Preparation

Bienvenidos amigos! This is my blog about my adventure (or possible misadventure) into learning how to sew. I have little to no experience in the art of sewing. My past endeavours into sewing were complete and utter disasters, but I have learned from those mistakes and I have decided that the best way to learn is to start from the basics and ease my way into more advanced projects.

In the past I unsuccessfully replaced an invisible zipper on a pair of dress pants, but I now know why it was such a disaster: I didn't have an invisible zipper foot. At the time, I had no clue that certain sewing techniques required different feet (nor did I know "feet" was a sewing term). This time around I am prepared to learn from the beginning and I have taken what I feel to be necessary steps before I stitch thread to fabric.

Step 1: Books

The Sewing Book by Alison Smith

The first book is called The Sewing Book. From this moment on, this book will be referred to as my sewing bible (or bible for short) because it literally has everything I need to know to get started. The bible is descriptive and more importantly, it has glossy colour photos.

Amy Butler's In Stitches: 25 Simple and Stylish Sewing Projects

The second book is called Amy Butler's In Stitches: 25 Simple and Stylish Sewing Projects. This book has what appear to be simple sewing projects, some of which I am hoping to complete. The one project I have my heart set on eventually sewing is the gorgeous patchwork duvet cover on page 63. 

Step 2: Sewing area

I hijacked the spare bedroom and put in a sewing table that for the last decade has been used as a TV stand in my bedroom. I will post a photo of my new sewing room once I have spruced it up a bit and when the sun is shining. I did take some photos but the gloom and doom of the rain outside does not make for good lighting.

Step 3: Gathering essential tools

A) Bent-handled shears
B) Fabric shears
C) Paper shears
D) Embroidery scissors (will be used for cutting threads and cutting small details in fabric)
E) Hobby knife (includes blades for ripping seams and cutting button holes)
F) Sewing gauge
G) Tape measure
H) Clear rulers
I) Pin cushion
J) Pearl head pins
K) Safety pins
L) Chalk marking pencil

Brother VX-1140

M) Sewing machine

I am fortunate enough to have a mother who owns a sewing machine, but I did go out and buy everything else. I went to Dollarama and Fabricland to get the rest of the supplies. Dollarama was great because nothing was over $2 and I was able to save some money on the pins, rulers and tape measures. Fabricland was more expensive but I was able to buy a basic sewing kit that included a lot of the items I needed. More importantly, I saved money by buying items that were on sale. 

One item that is missing from my list is a container to keep the tools in. Currently, I am using a small yellow toolbox that I found in my house. So far, it is the perfect container because it has different compartments that make it easy to keep the box organized.

During my shopping trip, I took the opportunity to buy some fabric for my first two projects. Since I am starting at the basics, my first project will be to make a stitch sampler. From my past experiences using the sewing machine, I often forgot which way the machine feeds the thread, so I feel like a stitch sampler is the logical first step in getting used to the machine and being able to get a feel for the different stitches the machine can make.