I learned to sew at age 11 in Home Ec.
The first thing I ever made was a drawstring gym bag.
Then a circle skirt. (They were "in" back then. No guessing my age....)
And I've been thankful for that Home Ec class ever since. I also knit, crochet, etc but my favorite hobby is by far sewing/quilting. (That teacher also attempted to teach me to cook but that's a sad story :-) )

Doll clothes and some summer shirts for me and my sisters. The shirts were super easy-just big squares of fabric with little shoulder seams, and side seams. I don't remember how we finished the edges. Maybe Mom finished them for us. But I do remember we did the sewing on her old treadle sewing machine!

I have no idea how old I was, but very young. Assisted my mom with making Barbie clothes. Then sewed with her and when I was in 7th grade took Home Ec. (boy, that's dating me now). :lol: :lol: Not called that anymore. Sewed clothes for years, then home decor for first apartment and so on. Been sewing for 40-45 yrs. OH MY!!! I can't believe it!! :shock:

Age 12, also in Home Ec. We made an apron then graduated to a vest and straight skirt. I remember that vest and skirt so clearly--blue denium :-D

4-H sewing when i was 8; apron, draw string pants, skirts. I was in 4-H all through school, by the time i was 13 i was making 3 piece suits (made 3 of them that year for my brother's for easter.,..my mom made my sister and my dresses that year because i made the suits. made my own clothes all through school, my kids clothes when they were growing up. didn't want to quilt until about 10 years ago ( i did make a couple quilts in the 70's but didn't keep with it...i had a friend who is a quilter, she would tell me ...you aught to do this Colleen...but i would pick up a book or pattern, look at it, it would say something insane like...cut 810 2 1/2" squares...i would put it back down and say...not in this life time...finally i found a BOM quilt i fell in love with, decided i had to make it...was very pleased to find i didn't have to cut 800 anything...and i was hooked :)

I first learned to sew when I was in 7th grade and took Home Ec. We made a very simple pull-over cotton blouse. I think I was 12?? It took Home Ec. all through Jr. High and High school. We made a lined wool blazer my senior year. I will be forever grateful for my wonderful and patient teachers who encouraged their students to love sewing.

I was about six when I started to sew. I don't remember what project I was working on but I sure remember sewing through my finger with my mother's treadle machine. There I sat with the needle all the way in my finger and Mama had to come and get me loose. This was right after the bandages came off from me poking the same finger into the fan of the motor of Mama's electric butter churn. I can still remember looking down into that motor and thinking "Wonder what is in that hole." It's so odd that I used my left index finger both times and I am right handed. I have a deformed nail to this day.
At about eight I made a little nine patch quilt for my doll. Sure wish I still had it!

I was 12 and had home ec. Made an ugly brown jumper that I wore all the time. That created a monster. Afer that I made all of my own cloths and was constantly bugging my Mom for more fabric. Because It saved so much, I had a wonderful wordrobe all through high school.

I learned to sew at the local Singer Sewing Center (I know I'm dating myself but back when they had fabric and patterns too). My mom signed me up for summer sewing classes I was eight. There were 12 in the class I was the youngest.

The first thing I made was a draw string bag. The next thing the class made was a piece of clothing. I choses a sleeveless A-line dress. It was kelly green with large bright pink polka dots.

There was a contest Singer was sponsoring at the time. I won the store contest and won a battery operated small record player - I was very proud of that. Then I went on to a larger area contest. We had to model our dresses. I won that one too. That one was cool because I won a portable sewing machine (Which by the way I still have and still works!!!!!) Nothng fancy just straight stitch and zig zag and button hole.

But at 8 having your own sewing machine was pretty special!!!

Then there was a larger district where the dress was sent - but I did not win that.

I remember being upset that I had to mail my dress away. I did get it back, but by then summer was over and of course the next summer it no longer fit. I think the dress is still in my mother's cedar closet. Someday I will have to go and see if I can find it.

I don't remember how old I was, but think it was the 6th grade, which would make me about 12. I made a round Hair Curler Bag with pockets all around!

funny thing; it was a maxi dress, in Home Ec; I didn't finish it , failed that part of Home Ec. My Mother was disapointed...She didn't say anything, but I rememeber the look on her face when I picked out the fabric... it was only cotton gause-y type fabric, but expensive for us back then. I only took HomeEc because when I showed up in typing class the teacher told me I'd have to cut my finger nails or I'd fail... I showed her, I changed classes. I still keeep my nails long, and other than the letters wearing off the keyboard over time... I don't have any trouble typing, go fig.

I was seven and made a quilt for my doll from 1" fabric sample squares. Still have the quilt and the doll.

