Sewing Lesson: Why Everyone Should Learn to Sew

This is the first in a series of sewing lessons, a sewing class for beginners. This first lesson I’ll show why everyone, male and female, young and old, tall and short, should learn the basics of sewing. It occurred to me not long after I started the quilting series that some of you might need a re-fresher course in sewing…or perhaps the first ever lesson. Some of you–I do shudder to think this is true and yet I know it is– may never have picked up a needle and thread, sewn on a button or repaired a ripped seam. I do believe this makes our great-great-grandmothers roll in their graves.

You see, back in the days of yore, every woman knew how to sew. Many men did too for that matter. They simply had to. Unless they were wealthy beyond compare, they would have to do most, if not all, of their mending and at times, needed to make their own clothes from scratch. Of course, even the wealthy would know how to sew, embroider, crochet and/or knit and not just for passing time. These needle crafts were useful in re-fashioning and refreshing old clothes, for decorating their fine homes and for gift giving either for friends and family and also for giving to the poor.

Now, you may be saying, “But I can go down to any store and get really good clothes and all that other stuff, too. I don’t have to know how to sew.” Really? You never pop off a button? You never rip a seam? You have never had a skirt or pants hem fall down? You’ve never had to take in a dress? You never had to sew on a boy or girl scout patch? You have tons of money and you can just run out and get new things to replace these garments? Lucky you! The rest of us are not so lucky.

Some of you will counter with, “But I can get someone else to do all that at the dry cleaners. Almost all of them provide this service.”

Indeed they do, but at a considerable price. It’s almost criminal!  Do you know how much it costs to have a pair of pants hemmed professionally? I’ve seen as much as $10 for your basic mending. It shouldn’t take more than a half hour for an experienced sewer to hem pants or a dress and for a beginner perhaps an hour. Learn how to do it yourself, that’s ten bucks in your pocket. That’s just from one item of clothing. What if you had a ripped seam, two pants to hem, a dress to take in and three buttons to be sewn? You may have to hand over your whole paycheck. YIKES!

Now are you ready to learn? I certainly hope so. Then by all means do stick around and learn how to sew. It most certainly won’t kill you to know this and it will come in handy. I can guaranty that.

You may want to pass this knowledge along to your kids as well, especially those college-bound kids or grandkids and/or those almost-grown-up-semi-adult kids who insist they are ready to “seek their fortune” without help from anyone. Reminds me of the three little pigs. We all know what happened to them, don’t we?

So, in future posts I’ll be showing you the most basic of basics of sewing and I will assume you know nothing. I hope that doesn’t offend, but it’s best to start at that point. If I assume anything, I may miss something crucial and I wouldn’t want to do that.

Next time on Sewing 101: Basic sewing notions

*Some parts of this were taken from a Glory’s Garden Post*

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Glory Lennon is the first to say, “We need to do things for ourselves if we want it done right.” Of course, you have to learn how to do things correctly before you can do that. She’ll help you with sewing and other needle crafts. For more thoughts and ideas on sewing visit the craft room at Glory’s Garden.