Last year, I finally started on my sewing journey. I remember it was a tricky start for me personally, since I knew sewing is a relatively more expensive hobby to pick up. After all, even before jumping in, I knew you would need a machine, lots of fabric, and knowledge about fabric shaping to make nice things. And that was my goal, I wanted to make things I could wear in public. But everything else about sewing was very intimidating.
I also couldn’t afford a machine, nor did I know where to find one. But it didn’t hold me back from learning everything I could. Out of excitement and blind confidence, I began learning without a machine.
In hopes that the journey can be easier for you if you are thinking about getting started, but don’t know how, here’s how I got started and some curated resources so that you can save some time and energy.
My Hands
When I got started, I resolved that hand sewing is just as important to know as machine sewing. While I wasn’t wrong (and I if I had to do it all over again, I would still start with hand sewing), my hands did get quite tired after my first two or three garments. (Having a thimble probably would have boosted my stamina by a lot looking back, though.) But that wasn’t before a lot of valuable sewing knowledge really stuck with me.
In fact, the slow burn really reinforced basic sewing concepts. The machine was definitely too fast for me at that time, and I would have definitely been fixing more mistakes than I would have liked, and perhaps would even have been discouraged.
Hand sewing provided a lot of positive reinforcement – and had virtually almost NO negative outcome – which was just what I needed in order to keep going.
However, before I made the leap to making my own garments, I actually started with doll’s clothes. I would highly recommend this book.
Surprisingly, this book makes very realistically tailored coats and other garments on a much smaller scale. In fact, it was written for hand sewing. I didn’t expect to learn how to line coats or make several types of well-made pockets the first few weeks into my sewing journey… but here I was, having a blast.
Tools and Resources
Keeping sewing affordable is a top priority. You have to know if you will even stick to your new hobby before you invest too much money into it. Here are a few affordable resources you can try.
Remnants section – your local craft or fabric store is likely to sell remnants. Those are leftover fabrics from bolts that are a yard or less (sometimes, there could be more!) I go to my local JoAnn, and I can get a a few yards of different fabrics. I can easily get enough for a new blouse, skirt, and a couple of accessories, and it would add up to roughly $10. It’s definitely enough for someone wanting to start out.
It’s also a great way to sample and learn about different types of fabrics.
Dollar stores – Dollar stores are always a fan favorite. And these days, they have a great supply of crafty goods of all kinds. Recently, I saw them stocked with fat quarters with some really cute patterns on it. A lot of dollar stores also have really efficient sewing kits as well in the home section.
Free patterns online – My personal favorite is Mood Fabrics. I’m still exploring more free sewing pattern resources, but I think you’ll have a high chance of finding what you’re looking for at Mood as a beginner. They have a little bit of everything.
My first patterns were very easy. They were the Boxwood Hoodie and the Savannah Shacket.
And of course, the next resource is also free, but needs its own section.
YouTube
YouTube really is a great teacher, especially when you are just getting started with a new hobby.
Easy visuals and explanations are vital for learning how to sew. I’ll share my favorite vloggers below and why I love them so much. I still look forward to their latest videos!
Essentials Club – Maddy makes sewing seem effortless and relatable. She keeps her tutorials clean, simple, and easy to understand. She is also very trendy in my opinion, and I referenced her recent tutorial for the Ganni top. It turned out great!
Jenna Phipps – Jenna loves to get creative with her projects, and I love that she takes you with her through every step of the process. I’ve learned a lot from her mistakes, and I love seeing her projects end up successful at the end.
Paperstxrs – Most to all of Ally’s videos are a tutorial, and most of them are very fun dresses. Her work ranges from simple sundresses to her own Met Gala designs and definitely everything in between. I think I’ve seen almost all of her videos, and she doesn’t hesitate to share sewing tips and hacks for seemingly complicated techniques.
From Carly B – Carly bring so much positive energy to her videos. I love that she mixes her fabrics together to create colorful scrappy garments. She specializes in ruffles and has a lot of technical knowledge, which she also freely shares throughout her videos.
CaitMakes – Caitlynn’s style is a bit more form-fitting and isn’t afraid to challenge herself with more complicated sewing patterns as a result. She finds really great free patterns for garments in my opinion, and the fun she has while sewing her garments is contagious. She also likes to share what she’s learned with every new garment she makes.
WithWendy – Wendy may be the most popular sewing vlogger on YouTube taking into account the number of subscribers and views that she has accumulated. I think she’s been around the longest as well. A lot of her still very relevant and helpful videos can go as far back as 2016.
She has covered a lot of ground with sewing tutorials. The craftsmanship of her self drafted garments really show her skills, and shares everything she learns with us.
Kiana Bonollo – Kiana’s clothes look very professionally made. She knows what she’s talking about, and uses “next level” tools to make her clothes. She shows her viewers how to use these tools as well.
Final note:
Recently, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that you actually don’t need too much know-how of fabric manipulation to make wearable clothes. I’ll cover the basics of sewing in another post. But my advice to anyone getting started is to clone your own clothes. It makes sense! Your favorite t-shirt or pants have already gone through the shaping process by other designers. Cloning your favorite items have a high likelihood of success and satisfaction. It builds a great foundation too, because you can use those templates to create more clothes catered to fit you.
If you are about to start on your sewing journey, I believe in you and I want to let you know it’s really fun! Once you learn some foundational basics, you can really take off and reap the rewards quickly.
Till next time, xo.
Note that am not affiliated with any of the brands, authors, or organizations mentioned in this post.