
Kasiah: Hi, this is Kasiah, and I’m in Treaty 3 territory in Ontario. I’m calling to tell you how I learned to sew. My mom taught me when I was, probably, in junior high and taught me on a basic, simple, New Look Dress. And I sewed a nice cotton one and learned how to do lining. But then in high school, I started taking distance ed sewing modules, which was also taught by my mom. And from there, I learned how to sew more and more things because I was part of a theatre troupe and in my community, we helped create the costumes, so it was really fun. And I have just continued to learn and grow in how to create things from corsets to giant skirts and everyday wear. Have a great day.
Helen: Another theatre sewist. It seems like sewing costumes would give you a pretty wide experience with all kinds of garments. I, myself, have never sewn a corset, but maybe one day I will. And Kasiah is so lucky to, to have a sewing teacher as their mom.
Caroline: Yeah, it is awesome.
Helen: Brigitte wrote, “I learned to sew when I was about 16 or 17 years old. My dad was a self-employed dry cleaner, and he also made repairs on customers’ garments sometimes, so he showed me the basics on our sewing machine. I made a circular skirt in a red cotton fabric. The sewing went well, but I can’t really remember if the details were well done. The year was 1977 or 78, and the peasant style with wooden clogs was all the rage. In my innocence, I didn’t know about washing the fabric before sewing.
So that night, my friend Anne-Marie and I went out with my boyfriend and his brother. My wonderful date wore pale beige corduroy pants, and we went clubbing in Old Montreal, singing and accompanying folk singers at the top of our voices. I sat on my boyfriend’s knees, oblivious to the fact that my red skirt was transferring its colour onto his pants. I realised this when we took the Metro back home in the bright neon lights, but this guy never said a word about it, not even after that date.
Needless to say that when I washed my skirt, it shrunk so much that it was the end of it. The next garment I sewed was about 10 years later. It was a light denim shirt which looked good enough to wear to work. I did remember to wash the fabric this time. What’s funny about the story is that now, years and years later I’m afraid to make a shirt, but when I knew nothing about sewing, I found that it was no big deal, I just followed the instructions. Go figure.”
Caroline: Thanks, Brigitte. Okay, let’s all learn from this story and prewash our fabrics, okay? This is so funny, and it’s so true that if you take something complicated, like a button-up shirt, and take it one step at a time, it’s not that big of a deal. I think you should go for it, Brigitte. Don’t be afraid of sewing a shirt. You have the skills. You have the power.
Emma @Bean_Box_Sewing wrote, “I learned to sew after becoming very ill. I had to move back to the family home to be cared for, since I struggled to take care of myself. After a few months, Mum brought down her hand crank sewing machine. It was mainly for a laugh, since my days were boring and difficult. We sewed a top together, not expecting anything other than enjoying passing time. Since I wasn’t strong enough to turn the handle, I’d say ‘go go go go go sloooowwwww stop!’ and she would turn the handle for me. I have since upgraded to a fancy electric machine, and I love it! Without being poorly, I don’t know how I would have discovered a love for sewing. Now I make lingerie that fits me perfectly. Funny how things turn out, isn’t it?”
Helen: I love that you discovered sewing during a difficult situation. We’ve heard from so many sewists through the years who say that it’s helped them during stressful or painful experiences or health issues, and it’s so therapeutic in that way. Although, you definitely started on hard mode by learning on a hand crank machine, I’ve never used one of those, but I would like to give it a try one day. It would be really nice to have a helper though.
Caroline: Yeah, go, go, go, go, go, no, sloooow, stop.
Helen: It makes me think of curling. Like, hurry, hard. Hurry, hard.
Caroline @Field_Reporter wrote, “My father taught me when I was 9 years old, and he, in turn, had been taught by his mother so he could hem his uniform slacks whenever he liked. He helped me make lots of little sundresses and blouses before I gravitated away from that in middle school. When I came back to sewing in college, he overnighted the baby-learner sewing machine to my college dorm. He bought me the machine I currently use and always asks about my projects. He’s the first person who I ask for help to this day (He also taught my to knit — a veritable renaissance man!)”
