Learning To Sew My Own Clothes
Sewing my own capsule wardrobe has been something that I’ve been wanting to do for years, but with all our crazy lifestyle choices from living in a van to living on a sailboat, having a sewing hobby didn’t seem like the most practical of ideas.
I am grateful though that I was able to start sewing last year with a few projects aboard our boat Penelope. And even though I enjoyed sewing so much, I didn’t think it really made sense to carry a bunch of extra fabric and supplies with me to make clothing while sailing around. But now that we’re in one place, I can finally start making my own clothes!!!
To get me started on this dream, Lou bought me a sewing machine for my birthday back in October. Here’s a link to the machine I got - Singer Heavy Duty 4452. I then found some patterns online like this one from Megan Nielson and ethically sourced fabric from Blackbird Fabric and waited for it to all arrive in Hawaii.
Then finally when January came around the time finally opened up in my calendar to get to know this new machine and begin sewing. I decided on a flow-y loose fitting dress as my first project because I thought it would be more forgiving if I didn’t quite get the seems right. I used a Hemp fabric and was grateful I had ordered the physical pattern, as it made cutting the fabric to the right size much easier. Though measuring my actual body to find my size turned out to be a little trickier than expected since my pregnant belly is growing a lot and I didn’t choose a maternity pattern!
The whole project took me three days and I actually think I’m going to make the dress again with a softer fabric I have in a dusty rose color. I made this one in a size 14 and think I’m going to trim the pattern down to size 10 and see how that fits. The pink fabric I have is a bit stretchier too, so I might use a zigzag stitch for the whole thing.
Overall I’m so happy with the machine Lou bought me and how the dress turned out. I learned how to sew a buttonhole, how to turn a fabric tube inside out, how to think creatively to make a dress smaller, and overall my confidence grew a lot when it comes to making my own clothes. I definitely have a lot of work to do before I have neat, tidy seams and can confidently sew in a straight line, but luckily even if it isn’t perfect the dress still holds together and looks wonderful on :)
The whole project took me three days and I actually think I’m going to make the dress again with a softer fabric I have in a dusty rose color. I made this one in a size 14 and think I’m going to trim the pattern down to size 10 and see how that fits. The pink fabric I have is a bit stretchier too, so I might use a zigzag stitch for the whole thing.
Overall I’m so happy with the machine Lou bought me and how the dress turned out. I learned how to sew a buttonhole, how to turn a fabric tube inside out, how to think creatively to make a dress smaller, and overall my confidence grew a lot when it comes to making my own clothes. I definitely have a lot of work to do before I have neat, tidy seams and can confidently sew in a straight line, but luckily even if it isn’t perfect the dress still holds together and looks wonderful on :)
