Candy's Guide to Learning How To Sew

In mid September during the Makers in the Big Sky Retreat, two friends and a handful of retreat goers were bonding over sewing; chatting, planning and plotting all their sews. In 2020 I had purchased a machine and used a few times here and there, knowing sewing would come into my life at some point. So my ears were perked during the conversations of talks about the Persephenie Pants, Tie Dress, and Henrietta Skirt. The adornment of hand sews with hand knits, looked so incredibly special and to be honest these gals were just glowing. Luckily, I have friends who know me well enough and are persistent enough to continue to encourage me to make a few things and see if I would catch the sewing bug. Now on the other side I realize their encouragement of sewing was just to further fuel their addiction as well as start mine.

Like knitting, I jumped in feet (or maybe hands?) first. I already had my sewing machine but I knew an addition of a serger would make this journey more enjoyable. Here are some of the things I have learned so far, special thanks to Andrea and Rachel for sharing so much of their knowledge!

First let’s talk about the sewing tools that I really couldn’t live without.

Sewing Machine - this one is obvious but I invested in a very nice sewing machine and serger right off the bat. You do not need to do this, their is a lot of quality sewing machines out their that are affordable, including used ones. I purchased my Bernina 335 from Brooklyn General and had such a good experience working with them. I also recommend going to your local sewing shop!

Counter Space - ok, not a tool but if you have a large table or kitchen island use this for your cutting space. I have started a ritual of cleaning my kitchen top to bottom, lighting a candle and then bringing my fabric, patterns, cutting tools down to the kitchen to spend the afternoon and evening cutting away. This really helps keep my body healthy instead of bending over on the floor.

Quality Mechanical Pencil - having a good writing tool designated for pattern tracing has made a big difference in not getting frustrated with the extra time it takes during this tedious step.

Quality Scissors - In my stash I had some good old friskar sewing scissors but I quickly upgraded to Merchant and Mills 8’’ Extra Sharp Tailor Scissors and again, it made a big difference in what I found a tedious task. In fact I find it so tedious that I tried out these electric scissors for some of my sturdier fabrics and wow, what a time saver! I will say my family don’t love the noise of it but that’s what basement TV watching is for. (add link)

Seam Guide - Precision has never been my best quality and these seam guides help so much with staying on track on what seam allowance I am supposed to be using.

Good Lighting - Ripping back seams is inevitable and while I love my light up seam ripper (add link) I also need additional lighting and ending up buying strip lighting for my craft room and desk.

Thread - While FDF is slowly building their collection of sewing accessories (link), when I can’t find what I need from us, Brooklyn General or Confident Stitch I go to a website called Wawak. I ended up purchasing this thread pack for convenience.

Pressing Ham - I love my little hammy, I don’t mind the ironing part of sewing near as much as I thought I would and this pressing ham makes it easier to get through those curves.

Sewing Patterns

One of the things that stopped me from diving into sewing was the intimidation of sewing patterns. Like when you maybe first started learning to knit, your looking at this pack of instructions and being like where the hell do I even start. Where I started was finding patterns that were accompanied by Youtube Video otherwise known as a ‘Sew-Along’. The Tie Dress by Sewing Therapy was the perfect starter pattern. My biggest advice is to just take it step by step, all the terms will start to click very quickly! Just 2 months later I am sewing intermediate patterns, mostly without a Youtube Video.

Printing Patterns

You have several different options with printing your patterns. You can print from home, taping pieces together as directed and cutting your pattern pieces out. This would be the most cost effective but the most time consuming. You can also buy your patterns already printed and we have lots of options at FDF. (add link) What I have been doing is buying PDF versions and then sending them to my local Staples if I want them done overnight but mostly sending them to PDF Plotting and having them printed on the 20lb paper. Their price point is very reasonable and fulfilment is quick! There is an option to trace your pattern directly to your fabric using a projector but I haven’t dove into that quite yet!

Tracing Patterns

Once your pattern is printing you can cut it directly OR you can trace it onto tracing paper. I use Swedish tracing paper which is a thicker tracing paper unlike your traditional (flimsy) tracing paper. I do spend the extra time tracing my patterns because I might want to do a different size next time (I find myself sewing the same thing multiple times) and I would hate to have to go through the process of printing it a second time if I wanted to do a different size. Everyone is different and you will find what works for you.

For tracing, I recommend using some extra, extra large washers (i got mine from our local ranch supply store)!

How to Find Patterns

Where are all the cool sewing girlies going?! Again, like knitting I am more fond of Independent Sewing Patterns and I never mind paying the average price of around $20 per pattern (this way I know it’s been tested). Instagram has been my biggest source of inspiration to find sewing patterns but here are a list of Sewing Designers that I loving!

Time Management

One thing I always said before my sewing journey was I just didn’t have enough time in the day to add anything else. And at times that was true. However, since starting to sew I just realized that I can easily make more time in my day for something that is bringing me so much joy and adding to my creative energy in new ways. I find myself doing my tasks much more quickly, I am off my phone so not to waste any time, and I found a sweet spot between splitting my time with knitting and sewing.

Ok - But Why Make My Own Clothes

If your here, you most likely already have your own ideas and thoughts on why Slow Fashion is important to you. I have so much to say on how the energy of making our clothing affects our spiritual health I am creating a workshop to deep dive on this topic. Beyond the mental health benefits of hand makes, let’s just talk about fast fashion for a second. The fashion industry produces 92 million tons of textile waste annually. Unsold inventory, scraps and discarded clothing are clogging our landfills. We find ourselves buying the same tee from target every 3 months because it wears out and stretches in the most unflattering ways. The quality of clothing just keeps getting worse and it effects how we feel about ourselves. Wearing clothing you have made yourself, and especially a hand knit perfectly matched with a sewn garment, gives you an expression of yourself that helps you move through the world in an authenticity and grounding way that is good for all.