Caroline: Yes, thank you for this story, Caroline. It must be so nice to share your love of sewing with your dad. I can’t believe he overnighted the machine to you. He must’ve paid a pretty penny for that. What a true blue sewist.
Helen: Yes!
Caroline: Sam @UrghNoWhy wrote, ““When I was a teen, my horse was forever tearing his expensive rugs, and it would cost me most of what I was earning at my cafe job to get them repaired. So my mum let me use her Necchi sewing machine, and my Grandma gave me lessons over the phone. His rugs were always patched in crazy ways, but the skill saved me a fortune, and I’ve now been sewing, on and off, for about 25 years. I still have the Necchi, I still patch and sew in a chaotic way, but it’s good, and I love it.”
Helen: Mending is such a money saver. This is such a fantastic intro to sewing. It must’ve been really gratifying to learn a new skill, save money, take care of your horse all in one. And I have to admit that I had to Google horse rugs because I was picturing literal rugs. And then I was thinking, do horses stand on rugs? Do they need rugs? I don’t understand. So I looked it up, and it is the little jackets that horses wear. You always see them out there in the field, standing in their jackets. And, uh, it makes a lot more sense now.
Caroline: But wouldn’t it be so cute if all the horses had their own little personal rugs in their stalls that they laid on or something?
Helen: As if it’s not cute enough that they all have personal little jackets.
Caroline: I know.
Helen: Okay. Our last group of stories isn’t really a category at all, so we’ll just call it “Other.”
Lauren wrote, “I learned to sew in college 25 years ago, as a Biology major. I was assisting a grad student studying riparian spiders in Northern California. ‘Riparian’ means ‘on a river bank.’ The spiders’ food source was insects that emerged out of an aquatic larval stage and in order to understand species and numbers, we built floating pyramids out of PVC pipe and sewed netting that fit over the structure and caught the insects as they came out of the water. I’ve sewed very casually (mostly Halloween costumes) over the years and decided to take a sewing class in 2019 to refine my skills. Now, I am completely hooked!”
Caroline: Okay. Of all the ways to learn to sew, I never would have guessed sewing insect traps for biology field work. But I think we can all agree sewing is the most useful skill in the world, right?
Helen: I’m going to say yes. Yeah.
Caroline: Okay. Natalie @JePrefereraisCoudre wrote, “As far as I can remember, I was fascinated by sewing. I remember sewing scrunchies at around 5 with an aunt (my cousin and I would prepare everything, cut, pin, et cetera, and the adult would push it through the machine…) My mother hated sewing so she wouldn’t teach me. When I was 10 or 11 years old, an old lady in my village took pity on me and showed me some tricks. I am still so grateful to her for having taken the time to pass on some of her knowledge. I still remember the first garment I sewed: a princess dress (Beauty’s ball gown) for my younger sister’s 7th birthday. I was so amazed I had managed to make a wearable piece, and she was so happy.”
Helen: This is so sweet. It just shows that even if we aren’t related to somebody who wants to learn how to sew, we have all the ability to pass on this skill that we love. Doesn’t it make you just want to find a child who’s desperate to learn and teach them? No, just me?
Caroline: Maybe I’ll put up little signs around my neighbourhood and be like, Want to learn how to sew? Free one hour lesson.
Helen: That would be so awesome. Kim @Sewing_With_Olive wrote, My favourite Archie comic was the one where Betty kept sewing her own version of Veronica’s clothes! For some reason it stuck with me for, like, 15 years. And one day about a year ago I decided I wanted to make a skirt so I found Fabricland and got what I needed and have been OBSESSED pretty much ever since! Much thanks to your podcast, too, for introducing me to the sewing community.”
