Friday, September 2, 2011

Nat'l Sewing Month

With September being National Sewing Month, it got me to thinking about how I started sewing. I did not grow up in a home where sewing was a mainstay. But learning to sew in high school gave me the basic skills of garment sewing. Does anyone remember the days of pant suits and mini skirts??

I remember sewing garments and actually wearing them :-) It was truly amazing to me that I could make a wearable garment.

It wasn't long before home made garments went out of fashion when it became less expensive to just buy pre-made clothes.

After my second child was born, I decided that I would like to make a quilt. So I took a quilting class at the local craft shop, as there were no quilt shops at that time. We cut everything out with scissors and used cardboard templates. Talk about the dinosaur age! Then my sister in love learned about the rotary cutter and how to make a Quilt in a Day created by Eleanor Burns. Boy did that ever change my quilting.

If you would like to do a fun little project, hop over to I Have a Notion blog and take Kelly's challenge. Do you remember who taught you to sew? Wouldn't it be fun to acknowledge that person and send them a little note telling them what an impact they made in your life?? So tell me, who taught you how to sew?? It truly is a gift of stitching :-)


6 comments:

Kathy ... aka Nana said...

My mom taught me to sew and to quilt ... although I didn't actually make a quilt until almost 13 years later. No rotary cutter, although strip piecing had just been introduced ... I made a log cabin quilt for my DD that has recently had to be retired as it was so well worn ... I mean well loved. ;-) I hand quilt (but it's my most favorite part ... piecing is merely a means to an end ha!), so I don't have a whole lot of finished quilts under my belt. ;-)

Unknown said...

My step mom took the patience to teach me to sew one summer during my visit there. I learned to make clothes and we made a quilt together. Then I did not sew for a while until my son came along and he loved to pick out material for shorts in the summer so I did that. I then met my BFF Becky who introduced me to quilting and block of the months and there has been no turning back since. I love to sew it is my relaxation and every one who sees what I make cant believe i sewed it.

Allie said...

I FLUNKED sewing in high school - hated it and couldn't stand my teacher. I made my first quilt with no classes, no books, just a vague notion of what I was doing. How in the world I ended up here is beyond me, lol!!!

Crispy said...

I learned to sew in jr high school and made my own clothes well into my working years. A friend was having a baby and I decided to make a quilt, bought a dresden plate kit and sewed it all by hand. I enjoyed the process so much that I have always made my quilts by hand. Now you can't get me to even sew on a button. Oh, I am totally self taught in quilting too.

Crispy

Mary on Lake Pulaski said...

Yes, I remember pantsuits and mini skirts Jocelyn! I was inspired to sew by my Grandmother, but really taught myself to sew. Sewing my own clothes was the only way to have clothes to wear starting high school after wearing a uniform for eight years of grade school.

Cheryl's Teapots2Quilting said...

Don't forget all those pantsuits were in double knit. I was gifted a hexie quilt in double knit. A few of the blocks were made from corduroy. Those block fell apart. Now I need to find some double knit to fix the quilt. Oh for my grandmother's fabric box. Lots of double knits in there.