General Chat

If you need a patch on jeans or to mend a hole in a pocket I can recommend Pinflair glue (usually sold for crafting).

Once it's on it stays on, even through a machine wash.

Useful for all sorts of other things, too.

I can knit very well, but sewing? no!! My Mum made all my clothes when I was small, dresses with matching knickers always - she also made my wedding dress, bridesmaid's dresses and the page boy outfit -plus the wedding cake - she also made dresses for my honeymoon

Bought my daughter a Merrit zig zag (that was the requirement)sewing machine 40 years ago,

she was recently trying to sew stretchy material, and believe it or not you need special needles.........LOL
AND she has also found out that it is advisable to use exactly the same brand thread top n bottom.........

she has now bought a modern machine to do the stretchy stuff

and still uses the Merrit, as a workhorse....

I can't sew. Full Stop.
I can knit, but I make a real dog's dinner of sewing the pieces together

My youngest daughter has a cherished old canvas pack-back that she has had for about 10yrs.
Over time I have sewn dozens of patches and badges onto it
( She collects them in every country/region that she visits. Mostly flags and crests)

The bag is not waterproof and it got really dirty.
She so loves that manky old thing!
I unpicked every patch and washed it.
I now have the job of sewing them all back on again.

I started yesterday. I managed to re-sew just 4 of them.
Difficult enough for me but, the canvas is tough and I have to avoid catching the loose lining in my needle.

Since it went into the wash, she has acquired at least 10 more patches and there isn't enough surface area on the bag for them all.
She bought an new back pack and wants all the new ones sewn onto it !
A few have been bought online and are retro originals.. Eek

I've got sore fingers already !

When necessary I can thread a needle and sew on a button :-D :-D

My mother made almost all my clothes, she knitted, sewed and crocheted.

She was giving me scraps of material to make "doll clothes" by the time I was 4 or 5, and teaching me to knit doll scarves before that.

The primary school I went to took the 9-11 year old girls to sewing classes ......... we had to walk about 10 minutes to a church hall, where a lady taught us sewing.

In the first of the two years, we made ourselves a simple dress .............. just 2 straight pieces sewn together, with cap sleeves and no defined waist. We did have to do facings round the neck and arms. We had to tack everything together by hand, neatly, get it approved, and then sew all the seams by machine .............. the hem had to be done by hand.

The second year, we made a dress with bodice attached to a gathered skirt, and with set sleeves and a collar. We had to tack seams by hand, and do 5 rows of gathering by hand, with the stitches neat and the same size. I think I had to re-do mine many times.

The dresses looked fantastic when they were finished .......... and the pieces had all been cut in sizes that fit us.

I went to the grammar school, and we had cookery in the first year, so Mum had to make me a big white cookery apron. The classes that did sewing in the first year had to make that apron in class.

I had sewing the next year. Mum had to go and buy x yards of flannel to make pyjamas ............ winter pyjamas with long sleeves, full length legs, full button front and collar on the jacket.

That teacher used the same pattern for everyone, not pattern how tall, small, fat or thin, they were.

Mum cried when I took my finished pyjamas home ............. the sleeves ended just below my elbows, and the legs just below my knees. I had masses of material left over. Mum then set to, and added lengths to the jacket, the sleeves and the legs so that I could wear them.

Mum got me a Saturday job when I was 11, working in the high-class ladies shop where she worked. They put me in the Alteration Room to "help" ............ the ladies there taught me some tailoring techniques, including how to hem coats and tweed skirts. Having done that, they would give me those jobs to do.

I sewed my own clothes for many years, and sewed for my daughter when she was young. I knitted until I was in my 30s, stopped for a while then picked it up again after about 10 years. Like LS, I can no longer knit because of arthritis.

My daughter picked up the habit from me ............. she made her own clothes, including a pre-grad dress (the year before "real" grad), her grad dress, and the dress for one of her bridesmaids. She was intending to make her wedding dress, but we happened to see exactly what she wanted in a bridal store, at a very good price (less than £100) because it had originally been designed as a bridesmaid dress, but they started to make it in ivory after so many brides asked for it. Why spend the time making one when that was just what she wanted ..... and Mum was offering to pay!

