Sew

This post will share my best recommendations for learning how to sew with the best expert advice I can round up for my readers. Sewing saves money, is creative, fun, and is much easier than people think. Learn how to sew below!

Sewing is one of those skills that people think will be really difficult, expensive, and time-consuming. Actually, sewing is none of those things.

Sewing is really pretty easy- especially if you have someone to show you STEP BY STEP what to do. I have had the pleasure of being a senior project mentor for several young ladies and teaching another person to sew has made me realize that good, clear instructions make sewing more fun and effective for everyone. Teaching made me a better sewist!

Sewing saves a lot of money. Knowing how to hem pants, repair a tear, create a skirt instead of buying one, or copy a dress you own instead of splurging on a second save untold dollars for those who can sew. It is SO NICE being able to sit down and quickly take up the straps on my first grader’s top because they “aren’t RIGHT!!!” *cue whining voice* so that they ARE right. Sewing allows me to make a garment more modest, more flattering, and last longer. I routinely buy clothes for my kids a full 2 sizes too big and just sit down right after they’ve been washed and take them up and in until they grow into them, at which point I get my seam ripper out and let them out again. Not to toot my own mending horn, but my husband’s work jeans have lasted…and lasted….and lasted. His buddies have sent stacks of jeans home with him and it’s a favor I gladly will do; so few people know how to sew and it is such a quick and easy thing!

Sewing projects don’t have to take a lot of time. I mean, sometimes I will reward myself for a busy week by sewing a Saturday away but most of my projects are quick; a pair of stretchy baby pants (the cutest thing a beginner could sew, probably) can be completely done in probably 20 minutes, even if you’re a brand new beginner. I made all our cloth napkins years ago to reduce waste and after I cut the squares out, I just sewed the hem around each one whenever I had 5 minutes. It took a week of 5-minute snippets, but here I am 8 years later, wiping kid faces with those hemmed napkins and they only took me a few minutes to sew.

Today, my kids are (almost) 5 & 7 and they love to help me at the machine and it is really fun to include them in what’s I’m working on.

I’ve shared a handful of my sewing projects here on The Domestic Wildflower; here are a few:

1 Tank 3 Ways

Scoopneck Knit Tank

The Barette Bralette

How to Sew Spandex

but I have to say that way before I started my blog, and when I was starting to sew beyond a pattern and search then-very new Pinterest for ideas, I found my all-time-favorite blogger, Merrick of Merrick’s Art. I found a tutorial of hers where she took a man’s polo and cut the collar off, took in the sides, and completely changed the neckline. It was adorable, and I copied it and wore it to work.

I’ve been a teacher for 11 years now (I can hardly believe it) and I can say with certainty a few things. I’m very particular about how I’m taught anything, and Merrick is easy to learn from.

She’s a natural sewist AND a natural teacher. 

Merrick and her friend Leanne, another fantastic blogger at www.elleapparel.com created a sewing video course that you NEED to take if you want to learn to sew this year.

The video course is called The Modern Girl’s Guide To Sewing and in it, you can choose between 2 different courses to take: Beginning or Intermediate.

Learn How To Sew

If you’ve never sewed before, dive into the Beginner’s Course. In it you’ll learn about your sewing machine, different stitches and what they do, needles (which I think is VERY important in terms of success or failure with different fabrics!), hemming (hello, the most useful thing ever!), waistband creation, and how to make a skirt.

In the Intermediate Course you’ll learn about sergers, darts (the seams that make a garment fitted and look amazing on any body shape), POCKETS (after this lesson EVERYTHING you sew will have pockets, I promise!), pleats, standard and invisible zippers, inserting sleeves, non-elastic waistbands, professional necklines, and how to sew a simple but impressive shift dress.

The courses can be purchased individually or separately but I want to be sure you understand how transferable the skills are in each course. Not ONLY will you be able to sew your own perfectly fitting clothes, but you can also use these skills to sew:

• Curtains
• Baby clothes
• Bags
• Reusable shopping totes
• Halloween costumes
• Cloth napkins

And you can alter

• Costumes or dance recital outfits (I do this for all my daughter’s friends)
• The ankle/hem of pants & jeans
• baggy tees with no shape
• bridesmaid or formal dresses- you’ll save SO much money avoiding “professional” alterations!
• Skirts from long to mid to short
• kids clothes- I buy a size or two big and take in the waist a bit so I’m not constantly buying new items
• home goods like tablecloths, baby slings, and so much more!

