Learning Something New: Sewing

I'm going to start this off by saying I LOVE JOANN'S FABRIC STORE. I've been an arts and crafts kinda gal my entire life (thanks my lovely mother who is an artist), so crafts stores are like home to me. Since moving to Gainesville to go to college, I've been seriously creatively stifled. I'm used to driving ten minutes to get to Joann's so I can start a new craft. Not here. We have a Michael's, but that store has never had quite what I'm ever looking for. 

But, a Joann's just opened here last month! I can hardly contain my excitement, and today I finally got to go! 

So what was my excuse for going? 

Motivation for learning to sew!

I've wanted to sew and design clothes my entire life, but somehow I never learned. I got a sewing machine as a present a few years back, but I let it rot in my closet for some reason. But, now that I'm out of the house and realizing how expensive clothes are, I had to learn. 

For example, I love fashion and new clothes, and I love having a full closet of super cute things. But, let's be real: Most people can't afford to get a new dress every week.

Check it out. This dress from Forever 21 is fabulous, but it's $29.80. I'm a college student. Ain't nobody got money for that, especially if I want a million fantastic dresses (which I do, obvi). 

Hence, I have to learn to sew. 

Luckily, my mom had a sewing machine from back in the day that she let me take to my new place here in Gainesville! And, she has a stack of books to help me out. 
And, I have a fantastic book from my mom that outlines basic sewing things! You can never have too many resources! 

1976 swag, ya'll!

My first task was learning to thread the machine. This has been my biggest hurdle for years, as silly as that is. My lovely boyfriend helped me figure it out, though! 

Check out our set up! It's pretty glorious. My mother bought this sewing machine with her own money her senior year of high school. She made an El Vira dress for Halloween with it which I think is the definition of fabulous. 

I feel like I'm a cooler person for even having this on my dining room table. See my stack of books on the right side? Invaluable books, most definitely. 

So, what did I make for my first try?

Here in Florida, it was cold for a few weeks, and my hands froze every single day since I didn't have gloves. I started to make a pair from the sleeves of an older sweater, but since it takes forever to sew by hand, they fell by the wayside. Armed with a sewing machine, I had to finish them!

This is one of em! It's not so great, but I think I did an alright job for my first try ever! I'm just proud I got the machine threaded, so making this glove was gravy! These took literally two minutes, though, which is incredible considering it took forever for me to sew just two fingers by hand. And, the sewing machine stitches are magnitudes better than mine.

This takes us to Joann's. 
Now that I can make gloves, I'm not really sure what the next step to take is. I guess moving on to patterns? My boyfriend and I went to Joanns and browsed fabrics forever just for kicks. Kinda like when we go to Lowe's to look at all the pretty plants in the garden section. While there, we got some of these awesome free guides! Seriously, Joann's is the best. 

Me in a year

My lifeline

My next step is to learn how to read patterns. Luckily, this Singer book has an entire chapter on this very thing! 

I can't wait until I'm somewhat decent at sewing and can justify buying all the pretty fabrics at Joann's. Aisles and aisles and aisles of lovely prints! Once I start getting used to pre-made patterns, I could start making my own! I hope to become Mondo from Project Runway. He's my spirit animal. 

Next Project

Aren't these dresses incredible? I like the green one on the right best! These look a little complicated, though, so I might start with this other pattern I have.

Tell me these shorts aren't just dying to be made! Hopefully it's not too difficult, because these are calling my name. 

I'm extra excited about these patterns because they both came from thrift stores! They're unlike any pattern I could ever buy new. My proof? Joann's didn't have anything like it! You can't beat vintage Vogue, folks. Especially when its only fifty cents from the thrifts. 

That's today's adventure in the world of sewing! Maybe I'll take a shot at making something real tomorrow, but maybe not. It's a little scary thinking of working with real fabric!

My new best friend

UPDATE: I finished my first sewing project the next day after hours of frustration from ripping out ugly seams, drawing out patterns, and learning to wind bobbins. Everyone, meet Herman the Elephant! 

My actual new best friend