What is a good way to go about learning to make clothing?

July 1, 2013 8:27 AM

Before anyone asks, my purpose is not to save money, or time, or anything practical of any sort. Clothing is something we all use everyday, I appreciate style and fashion, and I'd like to learn how to make clothing in an attempt not to take it for granted. And I think it would be fun. Assume I am a complete beginner (don't even know how to sew, but I do know how to knit, though I'm not a pro at that). What should I do? Books? Online tutorials? What is the progression of items of various difficulty to practice on?
posted by wooh to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (20 answers total)

Check in with stores that sell fabric, I know Joanns has classes. Or check community centers.

The Sewing Studio just opened in my neighborhood, so perhaps something similar is in your neighborhood.

My sister's first job was in a fabric store, and she learned there. I took sewing in jr. high and high school.

It's not hard, but expect to pick seams and re-sew a LOT.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 8:38 AM on July 1, 2013

Do you have a friend who sews and will give you a lesson? For a complete beginner, a first-time sewing class or at least a patient friend are essential. Handling a sewing machine can be dicey the first few times, and the learning curve can be steep (your first few projects might look wonky, but take comfort in the fact that as your basic sewing skills improve, adding new techniques gets much easier). Usual projects in order of difficulty: pillow, apron, tote bag, wrap skirt, a-line skirt with zipper, top with set-in sleeves, buttons, and collar. Start with cotton fabric for best results/least amount of frustration!
posted by velebita at 8:41 AM on July 1, 2013 [1 favorite]

I think that if you haven't sewn or anything then some simpler projects would be good at first. Something like a pillow or bag. This one is cute.

Sewing classes would be great if you can find them. And you'll need a machine. A good used one from a sewing machine repair place would be great (the old ones are seriously much better than what you can get as an entry level one today). Find a person at the fabric store who doesn't mind spending a few minutes answering your questions and make them your buddy!
posted by dawkins_7 at 8:42 AM on July 1, 2013

Yes, definitely try to find a class somewhere-- just having other people around doing the same things will make you learn so much easier and faster. As far as books, if I could only recommend one reference, it would be this one. As always, Kevin Kelly over at the Cool Tools blog does an excellent listing of the reasons why this should probably be your first book. Now on to equipment-- I may anger some sewists here by saying don't buy a nice machine until you really know that this is something fun that you will enjoy. You can do an awful lot with a $90 "Brother" model sewing machine from Wal-Mart. Once you really feel like you are going to be doing this for a while, then get a Bernina or Husqvarna in the $1100 range, and you will be good for the next 30 years. Good luck!
posted by seasparrow at 8:46 AM on July 1, 2013

Craftsy and Creative Bug have some garment classes, if you can't find anything locally (or just prefer that learning style).
posted by freezer cake at 8:46 AM on July 1, 2013

Don't start with clothing. If you plan to use a sewing machine rather than sewing by hand, get a machine that provides lessons on how to use the machine as part of the purchase- I believe that Sears does this. You really need to understand how to deal with a sewing machine before you do something complex and fiddly, like clothes can be. If that's not possible, get sewing lessons from somewhere.

Start with a simple project with straight seams like a pillowcase to learn the basics.

A lot of "sewing" isn't actually sewing. It's measuring, cutting, calculating, pinning, ironing. You could pick up a book, but to start with it's really in your best interest to have a Real Human helping you.

When you're ready to start with clothing, you'll probably want to start with an apron or skirt. Not to be stereotypical, but because these garments are more straightforward. Try to start with items that have few shaping details, few pieces, no tailoring, and no sleeves.

A book on clothing making will be helpful to understand a lot of terminology. I suggest any of the Vogue sewing books- I have an enormous one from the seventies. But I don't suggest trying to learn straight from the books- get lessons.
posted by windykites at 8:53 AM on July 1, 2013

Yup, classes at Jo-Ann's. Go to any fabric store, find a pattern that you like. Some companies like Vogue divide their patterns into categories like "very easy" or "2-hour". Find something that isn't too fitted and won't make a difference if it's an inch off, like a flowy skirt. Good luck!! Making your own clothes is AWESOME, I make them for the exact reasons you say, it's FUN, and it's great to make things that fit for YOU, not some company's idea of what is you.
posted by Melismata at 8:55 AM on July 1, 2013

Oh, and; the first thing I learned to sew as a little girl was a button. You might want to start there!
posted by windykites at 8:56 AM on July 1, 2013

Oh, and I forgot to add: pattern booklets are pretty good about walking you through the process of sewing, minus how to work your machine. It'll say things like: you'll need this much fabric for this garment. Put the pattern piece here and cut it. Stitch this hem here (with diagram). Again, some of the "very easy" patterns are great for this.
posted by Melismata at 9:03 AM on July 1, 2013

