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Rentochops
02-11-2008, 11:50 AM
...anyone making their own clothes thesedays?

Anne
02-11-2008, 11:58 AM
I'm sure there were a few threads in here before the big crash. I can do hems and sew buttons on. :D

LorraineJ
02-11-2008, 12:04 PM
I used to do a lot of dressmaking but haven't made myself or Hannah anything for a while. I have got stacks of fabric, but no inclination to cut out, let alone sew up any garments.

blueshowbizz
02-11-2008, 12:31 PM
I made myself a snowman costume for our Halloween party at work on Wednesday night - does this count? :D

<a href="http://s186.photobucket.com/albums/x254/blueshowbizz/?action=view&current=snowman.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x254/blueshowbizz/snowman.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

Pam
02-11-2008, 12:38 PM
I used to make nearly all my dresses and skirts but haven't made any for years.
I used to be able to find patterns that I liked but can't now so I think that's why I gave up.

Anne, I hate doing hems, would rather start from the beginning. lol

Never do machine hems though.

I like the snowman's outfit. Well done.

LorraineJ
02-11-2008, 01:07 PM
I made myself a snowman costume for our Halloween party at work on Wednesday night - does this count? :D

<a href="http://s186.photobucket.com/albums/x254/blueshowbizz/?action=view&current=snowman.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x254/blueshowbizz/snowman.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>


Thats Fab Blueshowbizz.

artysam
02-11-2008, 04:31 PM
i do dressmaking, etc have a whole stash of material too LOL!!!

soopy
07-11-2008, 11:09 PM
Not me...sewing machines scare the pants off me :D

Sue

Sandra
07-11-2008, 11:30 PM
I made myself a snowman costume for our Halloween party at work on Wednesday night - does this count? :D

<a href="http://s186.photobucket.com/albums/x254/blueshowbizz/?action=view&current=snowman.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x254/blueshowbizz/snowman.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

Great costume!! Well done. Hope you had fun at your party too.:D

Wellington
07-11-2008, 11:37 PM
Great costume BSB - I'm in the same catagory as Soopy. The sewing machines at school used to eat my creations :eek:

blueshowbizz
07-11-2008, 11:40 PM
Thanks ladies :D

I'm thinking about putting a new sewing machine on my list for Santa this year.

Marie
08-11-2008, 01:46 AM
I have quite a new sewing machine, a Singer which I got last year which is really good and does loads of cool things! I got it to replace the very old (1970s) and basic electronic machine that was my mothers, I used to make things on it when i was younger. I suspect that the new one will really only be used for very basic things as I find that the time that it takes to make clothes isn't worth the effort. My mum used to knit and crochet most of our clothes when we were children as they couldn't afford to buy them, but nowadays you can kit a child out for school very cheaply in comparison. So I guess that's why people don't make their own clothes so much nowadays.

artysam
08-11-2008, 06:08 AM
I have a janome sewing machine which I love!! have had it for about 10 years now.

ERICS MUM
21-04-2009, 03:00 AM
I'm old enough that I went to school in the days when girls were taught needlework & dressmaking. I know how to roll a seam, french seams, turn and stitch hems, buttonholes etc. Skills that now by and large I don't use (aprt from hems, buttons. making curtains). We even learned how to mend holes in our school tights:eek::eek: which stood me in good stead when I started work and "wasted" my money so I never seemed to have a new pair of tights in the drawer!

I also made lots of baby clothes for my brother's and sister's and friends children but hand knits that really ARE hand knitted don't seem to be fashionable, although I see shops like Next, GAP etc selling machine made "handknitted" outfits.

I sound like an old granny but I'm only 53. To me, its startling to look back and realise how things have changed over the last 20 to 30 years.


Linda:cool:

PS no offence to old grannies, my mum is one.

Pam
21-04-2009, 08:45 AM
That sounds like the schooling I had ERICS MUM, I loved needlework but the teacher was very, very strict. We were also taught that you only hand sew hems, never machine them. lol

Little Jan
21-04-2009, 09:51 AM
Eric's Mum you are the same age as me,and I remember those type needle work classes , we had a very strict teacher of about 104:D with very thick bent nails on her hands, from as she told us all the hand sewing, enough to put anyone off:eek:I had to make my own cloths back then as I was so small nothing in the shops fitted me,only paper pattens that would fit me at 16 were aimed at 9 year olds:o so the teacher had me making my own patterns,I made all my own outfits untill I was about 25 but then dress making became too expensive and time consuming so I just bought larger sizes and adapted them, now my time is taken up by taking up lol, all my daughters trousers even though she not quite as short as me she is 5,1 but petit is still a little long in the leg ,as for me at a lanky 4,10 I have to shorten everything and have become a dab hand at hemming a skirt or trouser legs in no time at all and may I add all nicely by hand lol so my needle work lessons paid off in the end , most off my daughters mates could not even sew on a button let alone do a hem so I spent many years doing their alterations and making costumes for school plays where they had offered to do it and passed it on to me I have now told my daughter that at nearly 23 and becoming a teacher herself its about time she mastered sewing herself:p