Caroline: This is so funny. I was definitely a big fan of the Archie comics when I was a kid and even in my pre-teen years and in our Why Do We Sew Episode, we had another listener named Nikki who mentioned the same Archie comic, so I guess it must’ve been pretty inspiring.
Helen: Maybe there were multiple where Betty was sewing. I do remember her being very industrious.
Caroline: Yes.
Helen: I was in a comic book shop the other day, looking for a board game, and the two people who were working the till were younger than me which happens more often now. And they, someone had come in asking for something to do with Archie comics, and they didn’t know what they were talking about.
Caroline: Oh, my goodness.
Helen: Like what? I’m like, you work in a comic book store. Oh, it was so funny.
Caroline: Oh, wow. Okay. Next up we have Alicia @Lishy55 wrote, “I learned to sew in the Girl Scouts and from my mother who was an expert sewist and quilter. But I wasn’t a good student, especially when my mother was the teacher (she was probably my Girl Scout leader too but I’m not 100% certain). She said to me once, and of course I’ve never forgotten it, ‘you’ll never be a good sewer because you don’t have the patience!’ By the time I got to Junior High Home Economics class, my first project was a blue and white polka dot dress with a scoop neck, zipper, and long sleeves! Not the usual shift style sleeveless dress that most girls were trying to make. I guess I showed my mother that I WAS capable of being a great seamstress. I’m now in my late 60’s and have been sewing all my life. Now that I’m retired I have the luxury of sewing all I want all the time ! And I do ! And I LOVE IT”
Helen: Thank you so much for this Alicia. I’m so glad that you sew all you want. You deserve it. We’ve had quite a few listeners who wrote in to say that they learned to sew in Girl Scouts and Girl Guides. So shout out to the Girl Scouts and Girl Guide leaders out there. Thank you.
Caroline: Yes.
Helen: Okay. This is our last one. I really love this one. Alison from @ThingsAlisonMakes wrote, “I still have no idea.”
I’m honestly not sure if they mean, I still have no idea how I learned how to sew or I still have no idea how to sew.
Caroline: Either way, it’s pretty funny though.
Helen: Yeah.
Caroline: On that note, we want to thank all the listeners who wrote in to tell us about how they learned to sew and to the two who wrote in to tell us that they couldn’t remember. I still have no idea how to sew.
Helen: Relatable.
Caroline: Thank you to every listener, whether or not you wrote to us, you help make Love to Sew a good place to learn and grow. Happy sewing and happy 200th episode! Here’s to making many more, Helen.
Helen: Cheers.
Caroline: That’s it for today’s episode of Love to Sew. You can find me, Caroline, at BlackbirdFabrics.com and Helen at HelensClosetPatterns.com! We’re recording in beautiful, I guess it’s pretty beautiful, British Columbia, Canada.
Helen: Go to LoveToSewPodcast.com to find our show notes and see the picture of my Godzilla doll wearing the scrunchies. They’re filled with links and pictures from the episode. If you’d like to get in touch with us, send us an email at hello@LoveToSewPodcast.com.
Caroline: And if you love Love to Sew and want more, you can sign up for our Patreon! For $5 a month, you get a full-length bonus episode and weekly behind-the-scenes pics. For $10 a month, you get all that PLUS a mini-episode focused on sewing techniques and 15% off codes for Helen’s Closet and Blackbird Fabrics! Patreon is the best way to support us so that we can keep making quality sewing content. So please, go to patreon.com/LoveToSew, if you can, for more info.
Helen: Thank you to our amazing podcast team. Lisa Ruiz is our creative assistant. Jordan Moore is our editor. And Margaret Wakelee is our transcriber. And thank you also to all of our teammates who have helped us over the years to get to this 200 episode milestone. And thank you for listening. We will talk to you next week.
Caroline: Bye.
Helen: Bye.
Funny story. I learned to sew because I was getting married and thought…
Caroline: …Achoo… Sorry, it just came over me all of a sudden.
Helen: I was getting married and I thought, Achoo…
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