[theknittinganxiety]

Hi all,

I sew for a year now and I am thinking in sew a shirt or a dress for me for the 1st time! So I realised that I am always thinking in sewing for my baby and never sewed something for me…

Do you sew for yourselves? What do you think about it?

Rita

[scgoble]

I sew for myself much more now than I do for my daughter, simply because she has too many clothes! I also feel like it has increased my sewing skills so much more, if for no other reason than my clothes have to be flattering. I mean, her clothes can be too small or too large, but she is not worried about whether a dress flatters her figure. 🙂

[Robin]

The joy of sewing for my daughter is that the only alteration needed is hemming. For myself I have to do a FBA, narrow the shoulders and increase the width of the sleeves. And I’m just not that confident yet with doing all of those things. Having said all of that, I usually sew a couple of pieces a year for myself. And there’s something luxurious about sewing for yourself.

Rita, have you sewn any bags for yourself? No alterations needed and Liesl’s got a couple of great patterns to warm up with.

[ditherdither]

I mostly sew for my kids, but I have made several things for myself. A handful of knit tops, 2 skirts, and one dress — so not much! Once summer rolls around and I have more time, I’m planning on making a couple of dresses for myself. I have the fabric, and the patterns, too. I just need to take the time and trace the patterns and cut the fabric.

It’s definitely trickier to sew for myself, as getting a good fit is important, and I still haven’t figured out how to grade patterns. My kids don’t care as much about how their clothes fit (they are all still under 5 years old). I know they will soon, though, as they get older.

[theknittinganxiety]

I sewed some bags now, but again not for me but for my friends! I don’t feel very confident about sewing for myself but I am digging in my Burda magazines for an easy project. I used to be very skinny, but I gain some weight with the pregnancy and now I really don’t know how to dress myself, well, but this is another issue.

I think that sewing for kids is much more easy, they look cute in anything, for ur we really need to do it like a professional or we risk to look like a clown.

[cybele727]

Rita. I only sew for my kids because I too no longer know how to dress this body left over from 2 hard pregnancies. I have 40lbs that won’t go away! Suddenly I have a bust and belly TNT I never had to dress before. Patterns require so much in alterations that I am loathe to spend all the time and money on supplies only o be disappointed. 🙁

[bren5kids]

I sew for myself as much as for my girls, but probably for different reasons than most of you. I am a conservative Mennonite and only wear dresses, and make all my own dresses. I’ve been making all my own dresses since I was 13 so I don’t think twice about it. But I find it pretty easy to sew for myself because I pretty much stick with one pattern that I have tweaked to fit me well. I might sew different sleeves, necklines, or add a flounce or ruffle to bottom of skirt, or put tucks somewhere, but the base pattern remains the same. Although I have been struggling to find something that fits me well since my baby was born 6 mo ago. I had lost 50 lb after my previous baby, so I got rid of all my “fat” dresses, and had fun sewing for the new slender self. Now I am 15 or 20 lb heavier and nursing, so can’t begin to fit into my pre-pregnancy dresses. So my wardrobe is quite limited right now. But I am determined to have a new dress for church this Sunday.

[wendy]

I started sewing a couple of years ago with the intention of making my own clothes and am finally at the point where I can tackle that. I was discouraged by fitting issues for the longest time but I guess you can only make so many mistakes before you actually start to learn something!

Making clothes for my daughter is instant gratification. I see a pattern i like, figure out the fabric, sew it and it looks great. A few hours and it’s done; very satisfying. My approach to clothes for me requires a lot more patience. I don’t give myself a time frame, I expect to get hung up for a while and have to put things aside. And I just move on if the project doesn’t work out in the end. I see it as a life long learning curve and figure I can’t get to point B without going through point A, and so on. And If I only nail one in three projects, well, at least that’s one garment that I’ll wear and love for a long, long time. It’s easy to get hung up on the ‘goal’ and forget to pat ourselves on the back for how much we’ve learned so far!

[Nicole]

I sew on a rota now. One item(or set) for each of us. It works well as I have tricky sewing mixed with easier patterns.

~Nicole~

[Justine J]

One of the very first things I sewed was a skirt for myself (using a Make it Perfect pattern). But then I found O+S and began sewing for the kids in earnest. For a very long time I only sewed for them, but now they have more clothes than they need, and I can’t justify making more! But I also can’t not sew, so I have been doing lots of self sewing lately. Skirts are an easy option – not many fitting issues. It is now rare for me to wear an outfit that I have not made at least half of!

[thejennigirl]

I sew for myself quite a bit (not as much as I do for my kids, as there are 3 of them & one of me). I prefer vintage patterns and take the time to make a muslin to get the fit just right. It is VERY rewarding to wear garments that fit and flatter your figure so very well. I work in a bridal shoppe, and I’m always receiving compliments from my customers on my clothing, especially the dresses!

On a non-sewing note, before sewing for yourself, make sure you have the correct size and fit of bra. It will help you fit a pattern to yourself.

[Nicole]

I second the bra tip-I could not understand why my dress that looked terrible now looks great.

It was my feeding bra/singlet that I had been wearing.

Now I am back in ‘big girl’ bras fitting is much easier.

[with love Heidi]

Last week I took a birthday gift to a friends family and I had also made a little something for the non birthday kids, after noting 4 lego men jumpers (sweaters), a tea party sundress and a penguin backpack, the oldest asked me if I make all my clothes. It made me laugh a little and then think about it. Although I don’t feel I’ve made lots I thought about what I had made, 4 pairs of stretch pants in black and brown (like yoga pants but for everyday/work wear), I wear these everyday, I have no other pants I wear or that fit. One wrap skirt, originally made as an experiment but now worn once a week or fortnight, not bad for something made from the remnants of a doona cover left over from another project. And a 8 layered tired skirt (13m around the bottom) which I wore at least once a fortnight while it fitted. It made me realise that although I haven’t sewn heaps fro myself what I have sewn that fits gets worn all the time. I need to make another pair of pants and I have the fabric for another wrap skirt (it might even be some of the jap lawn from spotlight) and for at least two long tired skirts. I think I need to sew for myself more. I defiantly need a new jumper (sweater) as I am still wearing the ones I made with mum in the 90’s, so very comfy by not probably the best look. I think choosing the patterns put me off as I don’t feel confidant that the choice will flatter my figure, unfortunately my woodland stroll cape was one of those. My friends son’s question has encouraged me to think about making more for myself, and doing this has helped me see what I can make that I know will fit and look good.

Thanks for starting the thread knittinganxiety!

[sidewalkgoddess]

I have not made anything for me yet, but I plan to in the near future. I really like the idea of a sewing rotation!

[Tamara]

Before children I sewed for myself but I haven’t really since I was pregnant the first time. Sewing for babies and children is just so much fun and with weight fluctuations it has been hard to fit into the pattern sizings without having to do serious measurement alterations to the pattern itself!

I intend to sew for me again though. Just have to shrink a little further first. I also want to sew for my husband more, seeing as he doesn’t like me buying his clothes, I figure he could let me make at least some of them instead!