I learned to sew from my mom and a little from my paternal grandmother, who made me wonderful doll clothes.  My mom had her mother's Kenmore machine from the 1930's (which I still have in my attic), and taught me on that, first using paper to make needle-punched designs with no thread.  I remember the first dress I made when I was 9 -- red plaid cotton -- and my maternal grandmother laughing at my "toe-catcher" hemming stitches... she was right; they were about 2" long!  I guess I was in a hurry.

Marilyn Bohlen Simpson, Ukiah, CA

My grandmothers were both wonderful seamstresses.  I learned sewing from them and started out making a fabulous wardrobe for my Barbie doll.  From there 4H was a big part of my life.  I spent summers with my Grandmother in Wyoming and helped her with her sewing business by cutting out patterns.  I learned so much from her during those summers.  She also got me started on quilting and taught me how to make my first quilt for my baby daughter.  I have since passed that skill on to her.  I think dropping Home Ec from the schools was a big mistake as it gives girls and boys a way to develop early skills and that builds self-confidence.

My grandafather was a master tailor. During one of  my grandparents' visits, I bought a new dress for a school dance - I was 12. My slip was too long for the dress and I needed to wear it the next day.... Mom wouldn't fix it. She said, "Ask Grandpa." Grandpa sat in the chair reading a paper.  I asked if he could hem the slip and without looking up he told me to go get a needle and thread. Yay! When I handed it to him, he showed me how to do it myself!! NOT what I had in mind. My grandfather was  very quiet, but we didn't question him. Ever. And we certainly didn't sass back. So I hemmed the slippery stuff and I brought it to him. He carefully inspected it.....  "That's good. Now do it again."  OMG - I was fuming inside but knew better to do anything but do what he said. I ripped that thing out and re-did it SIX times.... but after that I could sew anything. True story!

I taught myself to sew at age 11 from a Simplicity pattern instruction sheet.  I made a cap sleeve blouse and a pencil skirt that I could actually wear.  My first big mistake was a corduroy jumper.  I didn't  know about nap yet.The nap on the front of the jumper went down and the nap on the back went down so the colors were different.  I was 12 in a school with no home ec so I researched the problem myself.  I have since made women's clothes, men's clothes, children's clothes, costumes.  I love to sew.  I made my prom dresses, my daughters' prom dresses and eventually their bridal gowns.

I taught myself to sew at age 11 from a Simplicity pattern instruction sheet.  I made a cap sleeve blouse and a pencil skirt that I could actually wear.  My first big mistake was a corduroy jumper.  I didn't  know about nap yet.The nap on the front of the jumper went down and the nap on the back went down so the colors were different.  I was 12 in a school with no home ec so I researched the problem myself.  I have since made women's clothes, men's clothes, children's clothes, costumes.  I love to sew.  I made my prom dresses, my daughters' prom dresses and eventually their bridal gowns.

The very first sewing class I had was in 7th grade.  I chose a stuffed rabbit from a McCall pattern.  My beautiful dresses made by my Aunt Helen, my hats and outfits put together by my grandmother and my Mom's sewing expertise were always something I admired and wanted to emulate.  The rabbit was not very good!

I went on to learn to make clothes for myself in the 60's from bolts of different denims my Dad had purchased for my Mom as well as decorator fabrics given to my Mom by her brother who closed his decorating business.  My friends and I made wide leg bell bottoms..we were a hit!

I went on to complete a BFA while my friends opted to go to FIT.  I applied to FIT and was accepted  but the cost and city living did not agree with my parents!

Mastering garment cutting and sizing for antique patterns is where my interest is focused right now,   primarily in relation to women's issues and historical dress design and contemporary applications!

It's all soooo loooong agooo...

I've shared this in other places, but here we go:  My first real sewing experience that I remember is standing at my grandmother's treadle sewing machine (a 'coffin top' SInger that had belonged to HER grandmother), aged about four.  It was the summer my younger sister was born.  I stood and pumped the treadle up and down with one foot while Granny helped me steer a bit of fabric around in what would now be called a stippling or free-motion squiggle.  It was fun.  She then used the machine to make some dolly clothes out of scraps from her rag-bag: pink silk velvet bits left over from a bridesmaid dress my mother had worn when she was little, before the war!

That autumn I designed and embroidered a scene of little moon people in a city-scape, with a 'king' and 'queen' with chequered woven faces.  Until the end of her life, Granny kept this on her bedside table under a piece of glass.  My mother gave it back to me many years ago when Granny died.  Now Ma has also gone, and I have some of her embroidery.  I sew well, and turned professional some time ago, but I'll never forget Granny's first' steering committee', and I'll never rival my mum's exquisite embroidery.

I've now been sewing for over 50 years.

Hi,

I learned to sew by watching my mother.  She always made my clothes too big for me saying that I will grow into them and always left straight pins in the garments.  I hated having clothes that did not fit well. So, at 10 years old, I started sewing for myself.  

My family had a fabric store so I didn't have to worry about buying anything.  I made almost everything and when I took home ec in school, the teacher hated me because I refused to make the simple gathered skirt that everyone else did.  I made an pleated skirt and vest out of a plaid wool.  She was really angry but could not fail me because the outfit was gorgeous and the plaids were matched perfectly.  I still have that outfit today - can't seem to part with it!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Thankfully, I only had to take that class for one year.  Also, I helped everyone in the class put in their zipper and the teacher never found out - after she gave me such a hard time, I did whatever I could do, without getting caught, to annoy her!!!!

Everytime I think about this story, I have to smile.

Enjoy,

Chefmickey (Michele)

Because my mother sewed and I wanted to be my mom; I wanted to sew too.  But mom wasn't going to let me use her sewing machine - a 1951 Singer Featherweight - until I learned on the school's machine.  I learned in home ec class - first in the 7th grade in New Jersey where my teacher asked me about the dress I was wearing.  My mother had made it.  She chuckled and commented I was going to be a great seamstress.  Then again in the 8th grade in Arizona where the teacher often showed my work as 'good examples'.  (I am now the proud and happy owner of my mother's Featherweight and use if almost exclusively - preferring it to my new Singers.)

I learned to sew in Home ec, with additional lessons from my stepmother.  However I am learning lots of new tips and hints since I am now employed to do repairs and alterations for our local Bernina sewing shop here in Levin, New Zealand :)

My father was Old World Italian and owned a commercial quilting factory many years ago. He didn't believe in college or working women and felt they should be schooled in the arts of a homemaker. Among the painting, music and charm school my sisters and I all took private sewing lessons for many years from a seamstress that worked for him. I loved it and retained much of the knowledge I learned.

Now, at 54 and long out of college and now out of the corporate world, I'm sewing again! It's like riding a bike and I'm actually enjoying it more now than when I was a kid.

Though I didn't take the path he wanted me to, every lesson taught from the Old World has served me extremely well throughout my life.

Tess

When we were younger my Mom told us we had a budget for our school clothes.  We could buy them from the store or she would help  us learn to make them.  My sister, 5 years older, decided to try to make hers.  My Mom took her time, helped her through step by step to make her first skirt.  My sister says it fell apart in the washer and she didn't sew anymore (though she did retain enough to perform maintenance)  When it was my turn, she gave me material, patterns and said, let me know if you need help.  I made seams and ripped them out, cried, started over...but when I went for help, she gave it to me.  I learned to read the pattern instructions and make pretty clothes.  I was in 4-H and won a few competitions.  When I joined home ec. and started the first class with a simple gathered apron, I could only roll my eyes.  I butted heads with my teacher and was a general pain because "My mom and I don't do it that way".  However, my wonderful Home Ec. teacher, Mrs. Marilyn Cannon from Berry, Alabama proved that she could teach me a few things.  At 50 years old, I have sewn for myself, my child and my grandchildren and the rest of my family and still enjoy new challenges.

Where did I learn to sew???  I can't remember not being able to!

Before I was born...both my parents worked in a garment factory.....I was named after the dress label........Alice Ann Styled by Tackett Manufactory of Stephenville, Texas.........the owner even gifted me with a Savings Bond on my birth (it paid for my first semester of College!).....after that my earliest memories......playing with the remanents under the cutting table where Daddy worked.  The machine was always open and available at home...I couldn't work the pedal at first but turning the wheel by hand worked just as well.  After that there were both my Grandmother's showing me something new when I visited....and my favorite Great Aunt Nina Day always made sure I had some needlework of some sort in my hands. I had 3 years of Home Ec in High School.  I made my own clothing.  I had a few clients before having children that actually paid me for sewing suits and fancy dresses. (ha)  Then children needed clothing.  Now I have Grandchildren, Great-Grandchildren, Great-Great-Nieces and Nephews.......... When did I learn?  In my Mother's womb.

When I was 6, my doll's dress needed a button sewed on. My mom told me to do it myself. I had already spent 6 years in her tiny sewing room watching and listening as she made all our clothes, made bridesmaid dresses for neighbours, altered and hemmed store-bought pants for friends, and darned all our socks. Once I sewed that first button I was hooked. I moved right on to the machine and started making Barbie clothes - from patterns! It wasn't long before I was making my own clothes. I had a giant head-start when I finally got to home-ec class and 4-H.

it was 1968 or 69.  I was 14.  my mom handed me a pattern for a peasant blouse, some material and thread and said "here ya go!!"   it took me all day but I did it!  

I learned to sew from my mother, who used to make all of the clothes for my two older sisters and me (all alike of course!).  I also had sewing in Home Ec. class and learned even more.  I was always embarrassed because my teacher showed my examples of how to do things correctly.  I loved sewing so much that I majored in Home Ec. and became a Home Ec. teacher!  It is now called Family and Consumer Science and unfortunately, there are many schools that no longer offer it.