Think of mending

• work jeans
• kids clothing
• your favorite pants that still look amazing
• seams that have come undone
• lost buttons
• broken zippers

The Modern Girl’s Guide to Sewing is a video course taught by two experts that I know you’ll LOVE and come away with skills you can apply RIGHT AWAY.

If you want to learn how to sew, check out the courses HERE!

Want to start sewing with some easy sewing projects for beginners? This post will share 9 easy sewing projects perfect for a beginner, plus I’m sharing the BEST way to grow your skills as a seamstress. Read on for the post!

This post contains affiliate links.

Sewing is my first creative love, my happy place, so much so that my machine is left set up on my dining room table 90% of the time. If you came over for supper, I’d have to move the machine. That’s how much I love sewing. My mom taught me to sew and she was taught by her Granny Ruth. Mom grew up in a poor home and Granny Ruth taught her that if she could sew, she’d always be able to have nice things to wear and a nicely decorated home. I still have Granny Ruth’s aqua seam ripper and that very important lesson. Yeah, sewing is super fun, but it also allows a person to mend, hem, alter and extend the life of garments which is clearly great for your heart and checkbook. Because I know how to sew, the options for a garment I can buy, wear, keep, etc is SO much greater. If I see a fantastic hot pink vintage 80’s romper on Instagram that is just a bit too big everywhere, you better believe I’ll snap them up because sewing is EASY, my friends. Sewing is easy, empowering, and such a total blast.

At the very beginning of Pinterest (and, the beginning of me following any bloggers at all, really) close to 10 years ago, I started following a pair of sewing enthusiasts for inspiration and sewing tips. While I knew how to sew from my mom’s instruction and years of working at JoAnn’s Fabrics, the blog’s by Merrick of Merrick’s Art and Leanne of Elle Apparel. Their blogs gave me the BEST ideas for how to score a dress on Old Navy’s clearance rack 5 sizes too big and make it fit (that really was a post on Merrick’s blog and I really did exactly what she told me too- I was a new teacher on a tiny budget and it WORKED!) and tips for how to create beautiful hems that looked SO professional, or how to add pockets (HELLO dresses and skirts with POCKETS!), or how to add zippers that looked even better than what you can get in the store.

Fast forward to today. These gals are real life friends at the other end of my state and they created a sewing course that will knock your socks off. I’m still sewing at my dining room table and I want YOUR dining room floor littered with thread and snips of beautiful fabric the way mine is. The course is a video library you can access anytime you like, over and over. It will show you STEP BY STEP exactly how to build beautiful garments using any pattern you’d like. The name of the course says a lot: The Modern Girl’s Guide to Sewing. Great title, right? The following sewing projects are beginner friendly and will definitely get your creative juices flowing but a course will teach you the pro tips that will make your garments look BEAUTIFUL. They won’t look homemade. They will look SHARP, which is my favorite adjective to use when describing top-notch sewing projects. Dive into either the Beginner or Intermediate videos and easily create custom, perfectly tailored garments and then apply what you learn to curtains, Halloween costumes, tote bags, and all the home decor you can think of. The sky is the limit with The Modern Girl’s Guide to Sewing + a little creativity….and if you are reading this blog, I know you have more than a little inside. Dive in here! 

10 Easy Sewing Projects for Beginners

Scoopneck Knit Tank

This pattern is such a good one for beginners because there are not TOO many options which is something that I have found overwhelming when I was learning to sew garments. There are two bodice options- sleeveless and a tank top, and a peplum or full-length skirt option. That’s it. There’s a limited number of sewing pattern pieces to cut out, which also limits overwhelm, and the tank top option, in particular, is really simple to put together. I found the pieces to match up exactly and I’m not a perfectionist when it comes to cutting- not by a long shot. Because my kids are still small, I really value a pattern that can be cut out and assembled quickly and this pattern was perfect in that regard.

How to Sewing Lingerie 

Sewing lingerie sounded next to impossible before I tried it and in this post, I’ll show you why it’s not only super simple, it’s fast (hello tiny pieces!) and why elastic is nowhere near as difficult as you might think. The post also has links to FREE lingerie patterns from a fantastic lingerie pattern creator. You won’t be sorry you checked out this post.

If you are really feeling at the idea of sewing your own undergarments, I wrote a post for that too! 10 Things You Think When Sewing Lingerie for the First Time is a fun, quick, and inspiring little read to get you ready to sew!

