my mother and other 4-H leaders. you cannot hurry
the process.

I learned basic sewing from my grandma. I recently bought a Singer 301 just because that was the machine she had and I wanted to have one. It is now my primary quilting machine, it is a great workhorse and I think of grandma as I use it.

I learned in Home Ec. in school. Never liked what I made but it gave me the basics. I made some of my daughter's clothes when she was small. Never liked sewing for me. Just could never get anything to fit right. My mom could crochet beautifully, but hated to sew. Would never use the sewing machine.

My mom's cousin, Mae, taught me to sew when I was about 12. She really knew how to get the most out of the fabric. She never followed the layout suggested in the clothing patterns. She also use kitchen table knives to lay out the pattern - no pinning. I still do those 2 things when I make clothes.
Leftover fabric became parts of scrap quilts.

my grandma used to sit me on the floor by her, when she was sewing. she did alot of sewing for other poeple to make a living. i stayed with her when my mother was in a hospital..mom had mental issues. so grandma would give me squares to sew together , by hand. i was really little ..maybe 3 years or around that. i now think she did this to keep me busy. wtg grandma..i am 60 now and its my fondest memory of my early years! plus i sew quilts, have a love of flowers..from her..she died when i was 18..i like to think she is my guarden angel.

My mother was a beautiful sewer and made us great outfits that didn't look home made...at least not to me. I watched her sew a lot of my life, so those had to be the early lessons, had home-ec in school too.

My greatest lesson was when my mother taught me to make my first outfit. It was a green suit for my sisters wedding. A lined jacket and skirt. I was so proud of that outfit and can see it like it was today. Her lesson on that was to take my time, read the directions and follow them. It worked.

My mom and my two grandmothers had a hand in it. With Mom it was machining and hand embroidery as well as cooking and baking. Grandma Sya sewed dolls clothes by hand and did I ever think she was nifty! She also tried to teach me to knit, but that is a long story for another time. Grandma Hannie inspired and demonstrated and helped and tried her hand at everything from sewing to crochet to macrame. At about 8 my parents bought me a secondhand Singer manual machine and we did some fantastic things together. How I wish I had it now! In return, I taught all three of them to do candlewicking when that became fashionable and I have very sweet and fond memories of times spent with them acquiring the many skills they had to share. My Mom, at 72, is still sewing quite a bit, but the quilting bug never got to her.

I think all of the "crafty" genes in my family skipped right over my parents - both of my grandmothers were big sewers; my mom's mom was mostly very practical; she made all of the family's clothes, linens, drapes, rugs, quilts, etc. for decades. Rugged, hardworking stuff. My dad's mom was more of an artist; she did a few bed quilts but mostly made art quilts and dolls, and was also a really good oil painter. Neither of my parents were ever artsy/craftsy, so I learned from my grandmothers, especially my maternal grandmother (she babysat me a lot). She had a dedicated sewing room with two sewing machines (one industrial, one regular) and she'd get me all set up on the regular machine and we'd work side-by-side, starting when I was probably about 8. Before that it was hand sewing - she also taught me how to embroider. When I was about six I started my own "business" - making stuffed and embroidered mice out of my grandmother's stash of felt for all her friend's cats. I "sold" them for either cookies or new felt! LOL She also enrolled me as her quilting helper - I'd spend hours cutting blocks (with scissors), and my "specialty" when I was about 10 was doing all the yarn ties to finish off her tied quilts. I was good at crawling out to the middle without messing up the layers. (Oh wow, such memories!)

I'm not a very good tailor (at ALL) but some day I'll seriously tackle that because I really want to know how to make my own clothes and alter store-bought clothes. But for now I'm too entranced with quilt making. :) I like to think my style is a combination of both of my grandmothers' styles - the practicality and ruggedness from one, combined with the art and colors from the other.

I'm pretty much the only sewer in my family now, on both sides. There are a lot of painters and artists amongst my aunts and uncles and cousins, but not really any "thready" people but me. (And, go figure, I'm a rotten artist!)

I learned from a scattered village of women. My mother, the excellent seamstress who never erred matching material with pattern. Mrs. Burley the neighbor who inspired an admiration for crochet. Mrs. Bartnicki, the Scout leader who helped me learn stem stitch and others. Visiting my grandmother's dressmaker in Indiana, Mrs. Cutter, and her awesome fabrics. Marguerite Ikies' pattern book. The wonderful members of the Extension Homemakers' Club who showed me their quilts and especially Dolley Metheny who taught me how to 'frame' top, batting and backing.

But I have learned the most right here. Thank you, quilters.

I learned in Jr. High Home Ec. Made most of my own clothes from the time I was 13.