platyhiker

Wow, your class covered a LOT more material than mine! One factor in my class (that I forgot about until just now), is that it was held in only 1 day out of 3, not five days a week. We did NOT cover cleaning, oiling, tension setting, thread weight, set in sleeves, interfacing, hem tape, darts, sewing elastic, pintuck, or inserting lace. The first semester we made wrap skirts. The second semester we made draw string skirts and a vest with pre-quilted fabric. The vest did need the edges to be bound with bias tape. We did cover how to use the button hole functions on the machine, but I remember the teacher in at least one of the classes making the button holes for us on our actual skirts, because undoing that tight stitching was a pain if you messed up. (We did make at least several button holes on scrap fabric.)

I learned a lot more sewing skills when joined the drama club in high school and worked on the costume crew. My mother was a very skilled sewer, so she advised me on my costume work. I learned about darts, setting in sleeves, sewing with fake-fur fabric, LOTS about resizing patterns (including taking a child sized pattern up to adult size) and even adding a gusset to something that had not not been resized completely correctly. I found the Readers Digest Complete Guide to Sewing book a great reference book.

dunster

I didn't learn that much in my junior high sewing class either. It was only for one semester. I remember making a dress with a bolero top, which earned me the achievement award for that class. But I think I learned far more from my mother and from reading patterns. I never learned to resize a pattern though, which is probably why I shy away from garment sewing now.

c joyce

I love this tip. My sewing home-ec classes were in the 60's and my grandmother who was teaching me to sew was still using her treadle and I think she did so many things instinctively, that I missed a lot of the nuances of sewing.
As always, something new for some and reminders for others.
Keep these tips coming, I need them.

SallyS

After sewing for more than half a century, I didn't know that! Thanks for posting.

tropit

I had a wonderful, Japanese teacher for sewing class. She had a very different outlook on the craft than we had in the US. She didn't speak perfect English, but she would come around and show us her clever techniques. I remember she was the one that introduced me to "finger pressing," which is a common thing now, but new to me at the time.