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• I’m creative – I love making things from scratch
• I enjoy it as a tactile art
• I get a sense of satisfaction with finishing a garment and being able to wear it
• I can choose my own colours
• Garments I sew myself are unique and more likely to fit properly
• It is often cheaper to sew your own clothes than to buy off the rack – and they are better quality too
• It is a social pursuit and it is fun
• I love the sounds of sewing
• I love looking at what people are wearing or clothing advertisements and trying to sew the same
• I love when people ask me “where did you get that gorgeous dress”?

I’m creative – I love making things from scratch

Image by Michael Burrows (stock photo).

Friends often tell me “you’re such a creative person”.  I guess its true.  Sewing is not my only creative pursuit. 

I also enjoy knitting although I really don’t like wearing wool, I find it too scratchy.  I like the challenge of knitting soft toys which usually have lots of small parts.  In particular, I like to knit teddy bears.  Blankets is another one of my knitting joys, both cot blankets/baby wraps and larger blankets or throws.  There’s nothing better than wrapping yourself up in a woollen knitted blanket in winter.

My career has been as a journalist (although now I work in an administration role) so writing is one of my top skills.  You can probably see that already with this blog.  It’s so great to have a skill that can be both a profession and a hobby.  While journalism has seen me focus on non-fiction, I’ve also had lots of short stories published and a little bit of poetry.  I only dabble in poetry.

Cooking is creative.  I enjoy adding herbs and spices to dishes.  Even if I have a recipe to follow, I like to “joosh” it up with extras.  I do the same with sewing occasionally.

Sewing gives me an opportunity to make craft items as well as clothing.  I enjoy making bags, soft toys or practical home items like oven gloves or placemats. 

Even colouring in is, of course, creative.  I have lots of adult colouring books and I like to keep my coloured pencils sharp. I used to live in a city which had a “Paint the Earth” shop where customers could choose a ceramic item (like a cup or plate) to paint.  The business then glazed and fired it and the customer returned in a week or so to pick up the finished item.  I really enjoyed this but I’m certainly not an artist.  My creations mainly featured words with representative colours.  For example, a saying about fire with orange, red and yellow colours.

I enjoy it as a tactile art

I can’t walk into a fabric store and only look.  I must touch the fabrics.  Some are soft and floaty, others are heavy, fluffy, slippery, prickly, bumpy.  Striped fabric might have ridges like corduroy or there are fabrics with “pile” like velvet.  Some are see-through like lace.

It is interesting to watch other people looking at fabric.  Sometimes, my sewing tutor cringes when I tell her what fabric I want to sew with and show her the pattern I’ve chosen.  Why?  Because she realises it’s not going to be an easy fabric to sew with.

I recently sewed some pillowcases for my niece and nephew.  For my nephew’s ones, I used a quilting cotton which was easy to work with.  However, I chose a silk satin for my niece’s pillowcases and it was a bit of a challenge.  The fabric was slippery and almost impossible to hold in place while measuring, cutting and sewing.  However, I loved it’s silky soft, flowy feel. I’m determined one day to make a silk satin blouse.

I get a sense of satisfaction from finishing a garment and being able to wear it

Image by RDNE Stock project (stock photo).

Sewing is not something you can do in a hurry.  To get a good quality result, you need to take your time.  You might have seen television programmes like “The Great British Sewing Bee” where participants have three hours to make a dress.  I don’t know how they can achieve the challenges in the time set for them with the high level of quality in the final garments.

I definitely like to take my time.  I suppose I’m a bit of a perfectionist.

My sewing friends would tell you I start getting excited when I near the end of a sewing project.  I start saying things like “Yay, I’m on the last step” or “I’ve only got to hem it then it will be finished. 

I can’t describe the sense of satisfaction that comes that first time wearing the garment, even if it is only in the sewing room to show the tutor and my sewing friends.  Of course they are usually full of compliments.

Even better is wearing the garment “out” for the first time.  For example, to work or out for coffee with friends.  I find it hard to contain myself and not say “guess what, I made this” and do a twirl.  When they notice me wearing something new and say “hey, I like that top”, that makes me feel really proud. 

Is pride a negative emotion?  I don’t think so.  Nothing wrong with being proud of your efforts when you’ve put so much time and skill into making a garment.

I can choose my own colours

Have you ever had your colours done?  A colour consultant will determine your personal colour palate based on skin tone, eye colour and hair colour. It’s helpful to know what colours suit you so you can pick out fabrics which are going to bring out the best in your appearance.  You can sew an entire wardrobe to mix and match items in that colour palate and you will always look stunning because they suit you perfectly.

A friend of mind was recently picking fabrics to sew an outfit to wear to a wedding.  She was picking out colours she liked but they didn’t necessarily look good against her skin.  It wasn’t until she held up one colour in front of a mirror then swapped it for another colour that she could see the difference it made.

Even if something is considered a fashionable colour, that doesn’t mean it is going to suit you.

