Sew Your Own Clothes

Are You Considering Learning To Sew? Here Are Good 10 Reasons To Do It. Can You Relate?

  • You’re not a stock size (who is?)
  • Your skin crawls when you touch those rubbery synthetic fabrics
  • You have the odd notion that clothing bought in February shouldn’t have fallen apart by April – you’re all for things being bio-degradable, but not while you’re actually trying to wear them!
  • You suspect that the fact that the addition of 2% spandex in EVERYTHING is some new government mandate that has resulted in your pants growing 2 sizes larger between morning and night, leaving you hanging onto your belt loops from lunchtime onward
  • Shredded hems, giant buttons and depressing hospital colors may be someone’s idea of serviceable clothing, but it isn’t yours
  • You can’t find a dress or skirt of decent length amidst the racks of rags and tatters
  • You wonder who the people are in Pakistan, Honduras and China who made the t-shirts on display. Were they men, women, children? Had they eaten well that day? Did they have any kinds of rights or benefits?
  • You’re ethics are shouting at you about BT Cotton – the GMO frankenfiber that may look like cotton but has been genetically modified by mad scientists in some ominous way and is the cause of unimaginable misery in the cotton growing regions of the world.
  • You’re starting to wonder how wise it is to be covering your body’s largest organ – your skin – with pesticide-laden fibers, day after day
  • You want to be a skillful woman, walking in the footsteps of all of your highly-skilled ancestors

Whatever your reasons for dissatisfaction with commercially-made clothing, all of them point to an important realization. By delegating the manufacture of our clothing to others, we have agreed to give up pretty much all control over the quality, fit and design of our daily garb as well as the ethics and processes that go into its creation. We’ve traded in our own historic authority over all matters of dress for the convenience of mass-produced garments of dubious worth. It’s time we reconsider the deal our grandmothers made with Sears-Roebuck and their counterparts and discover whether we can’t do a better job by providing for ourselves in the clothing department.

With the exception of upper class women who had personal seamstresses to custom sew for them, all women of all countries in all times have always sewn for themselves or their families. All women knew how to cut cloth, thread a needle, sew a seam and in more modern times, read a sewing pattern. Most of us in America have lost these universal survival skills and if the local Kohl’s closed tomorrow, we wouldn’t have a first hand idea of how to clothe our families. That’s not a strong position to be in, and many intelligent women are now taking steps to re-skill themselves in the home arts of sewing basic garments as an act of self-determination and love.

The Most Basic Reason For Learning Basic Sewing
The first reason is the most obvious – people aren’t born wearing clothes, and except for in the most temperate climates, clothing means survival. Our economy is in peculiar shape right now, and while I’m praying for more stable times for our world, I think you’ll feel more confident if you have the skills to create light garments that keep the body cool but covered from the powerful rays of the sun and warm garments that have the power to stand between bitter weather and your loved ones. Knowing how to clothe people, when you come right down to it, is a prerequisite for life in the absence of Macy’s.

If You Think Sewing Is Difficult, You’ve Taken The Bait
Like most scenarios in which we trade money for goods created by someone else, the whole deal takes place under the conditions that we believe we don’t have the expertise to produce what the other person can. Now, if we’re talking about building an airplane – okay- maybe we don’t need to tackle the job, but if we’re talking about throwing together a sun dress for ourselves or a pair of shorts for our husband, the only thing that stands between us and our accomplishment is the false notion that we’re helpless.

We’re not helpless. We all come from incredibly long lines of needlewomen. It profits Wal-Mart when we feel helpless, but it sends our own psyches a constant message that we lack authority in our own lives and sets a helpless example for all future generations. We deserve to feel better about our abilities than that! Knowledge is power and all we need is a very little bit of knowledge to become vastly more able people.

The Big Secret Is…
You can sew a dress out of two rectangles! It may not be the most elegant creation ever worn, but it would cover your body and protect you from the elements. Pants, again, are cut out of two pieces of cloth shaped something like an apostrophe. A shirt is 4 rectangles – 1 for the front, 1 for the back and two little rectangles for short sleeves.