kookietiger
21-04-2009, 10:10 AM
I'm afraid my "dressmaking" skills only go so far as to wonderweb a hem or sew buttons so I have much admiration for all you seemstresses :)
My Gran used to sew everything, she made her own curtains & matching furniture covers & was always immaculately dressed (in dresses, not curtains :D)
What is the most complicated thing you've made??

Jeanette
21-04-2009, 10:48 AM
I had needlework lessons like that. OMG how I hated it. Sewing did not and still doesn't. I was much better and woodwork and metalwork :D

LorraineJ
21-04-2009, 12:44 PM
I designed and made my wedding dress.

lolathelamb
21-04-2009, 01:15 PM
I'm old enough that I went to school in the days when girls were taught needlework & dressmaking. I know how to roll a seam, french seams, turn and stitch hems, buttonholes etc. Skills that now by and large I don't use (aprt from hems, buttons. making curtains). We even learned how to mend holes in our school tights:eek::eek: which stood me in good stead when I started work and "wasted" my money so I never seemed to have a new pair of tights in the drawer!

I also made lots of baby clothes for my brother's and sister's and friends children but hand knits that really ARE hand knitted don't seem to be fashionable, although I see shops like Next, GAP etc selling machine made "handknitted" outfits.

I sound like an old granny but I'm only 53. To me, its startling to look back and realise how things have changed over the last 20 to 30 years.


Linda:cool:

PS no offence to old grannies, my mum is one.

Snap! I'm also 53 and must have gone to the same lessons as you! We made pinnies, cushions and, wait for it, a pair of shorts! Then I moved o Cyprus and never wore the shorts! Later, I had more lessons and made a lovely polyester crimplene frock. Guess how much I wore that!

I can also darn - last time I used that skill was a few weeks ago when I found a very tiny hole in a newish top but didn't think I would/could take it back. Now It's an old top but I can still wear it - around the flat. Good darning but not my best way to present myself.

I knit a lot - friends keep having new grandchildren. But I am now knitting myself a summer cardigan - for next summer? No sewing machine now.

Good idea to revive this thread, Linda.

Little Jan
23-04-2009, 12:38 PM
I'm afraid my "dressmaking" skills only go so far as to wonderweb a hem or sew buttons so I have much admiration for all you seemstresses :)
My Gran used to sew everything, she made her own curtains & matching furniture covers & was always immaculately dressed (in dresses, not curtains :D)
What is the most complicated thing you've made??

Oh I've had a few of those.
My mate wanted me to make a christening gown for her son from her taffata wedding dress, no mean feat as I had no pattern and they lived in Lythams St Anns and I lived in Hertfordshire at the time. Measurements were done over the phone and the design was to, She wanted the full gown with lace odd for a boy but Her mother in Law was a stict catholic and wanted it all very formal, so I made a basic over long t shirt shape gathered in the sleeves and added some gold embriodery and I'm proud to say it met her MIL's approval.:rolleyes: I have also been lumbered with costumes to make when daughter was a school all with just rough measurements and also no patterns and then having to take out and add bits where they had got them completly wrong :eek:

Alice3_2009
28-05-2009, 10:55 AM
I was a dressmaker too. I made my first dress at Junior School (1965) and wore it in the school fashion show. My husband bought me a Compal Opus, an all-singing-dancing affair, and I only used the buttonholer and straight stitching. It would play up when I'd do my holiday sewing and I'd have to borrow my sister's.
It was easy to make my own clothes as a size10/12 as it was guaranteed to look the same as on the tin. Now 54, overweight with huge buzzoomz, nothing I make fits. I bought my sister's machine from her (she's a quilter) and now I have three sewing machines under my stairs.

Have you noticed that you can buy few machines that include embroidery...now it's either / or. Hmmmm that's a money spinner

Higgydig
29-05-2009, 12:58 PM
I used to make my own clothes, too, when I was young and slim. I remember in 1st year of High School we had to make our own PE 'skirts'. Mid thigh length with tons of pleats and a waistband! Never been the same again.

LoobyLou
29-05-2009, 02:34 PM
I went to the same lessons as you other ladies, though I am a trifle younger at 51. I remember our needlework O' Level (GCSE I believe now). We had to make HALF a pair of shorts as part of the exam. Just the lefthand side. What a waste of fabric and supplies.

