Making your own clothing, accessories, and home furnishing, etc

[akrogers]

Does anyone have experience in crafting/sewing their own clothing, accessories, and/or home furnishings? I would love to learn to sew and I was wondering if anyone could give some input on whether or not it is worth the time and the cost reduction payoff and enjoyability is worth it?

[mom-from-missouri]

YES. It is worth it--even if you don't sew everything, but part of it.

Simple things my girls and I do that save money---we buy flannel sheets at the thrift store, or marked down ones for $2 or less each. Each sheet will make (depending on the size) anywhere from 2-4 pairs of PJ pants or nightgowns. This is the project my girls learned to sew on. You can't buy 2-4 nightgowns or pairs of PJ pants for $2.

One also made flannet curtains that she uses to line her regular ones with during the winter months.

Fleece is another good one--you can make winter vests, pants, stuffed animals--it is easy to learn on (doesn't unravel). I don't buy the fleece by the yard--it is too expensive. Instead, I buy a fleece blanket and sew from it. It is much cheaper and you get more fabric.

You can get a basic sewing maching for $80 at Walmart. You can get one for less at a garage sale. Many community centers offer sewing lessons.

[kork13]

My mother loves that sort of thing, and has made multiple sets of pajamas for family and friends, and has made probably half of my bedding (ex: she's currently working on a new comforter/quilt for my bed). One thing I picked up from her, though, is to be careful with fabric -- it's very easy to buy expensive fabric and you end up spending way more than if you had just bought it in a store. Look for deep sales and good coupons.

I also built a bookcase for myself a few months ago, and I'm extremely happy with it. Took me over a month to do, but it was totally worth it, and I really enjoyed learning how to build it. It's Just as you said, making some things yourself is going to be cheaper (sometimes by a long shot), and you also take pride in what you've made yourself.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

My sewing machine was originally given to my mother-in-law as a wedding gift just after WWII, so as you can imagine it is very basic. I am not a great seamstress as no one ever taught me. But much of it is common sense. I've made clothes for my son, my niece, and myself using the same patterns multiple times. For me they have to be very simple patterns, but there are plenty of those. I almost always have used hugely discounted fabrics, otherwise it is hard nowadays to save money.

I've made pillow covers for the living room, curtains, a mosquito tent for our boat, cushions for the lawn furniture, napkins from table cloths that have seen better days, kitchen hot pads from old fleece clothes, and even diapers from white linen table cloths! One of the more frequent uses was to put patches on the knees of jeans, and even of sweat pants when my child was little and seemed to wear through them by about the third wearing. If you are short like me, a machine can make it quick to hem up jeans or a skirt. A nicer machine than mine can even hem very fine fabrics and come out looking nice.

I wouldn't say I've used my machine a whole lot, but I am so glad to have it. I really wish it could at least do a zig-zag stitch, though, as that really would expand its usefulness.

Glad to see RedThunderbird mention men sewing. My husband knows how to hand sew. In fact he just finished sewing a weather rip in the bimini shade of the boat and will top that with a patch as well. He said they taught basic sewing in Boy Scouts as it is considered necessary for taking care of your tents and canvass stuff. He will never sew a pocket with a hole in it for some reason, though. I always do that for him or it doesn't get done at all...I taught my son to use the sewing machine because I think it is a very practical skill to have and everyone should have the competence to do some basic sewing as needed. He learned by sewing a 16 long curtains for his own bedroom windows, three big ones. They were just simple rectangles to be hung on clips, but by gosh he got the job done and it looked just fine using $1/yard Walmart fabric. This saved a lot of money compared to buying the curtains off the rack. (Custom made was just not a consideration for us.) After all that he really knew how to sew a straight line.

[PrincessPerky]

I don't have a machine but I hand sew a LOT of patches and some simple projects...

I would recommend borrowing a machine and starting small.

I had a machine, never used it, I can't thread them and I spend more time swearing at 'em than sewing when I do borrow.

[Radiance]

How does one learn?
I am very bad with crafts, I even suck at gift wrapping...