I was ten years old and home sick for about a month with mono.  I didn't have much else to do and no friends were allowed to visit.  So I learned to knit and sew from my wonderfully talented mother.  I've been doing both ever since and picked up other skills along the way.  I still call my mom to ask questions about patterns, though.  :)

Like many, I learned to sew in home economics class. But once I learned how to sew an "a-line" skirt, that was it. I would run home to my mom and beg her for a dollar. That would buy a yard of fabric and a zipper. I come home and whip that skirt up for the following day. My friends used to think I had an incredible closet full of clothes...and it was just me sewing like a bandit before I touched my homework.  I am really dating myself with those prices....but gasoline was .28 cents a gallon too!

Thanks for all your great articles!

My Mom tried to teach me to sew, but we didn't work together any better then (late 1950's) than we do now. So in 7th grade I started in Home Ec and my very first garment was a turquoise blue wool top that was very in style at the time - I can't remember what they were called but it looked a little like a sandwich board.  From then on there was no stopping me.  I remember my Dad coming in and watching me sew for a bit when I was 16, he said "If I ever catch you driving my car like you are driving that machine, you're grounded!"

My mother taught me to sew when I was five years old.  My father didn't want my sister and me to use the sewing machine because his sister had run over her finger with the needle when she was young.  But when my dad went to Japan with the Air Force for almost a year, my mother took the opportunity to teach us to sew.  We are sixty-three years old now and still sewing!

I am currently in the process of learning how to sew. So far, it's all self-taught with the help of some books I've taken out of the library. I've wanted to sew since I was a teenager (I'm almost 30 now), but around the time that I became interested in learning, my mom was diagnosed with *** cancer. She would have been the one to teach me, but she died when I was 16. It took a while before I was able to feel confident enough that I could pursue sewing on my own. I've been incredibly excited to learn, and the more I use my machine, the more I want to use it. It still saddens me that I can't say that I learned from my mom, but as with everything else I've had to learn on my own these past 14 years, I feel proud of myself for having the drive to go after this anyway.

I learned to sew with a machine by watching my mother sew on her converted White tredle machine.  The night she died, I completed 2 dresses she had started for me.  I learned to stitch and hem by hand from my maternal grandmother.  She had sewn for friends over the years.  She once made 3 dresses by hand for one lady for her oldest son's wedding.  She couldn't make up her mind which one she would wear.  I sew for myself, but occasionally will help alter or hem clothes for friends and my daughter. I had one year of sewing classes in high school. (I couldn't fit it in with my other classes including band and orchestra.)

I too learned to sew in high school Home Economics classes.  FYI though, Home Ec classes are alive and well in Arkansas and sewing is still taught.  They don't call it Home Ec any longer.  It is now called Family and Consumer Sciences.  I have been teaching FACS for 20 years.

My mother taught me to sew an A-line sleeveless dress in 1964. Mom and Grandma had always made gorgeous dresses (and shoes to match!) for all the women in the family and I wanted to be able to make them too.  50 years later I've gone beyond their skills and still love the look and feel and possibilities of fabric. It's a lifelong passion, and I am so grateful to them for teaching me.  By the way, when it came time for me to take sewing in home ec, I refused.  I knew that taking 3 months to make an apron would ruin my pleasure!

I learned how to sew during the summer after sixth grade in 1968. Does anyone remember the Singer sewing classes?? We had to make a simple dress and then had a fashion show. It was terrific since they taught us the right way to read a pattern, fit it,and sew it. I was hooked. From then on I have had many hours of therapy. Thank you Singer!!!

I first learned to sew from my grandmother.  She said I would shadow her in her sewing room so to keep me occupied she had me sew buttons on pieces of fabric, which I apparently did for hours on end. I then pursued it in 4H.  By the time I got to junior high home ec I was beyond it but there weren't  other options, like shop, for girls in those days.  I had learned shortcuts and techniques different from what my home ec teacher was teaching and she failed me on a beginner apron project because I used the techniques I knew.  After that I just learned more on my own.

Hi, I learned to sew in Home Ec during Jr. High.  My first attempt was a dress.  My mother had passed away when I was 10 so I made this for my older sister.  The directions said "Cut 2" So I did.  But I had folded the fabric in half, not selvage to selvage! The front was a cute duck print, but the back was upside down.  I still remember her wearing it and telling people that it was suppose to look that way.  What a great friend she was to me.

My mother was a german immigrant and worked here as a seamstress in different costume shops besides sewing most of our clothes.  She taught me how to sew very young so I could create my own doll clothes.  At 53, I still sew - clothing, costumes, and reversible fabric bowls (www.nellibowls.com) but the one line I keep hearing my mother's voice in my head repeating is, "Langes Fädchen, faules Mädchen."  Long thread, lazy girl!!

I learned to sew in 1954 when I was in 8th grade. Five friends and I were bumming around our town and dropped into Singer Sewing Machine store, met a great sewing teacher, Miss Byce, who signed us all up for her Sat morning class. We all made the same dress in different colors. I took 2 more classes from Miss Byce and have been sewing ever since.  At the time mother had a Singer treddle sewing machine which I used; after my third class where I made my dad a shirt he bought mother and me a new electric sewing machine.

I learned to sew with my maternal grandmother who was so creative, she could see a dress in the store window and go home and make a pattern out of a paper sack or newspaper and duplicate it exactly! I think I may have been 8 or 9 at the time. We used to spend our summers with our grandparents. My sisters and I would go to the fabric store with her to pick out material for our new school clothes. My sisters would always be jealous of my outfits because I somehow instinctively knew what fabric would work well with each pattern I had chosen. I went on to win awards in sewing at 4-H, Girl Scouts and in Home Ec. It has come in handy over the years, I have even learned how to do upholstery! Just moved my art studio into my own special space and have included a place to keep the sewing machine Grandma gave me when I graduated from high school in 1971 set up. It still works like a champ and I am looking forward to using it more often now.

I learned to sew at my paternal grandmother's knee, doll clothes and such, by hand, beginning at age 5.  Then at age 10 I became a 4-H-er and Mother was the leader.  There I made a linen tea towel (measuring and marking a perfect turned 1/4" hem, sewn by machine, and hand-whip-stitched the ends of the hem) which I still have, then a drindl skirt, no pattern, but that included a placket and waistband, closed by snaps in the placket and hooks and eyes on the waistband.  Not a figure flattering style even at age 10; avoided waist gathers ever after!  

From there I graduated to patterns and following pattern directions, etc.  By age 13 I made just about all my school clothing.  I remember taking 9th grade home ec and feeling like I knew more about sewing than the teacher.  That year my 4-H project was a two-piece mint green wool suit with bound buttonholes--much more challenging than whatever the home ec. sewing project was.  That was my one foray into being a home economics student--as the eldest of a farm family, I'd already done all the things being taught at what I found to be an elementary level.

By the time I entered university as a retail merchandising major, I was designing my own clothes, starting with commercial patterns and adapting necklines, sleeves and skirts to reflect what was in the retail market.  I continued sewing, venturing into tailoring my husband's and my two and three piece suits, made all my maternity clothes, home decorating, items for the new baby until she reached the age of six and insisted she would not wear "home-made" clothes any longer.

I threw myself into my teaching career, ironically teaching home ec at SH and JH for 22 years, and essentially quit sewing clothing when prices for good fabric exceeded what I could pay for  ready-made.  I still did some home dec, eventually became a quilter, which is what I am now, 60 years after first threading a needle at Grandma's knee.

The daughter who didn't like home-made clothes, treasures a red checked shirt I made for her brother, which each of her own two sons have worn, and other boy outfits, also home-sewn.  She eventually taught herself to sew, as she sniffed at my offer of lessons when she was a pre-teen.  I sewed her maternity clothes and make skirts to fit that she wears almost daily in her professional career.  What goes around, comes around!

I'm guessing I'm about the same age as Cate because the first dress I made was from an owl print fabric in the 70s.  I wish I had it around somewhere!  I, too, learned to sew in Home Ec, even though both my mother and my paternal grandmother were accomplished sewists.  Maybe they were too impatient to teach me.

At first it was at home copying my mother as she made garments without patterns for me and my sisters.  I still don't know how she did it.  We were also taught to do hand embroidery to keep our "idle hands from doing the devil's handiwork" and then (thank God) we were taught the basics in Junior Hi Home Ec class.  I continued to take Home-Ec through high school and graduated to sewing Vogue patterns for myself and my sisters.  I made my older sisters bride's maid dress (2 pcs drindle skirts with bound button holes tops) and my younger sister's Jr. High graduation dress.  Not to mention a million hip hugging, bell bottoms for my friends. It was the 60's.  I charged them $1.50 and they had to supply the zipper and 1 to 2 yards of fabric .  It took me less than 2 hours.  A sewed my little girl's Kindergarten wardrobe (Annie patterns were the rage), her dance costumes and am slotted to make her wedding gown in the next year.  I did make a beautiful Vera Wang wedding dress for my niece which took me about 3 days to do.  I now sew, alter, quilt and generally play with 4 sewing machines on a daily basis.  I am so glad that we were forced to take Home-Ec.  Sewing is a lost art and it is so sad as it was one of the first skills we did as humans which separated us from the animals.

I learned to sew from my mom. I remember her giving me a piece of scrap fabric and having me trace around my doll and cut that out and sew it together when I was about 6 - it didn't fit the doll but I learned about curvy bodies that day! She was patient and let me wear my creations. I made my first Easter outfit in 4th grade - it was a split tunic with matching hot pants!

Seventh grade home ec. didn't go so well and I was very offended when my teacher gave me a C on my skirt. I took no more home ec in high school but was a home ec major in college (when there was still home ec!). I earned my way through making costumes for the theater department. I met my husband while I was "upholstering" him.