My granny taught me how to knit. When I was at school... I think I was about 8 years old, they gave us knitting lessons. Most of us already knew how (thanks to our grannies) and we were amazed at the girls who had no idea! I taught myself how to crochet when I was in my teens (thanks to a Paton's book).

Sewing... hah! Made a horrible pair of knickers when I was about 12, and that put me off sewing for years.

Mum & both grannies didn't sew much (buttons & hems). I went to classes & learned to make simple stuff & eventually got better. I also did a couple of courses on stretch fabrics. Ended up making lots of my own clothes, including underwear (but not bra's) and swimsuits.

These days, because of arthritis, I sew very little (repairs & buttons) and don't knit or crochet at all. :-(

That reminds me........... I must oil the sewing machine in case it jams up with rust.

:-)

That's right,it is.

:-D :-D :-D :-D

My ex used to sew patches on his!!
(note HE sewed the patches on :-D)

Now I wonder why we bothered, when people are spending an arm and a leg buying 'worn' and ripped jeans :-0

I used to mend my jeans with Copydex and a hammer.

I made a pair of jeans once.
Shame I threw them out after they'd languished in the bottom of the wardrobe for a couple of years, as amazingly, they came into high vogue in the .90's - the ones with twisted legs :-0

It's true about things costing less, Det.
I bought a sofa from IKEA a couple of years ago, with removable covers.
A grey (dry clean only) cover for the sofa was £80.
White (machine washable) sofa cover was £25!!

My needlework teacher was an abominable woman who put everybody off sewing. We were not taught to knit as it was a grammar school and I hated anything involving needles so I learned welding instead.

I could but didn't knit for most of my life. I have, however, recently taken it up again in my dotage as a form of relaxation. I will only knit garter stitch as that is all I want to do at the moment although I have knitted Fair Isle in the past so I just do dishcloths and cushion covers. Most of the patterns available are for things you would not be seen wearing dead at a rat fight anyway!

A particularly useless boyfriend I had was finally backed into a corner where he had to go for a job interview and, to my amazement, I found I could turn collars and cuffs to send him off looking half way presentable..

Have not attempted to make anything by sewing but do have a very large patchwork I have been working on for forty odd years and I would be very wary of turning up a pair of trousers because I just know I would never get the legs even.

There is always somebody who knows because they know they know.

It does seem to be lacking.

'Sewing' isn't really taught in schools, and parents don't bother making garments. That's probably because its often cheaper to buy ready made in Primark (or other shops) than the cost of the material and pattern.

Oooooh - don't get me started!!!
I no longer knit or sew - I haven't found anything I really want to do, but in my youth, I would try anything.
At primary school, I knitted a pot holder in garter stitch, and embroidered what I think was a needle case.
In secondary school, I made a 'baby doll' nightie & pants (very inappropriate!)

When I left school, I made toys as part of my 'Norland Nanny' training.
Later on, whilst living in a tent, I knitted a jumper out of (thick) Shetland wool.

When we lived in a croft, I knitted 2 Icelandic jumpers and 2 Icelandic cardigans on circular needles (the traditional way)
Later on, I made my own curtains, clothes, (including a lovely lined skirt suit with bolero top, out of tweed) covered a sofa, twice, both knitted and sewed my childrens clothes, and toys for them etc etc.
I also made both Victorian and Medieval costumes for me and the children.

Where I work now, a 40 ish old woman puts herself forth as the fount of all knitting knowledge. She sits, during lunchtime knitting an (apparently) complicated bag in garter stitch.
Another woman is having trouble with the needles she's using, as she tries to knit a cushion cover. I suggested she used circular needles, and knitted it all in one.

Apparently, (according to the 'fount') geometric patterns can't be done on circular needles :-(
She's obviously never followed a pattern, nor seen an Icelandic jumper :-S

https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/463026405415485942/

But, I suppose she's trying.......very trying

Has anyone noticed how many people now lack even 'basic' sewing skills? The now ever growing number of people that say that's a job for granny.

The shop in which I work sells adult trousers which come in a variety of waist sizes from 28" to 60". However as the trousers are standard uniform for only one activity they only come in one length 33" they are however unhemmed and people are expected to adjust the length themselves as required.

The look I got off one women when I explained that I would be able to order in the trousers but she would need to hem them.

My sewing skills do not extend to much but I can however sew on a button or badge, sew up holes in seams, sew sleeves and yes hem a pair of trousers.