Sewing clothes, blah!
 

I'm making clothing and other stuff for my son's upcoming wedding and now I remember why I drifted away from sewing before I discovered quilting! I've been working on material that is slick, frays like crazy, requires tons of pins and is hard to press(but not to scorch)! Oh, sure, it looks nice and is exactly what I wanted (for both the flower girl and myself) but what a pain! I can't wait to get the sleeves on my jacket and the skirt for myself done--then there are the stuffed calico dogs for the flower girl and ringbear (my new SGS)--but at least that won't be with slick material! I am SO looking forward to our guild quilt retreat in 2 weeks--with my mom, sis and daughter going too! I will not be taking any fabric that isn't COTTON!

I second your feelings! I really have to want something or someone has begged me to sew something for them. I just don't enjoy garment making anymore.

I adore garment making, slick material not withstanding! I've made scads of lined suits for myself and loved every minute of it. Well ... almost.

I still have scads of UN-FINISHED suits hanging in the closet because I HATE HEMMING!!!

I don't have anyone close that I can trust to pin a hem on a skirt correctly while I'm standing, and when I do it myself it comes out uneven. I have a larger posterior and if I hem the skirt by measuring x inches all around - the hem line in the back is shorter than the hem line in the front - which only highlights my larger posterior. UGH!!

But confession time ... even when I find someone to pin the hem properly, I STILL have a problem hemming because I HATE handwork and I have never got the hang of blind hemming by machine.

But I really do love to make garments!!

BUMMER... I no longer sew garments either. Things just don't fit, and with the prices of fabrci these days, you can buy whatever you need and for a good price IF you keep an eye on sales. I will make a few baby things, thats about it. AND no longer sew for weddings!!! With you in moaning quiltinghorttimmer!!!

I feel your pain! I went through that in September--no more!

I am so with you. I would rather make a quilt than an outfit anyday. I did end up making some lounge pants for my son. He loves them(but they are so easy and quick to make). I don't enjoy the process at all. I will do it, but I'm not happy doing them. I have a new pattern for a skirt with ruffles on it for my girls, but I haven't even taken it out of the package. I'm dreading making those too.

I really love sewing garments too! In May we are going to have 5 grandchildren under the age of 3 and all, thank heaven, very close to where we live. I use the knowledge I have from sewing garments to add to my quilts, and what I have learned from quilting to jazz up garments. The two skills complement each other perfectly. However, 3 of the 4 we have now are girls, so maybe the slippery stuff and lots of pins are in the future.

I love sewing for my little granddaughter, myself?? Not so much. I can gain 10 pounds and a quilt still fits. ;~)

Too bad you are not closer to me. I love garment making. I made almost all of my children's clothes when they were young. I currently do sewing and alterations on the side for extra cash.

I went thru this last October, so...I feel your pain...

LMAO!!

I like sewing of any kind!! I make all of the spousal unit's Hawaiian shirts, and the occasional thing for myself, but I have such a weird body that it's difficult to make stuff to fit. I'm long waisted, poochy tummy, no butt or hips, relatively skinny legs... alterations require thought, and thinking that much hurts, so I don't do it.

I like garment sewing for gifts, as well as for my boys and to some extent for myself. My DH is hard to buy for, so I sew him boxers out of novelty prints and new casual button-front shirts out of solids - he even wears my sewn shirts to work, so I feel pretty good about that!

To bad we don't live closer, I don't mind hemming at all. Have sewn for all my children(8) and did some work for the re-enactors. So I consider myself a professional seamstress. That and 2 dollars will get you a cup of coffee...LOL
I was told once if you made something and sold it for money that made you a professional. And that covers a lot of ground...LOL

I do make garments occasionally. Maybe I just got tired of it after more than 4 decades of making my own clothes. I never did like making pants. So I will make jackets and shirts when to mood strikes me. Maybe because there are more colors to work with in quilts that makes it so inviting.

I have never liked making clothes for myself, but I thoroughly love sewing for my kids and grandkids. Designing and making outfits for my little grand daughter is the most fun. I could do that every day. For a long time the button down shirts I made my oldest grandson was all he wanted to wear. He would help pick out the fabric, and he had some great ideas of what to make shirts out of. I love sewing dolls and all kinds of accessories too.

I am making a complicated dress with 48 steps - boning, criniolines, linings, interlinings, etc, right now. It isn't as bad as I had thought so I bought a new pattern for myself. I do not need to buy any fabric. The 'fancy' one is for a DGD. I don't wear crinolines any more. Now to find time to quilt, sew, garden and everything else. Stay off the QB, maybe??

I rarely ever make any clothing since I have been quilting. Did think I might make a summer dress for me. Need to find a pattern and try to figure out what size - then look for fabric and not get side tracked with quilting fabric.

Me too. And I actually love the hand sewing part. I even love hand sewing my bindings.

I made nearly all my girls clothes when they were young. My older grandsons only wear t-shirts and jeans so don't really want any hand made clothes so I've been focusing on my two younger grandchildren (boy & girl) and now I'm anxiously awaiting the addition of twin granddaughters in August. I've been sewing and knitting baby clothes like crazy. Of course I have a couple of quilts in the works too.

To add a note about difficult fabric. I made the mistake of making a fancy flower girl dress for my granddaughter. It had four!! different fabrics in it. The silky overlay and the netting underskirt were the worst part but she looked adorable in it.

This picture of all the girls has my youngest daughter Cathe on the left with my niece Macey in front of her on the left and my granddaughter Kaitlyn next to little Macey.

The bridesmaids dresses are lovely! I gave up on sewing clothes of any kind a long time ago. The reason I like sewing quilts, etc. an inch or two longer overall does not matter but that inch in a waist, wellllll....different story. Now I am debating on sewing my little grand daughter sun dresses, not even sure if I have the touch for this. I watch sales for clothing and am way happier and leave my sewing for what I do enjoy, quilting. I knew there were still lots of people that liked garment sewing, by the looks of all the fabric I see around. If you have fun with it, why not?

I love this!!!

Wish I could hem for you, too. I learned how to use the machine hem years ago, thank goodness, since I do a lot of hemming. I actually don't mind hand hemming, either, if it doesn't hurt my arm and hand. About marking hems, (I hate trying on clothes) I use safety pins and mark even all around, then eyeball if it needs to be higher or lower someplace and re-pin. It has worked for me.