Let me tell just say one thing...I am completely self taught. I have never paid someone to teach me how to sew. Nobody sat down with me to show me how to use a sewing machine. I had to google search and use a YouTube video to learn how to thread my vintage machine that my parents handed down to me for Christmas a few years ago. That sewing machine also sat in storage for the first 3 years of my ownership before I even took the cover off since I thought I could never learn to sew because I didn't have time to take any classes. I am so grateful I kept hearing that damn thing call my name, because I did finally learn (my way, and my own pace), and now I make all of my clothes and my daughter's clothes, because I love it. Now I own 3 sewing machines. I am not intimidated anymore. Its awesome. I love it, and I want you to love it, too.
So where do you start? What happens first? Well, I assume you already have a machine. Maybe it was given to you by Aunt Blanche. If not, THAT'S OK! then the first step is researching machines. My chosen brands that I absolutely LOVE are Janome and Juki. I learned on a vintage DOMESTIC brand machine made in the late 70s. The thing that I loved about my experience is that, since it was a vintage machine, there weren't a lot of "extras" to deal with. It was slow, only offered 8 different stitches, and that was it. It didn't even sew button holes. Now, while that sounds like a nightmare for a more advanced sewer, it was incredibly non intimidating and very easy to deal with. As my skill grew and grew, I eventually graduated into needing a more advanced machine. (I also needed a serger, but that's a whole different blog post) Here are some resources that I put together to help you find yourself a good machine:
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I hope these links, and little bit of info helps get your wheels spinning on finding the right sewing machine for you! Stay tuned for my next post under Sewing 101.
xo.bree
