Dilek Aspires: MAKING YOUR OWN CLOTHES: WHERE TO START?

DO YOU LIKE THE DRESS I am wearing in the photos? Did you know that I made it just a day before my second graduation party? Of course, for some crazy reason, that night I ended up wearing another dress that I had sewn before, but that's beside the point. My point is that a lot of people ask me how I learned to make my own clothes. Well, I had a great teacher growing up, the all-knowing mom. Whenever she had free time, my mom would always do something whether it was sewing, knitting, or crocheting and seeing that, it made me want to learn. Making clothes seemed fun and productive at the same time.

I started with sewing clothes for my dolls, and many of you might not know this, but I am a pretty good artist, so I would first sketch the outfit and then try to cut out a mini pattern. Soon enough I made the transfer to human-sized patterns. Then, I developed an interest in knitting and when the time came for my mom to decide that yes, I am old enough not to poke my eyes out with the long needles, she taught me how to knit as well. Lastly, I remember her teaching me her favorite hobby, crocheting, and I recall making a yellow-white hat. But, somehow crocheting seemed the least fun and the most troubling of the three so I didn’t develop much of an interest in it.

Needless to say, my mom has always been there guiding me and helping me along the way. Unlike me, many don’t have a person to teach them how to do these things and people often tell me that they want to try making clothes, but that it seems so hard. Leaving knitting and crocheting aside for a moment, for someone just starting out, sewing can seem like a complicated process. I am not going to lie to lighten the weight of the process, but making clothes is not that complicated. It’s time-consuming and it requires a lot of attention to details, but it’s not something you can’t learn if you are willing to put in the time and effort.

Let me tell you where you can start.

No.1/ Buy Sewing Magazines.

My mom introduced me to the BurdaStyle sewing magazine in 2006 and back then it was called Burda Modemagazine {in German}. I am not paid by the magazine to tell you this, but I have been buying it religiously for 10 years now and it has helped me drastically improve my sewing skills. In addition to the glossy pages adorned with models wearing the clothes, you get ready-made patterns and an instruction manual where it tells you everything: how to measure yourself and figure out what size you are; how to copy the pattern according to your size; how much and what type of fabric you will need; how to transfer the pattern to the fabric and cut the pieces; how to put together the entire thing, etc. It’s the cheaper alternative to…

No.2/ Enroll{ing} in an Online/Offline course.

This one seems like a no-brainer, but a lot of people never think about the obvious. If you really want to learn how to make your own clothes and have some money to spare, try asking around and you will definitely find a place offering sewing courses close to you. If you can't find a course in your vicinity, there are a lot of online courses that you can enroll in. Even BurdaStyle magazine offers online courses you can register for at https://academy.burdastyle.com/ Just Google.

No.3/ Find Free Online Tutorials.

Speaking of Googling, if you don’t have the money to enroll in a course, just Google “free sewing tutorials” and you will get a bunch of websites, blogs, and YouTube videos that offer explanations for free. Needless to say, you can do the same thing for knitting or crocheting. One of my best friends learned crocheting solely out of YouTube!!! Oftentimes, I have turned to such tutorials and through them I learned how to make welt pockets or perfectly line a vest. The Web 2.0 is filled with countless tutorials or DIYs on how to make clothes, especially easy patterns for beginners.

No.4/ Practice Hand-Sewing.

If you own a sewing machine or you are financially able to buy one, hand-sewing might sound like needless waste of energy, but hear me out here. Not many people can afford a sewing machine and they see it as a hindrance to the process of making their own clothes. That's not necessarily true. One summer when I was younger and still didn’t have my small electric sewing machine to take while travelling, I hand-sewed three pairs of shorts that I ended up wearing for years to come. Where there is a will, there is a way. Also, many people who have a sewing machine {probably passed down from a grandma} don’t know how to use it. I have a friend who wants to sew and has a sewing machine from her mom, but she is absolutely terrified that she will sew her fingers together with the fabric. I know, the mental image is painful. My point is, even through hand-sewing is painstakingly slow, as a beginner you are probably working with easy patterns that don’t require much sewing to begin with. Don't let small problems stop you from trying.