We’re not talking about fitted fashions with darts, princess seams and bias-cut styling. We’re talking about what you could easily make out of a bolt of cloth to clothe your family should all department stores fall off the face of the Earth tomorrow. If you’ve got two working hands, you can sew these things, and once you’ve mastered the extremely simple task of joining two pieces of cloth together with a needle and thread, you can expand your horizons to learn a few tailoring techniques that can take a rectangular, boxy garment and shape it into apparel with more grace and elegance. The level to which you want to pursue finer fitting techniques over time will be up to you, but the main benefit of learning to sew is that you will have the lifelong satisfaction of knowing that you can take care of yourself and your family. I think that’s worth a lot.

What Should You Know How To Sew?
The photograph at the beginning of this article features some shirts I’ve sewn for myself and my husband over the past year. I’ve been sewing long enough so that I can tackle projects with collars, cuffs and buttonholes with confidence and it’s really gratifying to be able to produce a shirt that is every bit has good as a store-bought item and, frankly, better than one because I’ve gotten to choose the style, the fabric, the exact size I want and I’ve been able to make my seams really, really strong so that the shirt truly holds up to daily wear.

Learning to sew basic, every day garments is a smart goal, and your first task is to make a list of what items of clothing are essential wear for you and your family. Your list will look something like this:

Sewing For Men
A basic shirt, a basic pair of pants, some type of coat and maybe a pair of shorts is really all a man needs to get through 4 seasons of dressing himself. If your husband is an exectutive or office worker and has to wear formal clothes, you can learn to make them…or, you can ask your husband if he really loves that life or would prefer to create some new job for himself in which he can dress more comfortably (and more simply, for you, the seamstress).

Basic Sewing For Women
A basic shirt, skirt, dress and pair of pants, plus some kind of coat covers most womens’ needs. The summer garments can be made of light-weight cotton or linen and winter ones out of heavy flannels. Choosing fabrics carefully can help you get many ensembles out of just a few basic pieces. When your closet has only what you need in it, you’ll always feel taken care of and never cranky over unserviceable garments that don’t do what you need them to.

Basic Sewing For Children
Children’s garment requirements are the same as those of adults, only appropriately sized down. If you can make a dress for yourself, you can make one for your daughter. If you have children who threaten to die if they aren’t given designer clothing…homeschool them to get rid of such useless, materialistic notions that put the focus on belongings instead of the value of the human person.

Folk Clothing Provides A Path
No matter what country you turn to, you will discover that the indigenous clothing of that region accomplishes three factors:

1. It covers the body to provide either the appropriate amount of sun-protection where that’s needed, or it adds layers of warmth to protect from the cold. Where you live, and the season you’re sewing for, can dictate which country to turn to for guidance.

2. It facilitates work. Ease of movement is vital to all working class people and folk clothing evolved in a way that allowed people to walk, run, bend, stretch, lift and perform both fine and gross motor skill tasks. Unless you have servants to do your bidding, your wardrobe needs to allow you to work or it is simply useless.

3. It is graceful. Compared to the nightmarish fabric concoctions brewed up by modern fashion designers, folk clothing is a dream come true for normal people. It is designed to allow you to move gracefully through your day, never tripping over hems, catching sleeves on fire or taking 1/2″ long steps because that’s all you’re permitted in an ill-conceived garment. Folk clothing is plain sensible for busy working people.

Think about the native clothing of Mexico, South America, India, Asia, Scandinavia and you’ve got guidance for what people have traditionally worn to keep cool or warm up for centuries. All that wisdom should not be lost.

