Throughout the month of April, I attended a garment construction course at a local vocational center. In my entire life, I have only sewn
two pieces of clothing. But, I've always wanted to make my own clothes... just never got around to it. This would be the perfect opportunity for me! I figured that since I already knew how to sew, I would be proficient enough to skip the beginners' class and enroll directly in Sewing II (Intermediate). Um, no... that was a horrible assumption on my part. Sewing pillows and stuffed animals from scrap fabric was definitely not sufficient experience to carry me through basic garment construction. I have never even read a pattern or worked with any notions (such as zippers, clasps, elastic, etc.) or a piece of fabric larger than half a of yard. There was going to be a serious learning curve involved.
Luckily, I was surrounded by amazing classmates and a wonderful instructor. Our teacher was Betty, a retired sewing machine saleswoman and small business owner herself. She owns a custom embroidery company (I forgot the name) and teaches a wide array of sewing courses. There were only four students- myself, a young gentleman named Joshua, a retired woman named Pat and another woman named Nina. Nina is hearing impaired so she had an interpreter; I guess, technically, there were five of us in class. I was the only student who has never sewn clothing. Everyone was extremely talented, especially Nina, and very eager to help me learn! On our last night, Pat taught me a really simple quilt block technique that I will definitely be incorporating into RagsReborn's pillows. (Not garment related but I found this new technique to be really exciting so I had to share!)
I'm gifting the purse I made to a friend as a birthday gift.
On our first class, Betty taught us the basic technique for sewing in zippers. We were told to make a small pouch. I decided that I wanted to make a purse instead. Betty was passing out extra zippers so I went home and immediately made the pouch we were originally assigned. (I didn't want to be a bad student and also decided that I needed something to store my sewing supplies in.) We randomly returned to zippers on our third or fourth night when she taught us two more zipper techniques - the centered zipper and lapped zipper. I was able to utilize the centered zipper just fine but I still need work on the lapped zipper. She was also going to teach us now to insert an invisible or concealed zipper but a couple of us didn't have the proper zipper foot attachment for our machine.
The real sewing began on our second night. I was unaware that we were to bring our own patterns and projects to work on. The course description erroneously stated that each student only needed to bring their sewing machine and would be provided all other necessary supplies to make a shirt and either a pair of pants or a skirt. The beginners sewing class provided group projects but the intermediate class was for students to work on independent projects with guidance provided by the instructor on an as-needed basis.
Since I was completely unprepared, Betty graciously provided me with basic supplies and I was able to construct the skirt that all the other students had already made in her previous class. She took my measurements, another first for me since I've never had clothes tailored for me, and I began working on the skirt. The skirt was an original pattern that Betty designed which consisted of several panels sewn together and held together by an elastic waistband. The skirt took me two nights to complete. (How the contestants on Project Runway construct their amazing ballgowns in 24-hours is beyond me!) I was picking up on all these little tips & tricks such as to always sew your fabric pieces from the bottom to the top because the clothes wear better that way. And to make sure all the inside seams are facing the same direction. I've been hemming my own clothes almost my entire life (#shortgirlproblems), but Betty taught me a new and much cleaner hemming technique that completely blew my mind. LOL
I brought the red fabric from home but I did not have enough to pattern and cut the nine panels that the skirt required. Betty let me rummage through her scrap fabric and I found the lighter fabric with almost the exact same print. Betty brought the wrong width of elastic for the waistband so instead of inserting one thick piece of elastic, my skirt's waistband is three skinny pieces of elastic inserted next to each other. I think I became pretty good at working with elastic after that. LOL I wore the skirt to work and to our next class; everyone complimented me on how nicely it turned out, especially for a first project. I was feeling good leading up to my next project... a maxi dress.
Betty chose the pattern for me after assessing my skill level. She said the dress was a good pick because it incorporated sleeves, gathering, and pockets (all new techniques I'd have to learn). She suggested that I purchase a two way knit jersey fabric. As soon as I opened the pattern, I was immediately lost. I had no idea what the words "stitch length," "selvage," or "grain line" meant. Since I was the new student of the class, Betty spent a lot of the class time helping me. I felt a little bad for monopolizing her time so I began to work a lot with Joshua. He was working on a dress for his mother. Since we were both sewing dresses, it was easy to help one another out.
At first, working on the maxi dress was great fun. I traced and cut the pattern just fine. The bodice construction was fairly straightforward. The sleeves were a bit confusing but I managed. (I plan to reuse the bodice pattern to make some cute shirts and crop tops.) Then came the skirt... which was
not great fun. The skirt used about a yard of this light and flowing jersey fabric. I've used jersey a bit before this class but it was only a few 10" x 10" pieces. Working with an entire yard of the stuff was a different story. It took me a couple of nights to sew the two skirt pieces together and sew the hem. Then when it was time to gather the skirt and attach it to the bodice, my sewing machine broke! The jersey kept getting caught in the machine. Betty, Joshua and Pat each took turns inspecting my machine but couldn't diagnose the issue. Betty even went so far as to clean my machine for me. No one wanted to tell me to my face but the problem probably wasn't with my machine, instead it was me and my lack of experience. (:_:) I struggled a little longer but then Pat took pity on me and let me use her super fancy sewing machine--which was amazing; that machine sewed all on its own--for the remainder of the class. It took me a couple of hours and many many redoes but I finally managed to attach the skirt to the bodice and complete the maxi dress. There are errors all over this dress but it fit when I tried it on and I'm claiming that as a victory.
It looks so frumpy and shapeless on a hanger but I swear that it does look a lot better when I'm wearing it.
Even though it is so incredibly far from perfect, I plan to wear my dress out in public. It is my first ever fully constructed garment and I am proud of it. Each time I made a mistake, I was able to receive instruction from Betty, Joshua or Pat on how to correct it and sew it better the next time I tried. I have even more respect for designers, seamstresses, tailors and other sewists after struggling through this dress. I've always known that I'm a hobby sewist trying to play with the big girls but I feel a little more accomplished after this class. While I enjoyed using a pattern and following instructions, I much prefer making up my own patterns and sewing according to my imagination instead of prescribed techniques. But I'm not giving up on garment construction just yet. I am seriously considering taking a pattern drafting and design class that Betty also teaches and I've already signed up for a sewing retreat with the Oklahoma chapter of the American Sewing guild. Pretty soon I'll have a closet full of Erica-made clothing!
