My sewing sham...

[MystyDeb]

I dont sew.
One of the family jokes is about the one time I tried to just replace the straps on a swimsuit...and instead of right to righ and left to left....I ended up with what looked like a shopping bag! My teen daughters laughed until they cried.
So...Im trying...and my daughter says she wants a purse....seems easy enough...until I get to the little "strops" on the side that have magnets. The magnets stick to my machine and wont move. Then I make them move and break the needle (3 times). Then being stubborn I think ..Okay....I will move it with the foot up and pull it and.....and the magnet "pulled" the needle....right through my finger! Through the bone! ewwww! I can still feel the sqeaky ewwy feeling (actually didnt hurt that much...must not have that many nerves in the finger?)

I get feeling so darned tired. Why is sewing such a challenge for me? I look at some of your albums and Im so jealous!!

Just needed to vent
Deb

[crazygranny]

MystyDeb I hope your finger is alright Can you put the magnets on last after you sew the pruse together ? If you can I would take the magnets off then put them on at the end . you well get it just take one thing at a times and if it has instuction with the pattern just read them and follow them . You well learn we all just started like you just keep hanging in there and it well get easier .

[Shastasmom]

MystyDeb, I did the same thing when I first started sewing. I was all alone at home, & was trying to hem some jeans. Well you know how thick jeans are at the seams. I was trying to push the jeans thru and the needle when right thru my thumb all the way. Like you said, it didn't hurt that much, but knew I couldn't sit there until someone came home, so with my left hand I turned the wheel, until the needle was out of my thumb. Never did that again, and now I'm real careful when ever I had a stubborn seam to sew over.

As Crazygranny said, just keep at it and you'll get it. If you can do Machine Embroidery, you can sew.

[Anael]

It will get easier, just start with easy projects with instructions either written or with pictures. Straight forward projects and you will see you can do it. As already said, we all started this way and we all had to learn. Just don't give up.

[Phillipa]

It does get easier Mystydeb. I was fortunate to learn sewing while at school and had a Nanna who patiently taught me how to hand sew, embroider, crochet and knit. Over the years I got more practised. Now I am learning machine embroidery and that to me is a steep learning curve. I am willing to share my amateur efforts with every one, but know each time I embroider I am learning something new. perhaps you need more simple projects to create and then sneak the more ambitious in as you gain confidence. Maybe get a pattern and make yourself a simple camisole using broderie anglaise, or a very fine cotton and then embroider it with little flowers. If you can understand a pattern you can create almost anything. I just wish my ME was as professional as my garment making and I too look at the albums on this site and wish......

[motoandnutty]

MystyDeb - how about trying some of the 'in the hoop' projects? There are plenty out there, from purses to crayon rolls and many in between!
Once you start producing things that you feel proud of, your confidence will soar - and so will your ability!
I am not so very good at machine sewing (I tend to blame the rickety sewing machine that I own, when things go wrong LOL) so most of my life I've sewn EVERYTHING by hand with a needle and thread.
Since I became the happy owner of an Embroidery Machine I've been producing some wonderful projects that would have taken weeks to do 'the old way'.

[MystyDeb]

I did have a better sewing day yesterday. My problem is with patterns. I just dont seem to "get" them. They might as well be in Japanese! (Why dont they make them more user friendly?)
Anyway, yesterday I found an old pair of coverall shorts one of my daughters used to wear constantly and to my surprise, The purse I made out of them is actually cute! (She might even use it?)
Thanks for the encouragement!
Phillipa...you were very blessed with a nanna Im jealous!

Deb

[crazygranny]

I had problems with pattern in the begining when I was learning to sew and I brought pattern that say easy pattern and when I was able to do them with no problem then I went to a little harder one . The more you do it it well get alot easier and thing well fall right in place . Just hang in there and don't give up . You well one day be just as good as everyone is. They were like you at one time to.Just some of us has been doing it longer that all.

[bgood]

Hang in there you can do it, like everyone said it just takes practice and before you know it you will be sewing just like everyone else.

[jstitch]

Congratulations on your purse success, MystyDeb! It does seem as if patterns are written in a different language until you get the hang of it. I agree with craqzygranny--start easy and work your way up. Usually patterns are graded as to difficulty level, so just start slowly. You'll be up and running in no time.

[Sonia]

Where is the picture, MystyDeb? We would like to see your success!

Sewing is not difficult to do at all - here are some quick guidelines:

1. Keep fingers away from needles.
2. Keep fabric away from too hot irons.
3. Keep pets away from fabric, patterns and pins.
4. Keep the phone off the hook while reading pattern instructions.
5. Keep a handy stash of chocolate close by.

Follow the above and you will be sewing like a pro in no time at all!

[LouAnne]

I was also blessed with many seamstresses in the family. I grew up thinking all women could sew. It will also help to know that different pattern companies have reputations for difficulty levels. All patterns have instructions that were written by "geniuses" who don't know how to make the directions for us "normal" people. Mom had a favorite saying, "If all else fails, read the directions."
Purses are not for beginners. Bags are, however. Take baby steps, and soon, you'll be running with the rest of us. And, we all have our weak areas. Mine is setting in sleeves. I can do it......... just don't like to and, for some reason, they are hard for me.

In the USA we have so many different pattern companies. I don't know about other places.
1) McCall's makes the easiest ones (to me)
' Easy Stitch 'n save ' are cheap and simple to work with.
2) Simplicity makes easy ones, too
' NewLook ' patterns are inexpensive, also.
3) Regular McCall's run the rest of the ranges
4) Regular Simplicity, next.
5) Butterick are really more difficult, for the most part
6) Vogue have always been reputed to be for the pros
7) Folkwear are for costumes and Folkwear from different countries.
The ones I have do have good instructions.
Vogue and Butterick are also noted for having a bagillian pieces. I'm sure there are a few simpler patterns in their books. Just look for less seams and fewer pieces to work with.

NOTE: I always check the layout section of the pattern directions. You must be on the allert for pieces that need to be placed on folds, the biase, and the ones that you cut many multiples of.

I would also stay away from dresses that need zippers in the back, too. Zippers are something you really need to get practiced with. Zips in the top of purses and bags are good for learning. When a zipper is put in sloppy...... everyone notices, no matter how well you did everything else.

And, to add to Sonia's list.......
6. keep the coffee coming. I have to have a cup of coffee or tea ...... a safe distance from the work area ..... yet in reach of my chair, at all times.

Never force the fabric faster than the feed dogs are feeding it through. Besides bending the needles and breaking them; if this happens enough or even once with great force, you will get "burrs" on the throat plate that will snag some fabrics. These burrs can usually be smoothed down with an emory board. Also, hitting the throat plate will cause the needle to have a tiny "hook" on the end. It is the same with pins that have been poked into hard surfaces over a period of time. You can feel 'em. I discard "hooked" pins and needles. They only give you grief.

[teddy_rn]

This may sound weird but I have been sewing literally all of my life, my mom was a professional seamstress so she would have me string thread spools onto shoelaces. I made things on yarn cards too. By 9 I was making shirts for customers. I was even a machine embroidery instructor for free motion embroidery.

My problem was I could not manage a quilt block!! Formal gowns were not a problem but a 12.5" block reduced me to tears!! 18 months ago I was taught how to cut and put things back together again.

My point is that we are all very good at things yet have others that present a challenge! I am constantly amazed at the things I have learned to do while frustrated over what I have not learned yet. I can't wrap my brain around this digitizing thing! That will be another thing to learn in the next couple of years.

Please know that time, practice and patience are the keys to learning. There will be messed up projects, broken needles and tears but there will also be blessings and treasures.