Ah, Home Ec. Where girls went to learn how their moms were doing it wrong.
How many folks cannot do basic sewing?
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Kinda like , I don't do funerals and weddings very well...
I don't sew or cook either.
Jim
I don't sew or cook either.
Jim
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That prevents the need for the funerals... lol
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I am way beyond basic sewing. Necessity is the mother of invention and I needed to know how to sew to be able to clothe myself for many years.
I grew up watching my mother sew on her Singer Featherweight. I was tall and thin and for many years, by the time sleeves or dresses or pants were long enough, they were about twice as wide as they needed to be. Most days, Mom did housework, cleaned and cooked, and later in the day, almost every day, would sew. Watching her sew, I always wanted to. She got me a simple embroidery kit and helped me learn to thread a needle and to learn to embroider. I remember many times going around the hoop with the thread, while I was learning. She would fix it, give it back and I would try it again. I must have been 5 or 6 at the time because she died when I was 6, so I was learning to use needle and thread at a fairly young age.
Later, I also needed to keep myself clothed, with my situation of not being able to buy pre-made clothing that fit well. People would give us used clothing, but most of the girls whose clothing I got were chubby or heavier than me. Grandma would take tucks in here and there to help them fit better.
After my first apron at 9 or 10 and gathered skirt at around 10 or 11, I wanted to make blouses to go with my skirts. I know I didn't do a great job, but you learn by doing and I must have been 11 or 12, because I used my own money to buy what I needed, money from babysitting. With the first blouse, I used a pattern for the first time. I learned how to read and use a pattern, learned to set in sleeves, how to mark and make darts, learned how to make and attach a collar and make the front of the button up blouse, learned to make button holes, sew on buttons in the correct place. 4-H leader gave me lots of help. She was a kind and patient woman, much like my own mother.
After the blouse, I made some dresses, with zippers down the back. I had to cut patterns and insert a piece of paper in the sleeves and length of pants and skirts and dresses to get the necessary length.
I remember when I made an olive green wide wale corduroy skirt with a big zipper down the front. I cut the fabric wrong. Corduroy has a nap. The front went one way, the back went the other. Failure, and learning are part of the process.
I continued making clothing for myself, mostly blouses, skirts and dresses for a few years. Then I decided to make myself a jacket and skirt set. It turned out pretty well. I wore a poor boy sweater under the jacket. I made myself a couple prom dresses. I decided to make myself a lined spring coat. It was bright yellow with bound button holes and big black buttons. It had diagonal pockets that were bound as well. Lining the coat was new to me, and tricky as were the bound button holes and pockets. I would never make one that color again, but it may have had to do with the fabric that was available to me. I made more jacket and skirt sets.
In college, I made a lined wool jacket that was camel tan with wooden buttons and bound button holes. The back was gathered at the waist and had a split up to the waist. It was beautiful and people were amazed, but they didn't have my long arms that always stuck way out of the sleeves of pre-made clothing. If I still had that jacket and it still fit, I would still wear it. I wore it a lot because it was comfortable and worked. I literally wore it out.
I don't know what possessed me, but one of my prom dresses was made in the style of a Vietnamese dress. It was floor length, but at some point below the waist, maybe at the crotch or knee, the four parts or panels were not sewn together, but were each hemmed around each side, so they hung separately. I made a pair of pants that went underneath. It was done in a purple print. It had a Mandarin collar and long sleeves. Boyfriend loved purple, so that was why I chose the color.
I have made wedding dresses (nothing too fancy), curtains (basic and easy), quilts, Roman shades, kitchen appliance covers.
I have many other sewing projects that are coming back to my memory of outfits, dresses, and other pieces of clothing I made.
For me, sitting at a sewing machine and sewing is therapeutic, but I cannot and will not do it if I keep getting interrupted and have to start and stop a lot. It is better if I can sit there for long periods of time. I have hundreds, if not thousands of hours of sewing behind me. Another thing for me was that almost every girl I knew growing up was sewing most of her own clothing. My 4-H leader, who lived on my block, had 5 daughters and they all sewed their own clothing. They helped me decipher challenges with patterns. I sew, but I am not an excellent seamstress. I never got a purple or blue ribbon on anything I ever sewed. I don't care. I wasn't after prizes or accolades. I had a few failures that I never wore, but most of what I made served me well.