Hemming feedsack dish towels on Grandma's treadle, probably about 8 years old. Home Ec. in 7th grade, apron, headband and pot holder( this was to get us prepared for cooking class). Had home Ec. all through highschool, including the Pendleton wool lined suit . In highschool I made all my dresses and skirts( never liked blouses because of buttonholes!), made baby gowns and blankets for my first child and sewed all her clothes until she was out of school and working, and a lot even then. Have sewn for the house,(curtains, bedding and even upholstered some chairs)! Sewing has has always been my passion. When I didn"t have the money to buy fabric for something I wanted to sew for myself, my sweet sister would send me double the price of fabric, and I would make one for her and one for me. Still sewing clothing for my 8 year old granddaughter, and now I am getting back to some quilting after many years of putting that on hold. When my daughter was in elementery school, I sewed dresses for little girls in that school who were unable to have proper attire for school use, and taught a 6th grade class of girls to make an A-line jumper. That was a real challenge!!

I dont remember how old I was, around 6 or 7 I would think. I'd been watched my Mum do her embroidery and wanted her to teach me. I remember my Dad bringing home a silk parachute when I was around 8 years old and mum cut me some out so I could make new clothes for Esmeralda. (She was my doll.. I have a photo of her somewhere!)...she was kitted out from top to bottom in pure silk...and my Mum made herself new undies! We seemed to be cutting that parachute up for years! lol

Karen xx

I made a stuffed animal, it was a tiger, from a kit when I was about 9. Hand sewed it because I didn't know how to use a sewing machine and we didn't own one anyway. In high school I took sewing and got my first taste of sewing on a machine. I was 15 or 16. I loved that class and looked forward to it every day. I made a skirt in that class and a one piece jumper type thing that was shorts on the bottom and a collared shirt up top. At the time I worked for JC Penney catalog and someone returned a sewing machine. Nothing wrong with it, I guess they just changed their mind. So I snapped it up at a deep discount. I still have that machine but it has been living in a closet since I got my Bernina around 8 years ago. I didn't start quilting until we bought our house in the early 90's.

I remember doing hand embroidery when I was about 5 or 6 and my mother and sister both tell me that I was using the treadle machine even before that (I don't remember - I was very ill at age 6 and "lost" some stuff from fever)
I don't remember a time in my life that I haven't sewn or done some kind of hand work..
I used babysitting money to buy fabric for school clothes (also for eyeglasses, dentist, etc)
I still have my "antique" embroidery hoop around here someplace!

I was about 9 yrs old, visiting my DS in Valentine, NE while she was doing her student teaching for the summer, walked to the 5 & 10 store and she had me choose fabric to make some summer baby doll jammies. The fabric was blue/green/yellow/white with daisies on it. Fact, I still have some of it. Love that fabric. Wore those jammies out.

Me too, 7th grade. First the apron, next pants and a vest. Wow! So many years ago, 1967. Been sewing ever since. Guess I owe my teacher a debt of gratitude. Got me hooked!!!

13 an apron in Home Ec. Hated sewing and could not get the hang of it, even though my mom was a seamstress. Never could set in sleeves or zippers. LOL

Wow, all of you learned so young. I took Home Ec in junior high but we weren't taught to sew anything. A girl the previous semester had sewn the machine needle through her finger and thus it was deemed too dangerous for any of us kids to use the machines. :( The first time I sewed anything I made dresses for my girls and I was in my mid-late 20's. I didn't have any help and while the dresses turned out amazing, the process was a nightmare and after making a handful of dresses for each of them I quit sewing. Then back in January of 1992 a niece was getting married and I needed a wedding gift. We were very poor and I decided that I could make a quilt. I'd never made one before, didn't know anyone who could make one, but I was certain I could do it and that it wouldn't cost very much. ...Yes, I'll wait for some of you to stop laughing... I finished that wedding quilt in six weeks; not bad for something that was cut out with scissors and hand quilted. It was a bargello style quilt that I had seen done on Simply Quilts. I discovered that show and began taping them and that is how I learned to quilt. Sadly, I didn't know enough and I did not do anywhere near enough quilting on it. After my ex's niece washed it a dozen times the batting all wadded up in the bottom of one corner of the quilt.

That was over eighteen years ago and I'm still quilting almost every day. I haven't made a single dress since my girls were younger and I have no plans to learn. Quilting is my happy place. :D

I was 8. My dad actually taught me how to sew. I made Barbie and Troll doll clothes.

I think I was around 5 yrs old. My Mom was always sewing and she let me have the scraps to "sew". While cleaning out the top of a closet after she died I found the baby doll and a dress handsewn by me. I also have the Toni doll she saved and the doll dresses she made for it. I was making some of my own clothes by 7th grade. The sewing class I had to take was very boring. We made short gathered aprons.

