My Grandmother and Mother! She had me sewing my own clothes in Elementary school

Mom sewed all my clothes and taught me to sew. Of course I made the Home Ec. apron. By High school, I was making all my own clothes. It only took 1 1/2 yards for a mini dress like was popular when I was a teenager. My great-aunt Nannie taught me to quilt and crochet. I still remember crocheting an edging around a washcloth. Always got it too tight! Wonderful memories!

My Great Aunt taught me. She had a foot action sewing machine in her huge kitchen. She would let me watch her sew so long as I kept my hands in my lap. It is amazing that I did not fear the sewing machine, lot's of stories about children who had a needle go through their fingers. When I was a bit older my first project was hemming feed sacks to make dish
towels. Aunt Olga was an amazing seamstress and made the bulk of my clothes, as well as my cousins. She made wool
plaid pleated skirts. They were eventually pass down the cousin line. As they wore, she would take them apart and reverse the pleats. My younger cousin and I thought we got the short end of that. We deemed them much prettier with the original pleating.

while I was still very young, my mom worked as a seamstress in what she called "a sweatshop".....sometimes, she'd take home tie belts that my sister and I would get paid a penny each to turn right-side out. I was always next to her at her own sewing machine and she taught me well. I picked up quilting on my own some 30 years ago.

In high school took 1 year , the rest I have learned on my own.

Well, that's a tough one. My Grandmother's both sewed & quilted but they died when I was 7. But they did pique my interest. Then my Mother sewed but I could never learn from her (she was something of a perfectionist with a short span of patience & when I fumbled, I got "Oj, just give it to me" -- don;t get me wrong... I ADORED my Mother but that was one area that didn't go so good... tho we quilted together lots when I learned to do that). My tried in 4 years (!) of Home Ec were horrible. I always picked a pattern that was way over my skill level & it just led to tears. So everyone was SHOCKED when I took a quilting class at a local junior college. And it was there I had the teacher who got me hooked, Mrs. Barry. She was strict, she wanted you to listen up, but she was oh-so- patient & full of all kinds of good stories (she brought in old quilts & taught his history in addition to straight up sewing) & more knowledge than I knew a head could hold. But I like to think I'm still learning... from books, magazines, online, TV shows & really from here on the board.

My mom was an excellent seamstress so all three of us sisters learned to sew (and now we all quilt). My mom was the ultimate sewing police so we learned to do things right or not at all. :-)

My maternal grandmother started me out on her old Singer treadle. It now holds a place of honor in my house. I am still (50 years later) working on getting the hang of stopping and starting when I should. When I was about 9, my mother got a Necchi-Elna with cams that made many decorative stitches and I thought I was in heaven. My mother sewed so well and made all of my prom formals and even my wedding dress. I always had the best dressed Barbies in the neighborhood! They also taught me what every girl should know--how to crochet, knit, embroider, etc. How I wish they could see how I embroider now--on my Janome 10001!

I also learned to sew (garments) in Home Ec. Since I have been quilting, I have had to unlearn a lot of what I learned in Home Ec. There are much easier and better ways to do a lot of things than the ways I was taught in Home Ec. Of course that was a "few" years ago and methods and tools have improved a lot since then.

When I was a freshman in high school, I took Home Ec because there was no other choice except study hall. Surprisingly, Home Ec soon became my favorite course as I learned to sew. Soon I was making clothes for everyone in my family. I majored in Home Ec in college. I still love sewing and am now teaching my granddaughter and some of her friends to sew. A friend called me the other night and asked if I would teach her to sew when she returns from a trip to Europe. It is wonderful to be able to share sewing with others. I am so thankful to have had a great Home Ec teacher who did an outstanding job of teaching me to sew.