I asked afterwards why half were not making the left and half the right and then someone could have stitched them all into full pairs and donated them to Oxfam at the very least!

We also had a choice of outfits to make for our exam, but made and completed like coursework is today. I remember I made a hideous nightgown and housecoat.

I cringe now when I think what I looked like in it, thank heavens it was for bed. I could have scarred myself mentally for life if I had worn that out in the real world.

Do we all remember Hotpants? I remember making myself a pair of vivid bright red satin ones with a bib. I thought I was the dogs in it. I found a pic the other day. Lord what a sight! My Mother should have tied me up and NOT let me out in that.

I quit sewing when they discovered a problem with my neck as the Consultant told me I was putting my neck under too much strain leaning forwards constantly to sew, but prior to that I made all my bedroom furnishings including the lampshades and wastebins and all my Daughter's clothes. I bet she was grateful when I was stopped from making any more. After all I might have made her the equivalent of hot pants.

Looby

Maryna Laas
20-01-2019, 05:46 PM
I'm learning to sew clothes - already sewed a skirt, pants, dress and children's shirt

Little Jan
21-01-2019, 10:10 AM
Well done Maryna and welcome to the forum
I used to make my own clothes as being very petite I could never buy grown up clothes that fitted
but patterns ,fabric etc is so expensive now
it’s works out cheaper to buy and alter clothes to fit

Lioness
21-01-2019, 11:24 AM
Welcome to the forum Maryna.
Reading back through the posts brings back memories
Secondary school needlework. First thing we made was a gym bag, then a cookery apron, followed by tennis skirt (Flat front which wrapped over and a multitude of pleats all the way around the back) All of these items we were expected to use at school. Actually this was quite smart because we were making items which did get a lot of use. I still have all of them and use the apron from time to time; the shoe bag is used as a clothes - peg bag and the tennis skirt is somewhere in a cupboard.
As LJ has mentioned it is not economical any more to make your own clothes, even trying to find places which sell fabric isnt that easy any more. I prefer to see and feel fabric so Internet shopping isnt really helpful.

Waterlily
21-01-2019, 02:37 PM
Well done from me too Maryna and welcome to the forum.

I too used to make most of my clothes but haven't for years now.

That was the same as me Lioness gym bag first with 4 pockets - one for t shirt, one for shorts, one for plimsoles and the other for hockey boots. It was on a coat hanger with your name embroidered in red. Then the cookery apron. The next thing was a blouse with a button up front where we learnt to do buttonholes by hand. lol

tricia
21-01-2019, 03:21 PM
Welcome Maryna, I too used to make my own clothes. Did a lot of outwork for a shop that included repair work or alterations. My daughter years ago wanted her wedding dress to be designed on the Jane Austen period. Took a little while as where we would use a zip my daughter had tiny buttons that I covered with the main dress material. That took me ages to do, then make the buttonholes all by hand. Couldn’t do that today as it’s too painful holding a needle for long. I let my daughter have my old sewing machine, then thought I will get a replacement but to be honest I think it has been out of its bag about three times since purchasing and that was over two years ago.

RozMinis
21-01-2019, 08:22 PM
Well done chuck, and a very big welcome to the forum from the mess in my Barnsley craft room. ;)

At one time I reckon I stitched for England, knitted too, as it was much cheaper than buying ready made. The only thing I didn't make were blazers and the school tie. The trouble is these days that kids are usually in deep doo doo if they don't have the regulation gear. It doesn't matter if it looks exactly the same, it has to be exactly the same, right down to the labels.

Haven't had my sewing machine out of its bag for over a year, which considering it cost me £270+ is ridiculous. Now I know that isn't expensive by some standards, but it worked out at 1.5 weeks pension. My dear old New Home that ended up too heavy for me to lift onto the table, cost nearly 3 weeks pay at nearly fifty squid. It should have been £55, but I bought it from Littlewoods catalogue, so got my 10% commission.

Loved it to bits though, just wish I could say the same for the Singer. Nothing exactly wrong with the thing, it just does too much. The New Home came with 20 cams to create decorative stitches, but once the novelty wore off, I hardly ever used them. Tiz the same with the Singer, 180 stitches, including 6 buttonhole, yet I will never use them even if I stitched each and every day, which I wouldn't. Why 6 buttonhole stitches?

Roz

Chalet School Fan
21-01-2019, 10:40 PM
The only practical lessons we had at senior school was 1 term of needlework when we were in UIII, aged 11. It was more important to learn Latin as it is a highly academic school!!!
We had to make a dress with a collar, sleeves and pockets. I still remember going to John Lewis on Oxford Street with my Mum to buy the pattern and material - I felt very grown up. But there was still an expectation we would be good needlewomen without any more training and we were expected to produce hand-knitted or sewn children's clothes to be displayed on Founder's Day every year before they were given to children's charities. I can't see any of the girls I teach now doing that - even 14 year olds seem to have very little idea about how to sew on a button - or make a bed when we stay overnight at hostels on school trips! I have always been thankful that organisations like Guides meant I had to learn skills like that and that I had a mother and grandmothers who had the time and patience to teach me.

