I was absolutely blown away by the number of comments from you all when I announced our upcoming series and asked what you wanted to learn. It seems like getting back to our handmade roots and getting in touch with our own creativity is on a lot of your minds (mine, too!).
Throughout this series, I will do my best to touch on what I feel knowledgable enough about and what many of you are interested in. You can bet I’ll be calling my mom in for backup and you might even get to virtually meet her in a vlog or two this fall.
While September was apparently National Sewing Month, I was in the middle of packing and moving last month. And when I remembered about Nester’s 31 days challenge, I knew that postponing Sewing School until October was the right thing to do.
So this month, you will get a dose of Sewing School each day. If that seems overwhelming, don’t worry, I’ll keep a running list, here on this page, where you can always access all of the posts from the series, to pin or bookmark to come back to later. You can subscribe by RSS or email so you don’t miss a post!
If you are working on any of the projects as we go, be sure to let us know in the comments, on Facebook, or on Twitter or Instagram, where you can use the hashtag #sewingschool.
This is Day 1.
Day 2: Basic hand-sewing
Day 3: Sewing books on my shelf: Part 1
Day 4: Sewing books on my shelf: Part 2
Day 5: Basic sewing tools
Day 6: More sewing equipment and useful tools
Day 7: Buying a sewing machine
Day 8: Your secret weapon
Day 9: Getting to know your sewing machine
Day 10: How to choose (and not break) your needles
Day 11: Bobbins
Day 12: Don’t get tense about your thread tension
Day 13: Choosing a pattern
Day 14: A few sewing links
Day 15: Deciphering pattern terminology
Day 16: Guide to fabric types
Day 17: Prepping your fabric
Day 18: Cutting out your pattern and fabric
Day 19: Sewing with straight pins
Day 20: Choosing a presser foot
Day 21: Sewing a straight line
Day 22: Different types of stitches
Day 23: How to sew a basic rolled hem
Day 24: Two ways to sew a buttonhole
Day 25 & 26: From Pinterest to Real Life
Day 27: How to turn tab top curtains into rod pocket curtains
Day 28: Weekend links (homemade costume links)
Day 29: Refashioned ruffled tank top tutorial
Day 30: Repurposing sweaters
Day 31: Celebrating Sewing School
I’ll always be available in the comments, too, and will try to answer any questions you have as we go.
Tomorrow, we’ll being with some hand-sewing and then after that we’ll head towards machine-sewing.
So without further adieu, welcome to Sewing School, and let’s get stitching! Are you excited?!
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I’m super excited! Thanks for including some hand sewing basics. I’m determined to make that little chick family ; ) Maybe your series will make me feel brave enough to invest in a simple sewing machine!
I’m excited to see what new tricks I can learn!
Yeah! Let’s start!
I’m hoping you’ll touch on some basic mending, too. I remember my mom mending things by hand as well as machine, and I like the idea of doing that.
Looking forward to this!
I don’t have that scheduled in, but I would be happy to cover it in the future!
How Wonderful!
I agree with Jen above. A mending post would be great. I have lots of clothes and blankets that are unusable and cannot bring myself to throw out.
I’d like to learn my hand instead of machine though. This way, my girls and I can sit around while we all mend our things… just like in the old days.
I remember sitting around the fire with my grandma in Mexico while she mended. If only I’d payed attention.
Thank you for doing this series! I’m so excited!
I don’t have mending scheduled in, but I would be happy to cover it in the future!
I love the idea of everyone sitting around and mending together, too. How much more motivated I would be if it was a community activity… hmmm.
Oh, I am SOOO excited! Got a sewing machine last week, and appart from straight lines, I have no idea of what to do! Looking forward to this!
I’m excited! I have only done a little sewing in my life, but am eager to learn more!
Thank you!
What a great idea. I look forward to following along! Thanks!
What a wonderful idea! I won’t be sewing along with you this month, but I will be checking in to see some of your lessons, and bookmarking for a later date. My 11 year old daughter is wanting to spend time learning more at the sewing machine later this winter. We may work through your lessons together.
That’s perfect– just what I was hoping that some people would do, have it as a resource to come back to you. I will have a link in the sidebar eventually that will link to all the posts!
I found you at The Nesting Place. I’m truly looking forward to your lessons this month.
What supplies will I need?
Hi Celeste, Don’t worry, I will be covering that explicitly later this week. Stay tuned!
I’m really excited about this! And I agree with the other commenters that said they want to learn about mending. I could really use some tips in that area.
I’ve definitely got that noted now for the future.
How fun! I only know how to sew on a basic button. This is sad because my mom used to be a seamstress. I really want to learn how to use a sewing machine by next year sometime. Looking forward to what you have to share.
I just came across your blog and I’m so happy that I have! I’m very excited about this and look forward to reading future posts.
I’m really excited! My sewing skills are very, very rusty, and were pretty rudimentary to begin with. I’ve spent the last year learning and growing my skills in cooking, growing my own food, homemade beauty, homemade cleansers…So excited to add this to my list of skills!
I’m excited to follow along for the month of sewing. I’ve been meaning to purchase a machine since my birthday (in July…), but am slightly overwhelmed at all of the different, seemingly good options.
Will you be offering suggestions on types of machines to buy or what to look for in a machine? Would love to pull the trigger and get to sewing!
I stumbled upon this 31 days series and I think this is one AWESOME idea! Thank you and I’ll be checking in daily!!
May I make a suggestion? When you get a new machine, find/make some time to go through your sewing machine manual and try the different techniques and stitches. Make little samples and tape them right into the book with the instructions. Later – you will remember doing those things and have an easy reference and visual to what it looks like. I know it takes time which few of us have extra of. But take one day of Facebook time….and you’ll find you’ll use the investment of your sewing machine much more completely.
Nice to be here and see your post!