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| Echo: May 2005 |
Echo's picture has nothing to do with this post. I just miss her.
I have been sewing garment about, what, a couple of years? I have made a few T-shirts, an A-line skirt, and a few knit dresses so far. As you know, I am not a sewing enthusiast who would sew every minute of my free time and produce shirts and dresses every week.
I sew my garment because:
1. More from the necessity: I am what people here call petite, and very difficult to find clothes that fit me well in this country. Yes, now that I am a sagging middle age woman, I fit in size 0 or even 2, but with my short legs and rectangular body, RTW clothes still don't fit me or hang as comfortable as I want.
2. I like making things and building things with my hands; I think it's very rewarding. I enjoy helping the Man of the House do home renovation and if I have lots of time, I like trying to bake bread or make pizza from scratch. I am not an expert in any of what I do, but making things instead of simply buying is very enjoyable.
3. I am cheap. Yes, I totally admit that. I don't want to spend $50 for a simple shirt at Ann Taylor Loft if I can make it myself (and hopefully someday soon I want to venture out to making a woven shirt with front placket and sleeve placket and a collar and all). Of course, by now, I have come to a conclusion that making my own clothes is not necessarily cheaper than buying a RTW. But, many of the big stores that sell clothes for general public don't carry smaller sizes; it seems they all start from size 4 or 6, and if I go to a more brand name stores at a mall that carry smaller sizes, well, they can be expensive.
That's why I want to sew garment.
I really want to learn how to sew garment. How-to books are good, but I am more hands-on person, and to be hones, there are millions of sewing books out there and I don't know what to get. Unfortunately, there are not many sewing classes available where and when I can go. I certainly do not want to drive across town after work; my time is more precious than that.
So, I registered on Craftsy and took a few courses.
Then, I recently purchased Susan Khalje's "The Couture Dress" class (when it was on sale for $19.99).
I did not have any intention to actually follow the class and make a dress. But the class came with a Vogue pattern, and since I was getting my sewing machine serviced and could not work on my sewing project anyway, I started to watch the class.
I binge watched it.
It was a very good $20 investment; the class is LOOOONG! Not in a bad way at all. So much was covered in this 15 lesson class. It was mesmerizing and I just kept watching. I watched it all in a course of 5 days or so.
I am not going into detail of how great the class was to learn about the couture dress making. What prompted me to write this long post and to make a mental note for myself of this moment was that I had a paradigm shift moment while I was watching this class. The teaching of Susan Khalje gave me a whole new attitude towards sewing garment.
Prepare everything right and pay absolute attention to detail. Hand sewing is not a boring chore, it's fast, secure, and precise. Most importantly, enjoy the long and laborious process because that's what makes a great garment.
I'm not saying I should be making couture dresses or any clothing items couture way. I also took Janet Pray's "Sew Better, Sew Faster" class before and I learned a lot from it, too. Since the items of clothing I will be making or need to be making are more practical, everyday wear and work clothes, so I probably don't want to hand-sew or hand-baste a lot of things.
But things just clicked me inside: I should be making garments with quality and shouldn't be lazy about it. I should also enjoy all the work as part of the process.
So that's how I will be sewing from now on.
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