I often have my sewing machine set up on the far end of the dining room table with the ironing board set up beside it. Sometimes I set my machine up on the coffee table and I sew while watching something on television. I do better at focusing when I have a diversion like a good movie.
I like to sew to create. It is satisfying. I might see something in a store and like it, but buy a pattern, fabric and change it up a little. Mending is a necessity, but not fun. People have asked me to mend this or that, because they have not taken the time to learn or don't want to. I refer them to tailors and dry cleaners, who often have people who mend for them, for a fee. Daughter is another story. I made her a Halloween costume every year until she was maybe 18. I made many dresses and outfits for her over the years. I have hemmed many curtains and other things for her, but I would rather create something new.
I grew up watching my mother sew on her Singer Featherweight. I was tall and thin and for many years, by the time sleeves or dresses or pants were long enough, they were about twice as wide as they needed to be. Most days, Mom did housework, cleaned and cooked, and later in the day, almost every day, would sew. Watching her sew, I always wanted to. She got me a simple embroidery kit and helped me learn to thread a needle and to learn to embroider. I remember many times going around the hoop with the thread, while I was learning. She would fix it, give it back and I would try it again. I must have been 5 or 6 at the time because she died when I was 6, so I was learning to use needle and thread at a fairly young age.
Later, I also needed to keep myself clothed, with my situation of not being able to buy pre-made clothing that fit well. People would give us used clothing, but most of the girls whose clothing I got were chubby or heavier than me. Grandma would take tucks in here and there to help them fit better.
After my first apron at 9 or 10 and gathered skirt at around 10 or 11, I wanted to make blouses to go with my skirts. I know I didn't do a great job, but you learn by doing and I must have been 11 or 12, because I used my own money to buy what I needed, money from babysitting. With the first blouse, I used a pattern for the first time. I learned how to read and use a pattern, learned to set in sleeves, how to mark and make darts, learned how to make and attach a collar and make the front of the button up blouse, learned to make button holes, sew on buttons in the correct place. 4-H leader gave me lots of help. She was a kind and patient woman, much like my own mother.
After the blouse, I made some dresses, with zippers down the back. I had to cut patterns and insert a piece of paper in the sleeves and length of pants and skirts and dresses to get the necessary length.
I remember when I made an olive green wide wale corduroy skirt with a big zipper down the front. I cut the fabric wrong. Corduroy has a nap. The front went one way, the back went the other. Failure, and learning are part of the process.
I continued making clothing for myself, mostly blouses, skirts and dresses for a few years. Then I decided to make myself a jacket and skirt set. It turned out pretty well. I wore a poor boy sweater under the jacket. I made myself a couple prom dresses. I decided to make myself a lined spring coat. It was bright yellow with bound button holes and big black buttons. It had diagonal pockets that were bound as well. Lining the coat was new to me, and tricky as were the bound button holes and pockets. I would never make one that color again, but it may have had to do with the fabric that was available to me. I made more jacket and skirt sets.
In college, I made a lined wool jacket that was camel tan with wooden buttons and bound button holes. The back was gathered at the waist and had a split up to the waist. It was beautiful and people were amazed, but they didn't have my long arms that always stuck way out of the sleeves of pre-made clothing. If I still had that jacket and it still fit, I would still wear it. I wore it a lot because it was comfortable and worked. I literally wore it out.
I don't know what possessed me, but one of my prom dresses was made in the style of a Vietnamese dress. It was floor length, but at some point below the waist, maybe at the crotch or knee, the four parts or panels were not sewn together, but were each hemmed around each side, so they hung separately. I made a pair of pants that went underneath. It was done in a purple print. It had a Mandarin collar and long sleeves. Boyfriend loved purple, so that was why I chose the color.
I have made wedding dresses (nothing too fancy), curtains (basic and easy), quilts, Roman shades, kitchen appliance covers.
I have many other sewing projects that are coming back to my memory of outfits, dresses, and other pieces of clothing I made.
For me, sitting at a sewing machine and sewing is therapeutic, but I cannot and will not do it if I keep getting interrupted and have to start and stop a lot. It is better if I can sit there for long periods of time. I have hundreds, if not thousands of hours of sewing behind me. Another thing for me was that almost every girl I knew growing up was sewing most of her own clothing. My 4-H leader, who lived on my block, had 5 daughters and they all sewed their own clothing. They helped me decipher challenges with patterns. I sew, but I am not an excellent seamstress. I never got a purple or blue ribbon on anything I ever sewed. I don't care. I wasn't after prizes or accolades. I had a few failures that I never wore, but most of what I made served me well.
