Sewing and fabric are one of life’s joys. Yet – we don’t seem to get much time to work with them. Let’s change that!
Learning how….
When did you learn to sew? Or have you wanted to learn how to sew, but not had the opportunity yet?
My mother taught me to sew when I was 9 years old. She taught me to sew an apron with her old singer treadle machine. If I recall, she cut the fabric for me.
You may have learnt how to sew in high school, or even learnt enough to sew your own clothes for work or going out.
When I was 18, I bought a Janome zig-zag sewing machine with my work Christmas bonus. It’s still in working order in my cupboard.
Are you like me in that, even though you know the basics of sewing, you feel there’s much more you need to learn?
There are ways to learn how to sew. You can do a physical class, such as at a local vocational school, by private tutor, or from your local sewing machine supplier. You could also undertake online sewing courses.
New sewing projects
Have you found that as you age, your interests change? Now that I am older, I still create with fabric, but in other ways, such as embroidery, painting, and hand-dyeing fabric.
For example, in the image below, I hand-dyed fabric after folding it Shibori style.
This fabric is then sewn into bags, pouches or homewares. While I used to make my own clothes, now I make homewares, and experiment with colour combinations to make a pleasant looking item.
Below is a bag made using this process. The fabric was hand-dyed, and cut using a free pattern and course instructions by Kristen Link.
Also, we need to apply colour in our sewing projects. You can read how I apply colour harmony and colour relationships in my art and craft projects, so that you can quickly get to your fabric and sewing projects.
Please join me and let’s continue to learn and experiment with sewing and fabric.