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I also do my own and have for years and I finally broke down and bought a sewing machine last year and love it and have made several pillows and little things like little pouches for stuff . I remember the nuns teaching us sewing and one of my classmates already knew how to sew so sister put her to work helping the others . That class mate could make an outfit for her overnight yes she was that good and I'm sure when she had her own kids she probably taught them to sew as well . at least I hope she did she was good .
I can sew on a button, mend a tear and do a simple hem on casual garments if it doesn't require cutting. I recently lost 20 pounds and took my more expensive pants to the tailor as I don't know how to take in clothes. I also iron because I refuse to wear wrinkled clothes.
OP - you are right that many of the thing we learned in Home Ec don't seem to be taught anymore.
Hemming has never been an issue for me, I'm tall. I can sew on a button, and stitch a seam if necessary. I work for a non-profit thrift store. At the moment, we have 6 sewing machines for sale, but I never learned how to use one.
I know how to hem a skirt, but I have no one to mark them for me. Pressing fabric and sewing it is OK for casual garments, but "better" clothing should be marked while you're wearing it. Though pants are a bit easier in that respect, dress and suit pants should be measured.
I'm in the same dilemma--no one to do the marking for me so any dresses/skirts go to the tailor.
For me it really depends upon the fabric. If it's a pair of jeans or poly-cotton pants that's no problem. I measure the length against an existing pair of pants and keep trying on the new garment on until I'm satisfied with the length. I'll either stitch them on on my sewing machine or hem them by hand. However, I have knits professionally done as I don't have a surger and find knits too hard to work with. My arms are short and almost all coat/blazer/jacket sleeves wind up covering my hands so in that case I'll take the garment to the tailor for fitting. As you might guess, I'm a big fan of 3/4" sleeves.
The "irony" is that my summer wardrobe needs to be ironed while my winter wardrobe consisting of jeans, knits and sweaters, does not (I hang everything) I have lots of clothing so I might iron 2-3 times over the course of the summer, and it always seems like I pick the hottest day of the year to do it
I recently discovered wrinkle release spray and it does a decent job of smoothing out knits and my poly-cotton pants and capris. You can get a knock-off brand at the Dollar Store and it works just as well as the Downy brand.
I do my own but I do hate buying something new that has to be altered right off the bat.
why shouldnt new clothes be altered right off the bat? unless it is tailored new, it would be off the shelf made to a generic size, it isnt tailored/fitted to any one person but to millions of body sizes/shape
learning to hem means you can buy a longer pants where the rest fit better. a quick cut/sewing can fix it being too long
taking it in, i suppose isnt hard, turn it inside out and start sewing "in" then cut away extra fabric, flipped back around and its done.
sewing along seams is good too, clothes now sew so close to edge that they rip, so you can repair or reinforce it yourself
i still cant sew in a straight line but... no one else will know about that
to measure size, i find a pants that was already fitted to me, lay it on iron board and put new pants over it and take the size from fitted pants
for initial pants, if no one measured for me, i use a tape measure and stand on it to keep it to floor, then i stand up and measure to hip and remove 3-4 inches from length to account for distance to ankle from ground since i dont want to be dragging on the floor
I know how to do it but I don't. I actually just dropped off two pairs of pants to a local seamstress to have her hem them. Honestly, if I depended on myself doing it, it just wouldn't get done. She charges $6/pair and she lives nearby. It's worth it to me.
I hem pants but never hemmed a skirt. I have a pair of velvet pants that need hemmed and I think I'll have a tailor do it, because I'm not good enough at it to try it.
We live in an era of cheap, disposable clothing. I'm sure my grandparents, who lived through the depression, darned socks and mended tears and tried to make clothing last as long as possible. Now when a button falls off many people just by a new shirt.
I took home ec in junior high, and did not pick up any skills that I've maintained to this day. Any mend or repair I could make on my own clothes would look like the handiwork of a caveman. Paying for a professional to take in or hem clothes is totally worth it.
I'm in the same dilemma--no one to do the marking for me so any dresses/skirts go to the tailor.
For me it really depends upon the fabric. If it's a pair of jeans or poly-cotton pants that's no problem. I measure the length against an existing pair of pants and keep trying on the new garment on until I'm satisfied with the length. I'll either stitch them on on my sewing machine or hem them by hand. However, I have knits professionally done as I don't have a surger and find knits too hard to work with. My arms are short and almost all coat/blazer/jacket sleeves wind up covering my hands so in that case I'll take the garment to the tailor for fitting. As you might guess, I'm a big fan of 3/4" sleeves.
The "irony" is that my summer wardrobe needs to be ironed while my winter wardrobe consisting of jeans, knits and sweaters, does not (I hang everything) I have lots of clothing so I might iron 2-3 times over the course of the summer, and it always seems like I pick the hottest day of the year to do it
I recently discovered wrinkle release spray and it does a decent job of smoothing out knits and my poly-cotton pants and capris. You can get a knock-off brand at the Dollar Store and it works just as well as the Downy brand.
I have long arms, and using up any hem is a chore. Do remember when there was a generous hem on everything? You could let things down.
I've never been comfortable with machine hemming and always do them by hand. That's the way I started. Mom taught me basic machine sewing, how to sew on a button, and knit. I still learned quite a bit in Home Economics. We had to complete and show samples of various button finishes and seams. We were also required to sew a basic skirt and wear it to school. It was an annual event. Skirt day.
I get the "irony." I iron once in a while in the summer. Some cottons, and especially rayon blends, look terrible unless ironed.
I taught my son how to iron. He doesn't do a great job, but he at least owns an iron.
I'm 5 feet tall, just barely, and have been hemming since before I could sew at all. Some awful jobs I did, and one time in desperation I stapled up a pair of pants for an interview. I didn't get the job.
No one taught sewing while I was in school, so it's ironic that I have packets of good needles that my neighbor rescued from the school she worked at when they discontinued "home ec." I hem everything I buy since most petites are too long, mend all kinds of things, replace zippers, and make the most durable potholders on earth out of old jeans.
I definitely wish I had a sewing friend so we could help each other fit and mark things, but I don't. I think I wish I had a dress form to put clothes on, but I have a feeling seeing my shape in the abstract wouldn't make me happy.
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