grann of 6

I wasn't actually "taught" to sew. My mother made all of our clothes, and anything needed for the house. I sat by the sewing machine and made clothes for my dolls out of the scraps. I started at 5. I just watched and learned from her. My job, as I got to be about 10, was to make the handmade buttonholes, sew on the buttons, and hem my own clothes after she had made them. That is why to this day, I extremely dislike handstitching anything.

totosmom

Peepers, thank you so much for this fascinating thread!

Like many others, it was Mom who taught me to sew on her black Singer in the bedroom in the late 1950s. I started with doll clothes (so teeny, tiny!) and then moved to clothes for myself. I even remember my dad making slip covers for our old daybed. Once out of college, I got a little sewing machine at an estate sale and started sewing again. Too busy with work, I stopped sewing for many years. Now that I'm retired though, I've taken up quilting. I bought a Singer 201 in memory or my mom and have managed to acquire a few other machines along the way.

AUQuilter

I watched my GreatGM sew on her treadle and she let me "pretend" to sew although I couldn't even reach the treadle. She and my GM lived side by side so I had both of them teaching me to sew. They gave me small pieces of material to sew together that went into the quilts-nothing fancy most of the time. In FL during my high school years, Home Ec was a required subject for everyone so more sewing-the A line skirt-yikes and a bag. I had two Home Ec teachers during HS so I had two different approaches and my GS leader also promoted sewing. By my senior year in HS, I made my mama a purple double knit jumpsuit with zipper- her fave color and she was tall and thin to pull off those jumpsuits. It was my last gift to her and she loved that thing. I am so grateful to my GGM and GM for teaching me to sew as it has served me well over the years making clothes, halloween costumes, repairing a sail on a sailboat, home dec projects, and now mostly quilting.

coopah

Home Ec in junior high. We made an apron. ICK! Then my parents thought I should cook dinner since they both worked. This started when I was 12. So they "paid" me $4.00 a week to cook for 6 nights.(Back then, folks were paid $1.00 an hour and there weren't laws guiding minimum wage, which wouldn't have applied, anyway.) Then they got the idea that I should buy my own clothes. HA! So I bought a pattern, fabric (didn't cost at all what it does now) and started making my own clothes. To be fair, they did continue to buy my underwear, shoes, and winter coat. Once I was on my own, I rarely sewed clothing for myself. Today I sew for pleasure. Much better!

JaniceP

My mom taught me to sew on an old treadle and I made doll clothes, I don't remember how old I was when I started sewing probably around 6 or 7, but when I was in high school I was sewing dresses for the ladies at church and doing some sewing for the teachers at school. I took 4 years of Home Economics and loved it. By the time I was a Senior I was asked to be teachers helper in home Ec. I loved to make crafts and things for the house, pillows, curtains and such, but although I had always wanted to make quilts....never dove in until this year. I love the piecing, now trying to learn free motion quilting. I remember my home ec teacher watching me and having me help all the other girls who was having problems, she instilled in me confidence in my sewing.

jackiebri

One of my paternal aunts taught me to hand sew doll clothes when I was five. I spent many summer hours immersed in this activity when I was a young child. By the time I was in high school, I was making all of my own clothes . Two of my granddaughters have shown a strong interest in making doll clothes and quilts. At the ages of 4 and 6, I am making an effort to involve them in the process. They love to be involved in fabric choices and to hand me quilt pieces as I assemble quilts.

Toni C

Myself mostly. Oddly enough I had to take Home Ec. (half sewing, half cooking) and HATED the sewing, A line skirt, when finished I was going to throw away. My older sister wanted it so I gave it to her telling her never to wear it in my sight LOL. Since I cooked already for the family the cooking part was a breeze. When I got interested in quilting my sister couldn't believe it. Books and magazines and studying how they went together. I also taught myself how to embroider. and did that growing up. My grandfather (Dads Dad) was a tailor but I never met him. Maybe there is something about being in the blood LOL

sguillot

I took Home Ec. in school and made an apron. My mom made all my clothes and was a hugh influnce on me, she helped me alot. She always told me to be patient and do a good job. I always had a love for quilts and about 15 years ago took my first quilt class at Quilts by the Bay in Galveston. Loved every minute of it and have been learning and loving it ever since. The hardest part for me is the patience part.

Lyncat

I spent a lot of time with my grandma when I was a girl. I loved helping her lay out a pattern at the kitchen table and watch her cut it out. Later when I took home ec in Jr. High I fought against the teacher's sewing rules...things like pin the pattern every 3 inches. Grandma just used butter knives to weight it down! Every Thursday morning Grandma took me with her to her Mary and Martha's group at church to sew missionary projects and have a potluck lunch. The older women, the Dorcas group, always had a quilt on a big frame, and they taught me to hand quilt. My great grandma taught me smocking, cross stitch and embroidery while we sat and watched soap operas after lunch. In junior high I started making all my own clothes, and Grandma always checked to see if all my seams were finished neatly. When I sew on her old Morse machine, I always feel close to her. Great memories and a legacy of skills which I treasure.

MargeD

My Mom was instrumental in teaching me to sew. She taught me to make aprons (without a pattern) and as I got older - taught me to make skirts - again without a pattern. There weren't many patterns available when she made clothes for my older brothers and my sister. I can't remember a time that she not not teach me whenever I asked her how to do something. My second mentor was my high school Home Ec. teacher who also had loads of patience. I can still vividly remember the time I put in a zipper and sewed it into the side seam. After patiently "unsewing" the zipper from the skirt, she spent over one hour teaching me the "correct"way to put in a zipper. I never had a problem putting a zipper into a garment after that lesson. She was always encouraging me to sew and I've made my own clothes as well as clothes for my kids for many, many years. I just wish she had seen those garments and then the many, many quilts I have made. All this because a home ec. teacher and my Mothef taught me the joy of sewing.