Easy Little Girl’s Tutu: A Sewing Project for Beginners

Sewing a little girl’s tutu is actually a lot easier than you might think and is a perfect sewing project for beginners. This simple elastic waist skirt can be adjusted for a variety of ages and you can fill the skirt with fun embellishments like faux flower petals as I did.

Salvaged Sewing: Unfinished Vest to Back Interest Tank

My Gram, a continual source of sewing inspiration (mentioned here), found this half-finished vest in her fabric stash. I loved the fabric but didn’t need a vest. Because I have been on a back-interest tank kick (like these here) I immediately imagined cutting a deeper neckline and crossing the vest front into a flyaway back. Of course, unless you also stumble upon an unfinished vest in your sewing stash, this can’t really be considered a tutorial. It is really a demonstration of using creativity and bias tape to turn something unusable and undesirable (sorry, but I’m not rocking a vest to school…at least not a floral one…yet) into something cute.

Messenger Bag: A Great Sewing Pattern for Beginners

I made this beginner friendly messenger bag using a pattern from the Palindrome Dry Goods blog and Etsy shop using easy-to-sew cotton that I purchased before I had my first child, over 6 years ago. Once you have been sewing a while you may experience the thrill of finding fabric that you forgot you have purchased and/or forgot how much you love the way I did. This bag was also easy enough to whip up while the children were awake, and in between stirring supper on the stove. I used a super stiff decor bond interfacing that the pattern designer didn’t call for but I had on hand and used on a whim with good success. Read on for the super easy tutorial!

Want to learn to sew? This is the course that I recommend and love!

How to Sew an Ironing Pad

In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to sew your own ironing pad and avoid hauling out a cumbersome ironing board next time you need to iron. This ironing pad tutorial is beginner friendly, and the result is space saving and customizable. It is so nice to be able to pull this pad out and iron anywhere, rather than drag out an awkward ironing board.

How to Sew Spandex

Sewing super stretchy spandex and similar knits can be intimidating but the results can be totally rad workout clothes like the neon purple leggings I made recently. These are the tips I can share to ensure a successful spandex sewing session (like what I did there? I’m an English teacher at heart!). These tips will also help if you’re sewing a dance or yoga item too!

How To Sew a Burlap Garland

This garland is truly simple to sew for a very beginner for several reasons. Jute webbing is easy to sew on, and requires only a universal needle,  and basic sewing thread. Sewing on jute webbing (that characteristically is just striped burlap meant for supporting a chair cushion in a chair or sofa) is easy, and gives a good chance for a newbie to practice making a narrow seam allowance (sewing close to the edge) and pivoting at the point of the garland to make a nice, sharp point. Of course, if you are a seasoned seamstress, this project will be even faster and easy to customize further. Jute comes striped in a variety of colors (navy, black, and red being the most common) and a couple different widths. Mine is 4 inches wide.

How to Make a Shower Curtain with a Vintage Tablecloth

The thing that you have to know about vintage tablecloths is that they are often roughly showered curtain sized. You also need to know that because you’ll be sewing the tabs (those fabric loops that connect to the rod) at whatever interval you want, you can make a tablecloth fit a shower.

Seed Sack Pillows

My dear friend saved these seed sacks from a garden project and asked me to make them into pillows for their living area. I waited for months and months because I wanted to find pillow forms for the project; pillow forms are like a plain, muslin covered pillow that remains in pillow shape so you can remove the cover and wash it easily. They are handy, but they don’t come in every shape and size imaginable, and they don’t come in real seed sack size.

Bonus Project:

These are some of my favorite sewing projects. One bonus that I’ll share features on how VERSATILE sewing can be; one pattern can be used to create countless looks. This post 1 Sewing Pattern 3 Ways  shows 3 completely different tops that were a cinch to make but used the same pattern.

It’s a cute tank, right? Head to 1 Sewing Pattern 3 Ways to see the other variations! Hint: Pink floral!

If you want to learn how to sew, check out the courses HERE!

Wildflowers, sewing brings you creative joy and happiness, especially in a busy world where you spend an awful lot of time folding laundry or paying bills (my LEAST favorite chore ever). By learning to sew with the Modern Girl’s Guide to Sewing, you’ll be able to create items that fit YOUR body (goodbye dressing room angst!), your kid’s bodies (hello, easy!) and save money doing it. Choose which level you’re interested in, or I suggest buying the bundle of videos so you’ll be sewing like a boss seamstress in no time! See you in the course, Wildflowers!