I often have my sewing machine set up on the far end of the dining room table with the ironing board set up beside it. Sometimes I set my machine up on the coffee table and I sew while watching something on television. I do better at focusing when I have a diversion like a good movie.
I like to sew to create. It is satisfying. I might see something in a store and like it, but buy a pattern, fabric and change it up a little. Mending is a necessity, but not fun. People have asked me to mend this or that, because they have not taken the time to learn or don't want to. I refer them to tailors and dry cleaners, who often have people who mend for them, for a fee. Daughter is another story. I made her a Halloween costume every year until she was maybe 18. I made many dresses and outfits for her over the years. I have hemmed many curtains and other things for her, but I would rather create something new.
Weedy, you and my wife would get along really good.
I probly could make a prom dress today, as skimpy as I've seen, 2 handkerchiefs would work.
Jim
I probly could make a prom dress today, as skimpy as I've seen, 2 handkerchiefs would work.
Jim
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My sister told the teacher the riding skirt she was wearing was made from a floral print of a feed sack, the teacher did not believe her.
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I didn't want to take Home Ec. I fought it. I cried and complained. I wanted to take German, but the German class was full, and Home Ec. was not. Guidance counselor told me that the people taking German were more likely to go to college than I was. The irony? Some of them NEVER went to college, while I got a degree +. In fact, some of the women who took German and not Home Ec., never worked outside of their homes. They were stay at home mothers. When we did cooking labs in Home Ec., each team was critiqued. Home Ec. teacher literally wrote teams and grades on the chalk board in class and talked about what worked and what didn't. My team mate and I were the only ones with an A. Why? Because we had both spent a lot of time in the kitchen previously and other people had not.
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That is the truth. I never liked to show skin. High neckline, long sleeves, legs covered. I guess I am a prude.Weedy, you and my wife would get along really good.
I probly could make a prom dress today, as skimpy as I've seen, 2 handkerchiefs would work.
Jim
A tidbit from the past: In the old West women always wore a high buttoned collar. The women who unbuttoned those top buttons were known as " loose women ".
Can I sew? My mother did teach me, and I was O.K. with learning. I think I could get by, but it wouldn't be pretty, and you would have to time me with a calendar, but everything would stay together.
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Sewing, like anything and everything else, takes practice. The more we do anything, the better we get. We also get more confident in our abilities and want to try more things. Having decent tools also helps, no matter what we do. There are really good chain saws, and then there are not so good chain saws.
Edit: I think having good teachers or mentors who know how to get you started and to teach you basics, step by step is important. You start with a very basic skill, such as threading a needle and making a knot at the end. A cross stitch embroidery project is also a great first hand sewing project for beginners. Like all things educational, learning certain skills at a time when they are developmentally appropriate is big. There is also a propensity by people to have certain interests and abilities. There is also the example of what you see in your home growing up. My mother was always sewing something, painting, decorating, and creating. Without her influence and example, I would probably never thought to sew what I did. She made a wool dress coat for me. If she could do it, why couldn't I?
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All of us -6 kids- were forced to learn to sew at home. I can do it and have a machine but really dislike doing it. Canning and cooking, gardening and animals, fine. Will sew when absolutely necessary!
First @Peanut You threw away patterns !!!???!!!
@Weedygarden There was a time when I sewed most of my clothes too. I was pretty much self taught. My mom sewed and I could ask her some things, but if I asked her how to do something, she would take it from me do it and hand it back. If I asked how she did it, she'd say like that and point to it. I learned a lot by trial and error. We had to take a half year of home-ec in school to graduate. It covered everything from sewing to cooking etc. It drove me nuts - took the whole class per. to make a pie crust (by HS, I'd been making pie crusts for years.)
Also, will mention here as hadn't thought of it until I read Peanut's post. If anybody has or comes across an old McCall's #1105 (or #1104) apron pattern, I will purchase it from you. I have been looking for some time, but have yet to find one.