Little Jan
21-01-2019, 11:53 PM
Oh the memories of needlework classes
I remember making a white Broderie Anglaise mini dress with legomutton sleeves for my exam
I messed up the under bust seam mainly because I had no bust so it would not sit correctly
I unpicked it so many times it looked a right mess so I got ribbon trim that had crochet Daisy’s on
Sewed it over the seam
Needlework teacher was impressed I had added my own design to the the dress so I passed with flying colours
Good job she never looked on the inside lol
All this was done by hand no sewing machine was used at any point

Going off subject here but we also had lessons in washing starching and ironing
How to make a bed with
hospital corners with the sheets
And general housework and how to budget the house keeping
How to wire a plug and darn stockings mind you this did come in handy when tights came into fashion
And you could by a little kit with different colour nylon thread to repair ladders in them
Those were the days kids up the chimneys,horse and cart delivering the milk
And the man coming round to light the street lamps
Joking about the last three not quite that old but I remember the Coal man,rag and bone man and chimney sweeps

RozMinis
22-01-2019, 10:01 PM
Used to love needlework and cookery lessons, especially the last term at school as we had one entire day, and half a day each week. One week it would be a full day of needlework, and half a day cookery, the following week it would be the opposite way around. The boys also had half a day cookery. I think it was because we were short of teachers, lost three in one term and only received one replacement. One full day cookery we made a picnic in the morning, then went off to Temple Newsam for the rest of the day. Brilliant it was as there were only eight of us including our teacher, so we were allowed to look at items that were not normally available to the general public.

The first item I made at school, different school, was a dirndl skirt, it took an entire to make, so it didn't fit by the time we had finished the thing. The first thing I made at the other school was an apron and hat for cookery lessons. From then on there was no stopping me, ending in the last term by my making a lime green duster coat. Lovely coat, but what a dreadful colour. Another of my mother's 'gay' ideas. Why on earth couldn't she settle on something practical, something I could have worn anytime?

Some years later when I wanted to make another coat, she just had to poke her nose in. Bright red, er no, red just isn't me. Pale camel colour, on a flippin' farm? In the end I settled for a brown/grey mix. Not her choice, but tough, she wasn't the one who was going to wear it.

Roz

Lioness
23-01-2019, 10:35 AM
My mum used to make absolutely everything, but as already mentioned in those days it was cheaper to make your own. She was so disappointed to discover that the material for our summer school dresses was not available anywhere (not even JL in Oxford St), and that she had to buy from the school outfitters at an inflated price.
These days school seems to be about league tables and ticking off items that need to be covered, rather than teaching children how to do practical things which could actually be useful in life. I did a stint in a primary school and the children had to make a stocking and embroider it. The lesson lasted 1 session (cannot remember if it was 1 hr or 50mins) and that was it. It was ticked off as being covered. Well how much can a 6-7 yr old do in that time? By the time they learnt to thread a needle several times because they kept losing the thread, the session had finished. So what are they going to remember from that lesson? nothing!

Chalet School Fan
23-01-2019, 05:25 PM
My mother made my school summer dresses in small check brown gingham, very tricky with bias binding on the yoke and white collar and cuffs. It was years later that she confessed to me that the white material came from recycling my Dad's old white shirts to save money. As I had a scholarship at a fee-paying school she thought I'd be embarrassed if I knew! She also knitted the jumpers with the school colours around the neck. Mine was much warmer than the thinner ones from the school outfitters.

RozMinis
23-01-2019, 07:58 PM
Hey Jan my gal, I remember chimney sweeps and coal man as recently as 16 years or so ago as we had a coal fire. I also remember the rag and bone man, a balloon or a goldfish. I reckon the balloon outlives the fish as we never had anything decent to put the poor little beast in. We used to have one of those 'stop me and buy one' cycle ice cream sellers in Roundhay Park. I remember the huge chunk of ice in the cabinet he wheeled around. Such a nice man he was.

I used to knit all the school jumpers/cardigans as (apart from me) the rest of the family were all gorillas. Always had to add at least two inches to the body and sleeves. In fact it is something Kate is always banging on about even now. She is a size 8/10, dunno how she does it, must take after her dad and granddad. The sleeves and body are always way too short, so she has to buy a larger size, preferably 14/16 for the correct length. Wonder if I have time to knit her something other than a scarf/hat for Christmas, or even her birthday at the end of November.

Roz