After over 40 years of sewing, I remain fearless. I recently purchased my first "new" sewing machine (had only had hand-me-down or used machines except my serger) and am enjoying the world of machine embroidery!

My mom told me she was "too busy" to teach me, and she suggested that I ask my aunt Alma and I did!  probably when I was in 6th or 7th grade.  Still remember the A-line top I made. Aunt Alma just had her 90th birthday party this past Saturday and told the party that she had taught me to sew in my youth!

I learned to sew in 4-H, with my mom as the group leader.  My mother was a careful, meticulous sewer who had grown up during the depression and new how to take her old cloth coat and make a new coat with a velvet for a little girl (me).  I couldn't find 4-H for anything but agriculture-related topics when my girls were growing up, sad to say.  I did teach them myself, but the 4-H program was very good at teaching basic skills and applying them.

I learned to handstitch clothes for my Barbie from my Grandmother, using scraps from her housecoats.  Then my mother enrolled me in a summer sewing class at the local Singer store when I was 12 years old where I made a cute red/white gingham pants and top set.  Back then we still had Home Ec in school, which is where I honed my skills, given that I already knew how to sew, making my 8th grade graduation dress...it was pink with beautiful birds and flowers and lace.

I remember my best friend and her sister took the same sewing class in HighSchool and I spent a couple Saturdays with them "helping" with their homework.  Perhaps it was 20 years later, I was invited to dine at that friend's home with her family.  Her sister arrived with a shopping bag from which she produced the outfit that I "helped" her make so long ago!  A lovely Maxi skirt with matching halter top...light blue!   What a hoot!

I love the maxi dress and now I want to make one!  It'd look great on my 9 year old daughter, unfortunately I've got too "motherly" of a shape to really pull it off!  I learned to sew after being an adult.  My SIL introduced me to using a machine (my ex step mother taught me to use a needle and thread, I played around a lot with that on my own) when I was making a renaissance faire outfit for my daughter.  I've been hooked ever since!  Now she comes to me to make stuff for her, she sews out of necessity, I sew because I enjoy it!  I'll be teaching my kids, at a much younger age, to sew as well.  

I learned the value of sewing at my Mother's knee, quite literally.  I had my little metal sewing machine, with fabric scraps that Mother gave me, sitting next to her as she sewed.  She worked all day at a lingerie factory and did sewing for the public at night.  She could make ANYTHING!  She worked in sample and design when she retired.  I was so amazed at her sewing ability.  However, I learned to sew during my three years of Home Ec, and Mother was there for help when I needed it.  I credit her for my winning the Crisco Award for Home Ec as a junior, and that was one of my most prized accomplishments in high school.  I bought my son and daughter-in-law a sewing machine for their housewarming gift.  Maybe one day, he will teach her to sew.  He's amazing!  :)

I was in my twenties when I got fed up enough with the poor offer in larger sizes in the shops so that I decided to learn and make my own.  I used a set of books from a correspondence course that my mother took in the sixties, then quit when I was born.  I didn't have the backing of a group of teachers, but the books are excellent material and I learned to make my own patterns quickly.  My confidence boosted exponentially when I realised the patterns I made produced the best fitting clothes I had ever had.  My first pair of trousers were and are, to date, the best I've ever had too!  I've never managed such good results with commercial patterns.

My grandmother had a sewing machine, but she preferred home decor - slip covers and curtains.  But I wanted to learn, so she bought me a little machine and patiently taught me some basics.  She died of cancer when I was just 10, but she left me her sewing machine, and asided from one semester of sewing in high school, I fumbled my way through, reading lots of books as I went!  I still have the little stuffed doll she helped me make almost 26 years ago, tucked away in my sewing cabinet with her machine.

I learned to sew in high school.  Prior to that all of my clothes were hand-me-downs and I hated them.  So for me sewing was a lifesaver.  But I have to admit that everything I made in high school I threw out.  They just didn't look right; but I could come home and make the same thing and wear it.  The first time my husband noticed me was when I was wearing an outfit I had made.  As the years went on I sewed clothes for both of my daughters and now I'm finally learning how to quilt.  

I too learned to sew in Home economics. We in Malta (Europe) used to have a subject called Needlework. Now we call it Textiles Studies and we are trying to revive it. It is now part of Home Economics. Here in Malta Home Economics is very popular with kids. Textiles studies is less popular but at University level both subjects are taught together and its called Nutrition Family and Consumer Studies. I have been sewing since I was around 12 and now I teach it at school. Have been teaching for 30 years. I think Home Economics is still valid today.

Your column today brought back memories. I am now nearly 70 and have been sewing almost all my life, but the beginning was rough. I learned to sew in Home Ec class in 7th and 8th grade. 7th grade was a horror. We had to make an apron and potholders for the cooking portion of the curriculum. My teacher was a perfectionist. I can remember ripping out the stitching on the pot holder at home over and over again until I was in tears, because it "wasn't stitched on the "quilting" lines". The embroidery of my name on my apron was no better. Thank heaven for 8th grade. I changed schools and wound up as an 8th grader with 2 others in a 7th grade class. The three of us were pretty much left on our own, so I could take off. I made a flannel night gown, a corduroy jumper and a skirt and unlined jacket outfit during the semester and sewing became fun for me.

I learned to sew in Girl Scouts.  We had a project to complete for a badge and my mother, the troop leader, taught all of 15 of us to sew.  Later I got a Home Economics degree and taught in a large Texas high school.

i learned how to sew and lots of other crafts from my mom.  she was wonderful and so talented, she could embroider and blend colors so well that her designs looked better than those on the best embroidery machines today.  But my funniest sewing story goen back to home ec in high school.  after we had finished the basics our teacher informed us that we would  be making a "girdle" we just about fell off out seats.  My mom wore one but I and my class mates would never dream of wearing one, we were the generations that went bra less, and she wanted us to make a "girdle".  We all worked very hard and convinced our teacher to let us make a skirt which we all made and wore proudly. Nowdays I don't sew as much as I used to but still take pride in all the things I make, and honor my mother's memory each and everytime.

I learned to sew in home ec class--7th grade--1960. We took Home ec in 7th-9th grades then. I loved it--and began to sew everything. My draconian mother made me rip out anything that was less than perfect. In the end, I sewed my wedding dress and my bridesmaids' dresses.  When my husband and I were dirt poor, I sewed trousers, shirts, even a sports jacket for him.  Necessity turned me into a good seamstress. I rarely sew now, mainly because I lack the time, but I still enjoy doing so on occasion. Mrs. Moore in junior high was a wonderful teacher--patient and loving, even though we were forced to sew a really ugly flared skirt in 8th grade.

I learned to sew in home ec class--7th grade--1960. We took Home ec in 7th-9th grades then. I loved it--and began to sew everything. My draconian mother made me rip out anything that was less than perfect. In the end, I sewed my wedding dress and my bridesmaids' dresses.  When my husband and I were dirt poor, I sewed trousers, shirts, even a sports jacket for him.  Necessity turned me into a good seamstress. I rarely sew now, mainly because I lack the time, but I still enjoy doing so on occasion. Mrs. Moore in junior high was a wonderful teacher--patient and loving, even though we were forced to sew a really ugly flared skirt in 8th grade.

I learned to sew when I was very, very little from my mom, probably about 4 or 5. I had received a battery operated sewing machine and was fascinated. She had an old Singer (which I still have) that I learned to sew on, probably from the mid-40s. She turned in her grandmother's machine and got this one, a decision she seemed to regret. She taught school, and I was often home with asthma. When I was sick, I'd sew on her machine. As we lived across the street from the high school, she'd come home on her free period to ensure that I'd not sewn my fingers together! (I never did!) I started sewing pillow cases so I'd learn how to sew straight. Some were pretty crooked! And then I made my Barbie doll a skirt, complete with darts! I must have been only about 7 at that point. I'm glad she taught me the correct way to sew and tailor. Although I don't sew as much as I'd like, it's nice to know I know how. Thanks, mom!

I learned to sew by watching my mother.  For as long as I can remember, my mother has been sewing.  I remember her making my clothes when I was a little girl and she would help me cut out a sew rag dolls so that I could sew with her.

At 27, I have finally graduated to making a shirt and vest (thanks to a few days with Mom helping).  It was such a special treat to have her visit and help me learn to sew again.  Each time I made a mistake or a particular part was too difficult, she'd guide me through it or fix it so that it would work.  Laying on the bed next to the desk where I keep the sewing machine she gave me for Christmas last year, it was so wonderful to listen to her sew again.  That is something from my childhood that I will always take with me.

my twin sister and I learned to sew at about 5 or 6, hand stitching doll clothes at first and then moving up to moms singer sewer to make 'crop' tops and shorts outfits for ourselves ... I recently found old pictures of us when going thru moms things and have a good laugh over our style!!!

My paternal grandmother taught me to sew using a sewing machine that had been manufactured in 1897 and passed down through the family. I still have this machine to this day. I spend many summers learning to sew, starting with clothes for teddy bears and dolls until I was allowed to graduate to making clothes for myself at the age of 11.