@Weedygarden There was a time when I sewed most of my clothes too. I was pretty much self taught. My mom sewed and I could ask her some things, but if I asked her how to do something, she would take it from me do it and hand it back. If I asked how she did it, she'd say like that and point to it. I learned a lot by trial and error. We had to take a half year of home-ec in school to graduate. It covered everything from sewing to cooking etc. It drove me nuts - took the whole class per. to make a pie crust (by HS, I'd been making pie crusts for years.)
Also, will mention here as hadn't thought of it until I read Peanut's post. If anybody has or comes across an old McCall's #1105 (or #1104) apron pattern, I will purchase it from you. I have been looking for some time, but have yet to find one.
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This one? It looks like one was sold two years ago on Etsy.First @Peanut You threw away patterns !!!???!!!
@Weedygarden There was a time when I sewed most of my clothes too. I was pretty much self taught. My mom sewed and I could ask her some things, but if I asked her how to do something, she would take it from me do it and hand it back. If I asked how she did it, she'd say like that and point to it. I learned a lot by trial and error. We had to take a half year of home-ec in school to graduate. It covered everything from sewing to cooking etc. It drove me nuts - took the whole class per. to make a pie crust (by HS, I'd been making pie crusts for years.)
Also, will mention here as hadn't thought of it until I read Peanut's post. If anybody has or comes across an old McCall's #1105 (or #1104) apron pattern, I will purchase it from you. I have been looking for some time, but have yet to find one.
There is one for sale on this site, that I have never used before.
https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/1940-mccall-bib-apron-1105-sewing-118541670
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https://www.ebay.com/itm/1944-McCal...126189?hash=item26306bc42d:g:PSgAAOSwRRheE97T
Thanks Weedy! I just put a bid in on the 1104 on Worthpoint, isn't that just a value? I don't see a price or way to bid on it or buy it.
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I have no idea. I don't want to sign up to the site, because I don't want another bunch of spam that I have to make go away. But I wonder if there is a way to sign up on ebay or Etsy to get informed if something you are looking for becomes available for sale? I have done that on Craigslist. There probably is, I just have never done that before. I do know that patterns become available on Craigslist periodically, both free and for sale. You can sign up to receive notice. There are hundreds of old patterns out there, and with so little of the world sewing now, my guess is that many of them go to the landfill.
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LadyLocust, make those two patterns a daily google search. Sooner or later, they will become available. That would be a pain, but you will be the one to get them.
Have you looked on etsy for that patten? Or one like it? They have old patterns scanned into pdf and some to just outright purchase. I've also bought off ebay for a discontinued pattern I needed.
This is the current mode of operation - maybe not everyday, but often.
I look on etsy periodically too
I even put an "ad" on our local craigslist that I was looking for it.AAAh! I know! I don't want them to go to the landfill. I clicked on the worthpoint thing and it is expensive to "join." I don't want to join either
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Someone could have this as a nice little side business, making copies of old patterns that still have interest.
Dad called the week before knee surgery.
He had a question about Mom's sewing machine, could I come over and answer the questions.
So off I go.
He was trying to use mom's sewing machine.
But it wasn't working.
I checked over the machine, rethreaded the machine, filled the bobbin for him.
Showed him how to use it, put a new needle for him.
He was going to learn to sew, because it was something mom and I liked to do.
He had a question about Mom's sewing machine, could I come over and answer the questions.
So off I go.
He was trying to use mom's sewing machine.
But it wasn't working.
I checked over the machine, rethreaded the machine, filled the bobbin for him.
Showed him how to use it, put a new needle for him.
He was going to learn to sew, because it was something mom and I liked to do.
Quite a few apron patterns on eBay, including a pioneer apron pattern. No exact match to #1105. You can save a search and be notified.
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I once got some boxes of patterns from a woman for free. I sorted and looked at those patterns for a very long time. I tried listing some on Etsy. I can tell you that it was a big pain in the backside and I ended up giving some away on Craigslist and donating boxes full to Goodwill.
If I had some good vintage patterns, I would make pdf copies or have them printed on paper and sell them.
I'm not sure about copyright laws.
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I am not either. That would be something to do research on before landing in trouble.
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All our pillow cases were embroidered feed sacks. They were cheap, and my mother bleached them white and embroidered flower patterns on them.
I love those pillow cases and look for them at estate sales - often crocheted around the edge as well. Whatever it was they did to that cotton, it was soft.
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I wish we had had that option. After my class, girls did take shop.
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Did you bid on the pattern on ebay?
