I'm 57 & have been making my own clothes ever since & was 8. My Grandmother worked in the silk mills back in the early 1900's. She sewed her own clothes & taught me how. I'm small framed & back in the day you could not find clothes in my size. If they did fit they were too short. I wore a 6x all the way thru highschool! I had to alter everything or make my own. I sew/make everything except socks & underwear. I worked in a garment factory for 11 years. I make my own jeans just like factory, including the special rivets. I have a special rivet setter machine & found the factory rivets on line. I just finished a flannel shirt for myself. I never buy patterns. I use old clothes, rip them apart & make a pattern. I usually only take half the garment apart, make notes as I go & then make a pattern/with notes for future use. A seam ripper, a pencil & freezer wrap are my go to items. I have 5 machines - Bernina 830LE, Bernina 930, Sailrite 111, Bernina Serger 800DL & a BabyLock Coverstich machine.
Aside from making quilts (those I do go by a pattern, usually from a book or photo & make my own pattern) - I've also made motorcycle coats, recovered motorcycle seats, leather chaps, leather vests, drapes, jean shirts for my husband, dog beds, winter covers for my Purple Martin(birds) houses. I do embroidery too. As long as I can get it under the needle I can make it. I love sewing & it gives me that feeling that I have accompolished something when it's all done
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I also taught myself how to tool leather when I was a teenager. I did a lot of leather work back then & I still have all those tools. One day soon I will teach my husband, who recently retired, how to tool leather.
I so hate store clothes today. Most jeans for women are STRETCH & I hate stretch jeans. The fabrics they use today are terrible. The fabrics are not woven straight anymore, they pill/fuzz and/or just don't wash or wear well. The store clothes also have horrible sewing, many with no hems or they have holes ripped in them. If I want holes in my clothes I'll wear them out myself!
As long as my hands hold out I'll keep sewing anything & everything I can
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