I learned from absolute zero the way little girls used to learn -- by sewing doll clothes. I did it by following The Mary Frances Sewing Book, which is an Edwardian-era morally-and-sewingly-instructive book for 10 year old girls to learn to sew, by making a complete wardrobe for a doll. I was able to get all my fabric from the remnants bin (inexpensive!), and I sewed all the clothes by hand (machines are hard on tiny little doll seams), which was easy because they're small enough to fit comfortably in your lap. Also with doll clothes if you totally screw it up, you only invested three hours and a couple scraps of fabric in it rather than ten hours and $30 of fabric. It was a great winter project, working my way through the book, and by the end of it I had learned a ton of clothing construction techniques and could pretty much go right away making full-sized clothes on the machine. (In fact, the next things I did were complex-ly constructed infant baptismal gowns using very fine fabric -- No problem!) Here's the whole wardrobe I made.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 9:06 AM on July 1, 2013 [9 favorites]

Check your community college for a beginner's class. Ours offers an 8-week class for $125.
posted by michellenoel at 9:34 AM on July 1, 2013

I agree that classes and helpful friends will be the best way to learn the basics of sewing.

Rather than starting off making clothing from scratch, you might also want to experiment with refashioning/up-cycling (taking old clothes, whether yours or from the thrift store, and making small changes to them to make them more fashionable/wearable.) Googling "refashion" will get you tutorials and examples, and there are lots of refashion boards on Pinterest. Refashioning will get you fast results and will help you learn how clothes are put together.
posted by JuliaJellicoe at 9:48 AM on July 1, 2013

This might go against conventional wisdom, but I am all in favor of jumping right into making clothing (or attempting to do so) even if you have no experience doing so.

If you aren't pressed for time, you can just take it very slowly and learn as you go, and possibly end up with someting you'd actually wear as the outcome of your first project. Of course you don't want to start with expensive fabric right up front, but really, unless you've cut off too much material, most sewing mistakes are fixable (the seam ripper is your friend, make sure you have one!).

As far as learning the basics to get started, I've never taken a formal sewing class, but I know a number of people (e.g., my MIL) who are very very experienced sew-ers and who have been able to give me tons of pointers. You definitely want to learn to read and use patterns, for one thing, and they can be kind of cryptic at first.

Once you can read a pattern, I'd recommend getting a couple you like and trying them out. The simplest patterns to begin with are generally those that (a) do not use very thick, very thin, or stretchy fabric (Mid-weight non-stretchy cotton is a good fabric to learn with), and (b) do not require "gathers" or complex pleats.

[YMMV, of course, but I actually had much better luck making a full-on dress with pockets and everything as a beginner than I did making what was supposed to be a very simple skirt (the waistline/gathering at the top turned out to be WAY tricky, and I was not happy with how bunchy it was at the end). The key was using a pattern that mainly entailed cutting out large, simple shapes and assembling them symmetrically.]
posted by aecorwin at 11:18 AM on July 1, 2013

Response by poster: Hrm, I usually learn pretty well from classes and other people, so I actually like that idea a lot...but the downside is that I live in Sweden. I will see if I can find a sewing class in Swedish, but I might have more luck finding someone passionate about sewing and buying them a couple meals or something in exchange for some sewing lessons (though now that I think about it, a coworker's wife once made dresses for a living...). So we will see.

But thanks for the other comments as well, especially advice on some books, some good starter projects, that sort of thing. So thank you! And please keep any more advice that you guys have coming. This might get me through my first Swedish winter...-_-
posted by wooh at 1:27 PM on July 1, 2013

You can get started by learning everything about your sewing machine and learning how to sew in a straight line. I think it's better to learn skills more than a project.

You can learn about your machine by reading the manual and tinkering with it. Don't be afraid to take it apart. Learn how to thread it, load the bobbin, change the needle, switch stitches and so on. This will help you when you're in the middle of a project and your machine goes crazy (it will). If you don't have your sewing machine's manual, you can usually download a copy from the manufacturer's website.

You can practice sewing in a straight line by sewing over a sheet of lined, notebook paper without any thread. I also like Kwik Sew's training sheets that have shapes you can practice sewing over.

If you want to learn from a book, I recommend getting an old sewing book (like the original, Reader's Digest Complete Guide to Sewing). The older sewing books tend to be more detailed in instruction than the newer ones.

If you want to learn online, there are plenty of YouTube videos on different techniques and About.com has a good sewing site

A good first project would be anything that doesn't require too much embellishment. If you want to start with clothes, a skirt that uses elastic in the waist (often called a pull-on) would be a good choice. A skirt with pleats, buttons, ruffles, a zipper or anything fancy would be a bad choice and should be saved until you have more experience.

