I started sewing before I started school. I would be playing with dolls while my mother was sewing . I would beg her for the scraps of fabric and made my own Barbie doll clothes. They weren't the fancy types , just a simple sheath dress. By the time I was in jr high I took Home and the teacher refused to call me by the name I go by so as a result I never answered her in class but I did make a simple jumper dress with suspenders. The In High School I took a semester for Textiles and clothing. The class was taught by a Mrs. Girtman. Under her I learned so many thing s but the one thing I have not forgotten her saying is this: If you make something and wear it, and some one asks you where you bought,it means you have reach the level of Hand Made. Paying attention to the details in a pattern means the difference between Hand Made vs Home Made. When my children were small I made many of their clothes. My oldest son's clothing had to be altered so it would fit him , he was a very small boy and very underweight for his age due to kidney disease he was born with. Even now at age 35 he weighs only 95-98 lbs. He has never weighed more than 98 lbs in his entire life. On Sept. 2 , 2000 he received a kidney transplant that was from a young man almost the same age as my son was at that time. friends of my daughter were always asking her where she got her clothes at. It really shocked them when she said that they weren't store bought. She would have to show them that there were no manufacturer's tags in the necks of all her dresses or blouses and things. My mom got me started sewing but Mrs. Girtman made me a better seamstress by the time I had finished her class that year. I made a princess seamed dress, a corduroy pantsuit, and a plaid skirt and vest , and the vest was lined and reversible. I got an A on all items I made.