Posted by Racer on May 16, 2004, at 19:55:38
In reply to Re: Freakish electrical sewing disaster » spoc, posted by tabitha on May 16, 2004, at 14:12:16
HA! Gotcha beat! I didn't even have home ec!
Please to remember that I come from a really nasty childhood, etc, so don't let the fact that my mother and grandmother sewed make you think that one of them taught me -- how I wish to goodness they had! Same as when my mother 'taught' me to knit: she handed me a ball of yarn, two knitting needles, and a Learn How book. (If you want to learn to knit, though, that Coats and Clarke Learn How book is still available and is the BEST.) I could watch my mother sew, which did help, but I didn't watch much -- that was one of the things that tended to bring out her most violent frustrations. As an adult, I did take a class in hand stitches, but that's about the extent of my sewing education.
If you get one good book -- and there are a lot out there -- it should be a great start. The tricks I have learned that have helped me the most are:
1. Throw out any Teflon ironing board covers. They do not work for pressing anything you sew: they reflect the heat and moisture back up into the fabric, when you want the heat and moisture to be absorbed by the ironing board cover and pad. Cotton canvas is the best, and the hardest to find. If you have any old wool blankets, you can throw them into the washer on hot, and throw them into the dryer on not so hot, to felt them. That makes about the best ironing board pad you can find. (Obviously, don't do this if this is your only blanket, just for wool blankets past retirement.)
2. Get a really, really good iron, with steam. It needs to get really hot, too, for a lot of things. Rowenta, a company I have a huge amount of affection for (an old family friend designed the typeface on their products), does not get very hot. It is good on steam, though.
3. Don't get into a hurry. I hardly think I need to add anything there, right? (Trust me, that explains a LOT of the half finished things in my closets...)
4. Press EVERY seam before sewing any intersecting seams. NEVER sew over an unpressed seam, not matter how tempting.
5. Be accurate in cutting and stitching.
6. In sewing as in life, if you don't enjoy it, don't do it.
And spoc: tailoring involves sewing, but is not the same as sewing. Sewing is pretty easy, tailoring is not. If you're sure you mean tailoring, well, you might be able to learn from a book and some practice, but classes help. Sewing, on the other hand, is a whole nother ball of wax: anyone who wants to learn, can learn. (Operative word is "wants" -- if you only maybe think about maybe someday learning, that's not wanting.)
But, for both of you, most of our local fabric chain stores do have sewing classes. I can't imagine they don't have classes elsewhere, too, so check them out if you're looking to learn.
Good luck, and tell us how things go
poster:Racer
thread:347234
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20040507/msgs/347553.html