I started out ironing small pieces of fabric and cutting quilt pieces when I was about 5 years old (1943). My mother made all our clothes in addition to working in a cotton mill weaving towels.  Once I decided that I would cut out my own blouse (about 7 yrs. old) while my mother was at work.  Knowing absolutely nothing about grain of fabric, what the arrows meant, etc. I used up the entire four yards of  white pique fabric my mother saved for collars and cuffs for our dresses in cutting out a seamless blouse. I cut one of the fronts on the bias and the remaining front, who knows the grain.  I did not know how to hold the fabric when sewing in sleeves, so when one of the sleeves didn't fit, I just cut off the extra fabric.  Needless my mother was not at all happy!!!  However, from this experience I learned and by the time I was in High School, I made everything I wore.  Including prom dresses, coats, skirts, dresses and all my clothes I took to college with me. I continued with making almost all my children's clothing, my mother-in-law's and my own.   Now today, I have added quilting, machine embroidery and ART to wear garments.  I have a huge collection of fabrics---, leather, silks, wools, linen, quilting fabric, batiks. I have retired from 38 years teaching and live almost entirely in my two sewing rooms, where I am still very happy as long as my sewing machines are in working order. I just recently added the new Pfaff Sensation to my collection of machines.  I will soon be 74 years old, but that is young for those who love working with fabrics.  Sue Parker

We did have sewing class at PS#1 on Staten Island. In fourth grade, the girls bought a yard of printed cotton and the teacher (the reguar grade teacher!) brought these home and cut out aprons from these, which we sewed together using back stitch and then we hemmed bias tape around them.  Oh!  That was after third grade when everyone, including boys, did a little sampler on what looks like linen in red thread:  various stitches and then our name in outline stitch.  I still own mine; it's framed. The girls proceeded in fifth grade to sewing our aprons and hats and inadequate pot holders for cooking class (what a disaster that was -- the cooking class, I mean; it may be why I never learned to like doing ANYTHING in the kitchen).  These were white with royal blue bias binding and our names on the hats in outline stitch.  Seventh grade the girls had to do blue skirts with white rickrack  trim for the May Fete (the popular girls, not me, got to do the maypole dance in these, with many crinolines underneath.)  This was ALL hand work, no machine.  And then:  to graduate, we had to sew our own graduation dresses.  Some mothers, of course, did their daughters' work or hired someone.  You could not graduate without the dress.  This was eighth grade.  My mother never learned to sew, so I was on my own.  Except for my father.  He taught me to use my grandmother's treadle machine.  All the above was not my training for sewing (certainly NOT for cooking!), though each girl had to do this, each year; the sewing was right there in the syllabus, after spelling or history or something.  I learned to sew because my Ginny dolls needed clothes.  My father bought me a couple $2 Ginny dolls, in their undies, but refused to buy the pricey clothes.  He told me he'd show me how to use that sewing machine, but I had to make my own.  So I walked down to the local five and ten and bought Simplicity patterns and calico and read the patterns and taught myself to sew.  I ended up being a professional doll designer and wrote books on the subject. And, ya know, I still have ALL those clothes I made at age, oh, maybe, seven or eight.

My mom taught me to sew on an old treadle machine.  I started out sewing Barbie clothes and sewed my first dress when I was about 9 or 10.  It was actually good enough that I wore it.  I didn't believe that my mom knew the 'correct' way to sew so I took sewing in high school and found out that she had taught me well.  The projects in class were so simple I had to make them more challenging just to make it interesting.  Our first project was a skirt so I made a plaid skirt with knife pleats and an invisible zipper.  I then made a tailored blouse out of fabric that ravelled horribly and a coat dress with bound buttonholes.  My mom had always had me do a lot of basting and when I saw some of the projects that others in class had made I realized just how important it can be if you want professional results.

My mother was a seamstress and I started pinning out patterens for her when I was 10 or 11.  She paid me $ .50 for each garment I cut out--my first paid employment.  Whenever people asked if I was going to be a seamstress like my mother, I always answered a horrified NO!  But I grew up a bit, and love the creativity of sewing.  Mom even taught me some tricks that I was able to teach my 9th grade home ec teacher.  

I learned to sew with my mother when I took sewing for 10 years in 4-H.  I didn't like it at first.  My daughter also learned in 4-H and hated it but she is 6' 1" so she had to learn how to sew.  She also did not like it but now at the university she is going to she has a job sewing  costumes for the theater department and loves it.

I learned to sew from my mom at a very young age and made all of my Barbie clothes.  Then, of course there was Home EC in 7th grade.  But, the most fun was when I took sewing I, II, & III while in high school graduating some 40 years ago.  Since it was a "school project" I always picked out the most expensive material I could find for the project at hand. I remember the $9.99/yard, yellow double knit with little yellow rose buds all over the material for a dress I had to make in class. However, my dad got me back my senior year when sewing III was making a coat, with the horsehair, etc.  He decided that I could make him a suit coat, which would fit into the project just fine.  Then the instructor decided to have a fashion show and to my embarsement, my dad agreed to model the suit coat that I made.  There wasn't a hole big enough for me to crawl into with him strutting down the runway, showing off the material and lining that he had picked out.  Yet, I did live through it, somehow.  Oh, and I did receive an A+ on the project.  

Cathy Bewley, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

I've sewn all my life! My grandmother taught me to embroidery when I was 4. I still have my first piece. My mom helped me hand sew doll clothes when I was five. 4-H was key to my learning starting at age 10. Then, home ec, all four years in high school. It seems I learn something new every day. Susan Khatje's (sadly cancelled) DIY show, my local quilt shop where I leaned to quilt, and articles in magazines and online are wonderful resources. As my best friend of 50+ years, also a sewer, quilter, and fabriholic, wrote me recently: "we've forgotten more than most people ever learn."

foxfyreutk

My first sewing experiences were before starting school.  Two of the three of us girls on our block had grandmothers in residence (or a three parent household).  Each of the three of us had a small babydoll that was only about 6" long.  We begged bits of fabric and sewing supplies from out grandmothers.  We used our blunt scissors and cut out little sacques and panties for the dolls.  We got some help learning to stitch up our small seams and trying to make the clothes fit the dolls.  I figured out early in the process that the panties needed much more shaping than we tried at first.  We had a fun summer in 1950 before we started Kindergarten just playing with our little cigar box sewing kits and "well dressed" dolls.

Sadly my sewing kit and doll were lost many years ago.  I guess that one of Mother's cleaning trips into the playhouse that my father had built for my sixth birthday cleared that messy cigar box of fabric scraps, etc. out to the trash.  I still have the pink taffeta dress that came on the tiny "collection doll".  Maybe some year I’ll find another tiny babydoll to wear the dress….

L. B. W., Texas

I was eight.  Parents had stepped out for an hour or so and I was tired of my ballet doll not having "street clothes".  I found a piece of cloth in my Mom's stash, got some scissors, lay my doll on the fabric and cut around her (couldn't picture how to do sleeves) so sleeveless top and straight skirt.  I sat there and sewed as I had watched my Mom do mending.  It came together well enough and fit so a designer, sewer, was born.  It was then she decided she should teach me a thing or two about hand sewing. That's how I learned.

I had my first sewing experience in home EC class.  but the gathered skirt I made was a big disappointment.  My mother was a knitter,  not a sewer of more than mending a hem or darning a sock.  So I didn't begin to take sewing seriously until I was a young married.  Then I just jumped in and learned by following the patterns I bought for simple outfits.  After my kids began arriving, I started sewing for them.  But not until my youngest daughter was out of high school did I attempt my first quilt.

That hooked me and I haven't stopped since.  I have learned a lot of techniques and received helpful hints from friends,  quilt guild members, and online quilting sites.  I now dread the thought of stitching up a garment.  Witness to this are several unfinished pieces in my sewing room somewhere..

My maternal grandma, from the time I could reach the pedal she had me sewing and I continued in 4-H after grandma passed away.  She would be proud sewing kept my family in current fashion when money was tight.

Homemaking class in high school.  Learned a little of the finer points from an aunt who made costumes for Shirley Booth when she was on Broadway.  ( Looong time ago!)

I took the required home ec classes in jr. high, but hated every minute of them.  About 3 yrs. later I decided clothing was too expensive and should start making my own.  I guess I retained something from home ec, because I was able to start, but when I needed further help, I went out and purchased a book on sewing.  I am, for the most part, completely self-taught. Sewing, quilting, doll-making, mixed media art, etc.  

I purchase a book whenever I want to learn something new, that's why I love the Interweave products, there's always something new to learn!

I learned to sew in 4-H.  We lived so far out in the country that we only had a generator for electricity.  My old record book contains criticism about my projects needing more ironing during construction.  Those judges were not very considerate of my lack of modern conveniences in 1962!  My grandmother also helped me "throw together" clothes for high school and prom.  I am still learning at the ripe old age of 65!

I love Cate's story and it brings back memories of my home ec class...which I only made a "C" in because I had to make a skirt and I ironed on heming tape in leiu of sewing it ;}  For me that was like failing because I was a straight "A" college bound student.  I didn't like sewing in home ec because I didn't want to make clothing...and I didn't even consider sewing again until I moved to Italy as an adult and found that the only way that I could afford window treatments for the four balcony doors and remaining five double windows.  So I rented a sewing machine for $14.00 for a week and made all of my curtains with double casings/headers.  After that I went and bought my first singer and have enjoyed creating my own home decor every since...that was over 24 years ago ;}

Remember troll dolls from the 60's?  I made shirts and neckties for the boy troll dolls.  (don't be too impressed, the only stitching involved was one knot to attach the tie to the shirt!  the sleeves were just holes cut out of the white fabric.)   I wish I had a picture of my business suit troll dolls now.

Hopefully my stitching has improved since then, and that would have to be thanks to Mrs. McCartney in my 8th grade home ec class.....and every class I've taken since then.  

My mother started me out sewing on buttons (onto scraps, of course) at about age 4-5 and bragged on me.  She sewed most of our clothes until I was in junior high and made my formals through high school. I was usually frustrated by patterns and frustrated by my mother telling me how to do it! Hated Home EC because I knew the basics already.  Later I made all my maternity clothes.  Then I had daughters of my own and loved sewing for them--tho pattern direction still confused me. Found being a working single mother of two stopped me from sewing for years except for some fantastic halloween costumes (usually finished about 3 am H'ween morning  and pinned on! And of course school play costumes.

