My mother started me early - no idea why though. In my life time - She sewed for mending and the like (6 kids not enough time I imagine I was number 5 - so maybe she sewed clothes earlier), but she could mend anything. She would take me with her to the local fabric shop run by an elderly gentleman and his wife, for needles, zippers, patches etc, i have no rememberance of her buying fabric.
I have a distinct memory of it, because he told me he could guess my age and I aksed how and he said I was 4 because I had 4 fingers, I then asked him I was 4, but I had five fingers and proceeded to count and he said no that one is a thumb!
She was into crocheting - she never got the hand of knitting. She would crochet while watching TV. My older sister who is quite a bit older than me (14 years) was the knitter. Hats, mittens, socks, gloves, scarves, afghans, baby clothes etc.
When I was very young - I would make troll clothes for my trolls. I loved when she got the samples in the mail for men suits (you are talking the 1960's). I would make little troll shirts out of those little pieces of fabric.
The summer I turned 9 my mom signed me up at the local singer shop for sewing lessons. I made a green and pink polka dot jumper. I won the contest for the shop and then went on to a fashion show for the region of clothing made probably from these lessons (how big I do not know). I was the youngest there. I won that fashion show, and a battery operated portable Singer record player. My dress then was packed up and went on to a larger contest. A few months later the dress came back with a voucher, that I had won some place (not sure) for a Singer Sewing Machine. It was a basic portable machine and I still have that machine today and it still works.
Through high school, I made many of my own clothes. I developed an obsession for fabric - which contnues today. When my kids were little I sewed many of their clotes - especially the dressy ones and my daughter was a figure skater and made many of her dresses and learned how to decorate with crystals.
Now my kids a grown, and I turned to quilting about 5 or 6 years ago.
I quilt to relax. Every day I come home from work and spend 45 - 60 minutes "puttering" in my sewing room. Sometimes quilts come out of my efforts. I firmly believe a hand made gift is a gift full of love.