This post should probably be titled, “5 Reasons I Should Learn to Sew.” It is inspired by a Facebook conversation from earlier this week. (If you missed it, you can follow Coupon Teacher on Facebook!)
- You can fix your own buttons. I can certainly sew on a button, but it takes me a lot longer than it should. Sometimes I give up and take my pants to my mom to fix for me. The reality is that my mom who lives 5 hours away should not have to sew on my buttons anymore. Buttons often fall off shirts and pants long before they are worn out. Being able to fix a button is very important for a thrifty woman!
- You can alter your own clothes. Not everyone is 6 feet tall like me. Some people (not me) actually need their pants hemmed now and again. If I could sew, I could perform basic clothing alterations that I would have to pay for otherwise. Did you ever buy an outfit that you just loved, but it just didn’t fit exactly right? Wouldn’t it be amazing to be able to fix it without paying to have it altered?
- You can do fun things with curtains, linens, and fabric. Did you know my mom can buy long curtains and make them short curtains? She can also make quilt patches and even once made me a Christmas tree skirt. Sometimes I see items on clearance at the store that would be perfect for myhouse, if they were just a different size. It would be wonderful to be able to fix those myself.
- You don’t have to make friends with a safety pin. Do you know how many of my facebook followers mentioned safety pins when I mentioned sewing? Safety pins can come in handy for unruly shirts, but do you really want to depend on them to hold up your pants? I have an embarrassing story about a safety pin. Let’s just say, they are no substitute for some good stitches.
- You could make a beautiful quilt. I would love to be able to sew a quilt. I love to look at quilts, and I dream of sewing one someday. But how in the world can I sew a quilt, when I can’t sew on a button. I think quilting is quickly becoming a lost art. I hate to think about it. If you know how to sew, do me a favor and try to learn to quilt, please?
Clearly, I don’t know how to sew. I really want to learn. I am going to learn someday.
Do you sew? If so, what thrifty things can you do?
Do you have a Thrifty idea? Did you save a ton of money this week? Do you have a Thrifty deal you want to share? If so, please leave a comment or link up below!
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I can sew!
I learned in the girl scouts when we had to sew a skirt. I sewed my ring bearer pillows too!
However, I’m a little too nervous to attempt hemming pants. I’ll have to go read a how-to first!
I rebelled against my feminist mother who did not want me to learn ANYTHING domestic. I even went to Fashion Design School against the wishes of my mother. I HAVE NEVER REGRETTED IT. I learned valuable sewing and design skills that have served me well and saved me a ton of money clothing wise and home decor wise. Even when we were poor and struggling and lived in a dinky apartment, I was still able to make it nice. Do the best you can with what you have and if you want to learn to sew, but your parent doesn’t want you to, do it anyway. I mainly focus on quilting now and home decor/staging. I also am a certified decorative painter and she was against that too. But I can take something I found at the curb and make it nice. If you are interested in learning skills and art, do it. Don’t listen to other people who think they should tell you what to do, you are not dealing crack, you are learning skills that will serve you well in the future.
I can sew. In fact, I just bought myself a sewing machine yesterday. The one I had belonged to my great-grandma, and was older than I am. Sadly, it can’t be fixed again because there just aren’t parts.
So I researched it, and considered and pondered… LOL. I splurged and bought a combo sewing machine, embroidery machine because I do quilt (thanks to that same great-grandma) and was thinking how lovely it would be to do a quilt with embroidered patches and make some of those elaborate things that I would never buy.
I’m the same way though – I see something and it’s not *quite* what I wanted. Now I’ll be able to tweak again. First project on deck is a new dog bed. I was appalled at the prices, and none have waterproof liners – a must for my poor elderly baby. I’m eyeing up an old shower curtain as potential liner material, and think I’m going to use my worn out flannel sheet set for the outer cover.
I can sew a button. Everything else goes to my MIL
Find a good used sewing machine, and then when you have a moment, you can start experimenting! Easy peasy.
The Money-Saving Digest I reviewed has some links to get you started.
Annie Kate
speaking of quilts: I’m in the process of making one right now
[more like a quilt inspired blanket] – i had a bins in my basement of all my daughter’s first outfits, hats, costumes, hospital blankets etc … since i needed space and they have sentimental value to me [she's my miracle baby] i figured why not make a quilt out of them 
so far it’s coming along beautiful, very geometrical – to add i got these gem-like buttons in shapes of hearts and flowers etc at michael’s for $0.25 a pack of 4, so once it’s done i’ll scatter them around just to give some glitz n glam to it on the letters of her name [which i cut from a sheer material my mom had] and will have some fancy stitching around the edges – once all done i have a felt braid that will go along the edges …. sounds confusing but it’ll be priceless once it’s done :]
I do sew having learned in Home Ec in school. Yes, I think it’s valuable frugal skill, especially for my family right now. I have repaired so many clothes for my kids just because I knew how to sew and had a sewing machine. I’ve also made a lot of our curtains, plus a crib bedskirt. A friend of mine helped me replace a zipper in a coat, and extend the life of the coat for my kids. Definitely a skill to have!
Sewing is one of my craft passions, neck-and-neck with crochet. I learned in high school (about 40 years ago) and I still enjoy it. Your mom certainly knows a few things–I like to alter items like curtains, too! I bet she has also made things from bedsheets. For example, we never really use ‘top sheets’ so I made curtains out of them for my son’s room.
The abundance of quilting blogs tells me you have nothing to worry about regarding quilting becoming a lost art. Although I do think it is limited to certain parts of the country (like canning fruits and vegetables). Fabric stores used to be all over here on Long Island (and in department stores!) but I have to travel almost an hour to get to the nearest Joanne’s.
Re: buttons. This might help you: when you are going to sew on a button, you have to be sure to sew a few ‘anchor’ stitches before you put the button on! If you don’t and start sewing the button with the first stitch, it will wiggle all over the place.
I hope you do follow your dream to learn to sew. Nobody says you have to start with a suit, LOL! There are plenty of easy and free patterns and tutorials on line. Think: aprons, pillows, pillowcases. (I’d avoid curtains at first since you have to measure very, very exactly or they will hang silly.) And on the quilt front, look up “Disappearing 9 Patch.” I bet you could learn to make one of those!
I’m about to begin a sewing endeavor…curtains for my daughter’s room! Wish me luck!
I have moderate sewing abilities hampered by the fact that I permanently broke my sewing machine by trying to put something together that was way too thick
I learned to sew as a little girl, watching my mother make clothes for us (in order to save money). My mother swears it’s a skill I got from HER mother, as I never received much instruction…I just started doing it. I started out making little pillows, clothes for my baby dolls and drawstring bags. By the time I was in the second grade, my parents got me a second-hand Singer for Christmas. I was absolutely thrilled! That machine is no longer around, but I currently have the same machine I’ve had since high school, and I recently inherited that same grandmother’s 1950′s Singer — the same one on which I first learned to sew. In high school I made many of my own dresses, skirts and vests. I made curtains for my college dorm room out of a set of sheets. I made my own wedding dress (which did not unnerve me at all but almost gave my poor mother a nervous breakdown on my behalf). I’ve not been able to sew nearly as much as I would like in recent years for lack of time — it has been largely confined to altering clothes, repairing things when my son rips them and making gifts at Christmas (fleece jackets & pants, throws, clothes for my son, etc.) or for baby showers (shopping cart covers, car organizers to hang on the back of the seat, curtains, crib bumpers and such). I dream of being able to start a sewing business (and maybe even getting my mother to join me in it…she can sew much better than she gives herself credit for).
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