Sent daughter #2 for sewing classes, but she had little further interest.  #1 now interested in crafts and learning on her own. Now at 70 with cataracts removed and new machine, going to do simple things --"quick and dirty" and not expect couture results!

I learned to sew from my mother when I was a little girl. I used to make doll clothes, then graduated to making skirts for myself. Now I make almost all my own clothes. It is so great to see and wear a finished product that you know YOU made. I love sewing.

Diane C, Brooklyn, NY

I learned to sew in 8th grade home ec class.  I loved it but my mother loved it even better.  She had a seamstress in the family and she put me to work sewing dresses for her.  My first project that I got graded on was a housecoat or "duster" as it was called back then for myself and a matching one for my little sister who was 9 years younger than me.  I think I got an A.  Been sewing ever since.  It is my "therapy".

Both my paternal grandparents came to American before 1920 and worked in New York's garment district as tailors.  My grandmother would make doll clothing out of scraps from the factory...beautiful satins, dupioni , boucle... you name it. When Barbie came out in the early '60s I had the most incredible wardrobe for her.  Grandma taught me hand stitching using Kleenex tissues to start, then on fabric scraps.  As I got older, a great aunt from my mother's side of the family taught me embroidery and crewel. But here's the amazing thing, my great Aunt Sadie was BLIND!  She was part of the Lighthouse for the Blind and transferred her incredible skills to me in the late 1960's. In the 1970's I learned how to use a machine in Home Ec and begged my parents for a machine of my own.  Here's the kicker... sewing skipped a generation...my mother barely threads her own needles!

"Today's younger sewists didn't learn these basics in school, where home ec is now pretty much extinct."

NOT TRUE!  Every 7th grader in this state takes a required course in basic sewing!  I don't know where this idea came from, but please!  They don't make what we made ~ they stick with the more basic stuff, and use sergers too, but the guys are required to attend, unlike yesteryear.  

So, please get the facts straight, and include the young ones, too!  I would love to recommend this email and site to many of the teens that I deal with, but I can't have them see such statements.

I learned to sew from my grandmother.  She had a treadle machine and I loved it.  She was very patient with me and I sewed a lot of straight seams before I got to actually make something.  One day I stopped at her house on the way home from school.  I was shocked to see a new machine in the place of her treadle machine.  I am still broken hearted about that and it was way over 40 years ago.

I learned some basic sewing techniques in 4-H. But I really got into it when I took Home Ec in the 8th grade. I chose to make a jumper out of a beautiful dark rose corduroy.  It was princess style with a front piece and two front side pieces.  My teacher was helping me lay out the pattern so I had no fears about whether or not the nap was going to be correct, right?  Ri-i-ght!!  Well, when I had the jumper almost finished, I tried it on and lo and behold, one side of the dress was turned wrong -- the nap was going the wrong way!!  Oh, yes, It was very noticeable. And, or course, there wasn't enough material to cut a second side and this being the mid 1950s, there wasn't a whole lot of extra money around my house, so I wore the jumper regardless!!  

You'd think I would have learned my lesson wouldn't you?  But, no, in the 9th grade my HE teach helped me put a sleeve in a blouse. We got it in beautifully, but  -- it was backwards.  Fortunately, all I had to do in that instance was take it out and switch it around.

Now, that I'm 73 years old and still sewing, these two boo-boos really helped me because even today I always make sure the pattern is laid out correctly and that a sleeve is set in the right way.

When I was very young I loved to watch Grandma sew on her treadle machine.  She taught me how to sew by hand and to do some basic embroidery stitches.  Mom tried to teach me on her 1950's Singer electric, but she only had very basic skills and I learned more from my required home economics class in junior high school, where I made a pink gingham jumper.  But when I got to college and needed clothes for my job I took myself downtown and bought an ancient Pfaff machine (used) for $35 at the sewing machine repair shop.  I really learned to sew from pattern instructions, and made suits, dresses and even a waitress uniform.  In the early to mid '70s it was still cheaper to make your own clothes than it was to buy them!

Fast forward 40 years and most of my sewing now is for my 1870's house.  Just finished wonderful  linen curtains with a hand-crocheted (by me!) trim for the six windows in my master bedroom.

While growing up, my daughter, who's now in her 20's,  loved that I could sew elaborate costumes or goodies for her room, but never had any interest in learning.  And home ec is very much a thing of the past in my neighborhood.....but once she moved across the country into her own place, one of her first major purchases was a sewing machine!  Can we Skype some lessons?  Wouldn't it have been easier if she had learned when she lived here....

My mother sewed, and during the years that I was three to six or seven, she often made my things by taking apart something of hers that she no longer wore.  I thought they were the most beautiful things ever--especially the navy blue spring coat with the roundedsailor collar. I learned a little from watchjing her, but mostly I learned in home ec. classes in 6th, 7th, and 8th grades.  I'm a good deal older than Cate; my classes were in the late fifties--mimeographs weren't even invented, yet!  We rotated cooking and sewing by semesters.  I still have the embroidered, hemmed dishtowel that was my first project. Unfortunately, my hemming stitches go in the wrong direction. During those three years I made a pair of seersucker "baby doll" pajamas, a circle skirt, a gathered skirt, and finally, a wool jumper.  The thing that has stayed with me over the years was a little phrase that our teacher made us memorize; she said it would help us thread any new machine we faced, and she was right. "From spindle, to tension, to take-up, to needle" is the basic order, even there are other buttons, etc. on the machine.  I must add that, although only older people still  had them in their homes, two of our machines were treadles--and I loved to sew on them.

I learned to sew in home ec back in the 50s.  We made  gathered skirts and simple blouses with collars.  I really did not like this part of home ec and ended up needing to finish my blouse during Christmas vacation.  My family had gone to visit my grandparents on their ranch in southern New Mexico so I had to use my grandmother's sewing machine.  It was an old Singer treadle machine.  What an experience.  I finished the blouse but I'm sure my grade was not an A.  I didn't sew again until I was in my mid-twenties and married.  I needed something to do since I was staying with my parents while my husband was at Navy JAG school and I had time on my hands.  This time sewing took and I've been sewing ever since.  

My mother and grand mother tried  to teach me but I had no interest but when i took HomeEc in the 10th grade I finally woke up and have stopped sewing since.  I still remember the tourquise and white polka dot t-top I made.

Grade 7 - 12 Home-Ec.

My mother taught me to sew when I was about 8 years old, she made a lot of my clothes and she wanted me to be able to sew too, she loved sewing and making things for her family, she passed that love along to me and now I am teaching my daughter the love of sewing too.

How delightful reading all the previous stories.  They bring back many memories for me.  I began sewing when I was at my mother's knee.  I had a toy sized singer hand cranked sewing machine, which created a single thread chain stitch.  (I still own the machine.) I'm sure my first "creations" were nothing more than little sacks which I remember holding up for praise !   I graduated from that machine to the Singer treadle on which I made many clothes during the ensuing years until my parents could afford to buy me a portable electric machine.  In our Home Ec. class we had about 6 machines for the whole class. There were 3 treadle and 3 electric.  There was always a line up for the electric ones because most of us had only treadles at home.  My mother had always made clothes for us when we were young but I started making my own at 11 and hers at 13.  From then on  I was the seamstress in the house !  At 18 I could afford a better machine so I bought an Elna Supermatic (which I still use) and began to sew for others to earn a few extra dollars.  When I became a widowed mother at 22, those extra dollars meant the difference between special treats for my children and just the necessities. Over the years I have made almost every type of garment and eventually started designing my own hand woven fabric to make one of a kind jackets for clients. Sewing has always been my passion, but life sometimes gets in the way and I don't get to do as much as I'd like.  I still have fabrics from back in the 50's  and a piece of the red seersucker cotton from which I made a dress in grade 7.   All these letters are an inspiration and make me want to crank up one of the 3 machines which are always waiting for me to get going again !  Thank you for the opportunity to write down some precious memories !!!!!

I learned to sew after starting to work in an office because clothes were so expensive and have been sewing every since.   That was 60 years ago LOL

Sewing was a requirement in the NYC public elementary school I attended; along with cooking.  Each semester, an item was sewn BY HAND.  The only sewing machine in the classroom was for the teacher, and we were not allowed to use it.  I remember making a cooking cap' drawstring bag; an apron; a plaid jumper, and believe it or not, we had to make our own graduation dresses to wear at 8th grade graduation.  The pattern for the graduation dress was predicated on the grade you received for making the plaid jumper, and how well you matched the plaid.  I got a C, so my graduation dress was rather plain.  It had a lowered round neckline with gathers and had a slender self-belt with an A-line silhouette and cap sleeves.  Plain or not, I was proud of it and it looked very well on me.

Rosemarie Greenwald, Westminster, MD

My FATHER taught me to sew after buying a portable Singer we found on the bulletin board at the local library.  I was 8 years old.  My mother wasn't interested in sewing and happy  to pass on the chores of hemming and sewing on buttons.  So I took classes at the local Singer store in the summers and never looked back.

My first job was at Jo-Ann Fabrics, where they had a program for the staff to make store models, with the store paying for the pattern and half the materials.  That way I could make outfits and get the store to subsidize the cost.  

Years later I was almost late to my own wedding since I was finishing the bridesmaids dress that morning.  After my little girls outgrew homemade dresses and switched to jeans from the Gap, I turned to quilting.

My newest passion is altering clothes from thriftshops, using all my garment skills from those early classes.  Who knows what will be next.

I learned to sew in 7th grade, when sewing was one of the home ec classes you could choose.  My older sister came home with a machine when I was 8, and I watched her make clothing.  I remember cutting out yellow shorts on my bedroom floor, not knowing anything about grain line or pattern markings.  I sewed them together, but I doubt I ever wore them!