I learned at home too and then more in 7th Grade Home Ec.
But I learned the most from working at Gerta's Needlecrafts in Parsippany NJ all through high school. Anyone out there remember Gerta's? 1960's...

I started out learning embroidery around 5 and then hand sewing doll clothes for a couple of years. Mom let me start sewing on the machine by the time I was 8 and then I took home ec in 7th grade.

I got married at 16 and sewed or tailored most of my clothes and sewed pjs and shirts for my boys.

I made Barbie clothes when I was probably 6 or 7, by hand....no machine until I was in 4H, and at age 8 or 9 I made an apron on Mom's featherweight. Didn't really do much after that...until years later.

When I was 8, my mom, who had been a home ec teacher, organized a group of girls from my class for a summer sewing class. We all made aprons, then other items. Good thing, too, because less than a year later, child number 5 was born in our family, and I made most of my clothes from then on!! :lol:
Boy! Was Mom planning ahead!

I too sewed in home ec. first we had to do a sampler of all the embrodery stitches and that was fun and came out pretty nice, Then we had to make clown flannel pajamas. it was heavy flannel and we were living in Danvers, MA at the time and I had grown up in the deeo south. the pjs were very warm. then we learned to make creamed beets ugh.

maternity top on my grandmothers treadle

I was about 8 years old in Girl Scouts, we made blankets for dolls and then used some kind of material where we pulled strings out around the edges to make a design and ended up with dresser scarves (remember those?) Went from there to making my own clothes because we couldn't afford new clothes. My mom taught me to sew and I also learned in Home Ec in 7th, 8th, 9th grades in school. Cooking is another subject. Never liked cooking.

I was 17 and I sewed the pieces together for a 3 piece sectional sofa.
Cushions, pillows and the sofa bodies themselves.
My 1st job that came into my newly opened business.

I remember hand-sewing a shirt for my Pooh bear when I was very little, maybe 5 or so. When I was 10, I needed a black skirt for orchestra. My mom, who didn't really sew, pointed me toward her old Singer. I made that skirt and never stopped sewing. I made a lot of my own clothes in high school (hippy styles were fun and easy!) and prom dresses for other girls for $$. I was a drama major in college, and worked in the costume shop when I wasn't on stage. I didn't discover quilting until a few years ago, and now it's like an obsession. I think in quilts.

The cool thing is that my 21-year old daughter is now a costume design major at Boston University. She designs big shows and has sewing skills I've never even heard of. This summer she's a wardrobe assistant on a film. I am so excited to see where her career takes her.

You must be my age as I now remember the drawstring gym bag. I would not have remembered that if you had not mentioned it. I was making doll cloths, etc. Don't remember what age I started, but in 9th grade I was making lined suits when everyone else was making the apron & gathered skirt.

in the 9th grade home economics, made a green and white poke a dot aline skirt. I wore the holy heck out of it that year, I was so proud of it. been sewing ever since. By the way got an "A" on that project.

I was 9, my aunt came to visit and brought some Barbie clothes printed on fabric, cut and sew, I sewed them on Mom's treadle that I still have today.

I was in eight grade home ec. and I made an A-line skirt with a zipper. That zipper gave me "fits".... but I got an A.

My mother taught me to outline embroider when I was 10 or 11. Then at 13 I got to take Home Ec in school and made my first dress.....a sundress with patch pockets. I haven't stopped since. For many years I made all my own clothes, as well as clothes for my daughters and shirts for my husband. I even made myself a pair of 5-pocket jeans once and also made my husband a sportcoat.

Then I got into making quilts about 15 years ago! That's all I want to do now. Occasionally my daughter will ask me to make a blouse or something and I'll do it, but really don't enjoy that any more. I've got Quiltheimer's Disease really bad!

i tried to make a "box" blouse. sleeveless loose short top with a square neckline. I was 14.

I was in Jr. High and took Home Ec. One semester was sewing the other cooking. I remember having to practice sewing on paper - following the shapes. The first thing I made was a dress - it had a yoke on it!! What was that teacher thinking!?! It was short sleeves and the fabric I chose was striped. Don't have the dress - I don't think I ever wore it even. Sewed off and on from then on -but really never did much until after I married in 1988 - curtains, clothes, etc. LOVE sewing.

I was around 8 when Mom showed me how to smock gingham and we made pillows out of the squares we made. I played with scraps trying my hand at Barbie clothes too.

I was 10 and it was a Barbie doll dress and I still have both the doll and the dress 45 years later.....