mewgirl's Journal, 20 Jun 22

🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽oh yeah looking 🔥 lit 

isn't being able to sew a delightful thing? 

I wish I could sew better. I'm an amateur. I have resized shirts but have no idea what to do with skirts, shorts, or pants.  

Practice on thrift store stuff. Unless they have a complicated structure, or a lining, do the same thing with pants, skirts and shorts. There’s tons of videos on YouTube these days, I just did trial and error. I’m a hack, not a tailor. 

that's so amazing!! congratulations!!  

Katsolo as a tailor and a semptress- yes, dismantling thrift store stuff is a help. But only in how things go together. No one taught me how to sew but I have earned my daily mite with my needle and I've been sewing for 4 decades. Get a book on garment construction before you start ripping shit apart. Much nicer/calmer learning curve. They put out a LOT of great books in the 60s, back when knits were a new thing. And they cover real fabrics much better than currently. Modern books are odd. Unless you are a seamstress and have a serger, steamer and everything else, you really can't even get started properly. 

I have tried taking apart old clothes and tried making simple shirts, however I'm horrible at sewing neckbands and sleeves. I suppose a book would be helpful.  

Thanks MisChelle 😊  

Way to go!!!😃👍...I really need to learn to sew. I can cross stitch but sewing...nooooo way. 

Wishing I could sew. All those skills learned from grandmother have been lost. Maybe I'm not too old to relearn? You look great Mewgirl :-) 

Great job, great NSV! had to alter a few things on my way down as well. I'm so grateful I grew up with a mother and sisters who taught me to sew. Even basic mending seems to be a skill few younger people learn these days (although a lot of the clothing they make now isn't even worth mending) 

I don't dismantle, I alter. totally different.  

wonderful wonderful ❤💖 

Mewgirl, I did the same thing! No dismantling, just figure out how many inches smaller it needs to be, turn it inside out, and sew a new seam. I was going to donate them to a thrift store anyway, so nothing lost if I mess it up. it works the exact same way for skirts and pants unless there are pockets. 

Katsolo, you don't pop the seams and remove excess fabric? You just sew and go? Sorry. Wow. How to you avoid the resultant lumps? 

anne, sorry to oversimplify in my responses here. I do know how to actually alter things so I look presentable in a professional setting. I have a regular sewing machine and a serger - I even own pinking shears. there are no lumps and bumps. I was trying to communicate to mewgirl to be fearless and try to recreate out of old. that said, I don't have time for massive projects, so things are done on the fly. 

Katsolo, it's two totally different attacks on sewing. No one taught me to sew. All the women in my family sewed, I watched and listened. Practiced on the sly with scraps making doll clothes. Didn't have pocket money for fabric. Did some babysitting in my teens, split the proceeds with my mother (to cover her gas) and hit Hancock's on my own for the first time. At that point they had an .88 a yard table and I started learning about fabrics. Some lessons were cheap, others... not so much. I have pinking shears, 3 different pair. Don't get much use out of them, usually just flat fell long seams if needed. shrug 

congrats 

Mewgirl, be fearless and have fun with it. That’s all that matters.  

Thanks guys! I know, practice makes improvement. Still afraid to alter some of my things but I'm getting better with time 😊