Learn to sew?  I'm 87 and Still learning.  But, my first Home Ec class in 1939 was the beginning.  I made an I (for Inferior).  My project was a floor length, princess style housecoat!!  I have no idea Why I was allowed such a choice..and I finished it, at home.  It took almost the whole class to baste in the hem!!  First, when I turned it up, then I turned down the top of the hem, then when I basted it to the garment and finally when I sewed it in by hand.  I haven't basted anything since!!  But, I still love to sew!  Bety Uhl

I had a "filled out" big sister doll about 20" tall as a 4th grader, and my first sewing project was a blue plaid dress, a square in front, a square in back, a rectangle under each arm, and a strap over each shoulder attached to a gathered skirt.  it was all hand stitched, and even as I look at it today, it's not a bad job for a fourth grader. My sister about seven years older than me helped me, but mostly I taught myself the basics.  I liked looking at ready-made and designing and sewing without a pattern - or I might use a pattern for fit and change lines and style according to my imagination.  By the time I was in home ec. class in junior high, I'd made some of my own clothes so when I'd finish the simple project assigned, I'd help other classmates with their projects - one other girl was about my level of "expertice" and she also helped the others.  For my 8th grade graduation, a neighbor gifted me with several yards of a beautiful lavender stripe/flowered fabric.  I made a skirt, shorts, and crop top from it and enjoyed wearing it a lot that summer.  High school home ec. was when we made a dress with a more detailed pattern, and we helped the others when ours was finished -  the other girl and I were considered teacher's pets.  Why would anyone think anything else?!  I sewed lots of bath robes and dresses for several relatives during high school, and first year out of high school I sewed for many of my co-workers.  Following that was a party dress - I remember the covered buttons down the back with the row of button loops, lots of new experiences on that project, plus I learned to CHARGE since she gave me a whole $5.  What could I say?  I'd only spent about 20 hours on it and said "whatever you think".  My wedding dress and bride's maid dresses were a fun challenge for me, and home sewn gifts for many years for all my relatives followed. The quilted turtle tv pillows were a big hit.

As a grandmother, my grandkids think Grandma can make ANYTHING. One little grandson was upset because he came to visit and didn't bring his snow pants, so we went upstairs and pulled out an old coat, used the sleeves to make pant legs and he had snowpants to go play with the other kids in about twenty minutes.  That same grandchild came to me several years later and asked if I could make him a punching bag.  I said, I've never thought about that, but let's search online and see if we can find any instructions.  The suggestion was to use a duffel bag, but we used some of their ideas and cut up old bluejeans and put two legs together, darted in both ends, put a zipper on the top, then Grandpa helped him fill it with sawdust and I added some sand for more weight.  It still hangs on the wood swing set for almost a year later.  

Of all the gifts and talents I have, I most enjoy my artistic eye and my imaginative sewing skills.  I recycle a lot of used material into new items, such as turning a $5 leather coat from the second hand store into an antique chair seat covering.  My son's family has almost worn that out in ten years, so I'm watching for another leather coat with the right cut that I can use the seams of the coat to give the chair the right look again.

Judy Boysen, Havelock, IA

I have really enjoyed reading everyone's memories of sewing. Unlike most of you I learned to sew in 7th grade from my home ec teacher.My mom could only sew a button and maybe fix a hem. I have been sewing ever since with breaks here and there.I still have my first sewing machine I received in the 8th grade. Home Ec is alive and well in Southern Illinois. I teach what is now called Family Consumer Science at a small high school. Been teaching it now for 9 years. We offer clothing (sewing), foods, child development and a required class resource management. It can be very overwhelming in the low economic society we have but I do enjoy teaching this content area and also learning as I go. Still learning valuable lessons from a wonderful friend whom I consider to be a great seamstress.

I learned to sew from my grandmother.  She lived with us and she taught me how to sew on a treadle sewing machine as that's what she preferred to use.  Then my aunt who was a tailor helped me learn a lot of the "short-cuts" and  best ways to do certain things. My sewing experiences in school were all bad.  Our sewing teacher had only one way to do everything and that was all there was to it. If it had been only for home ec, I'd have never sewed again.  Sadly, my sister who is 20 years younger than me only had that class as Gram had passed onand had...yes... the same home ec teacher...she hasn't sewed much at all since until just a few years ago.  Sewing has been one of my passions since I was 8 years old...omg...nearly 50 years!!!  I've taught 4-H sewing and done alterations professionally in the past.  

I learned to sew from my Mother, who learned from her Mother.

Mom was making school garments for her sisters when she was 14.

I took Home Ec in 7th grade, and it seemed I already knew and practiced everything being taught, but I still enjoyed the class.  Mom like everthing to look perfect, so I had lots of practice.

I sewed nearly every garment for for myself and my daughter to save money, and because it was easy for me (pj's to fancy evening clothes).  I also made limited items for my sons and husband, and lots of home crafted gifts.  Now I am into quilting, and am still trying to get out of the BOX and do art quilts.

Mom passed at 91 and I inherited her sewing room-WOW what an inventory.  She really did a lot of sewing during her lifetime.

Penny Igl, Seattle, Washington

As I read these comments, many us us learned to sew at the knee of our mothers and grandmothers, but many from Home Ec. teachers.  I too, learned some from my mother and grandmother and in 4-H, but my 8th grade Home Economics teacher is the one that really turned me on.  From that time I wanted to be a Home Economics teacher (Family and Consumer Science).  This past June, I retired after teaching FCS for 39 years.  I think back of when I started in 1972 and hopefully, I challenged some students to really put to practice what they learned in my classroom.  I was never a teacher that made all of the students make the same thing.  It was a little more work for me, but I encouraged them to be individuals.  The last 10-15 years I introduced quilting into my classes.  These were mainly for 9th grade students.  The quilts were not perfect, but they were so proud of them    ( boys and girls) and you cannot put a grade on self esteem.  I would put their pictures out on the  bulletin board and they were so proud of their creations.  Some of my students were inspired enough that they in turn, also majored in FCS and are teaching.  It is sad in our schools when this ( and many other 'hands on') programs are being cut because of funding.  I have always looked on these classes as 'life skills' that can be used in their lives forever. The other thing that I was able to introduce into the classes was machine embroidery,  When high school students come to school at 6:45 am to work on projects, I guess that you are doing something right.  I would not trade all of the things that I learned teaching for 39 years and if I can teach 7th, 8th & 9th grade boys to sew. I guess anything is possible. I loved it.

when i was 11 or 12 a good friend of mine got me into girl scouts we had to do a project for others. my step father was an EMT so i thought of all the kids he helped or would help and how scared they would be at that time. so at the age of 11 i thought of making bears so my step father and all the EMT's he worked with could give the kids something to hold on too during their stressful time. it was the first time i ever used a pattern yes it was so simple. my friends grandmother showed our girl scout unit how to use a sewing machine for the most part all of us didn't want too. after this first week my friend made me a pillow that is when i knew i wanted to sew. after that gift i was no longer afraid of the huge sewing machine sitting in front of me. after that you couldn't stop me from sewing. i would sew quilts then take them apart to make another one if i ran out of fabric. my step fathers mother showed me how to use a muck larger pattern when i was 13 i made a long jacket. since then i use pattern when i have too but never read what they say i just look at pictures. i am so thankful for you tube since  now that i am 24 i live two states away from my grandmother and her skilled sewing. so for the most part i have been self taught. now i make purses, most are my own patterns. i have owned seven sewing machines in my life all have died to over use but one. i never got the class on sewing in school by my time it was gone. if there was one it was hand sewing a letter of your name which it was taught so wrong... lol. i will teach any one who is willing to learn i have a four and a six year old girls that love to watch me sewing and they are picking up things i do and they love all the stuff i can make and have challenged me to make things i didn't think i could.

My mum was a dressmaker and made clothes and costumes for a local entertainer as well as all our clothes. When mum was making a new glamour gown, my sister and I would lie in wait for the scraps - to make clothes for our barbies!   I didn't have much fun sewing at school, and really only took up making clothes myself in my early 20's.

These days I am an avid textile art quilter but also have a sewing business and teach beginners of all ages to sew by hand and machine. My youngest student is 4 and my oldest is 76!  They love all the projects they make and are so proud when they finish something because they made it themselves.  

I am blessed with really lovely students and have found such joy in teaching sewing. In fact it's hard to say who gets more from the experience - them or me!

Trish Alcorn,  Eudlo, Queensland, Australia

www.geckolodgetextiles.com.au

I don't know exactly how old I was, but it was years before my first needlework class at school, so I would guess about 7 or 8 years old.  I was self taught on my mother's hand sewing machine, which I think was her mother's and is now an antique!  She always told me that it was the first model that the Jone's company ever made around 1880 see here for the exact example en.wikipedia.org/.../File:Jonesflower.jpg Like many other people, I learned partly because I was interested, but mostly because of necessity.  I was a middle child of 8 and so always had hand-me-downs, which was okay until I got to the age where I wanted to be fashionable and keep up with my friends, so I started out by re-fashioning the cast-offs to follow the latest trends.  I got so good at it that my friends were even envious of my garments and wanted to know where I bought them! needless to say I never let on my secret.  By the time I had my first school needlework lesson at age 11, I had a really good head start on the rest of the class, but as money was very tight for my family, I often ended up making dresses from curtain fabric - in fact I can remember getting into trouble for cutting a section of fabric out of my bedroom curtains to make a doll dress - stupidly I cut it out of the middle as well and somehow thought that no-one would notice!  Sadly, these days (aged 55) I get very little time to sew, but at least if ever manufactured clothing became scarce, I would know exactly what to do to be well dressed!

