As you can see from the blog title, this blog will be about sewing. I'm still a newbie sewer, hence the title sewist-in-training. I'm always learning. I still feel like I'm a sewer, not yet a sewist. (In my mind there is a difference).
Here's a bit about my sewing background.
I went to sewing classes from about age 10-12 or 13. My sewing teacher was a nice older Japanese lady, Mrs. Izumi, and the school was run by another older Japanese lady, Mrs. Hamada. My mom enrolled me in sewing classes because she is a sewist (that's right, -ist and not -er) and has found the skill useful and rewarding. She actually sewed her own wedding dress! I actually liked those lessons.
I learned to sew on old Singer sewing machines. You know, the black metal ones pretty much built into the sewing table? Those sewing machines.
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| Like this sewing machine, minus the treadle. There was a whole room full of them. |
Luckily, they were electric. I can't imagine a 10 year old me sewing on a treadle machine. That would have been horrible. The school did have one though, in the back room where the irons were, that was used solely for making buttonholes. Only the teachers were allowed to use it. That was probably wise on their part. Anyway, the cool part of the sewing classes was that they would draft patterns for whatever I wanted to sew. I still have all the patterns they drafted for me...somewhere. I should really go look for them. I do know that I made some tops, shorts, and a cute little purse (omg the piping they had me make myself). It was a great experience and I definitely learned a lot.
However, I did not learn how to sew from a commercial pattern. They would just tell me what to sew next and how to do it. That's why I eventually stopped taking the class. Well, that and I was getting busy with other things. I didn't sew again for years. Just about a decade. That's when I sewed a chanchanko for my friend's daughter on my mom's sewing machine. It was exhausting, and my mom helped me and basically read the pattern and told me what to do. I took a long nap after that endeavor.
The next time I sewed was when I decided to try to sew little outfits for my pets. I have a bunny and dogs and I started making some cute little things for them to wear like capes, bandanas and bows. I then decided to open an Etsy shop to sell my bunny outfits (it's called ToffeeCrafts in case you're wondering). That was last October (2015).
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| This is my bunny Pillows in her superbun cape. |
I still have the shop (and recently added bunny tuxedos and am working on a bunny aloha shirt), but I really want to get into sewing more for me. As in clothes. That are made to fit me and my *special body*. So, that's what this blog is going to be focused on. My adventure in sewing clothes with the occassional pet stuff post. I also will probably be sewing clothes for my family too, so there will be a variety of *special bodies* to sew for! I hope that other beginners will find this blog useful! I know I definitely learn a lot from other sewing blogs.
On to my next project!
Happy sewing!
-corrie
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