If you’ve never sewed lingerie, but wanted to, read this post first. Sewing lingerie is fun, easy, and so satisfying! These are the 10 Things You Think When Sewing Lingerie For The First Time. 

Want to learn to sew? This is the course that I recommend and love!

I wrote a post that so many of you have read that’s called How to Sew Spandex (check it out for how to sew stretch with success!) but sewing stretch is a bit different than sewing undergarments. I’ve wanted to learn how for a long time but I was worried it would be an expensive disaster (can you relate?).

One of my favorite sewing blogs and kindred spirits, Hannah of Palindrome Dry Goods, (check out her Esty shop here!)  suggested I check out Madalynne Intimates for FREE sewing patterns for bralettes. After I saw the darling and frankly easy-looking bralettes that Hannah whipped up, I dove in.

Here’s what I was thinking as I made them.

Note: I sew, comfortably, at an intermediate level. I’ve quilted, mended jeans, and made garments like tops for myself often. I’ve sewn stretch yoga pants, but never anything like lingerie and this is indeed a category of textile sewing all its own.

The links you’ll notice in the post are affiliate links to products I most highly recommend for successful lingerie sewing.

10 Things You Think When Sewing Lingerie For The First Time

1. This is so much elastic sewing.

2. What if this doesn’t fit?!

3. This is not as hard as I thought.

4. Ok this is sort of hard…

5. I seriously can’t see the difference between a stretch needle and a regular needle. At all.

Get stretch needles on Etsy HERE

Or get them on Amazon HERE

6. Holy Cow, there must be a HUGE difference between a stretch needle and a regular one because this looks terrific.

7. This is going really fast! Tiny garments are awesome!

8. So this is what the zig zag is for!

9. Different elastic color from fabric color means changing thread color every five minutes…and a different bobbin color from my main color! 

10. Omg this is gonna look amazing!

If this is intriguing to you, check out my blog post about sewing the Madalynne Intimates bralettes right here!

If you want to learn how to sew, check out the courses HERE!

Happy Sewing, Wildflowers!

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This post will share a really fun, fast sewing project that is ideal for a beginning sewer. I used McCall’s pattern M6754 to sew this scoop back peplum tank; read on for the details, Wildflowers!

This post may contain affiliate links.

This pattern is such a good one for beginners because there are not TOO many options which is something that I have found overwhelming when I was learning to sew garments. There are two bodice options- sleeveless and tank top, and a peplum or full length skirt option. That’s it. There’s a limited number of sewing pattern pieces to cut out, which also limits overwhelm, and the tank top option in particular is really simple to put together. I found the pieces to match up exactly and I’m not a perfectionist when it comes to cutting- not by a long shot. Because my kids are still small, I really value a pattern that can be cut out and assembled quickly and this pattern was perfect in that regard.

The fabric that I used was knit that my mom bought when I was a kid…and I’m 33. It’s black with an 80’s-fabulous gold insignia pattern on it. It is a basic t shirt knit, and the one tool that has taken my garment sewing from basic to badass is using a proper stretch needle.

I wrote a post about sewing with spandex, and despite all the blogging I’ve done about canning and giant yarn, that post has been the most consistently popular- go figure- probably because in it I explain why the stretch needle is so valuable. This is a stretch needle- get a package on amazon and use it on t shirt knit, spandex, or anything stretchy. 

It makes seams flat, not wavy, and professional looking. You don’t want to look like an amateur and that’s exactly what a universal needle will potentially do for you; give you a rookie looking seam. You want smooth as butter and a stretch needle will give you smooth seams.

For my post about how to find amazing vintage cowboy boots, go here 🙂 These are my “Horn Lane” boots 😉 

I omitted the elastic casing in the waist of this pattern because it looked adorable without and I didn’t see why it would be improved by including it, once I got the top on. I am on the short side, 5 foot 4 inches, and I ended up shortening the straps 1 inch total.

I can’t wait to make another, but in a really drapey rayon so it has a much more feminine, modern look- the peplum will fall very flat, and maybe I’ll make it longer- not as long as the dress but longer than my first version.

THIS is the fun of sewing, Wildflowers 🙂 What do you think? Share in the comments what I should make out of this pattern next!

If you want to learn how to sew, check out the courses HERE!

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