I learned to sew from my mom, grandmother and 4-H. Since sewing has been eliminated from most of the school programs, 4-H is one of the only remaining programs to teach sewing skills to young adults.  I've been a 4-H leader for 15 years and would strongly encourage anyone who wants a rewarding experience of teaching the lost art of garment construction to get involved in a program. Your really do "Reap what you sew"! Of course learning to sew really never ends, I take classes when ever I can.

I learned in home ec. I loved making my own clothes. The first blouse I made was uneven all the way around and I had real trouble with button holes. Most people @ that time figured you were poor{ as we were} if you made your own clothes, but I liked to create. Still do but have turned to Quilting. Neena Simmons Reno NV

I first learned to sew in grade school home ecomonics. We were learning to

sew a basic apron, when a fellow classmate who was from a special class for the learning disabled, had accidently sewed into her finger. I just about cried when the other girls started to taunt and riducule her for being so stupid.  The following week, another girl had done the same. She was a popular and attractive girl,and her classmates came up to her with symphathy

and comfort...the complete opposite of what happened before. My first sewing experience

had taught me a valuable lesson for life. I became a closer friend to the first girl and took the humiliation with it.

I inherited my mother's machine and have been sewing for two generations since.

This is the only story that comes to mind.

I learned to sew in Home Ec. like most of the kids in the 70's, but I HATED it. We spent most of the first term sewing different types of seams out of pieces of old sheets to paste in a book. Then when we finally got to make an apron, we had to "press prepare" every seam BEFORE we sewed it, and after as well. It took me four months to make a stupid apron.. I hated it so much that I took woodworking the next year instead.

It wasn't until high school that my friend Maggie dragged me into a fabric store and forced me to pick out a pattern and fabric. When she and my Mom showed me the quick and easy way to sew, using fusible interfacing, etc. I was hooked for life. Thanks Maggie!

I recently brought some machines into our school and our church youth group and the kdis sewed lunch bags out of Kool Aid Jammers. The kids really enjoyed it, even the boys. I think everyone should have at least the basics of sewing, but the project has to be easy and motivating for kids. We want to turn them on to sewing, not turn them off.

My gramma and mom both sewed – gramma made her curtains, chair covers and some of her clothes on an old treadle machine; mom made clothes for me and my sister and our dolls on an old Singer straight stitch. I also learned how to do hand embroidery when I was a young girl and by the time I was in high school I was making all of my own clothes including skirts, blouses, dresses, culottes, vests, jackets, and even a full length lined hounds tooth wool coat matching the seams. When I was 13 I started working on a quilt with 3 inch squares from everything – gramma’s old curtains, my old clothes, and any other scraps I could find. With all of life’s interruptions, it took me 30 years to finally finish it but when I got done I have memories of my home ec pajamas, my doll clothes, my sister’s and my clothes, and lots of other happy times. I bought an embroidery machine about 7 years ago and now have a whole new array of fun things to make along with the quilts, blankets and clothes I make for my kids, grandkids, and anyone else who needs something. I am always amazed when I meet someone who doesn’t know how to sew or have any inclination to learn about it. I guess growing up with needles and thread and fabric made me think that everyone enjoys this as much as I do. I had 2 boys and one of them is adept with a needle and thread. When he went in the service he could sew on his own uniform patches. When he was 30 I bought him a sewing machine so he could do his own mending. I am now working on teaching my 6 year old granddaughter how to sew so some day she can inherit all of my supplies and stash for her own enjoyment.

Whenever someone sees one of my home sewn projects, almost every woman says, "I wish I could sew." My response is always, "Was I the only one who stayed awake in Home Ec?"

I started sewing when I was around four. I was a very active kid, and my mother was always looking for something to occupy me. I think my first sewing project involved yo-yos, probably for a doll's blanket. As I grew older the ante was upped, and my big dream at that point was being old enough to use my mom's sewing machine. By the time I got to 7th grade Home Ec (I don't even know if schools still teach this) and the first apron assignment, I was feeling pretty sassy and superior. I made clothes in high school; coming from a small town meant we all shopped in the same stores and I didn't want to see my outfit walking down the hall towards me. I had failures -- my choice for a high school Home Ec (we had a lot of Home Ec) dress involved satin and zippers on the cuffs, for pity's sake -- and enough success that I could sew costumes for community theaters and make some $$$. As an adult sometimes I sew, and then sometimes the machine gets dusty. I've got a small home sewing business now (thank heaven for a skill in this economy!), so the dust is on everything but my sewing machine. I tell my friends that there are inexpensive or free sewing classes available, but not one has followed up, even on my offers to get them started. Ladies, you are still sleeping through Home Ec! I get peace, satisfaction, an artistic outlet....I earn money, save money...you name it! I'm addicted to the amazement and pride on my husband's face when he sees how my latest project turned out. I will always get a kick out of someone cooing over what I made for their gift, the envy when I show pictures of kids in Halloween costumes I made, etc. Thanks Mom -- it all started with those yo-yos!

I learned to sew from my mother when I was really young. I sewed doll clothes when I was about 8 years old. My Mother made all my clothes on a White treadle machine which she had until the 50s.Since i am

80 years old, I learned to sew on it too. When my first son went to school in 1955, I made all his shirts to go to school school. I still sew but mostly quilts

Emmajane Van Vorce, Endicott, NY

I learned to sew from my mother, however my grandmother also sewed.  I to this day love to make dolls and stuffed animals as did my grandmother who made them for me.  My Mother was the one who taught me how to sew as she did my sisters.  I remember in my teen years that I decided to make myself a dress while my Mother was gone for the day.  I did great until the end.  I was trimming the last seam allowance when I cut thru to the outside of the dress. Not to be deterred by my mistake I quickly trim my dress over the spot, fortunately that worked out well and I was able to wear the dress.  Not sure what my Mother thought of my dress as I was not suppose to be sewing but doing other chores while she was out. To this day I would rather be sewing than anything else.

Had to smile; my mom was a home ec major in college, but she considered me to be unteachable, so I learned to sew from Miz Thomas, my Home Ec teacher in Junior High. She had a noticeable teeth-grinding tic after a semester with us putting salt instead of flour in the biscuits, and making giant holes as we frequently applied the seam ripper to our work. Miz Thomas' daughter Lucretia was getting married, so we also had to pick out our china, crystal and silver patterns. I think she was horrified that I chose black Lennox goblets--that must have seemed evil and boho to poor Miz Thomas back in the 70's, with her poodle perm and her perfectly set-in sleeves and darted waist-band dresses!

God bless the 4-H clubs! Iowa in the 60s was a great place to grow up and I learned to sew at age 10, with some supervision from my mom. I still have the square head scarf I made using mitered corners and my first garment - an orange apron. Sewing for my Barbie doll taught improvisation and I made many of my own clothes through high school and college, my wedding dress and then sewed for my kids.

Eventually my sewing skills got me into theater costuming where my favorite projects were the strange items for which there were no patterns....an 18' octopus, an ostrich, Joseph's technicolor coat, etc. My kids assumed I could make anything - so add 2 more wedding dresses to my resume.

I still love the magical way that a 2-dimensional piece of fabric can be coaxed into life to become a 3-dimensional thing, whether clothing, a costume or an art doll. Learning to sew was as important as learning to read music - a skill that has enriched my life for 50 years.

I learned to sew in home ec classes - starting in grade 6.  I took this fact totally for granted, but have learned to appreciate the wonderful teachers I had.  As a teen I made most of my clothes - certainly all my dresses.  Although I don't sew as much as I used to, this is a skill I value very highly - I feel for all the young people - no longer having these programs in the schools is a definite loss. I think having this skill gave me the confidence to try any "crafty" project., which has led to many other skills in art, crafts and creative work.. My last project was a bridesmaid dress for my daughter this fall.   I have been having fun with free motion quilting.  Favourite project lately - I did quilted books for my grandsons.  Next project is an advent calendar for the boys.  Creativity is a so satisfying!

When I was 11 I moved to high school and the project for the first year needlework lessons was to make an apron for cookery classes that would start the following year.  It took me a whole year to make this very simple apron!  My Mother's sewing skills were limited to doing 'sides to middle' on worn out sheets and basic kitchen curtains.  Suddenly we had a new neighbour who was a sewer and filled me with a love of sewing that has stayed with me all my life.  The first thing I made was a blouse from an old shirt of my father's.  How I loved tht blouse - I still have the pattern 50 years later!  I progressed from that to winning the Needlework Prize in my final year at school and then to making wedding dresses for my friends and then myself.  I get withdrawal symptoms if I can't sew.  I recently had a hip replacement and was back sewing within 2 weeks with the crutches stashed under the table!   I often think of that neighbour and wonder if she realised what she had started!  I get all my fabrics from Abakhan on the North Wales coast.  If any of you are over this way on holiday, you cannot go back home without a visit there.  Love to all sewers. Judy XX

I, too, learned to sew in 7th grade in jr. high.  Our first project was a straight gym bag with a handle that came up from the center.  I really wanted to make the kind with the draw string I had seen girls make the previous semester.  then on to the A-line skirt and gathered skirt, straight blouses without set in sleeves.\.  I also took advanced sewing and took off making a lot of my clothes, which I did for many years.  I still like to make clothes and I have to put pockets in every thing I make.  I also enjoy making costumes and have made many for Halloween.  Unfortunately, in my area, they have eliminated home ec. and shop classes in all the middle schools.  I feel sorry for the girls and boys who don't get to learn these important skills, especially when many of them might have a natural ability in those areas.

