Really good reasons why sewing is good for you

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Our lives have changed so much since I was little. I think my mother made all my clothes apart from my shoes and socks! We did have some rather special store bought
 dresses which were gifts from a grandmother, but its the ones that my mother made that I remember the most. Nowadays clothing is so cheap,(and mostly from China,) that most people opt for the easy way, go buy it instead.... But I believe that making something for yourself or a loved one makes a difference. You are giving time and attention to produce something useful and (hopefully)beautiful. Somehow going out to the shops isn't quite the same.
LEARN ABOUT YOURSELF When I was about ten I started playing with the sewing machine and before very long was making clothes of my own.
I remember a cute little shift dress with orange ,black and white fabric and puffed sleeves, which I made as a school project. So very seventies!
Once I tried to make a pair of pink flannel pyjamas and got the legs and the body parts all wrong and my friends and I fell apart laughing at the strange sight of me in a very strange garment with a crotch depth of about a metre and two short legs. Lesson learnt!

Really bad mistake on making my pyjama pants!

My little pony dress, Juliet, aged 5

Picnic in the Cape,
 Evan wearing a Bart Simpson shirt and shorts

I made my prom dress, my wedding dress, my children's clothes.

A few shirts for my father, dresses for my mother,

My sisters wedding dress, (in fact there were two of those),
and all the bridesmaids dresses too. 

Curtains for a lot of houses we lived in.
I think that every time you make something, whether it is for yourself or someone else, you project a part of yourself into the garment.

A remake of an eighties pleated suit, made for Juliets 21st.

Don't you think that is really special?

EVERY TIME YOU MAKE SOMETHING YOU IMPROVE YOUR SKILLS

Practice makes perfect.

 The more you sew, the better you become, simple.

Your confidence increases, and we all could do with a good dose of that.

 Learning a new technique is empowering.


 
BREAKING THE BARRIERS IS FUN

When I lived in Durban I had a small business, called 'FASHION PASSION'. I had a small office on a fairly  busy street and I used to supply patterns to the CMT clothing factories. It was next to an old brothel, luckily they had moved out, but I did have a few strange fellows knocking on the door occasionally, but that's another story!






 I had a friend whose cousin was a stunt car driver who drove ridiculous trucks with huge wheels. I think he also moved to New Zealand, anyway he was about 6ft plus in height, and I made him a shocking pink and black jumpsuit with a strange Triangular Shoulder effect in black and pink stripes.(No photo, thank goodness!)

 When I think of it now.... Hideous! Well, it was the Eighties! It was made in awful polyester canvas fabric and I can't imagine how hot it must have been, Durban is punishingly hot and humid. I am surprised he is still alive... death by bad taste and overheating. Yes, it was ugly, and yes it was complicated to make, but I did it and it was fun doing it. 

Get out there...

 be creative. 

Try something new!