P.S. It's been my experience that most of the people in sewing classes already know the basics of sewing. I went to my first sewing class when I was 16 or 17. All the other ladies were older and said things like, "I haven't sewn in ages" and "I don't know how to sew." The second the machines were plugged in they all turned into Betsy Ross. I went to my last sewing class a few years ago and saw the same phenomena. So, if you can't find a class in Sweden, don't worry about it too much.
posted by 1smartcookie at 2:16 PM on July 1, 2013

The first thing I ever sewed was a pair of elastic-waist pajama pants, which I felt was a GREAT starter project. You get to pick out fabric you love and wear them and feel proud of them every day, but you can also make as many mistakes as you need to and nobody has to know.
posted by nevers at 4:26 PM on July 1, 2013

I started by making my own skirts (super easy and so fun when you have access to all kinds of fabrics!) with Sew U by Built by Wendy and slowly progressed to tops and dresses (pants and shorts are on a whole other level). The book comes with simple patterns and some really good tips on sewing per se. The patterns are really cute so that also helped as an incentive to keep me interested and invested in learning how to sew.
posted by 01080591 at 7:02 PM on July 1, 2013

In addition to straight up practice on machine techniques, as suggested here, you could also start out by "refashioning" or altering old clothing, or stuff you get at thrift stores.

That has a couple of advantages: (1) your materials are free or ultra-cheap, so you don't have to feel bad about any early mistakes or misguided choices you make; (2) the project can be as easy or as complicated as you want-- anything from just hemming a skirt, to converting a bridesmaid's dress to a fancy cushion-- and you still end up with a cool final product at the end, (3) you'll be starting right away with proper garment fabric, which is surprisingly difficult to source at neighborhood craft/fabric stores; and (4) imho you learn a TON about construction techniques by picking apart commercially-made clothing and seeing how the pros do it. I started doing some limited refashioning a couple years ago after running through a lot of the standard home-sewing projects (pajama pants, sheath dress) back in my teenage years, and I think that free-form sewing with existing garments has taught me far more about what goes into the geometry and shape of a piece of clothing, vs. the kind of paint-by-numbers approach that gets taken when working with premade patterns.

Googling or Pinterest-ing "refashion" brings up a zillion project ideas. Good luck!
posted by Bardolph at 5:32 AM on July 2, 2013 [1 favorite]

In general, taking the time to sew your own clothes (at least some) is a great way to become more mindful about consumption and the vagaries of fashion. The effort that you put in means that you value your pieces much more as you know the story of every seam and the mistakes that you overcame. The pieces that I've rushed are inevitably those that never get worn, but those that I've thought about are used until they fall apart.

As with cooking and flat pack furniture, take the time to read the instructions before you begin and make sure you remembered to buy notions like thread, buttons and zips. Check your actual measurements against the pattern back. Measure twice, cut once.

Try using a cheaper / second hand fabric in a similar weight to make a test garment (aka toile or muslin). Finding the shoulders too tight, or realising that you've sewn your leg to your arm and your arm to your leg is much less frustrating when you've not paid €30 a meter for the fabric. As with everything you do again, the
second time is easier and better.

That said, don't be afraid to use a seam ripper.

Think about what you want to wear in the long term and work on skills that move you closer to making those pieces. Don't get suckered into making party dresses if this is not your cup of tea, but if party dresses are it, then by all means start by making a ruffled cushion. If a utilikilt or pair of cargo pants is more your style, try making a bag with pockets and buckles on it.

There's a long road ahead, but this post from the independent pattern design company Sewaholic is a nice reminder to sew the things you'll actually wear or use.

Burda patterns and instructions can be a pain, especially when you're learning, but their website is a good way of finding local sewists.

If you feel the urge to play with knits (eg. jersey fabric) a very simple, unisex autumn / winter project would be to make a belly / kidney band from a tshirt. basically, it's just a longer fabric tube that wear to cover the gap between your tops and pants / skirts and keep your back and kidneys warm.

This may not be your style at all, but Clothkits do sewing kits for home decoration, womens wear and kids clothes. The kits have printed fabric (which saves using a pattern), thread, zips and instructions.

Once you're feeling a little more confident (a cushion cover, a simple tote bag), you might want to try drafting, aka creating the pattern for an A-line skirt to fit your own measurements. This way you get an awesome fitting piece of clothing, a custom pattern that you can continue to alter, and a deeper understanding of the design steps too. (Search for "Drafting an A-line Skirt" and find a tutorial that appeals to you).

If you're not someone who wears skirts, learning to sew a collared shirt is a much more advanced step, but something that gives you an insight into just how much bloody detailed work goes into the every day clothing we buy so readily.

Good luck! Soon you will be pooh-poohing cheap, mass produced garments and following people around supermarkets because you want to work out how their coat was constructed.
posted by pipstar at 2:00 PM on July 4, 2013

Also, if you don't yet have a sewing machine. look at buying a second hand machine from the 70s or 80s. Often these older machines are simpler and more robustly built. Many sewing shops accept trade-ins when customers upgrade, overhaul the machines and then sell them on. Don't buy a 2nd hand machine unless you've seen it in action and had some instruction about how to thread it, its stitch variations etc.

If a friend or family member has a machine you can use, take it to your local sewing machine store and get it serviced by a professional. They'll clean and oil it, check the tension and alignment of the moving parts, and at the same time you can get advice about how to use it.
posted by pipstar at 2:09 PM on July 4, 2013