You know the way you go into a store, find something on the rail, decide you love it, go try it on, and then leave in despair because it just didn’t suit you?  I hate that moment.  It makes me feel fat and unfashionable when I have to leave without the outfit in question, and then I feel bad about myself for a day afterwards, worried that it’s me that’s wrong, as opposed to the fact that the clothes are just not my fit.

To that end, I’ve decided that knowing how to make my own clothes, and hence be able to fit them properly to myself, would be a huge benefit.  It also means that I can avoid patterns and colours I don’t like, but keep the type of outfits and garments that I generally love and that suit me.

So, in thinking about this for several weeks, I decided to buy a sewing machine, learn how to use it, and move on to eventually making my own clothes.  I realise this is highly ambitious, but I decided that overall, it may pay off for me in the long term- and at the very least, I’d learn how to sew, which is a valid skill, right?  Vintage and custom clothes are very much so in fashion at the moment, and I like the idea of customising.

So I picked out a sewing machine I wanted, and I picked up a book about sewing, since I honestly do not have the time to take classes.  I was always good at this kind of thing when I was small, so I hope I’ve retained that – at least a bit!

I’ve learned how to use the machine, which was a fast process.  I love the different stitches and I’ve learned how to darn, repair, hem and hand-sew better than I’d ever been able to before.  I thought it would take much longer to work on getting those basics right, but there seems to be no problem so far.  Now comes the hard part, because nothing is easy forever; the patterns I have, the fabrics I want to work with, working out the needles and threads and buttons and topstitching is going to be hard – but I can only imagine that when it’s all finished, it will be really worth it.

I don’t have all the space in the world, and I don’t have all the money in the world to invest in this little hobby, so shortcuts have to be made here and there.  Nonetheless, everyone starts small and it’s not setting me back in my intentions.

Nobody expects to learn everything straight off – but since I started this little side project, I’ve already picked up a lot about different effects and how basic clothes are constructed.  I never expected this whole thing to be so interesting.  I started this because I wanted clothes that fitted me – I have hips, boobs and thighs to work with here! – and yet it’s already exceeding my expectations.  I’m so glad I decided to try this.  Terrified, of course, that the sewing machine might sew my thumbs together with black thread – but there’s something weirdly exciting about that too….

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