Garments I sew myself are unique and more likely to fit properly

Image by Michael Burrows (stock photo).

Shopping at clothing retailers means you get what they stock.  There is little choice because many retailers, even if they stock different brands, have similar colours and styles because that is what is considered in fashion at the time.

Unless you shop at boutique fashion stores that are unique to the town they are in or only have one or two of each style of garment, it is hard to avoid wearing something the same as someone else.

Sewing your own clothes gives you far more choice of colours, prints and designs and allows you to make something uniquely yours.

A garment you have sewn yourself is also more likely to fit properly.  Sewing means you can adjust so the garment fits snugly where you want it to or hangs loosely in the right places. The garment can be whatever you want it to be. 

Even if a pattern suggests the garment is “finished” you can always add embellishments such as leather, zips, lace, ribbons ruffles or buttons to give it an edge.

Sewing your own clothes is often cheaper than buying off the rack

Like I said before, to get a garment that is unique, you need to pay a premium at boutique shops.  If you make your own, it will not only be unique but certainly cost a lot less.  It is also likely to be better quality than clothes you buy at mid-level retailers and undoubtedly better than low-end retailers where the cheapest garments are.

Do not get me wrong.  I have no shame in buying clothes from mid-range or low-end retailers if that is what I am after (for example, gardening clothes or garments to wear lounging around at home) but it is more fun making my own clothes.

My perspective is it is cheaper because not only am I creating something to wear but I am having fun making it and I am learning new skills.  Your hobby might be sport and you have fun playing your sport, but when you come away, you do not have anything tangible to show for the effort you have put into the game (except mud or sweat, perhaps a trophy which you will probably have to give to the winning team the following year).

It is worth spending money to make your own clothes because you can enjoy the process and there is a tangible result.

It is a social pursuit and it is fun

Image by Ron Lach

I joined a sewing class five years ago and I keep coming back because I enjoy and value the contact with other people who sew (not to mention I still have a lot to learn).  There are seven people in the group but others come and go from time to time, especially if one of the regulars is away leaving a sewing table available for someone new.

People who sew come from all kinds of backgrounds and are involved in different types of work.  My sewing group has an HR person who works for a vet company, a truck driver, an early childhood teacher, a swimming instructor, a psychologist, a manager at a social work service, a water engineer and myself, an administrator in a Government department

We often share what is happening in our personal and work lives as well as having lots of laughs.  We share our sewing struggles and wins and encourage each other, help to find solutions or offer suggestions for improvements.

At Christmas, our last sewing session together for the year, we have a “secret Santa” where we exchange gifts we have bought or made for each other.

I love the sounds of sewing

The sound a sewing machine makes is probably something not a lot of sewists think about but there are all kinds of noises a machine makes which I find extremely pleasurable.  It makes me realise I’m about to enter my happy place.

When I first turn on my machine, not only is there the click of the switch but it whirrs and beeps and, of course, the light comes on.  Those noises tell my brain it’s time to sew.

These are some other sewing sounds which make me happy:

• Smoothing out the paper pattern onto the fabric ready to cut it
• Scissors opening and closing and slicing through the fabric
• The thread spool spinning as it fills the bobbin
• The full bobbin dropping into its slot
• The needle going up and down

Different machines make different sounds and, of course, there are some sounds nobody likes to hear a sewing machine make.  For example, when the needle breaks or when fabric gets pulled into the bobbin casing. 

One of the best sounds is when several machines are working at the same time – the sound of productivity cannot be beaten.

I love looking at what people are wearing or clothing advertisements and trying to sew the same

Image from Essence South Canterbury March 2024

I keep an inspiration book with pictures of outfits I like cut out of advertising mailers, magazines or off the internet.

I like to hunt for similar fabric and a pattern which is a close match so I can make the garment myself.  Taking comparison photos, trying to find a similar-looking location and posing the same way as the model in the photo is fun too.  Usually, the models in the images are not plus size so it’s always really heartening to know us plus-size lovey ladies can wear the same things and look just as gorgeous.

I once found a picture of a pair of linen pants very similar to what I had just finished making.  They were advertised at a high-end fashion shop (Ballantynes) for about $250.  It had cost me about half that to make them but what it confirmed to me was that I had selected a type of fabric in a colour and style that was in fashion.

You can read about the first denim jacket I made.  I found a very similar jacket also advertised at Ballantynes so even though I decided I don’t like the one I made, at least I knew it was on trend.

I love it when people ask me “where did you get that gorgeous dress”

It makes me feel lovely when people notice me wearing something new.  It feels even better when I can say I made it myself.   

This usually gets a positive response along the lines of “it looks great” and “aren’t you clever”. 

The only problem with this is that some people’s eyes then light up and you can see they’re itching to ask if you could sew something for them.  Of course, you can but do you really want to? 

I try and encourage other people to learn to sew so they too can make their own clothes.  Like any skill, it is possible to learn.  It takes time but eventually they will be experiencing their own buzz when someone asks them “where did you buy that xxx”?