Friday 28 March 2014

Learning to sew...

I got a sewing machine for Christmas (or my birthday?) a couple of years ago, but never used it. About three weeks I decided that I should just try it and put it to use. I had found a pattern for a dress that I would love to make for my little girl - it didn't even look too difficult! So now at least I had goal.

Since I had never really touched a sewing machine before, I decided to start with some easier things and - more importantly - things that don't have to fit... So I started making bags. 

For my first bag, I bought a bag making set - it included instructions and all the fabrics I would need cut ready to sew. So I sat down and started sewing - only to find that something as trivial sounding as sewing a straight line proved to be quite a challenge! No need to say the seams on my first bag turned out rather crooked... BUT I had produced a usable bag! And in spite of the crooked seams it still looks cute:


Next I went to a local shop and bought some scrap fabrics at a reduced price - and went on to making drawstring bags. First, I found the DIY: Crochet Project Bag Tutorial on Gleeful Things- I gave it a try, and it worked! The bag is just the right size for a smaller project (I'm using it for a shawl I'm working on right now).


The pictures in that tutorial show so very clearly where you are supposed to sew - I just loved it!  I also found that the straightness of my seams was much better than on my first bag.

The pattern for the third bag I made is from a free Craftsy class on bag-making basics. I had plenty of left over fabrics from my previous project, and I love how different these two bags turned out inspite of being made from the same materials.



I am feeling a lot more comfortable working with the sewing machine already and start having tremendous fun. So where do I go from here? My goal is to be able to sew clothes for my daughter. I have now learned to sew reasonably straight, so I guess my next step should be to sew curves in a CONTROLLED manner. I greatly enjoy the Craftsy class, and I have decided to make the second bag (a bucket bag) as well. Should help me with that next step...

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