I can't recall what age I started sewing, but it was very young. My Mother made all the clothes for us girls (six in all) plsu herself. Before she married, she was a Home Ec teacher, so she always told us, "the inside of a garment has to look as nice as the outside" and I believed her. When I was in high school, I knew more about sewing than the Home Ec teacher, so she appointed me as her helper to teach the other girls. In summers when I visited my grandmother, I used her treadle machine to sew on. I always made all my kids clothing, even three-piece suits for my son. I even sewed for the public. Then in 1997 I purchased my Janome 9000 and started quilting. I was hooked and still at it. My DH says, "why don't you take a break from sewing?" He doesn't understand, for quilters, sewing IS a break!