For all intents and purposes I learned to sew in 7th grade Home Ec class led by Mrs. Caffarella in Maywood Junior High.  She was very particular for which I'm grateful.  My sister isn't!  My sister is left-handed and sewing didn't come easily because most things are literally "geared" to right handers!  Think about scissors (which now DO come made for left-handers)!  Anyway, I'd always had a penchant for fashion as I drew countless paper dolls as a child.  Sewing came naturally.  I still sew for my grandniece.  I wish I had been less introverted and had gone to a school for fashion design...

I was in 4-H from elementary school through high school. Since my mother could not sew, I was sent to my grandmother's.  While she went to work, my Aunt Mary helped me with my projects, on an old treadle machine.  Since they shared a duplex, all I had to do was walk down stairs.  Eventually, my mom bought a sewing machine, hoping to make clothes for us girls.  When the nightgown she made me fell apart while i was wearing it, she gave up and let me use it.  I made most of my own clothes through high school and college. I had Home Ec, but hated the projects. Fortunately I had great mentors in 4-H.  My mom eventually took sewing lessons and became quite skilled at tailored jackets. I still sew and enjoy it very much.  

My mother started to teach me to sew in Brownies.  When I was in 7th grade, I went to the local Singer store for lessons, then in high school I spent summers with a distant cousin Julie who was a Singer sewing instructor.  Most of what I learned I learned on her Singer 401A during those summers.  I often accompanied Julie on visits to her custom sewing clients, for whom she made everything from bridal gowns to upholstery.  It was a great education.  For a long time, I made most of my own clothes, then took a long break when I had a demanding professional job.  About five years ago, I began sewing Victorian gowns in which to attend events for an organization I belong to and have been making all my own costumes ever since.  Today, I am interested in the 1930's, 40's and 50's and have switched to sewing items from those periods as well as continuing with the Victorian costumes.  I recently purchased an embroidery machine and am once again expanding my horizons!

First when I was five,  I started sneaking into my mom's sewing room and began trying to copy whatever project  she happened to be working on (originally a very 70's log cabin quilted vest)  I used her machine without her knowing and made my doll her very own vest.  When my mom found out, she laughed and said it would probably be best for her to actually show me how to use her machine safely  next time.  I've been sewing ever since!

I learned to sew over 60 years ago both at school in Home Economics classes (from Junior High School through my Senior Year in High School), AND at my beloved English Grandmother's knee.  My original projects were aprons, and my mother (a child of the Depression) firmly believed in "home made" Christmases.  Therefore, my mother, both grandmothers, and all my aunts received aprons for that first Christmas.   Also, "back in the day," we could still get kitchen towels in fabric called "flour sack toweling," mimicing that wonderful strong cotton that flour came in during the Depression, and housewives paid an extra penney or two for those flour sacks that had fancy designs on them.  At department stores, we could buy a stack of about 10 flour sack towels fairly inexpensively.  I would then purchase several yards of 100% cotton in various designs, and create borders for these towels to give as gifts, complete with mitered corners.  A lot of my gift sewing was done on my Grandmother's wonderful Singer treadle sewing machine.  

My mother had a 1950s Sears sewing machine, and on that machine I sewed all my clothes all during high school, and my college wardrobe as well.  I was given a brand new Singer Zig-Zag sewing machine as an engagement gift by my fiance, and I made my wedding dress on that machine.  That machine ran until it fell apart, creating all my babies clothes, their clothes as they grew to manhood, all their Halloween costumes, my husband's dress shirts, and a lot more Christmas gifts for family and friends.  

I've updated my sewing technology quite a bit since then, and thoroughly love machine embroidery these days.  Sewing has changed so much since I learned to sew, and the technology available to us is absolutely amazing.  And the range of incredible sewing products to enable the home sewer to create fantastic projects is incredible.  My grandmother would never recognize the sewing world today.  I thoroughly enjoy my sewing passion and hobby, and hope to be at my machine for years to come.

1950's white headband and apron.  Embroidered name on both.  I can still make an apron!  However the duvet cover would have been "better bought" than created.  Beginning again at 69.  Lori

I taught myself to sew from watching my mom.  She was surprised 1 day when I was 8 years old, to return to the house from outdoor chores to find me sewing away on fabric I had taken from her material drawer.  I continued on doing 10 years of sewing in 4-H.  Haven't stopped sewing since; altho my style & interests have changed many times on 60 years.  Grammo,  Fairfax, VA

My maternal grandmother helped me to make doll clothes when I was 8 ish - learned to use her TREADLE Singer machine!

I have the de rigeur Home Ec book somewhere but always got lousy marks because I was way past the pin baste sew of every single seam - teachers wanted to see it at each stage & it was simply tooooo loooonnnngggg for me to wait! I made my dress or whatever, then helped my friends - THEY got better marks than I did.  hahaha

Dawn

I learned to sew in Home Ec class in high school in 1968.  I made my own clothes in high school with the money I earned babysitting.  I also studied art for several years.  I can copy a photograph, create a pattern, and I can judge a person's size by sight without measurements.  I create custom bridal lingerie based on the design of the wedding gown.  This is a unique service and I don't believe anyone else does this.  I believe this is a gift from the L-rd, to be used for His glory because He desires that women understand their worth in the L-rd's estimation, to be a blessing to their husband, and for the husband to value the wife in a sacred union.  

www.sustenato.com

In seventh grade we took sewing.  The rule was if you didn't finish that week's work you had to take it home over the weekend and do it for homework.  My mother threatened us not to finish.  We brought our projects home where she taught us alternate and often easier ways to complete them.  I figured she knew what she was doing since she sewed many of our clothes and made our father a suit for their wedding from an old suit of our grandfather's.  Opa was 4'11" and Vati was 5'7".

That was in 1963 and we had been in the states for seven years.

I learned to sew from my  mother who was a tailor.  I started with doll clothes and went on to make my my own clothes using her Singer Featherweight.  I remember in 7th grade, taking sewing and having to make an apron and being so frustrated as I was already making my own clothes.  After explaining this to the teacher, who I was sure would let me make something else, only to be told that I had to do what everyone else was doing.  I hated having pins checked to see that they were straight for each and every seam and being slowed down with endless instruction I already knew.  I have my Mom's Singer Featherweight and still use it often even though I have a Husqvarna Viking machine.

Kathleen

Mother started teaching me to sew from the time she got her 1st sewing machine - a 1947 White (I was 5).  So by the time I got to Junior High and was required to take sewing classes, I could pretty well manage the requirements.  In 9th grade we were assigned to make a dress with the instructions to buy any cotton fabric we liked EXCEPT plaid.  Don't you know one girl showed up with the banned Plaid.  The not-too-patient teacher threw the fabric across the room yelling at the girl all the while.  I thought the girl would cry and I wanted to cry with her.  Then, of all things, the teacher handed me the fabric and said "here, help her match the plaid" because she knew I could already do it.  Bless that girl's heart and patience.  I don't remember my dress that I made, but I still remember that plaid dress and yes, the plaid matched.  

Mother started teaching me to sew from the time she got her 1st sewing machine - a 1947 White (I was 5).  So by the time I got to Junior High and was required to take sewing classes, I could pretty well manage the requirements.  In 9th grade we were assigned to make a dress with the instructions to buy any cotton fabric we liked EXCEPT plaid.  Don't you know one girl showed up with the banned Plaid.  The not-too-patient teacher threw the fabric across the room yelling at the girl all the while.  I thought the girl would cry and I wanted to cry with her.  Then, of all things, the teacher handed me the fabric and said "here, help her match the plaid" because she knew I could already do it.  Bless that girl's heart and patience.  I don't remember my dress that I made, but I still remember that plaid dress and yes, the plaid matched.  

i remember sewing for my dolls as early as 5 years old.  before that, my very

patient mother allowed me to have a needle and thread to string buttons from her box.  i continued the tradition with my preschoolers who had fun, never realizing that they were developing small-muscle skills at the same time.

I took Home Ec. in high school and learned the basics, i.e., preshrink the fabric, strighten the fabric.  I was afraid to use the machines, because I thought I might break them.  So, I really didn't learn until after I married and was pregnant for the first time.  A lady where I worked asked me if I wanted to buy her sewing machine.  I did, and I have been sewing ever since.  I bought books, and learned that way.  I sewed my maternity clothes and then clothes for my baby, halloween costumes, curtins, etc.  I still have that machine.  We had our 50th wedding anniversary this year.

After a sewing class in junior high school was an unpleasant experience, my dad decided that I "needed" to take a Singer sewing class so he signed me up.  That was my start, although I had been doing some sewing prior to the junior high class.  Our son decided when he was in high school he'd take home ec.  He absolutely loved the cooking, but he wasn't excited about the sewing.  As time was nearing the end of the semester, I was checking with him about his sewing project.  The answers were rather vague.   The end of the semester was stopped by a blizzard.  Grades came out, and our son didn't have a good home ec grade.  The answer was in the corner of his closet.  As I was cleaning, I found a bag containing the project with a note from his teacher to the effect that if he'd spent as much time working on the project as he'd spent talking with the girls in the class, he'd have earned an "A".  He never became a tailor as his great-grandfather had been!

My first sewing classes were in 7th grade primary school with 53 other students.  No one had the time to notice that I was left handed and my needle pointed in the wrong direction.  How I made the stitches illustrated with a needle pointing the other way I have never been able to fathom.  Not daunted, I bought a sewing machine, a pattern and some fabric and learned them hard way, by myself, with patterns with holes punched in them for markings - unlike the lovely informative patterns today.  Still hooked and my happiest hours are with my sewing machines - but forget the hand sewing after my difficult start!

I learned to sew from my mother and also took home ec in grammar and high school I remember when we first started, the teacher would make us practice sewing on a sheet of paper without thread in the needle. I have been sewing for approx. 64 years and still love it.  I am also a quilter.

Lucy