You have gotten lots of good advice, some seeming to contradict other, but all good. You mentioned a dress you are making for your daughter. Is that finished? I'll bet it is cute! And by doing that you are gaining confidence to tackle something for yourself. You can do clothing. As SewExtreme mentioned, take it easy and enjoy it. Be willing to step away when you need. You will do a great job.

It has been good for me to read over this thread, too. Thanks for asking the question. Though I have sewn clothing for umpteen years (since grade school) I needed the reminder of doing a difficult project in muslin first. I'm ready to start my daughter's wedding dress.

I hope you will share pictures of your progress. :thumbup:

Oh, you will enjoy that. My daughter and I designed and sewed hers together. It was great. My daughter went on to do alterations in a bridal/formal gown shop. I still remember when she was mad at me (she was 12) when I told her she had to learn to sew because it was a skill that had been passed down to me for generations and I wanted to keep it going. She had run into a difficult problem and had to keep ripping out this same sleeve 3 times. I told her she didn't have to do anything with sewing when she was an adult. Needless to say, she got through that difficult sleeve and went on to sew her clothing, etc. I am giving her my 1975 Bernina 830 tomorrow. It is the machine she learned to sew on.

:roll: :roll: ;-) ;-)

[quote=SewExtreme]By now, Rachel, you have had plenty of wonderful guidance on sewing clothes. Just wanted to add my encouragement. Back in the 70s when a team called Palmer & Pletsch were new on the sewing scene I used to go to Seminars that they gave. I can't remember how many years it was before McCall's (I think it was them) began carrying their patterns for clothing. Both in their seminars and in their patterns they encouraged a person to 'relax' and not look at it as a monumental project. Read the directions one small section at a time and then do what they showed you to do. If you were wound up, then go have a cup of tea/coffee and come back to the next section and so on.

In their patterns they drew a cup of tea which was steaming when it was time to step away. It has always helped me. Sometimes or frequently we have to step away. I find that true in quilting also.

Let's see.... I came from sewing for decades to quilting... I would say they can each be difficult and/or relaxing.

Think of the delight you will have sewing for your kids. That being said, that is a good beginning point. Their seams are shorter. Kinda like starting out doing one block instead of a quilt with 50 blocks. Happy Sewing ;)[/quote.

My thoughts exactly! Taking a break does make things go together easier...and probably has helped soved a tricky patch in the sewing.

One thing I haven't seen mentioned.. although I haven't read the whole thread.. is that pattern sized have been changed over the years.. so if you bought vintage patterns.. they will be smaller than the same size now. You HAVE to go by your measurements not your dress size.. also I would recommend using an old sheet or some scrap fabric and make a "trial" garment so you can get an idea of how to adjust it to fit you.

Wow...so much wonderful advice!!! One thing that I haven't seen mentioned is...the iron is your friend!!!! Make sure you press your seams well....it can make the difference between having a garment looking like "homemade" and something out of a high end clothing shop.

There has been a lot of measure measure measure advice. I would add to that...if you have someone to measure you, take advantage. You will get much more accurate measurements.

Most of all....relax and have fun!!

Patti

So true about the pressing. Also important is the proper clipping of curved seams. That makes the seams lay well.

I have diffucules in reading a pattern and understanding what I just read. You will so much enjoy what you make yourself. more than if you bought it. good luck and God bless. Penny

I can identify with the 'do it again ' phrase. I ripped out a zipper three times before my mom was happy with the results. And it was no ordinary situation. She had me hand sew that baby in, because it was for a formal dress. I was so proud of the finished product, because I had, at 12, made my own dress. None of the other girls involved had something as nice as mine. And now, what am I doing? Dresses for my 'babies'!

I hope your daughter enjoys the sewing machine. It will mean a lot, being the machine on which she learned to sew. And those older machines are so reliable!

Do any of you have -or have any of you seen the book (or DVD) "Fit for Real People" ????? I am thinking of getting it and giving the clothing a try again. But then is that just another excuse to buy fabric (non-cotton, non-quilty but fabric nonetheless)?

Who is that by? I have Fantastic Fit for Every Body by Gale Grigg Hazen