Quick Tips For Learning How To Sew Real Clothes

  • Take your favorite everyday garment apart and study how it was put together
  • Take a sewing class
  • Watch sewing how-to videos on YouTube
  • Download free or inexpensive sewing patterns
  • Look at books or magazines about other countries and pay attention to the way traditional people dress
  • Make your very first project an easy one – like an elastic-waist skirt or simple sun dress

Choosing A Sewing Machine
If you’re ready to graduate from hand sewing to using a machine, choose the most affordable machine with the least features. You do not need a ton of fancy or decorative stitches to sew clothing. The simpler the machine, the longer it will last.

Choosing Fabrics
Steer clear of fashion fabrics that may look shiny and beautiful but are not designed for daily wear. For comfort and durability, your best bet is to avoid synthetics of any kind (rayon, acetate, polyester, spandex, lycra etc.). My personal preference is for 100% cotton, whether I want heavy corduroy for a coat, thick flannel for winter pants, batiste for a breezy blouse or calico for a family quilt. Cotton is the most comfortable fabric to wear against the skin and, unlike synthetic fibers, it comes from a natural source. Look into buying organic cotton if you value your family’s health. Two sites I like are Organic Cotton Plus and Near Sea Naturals. The fabrics are sometimes more expensive, but picking and processing cotton is hard labor and deserves fair compensation. One day, I hope to grow, spin and weave my own organic cotton, and I know that if I was doing such time-consuming work, I’d want to be paid decently for it.

Choosing Sewing Patterns
Check out TheMexicanDress.com for an ultra-easy first dress, made out of 5 rectangles. If the Mexican embroidery doesn’t appeal to you, make it out of a plain or printed cotton for a non-folksy look. Folkwear.com has the largest collection of folk clothing patterns available, and some of them are for very simple garments whereas others are incredibly complex. Look at each pattern carefully. When you look at fabric store patterns, seek out patterns that are denominated quick, fast or easy if you are a beginning sewer. Read the directions twice before you cut! That’s the only rule.

Sometimes, even the best patterns assume that you know how to do something without them telling you what it means. When in doubt about a sewing techinique, turn to the Internet for definitions, tutorials and even videos.

Men Can Sew, Too
My husband is the household whiz with a rotary cutter. He can cut far straighter lines than I can. We quilt together for fun and he has even tried his hand at embroidery, though he says this is my strong suit, not his. When I am sewing for myself or my husband, he helps me and his assistance makes projects go like lightning. Sewing together, for us, is a great alternative to spending an evening watching TV. We get to talk, laugh and work hard side-by-side. Most married people want that experience of sharing, and a man who can wield a needle deserves great respect for his skills.

There Is Nothing You Can’t Learn To Do
In my own life, I derive the highest satisfaction I know of from being able to do something for myself. With a very few exceptions, I’m finished with seeing everyone but myself as ‘the expert’. I can be the expert. I can farm. I can cook. I can sew. To put it another way, I can feed and clothe the people who are dear to me and this is incredibly gratifying. I’m so grateful for my two good hands and my mind that is able to learn to care for others.

Because of the current confusion in the world, some people are acquiring survival skills out of fear. I think we can find a healthier approach than this. The proof that we can survive may be seen in the lives of our ancestors. And they did not see their daily tasks as a punishment, a loss or a tragedy. Rather, they took deep joy in being skilled men and women with the capacity to provide for themselves. They got to learn what it was like to be fully human in the world. Re-skilling ourselves jumps the bridge between them and ourselves, crossing over that brief period in which the past few generations gave away their personal expertise because they were promised convenience and savings of time. What does all that saved time amount to now?

Time is there for living, for learning and becoming adept at survival. We have all the time in the world and the power to enjoy our own capacities and abilities. When I look to the past, I am filled with admiration for how multi-talented people were. They could sew a dress, make a fire, grow a crop, build a house…everything they could possibly need in this world. I want what they had, and I’m starting to see that I’m not alone in this. On this journey, I’ve discovered that there’s nothing you can’t learn and I think that’s a fabulous blessing. Needle and thread are powerful liberators. You have only to take them in hand.