Sewing has Evolved From a Necessity to a Luxury, Unless you Get Thrifty

It used to be cheaper to sew your own clothing and household items. But now the price of fabric has steadily risen and cheap clothing (cheaply made with cheap synthetic fabric) is everywhere. So, the motivation for home sewing has changed. Now home sewers are looking for quality, fit, durability and personality.

The price is daunting if you go to your local fabric store, or online to find fabric. I'm in sewing groups where folks are excited about cotton knit that's $10+ per yard. Depending on how many pairs of underwear they can get out of a yard, plus at least an hour of their time... the price tag could easily go above your favorite brand.

My rule was never to go to a fabric store without a good coupon in hand. Even then, the cost of materials could push the equation towards a top or skirt costing more than a comparable item from Target. For the budget conscious sewer, when sewing for ourselves we can discount the cost of our time spent sewing. But for someone looking to sell their work, the hours spent shopping, planning, cutting and sewing would need to be calculated in too.

My Budget Friendly Sewing Plan

I buy used clothing to upcycle or use for the fabric. The process is longer, when you're looking for particular fibers in the right colors and price range. But at the end, I have something that fits me or a family member, my preferences and my budget. As a mom, much of my recent sewing has been for a particular twirly girl. Repurposing fabric from used clothing particularly works for the patch work styles, which I'm rather fond of...

Related Articles

An article about how this generation is turning to sewing, where cost doesn't appear to be a consideration:

https://www.thelily.com/making-your-own-clothes-is-making-a-comeback-these-millennial-women-are-leading-the-way

Christmas goodies

I'm pretty proud of the Christmas gifts I've made so far. Recycled crayons. There are tutorials all over the place...

I had to do some shopping to find girly colored corduroy, I've been eyeing a pink pair of corduroy my daughter is growing out of. But since she's still wearing them, I wasn't allowed to cut them. This is your typical circle skirt. I used a button hole elastic for the first time.

Patchwork Progress

I started a patchwork skirt back before Thanksgiving with the intention of finishing before Christmas. The actual patchworking went smoothly. I had a nice rythmn going: match pieces, stitch, serge, top stitch, assembly line style. It takes a long time, but I loved it. Every free moment I was at the dining table (aka my sewing station).

A few patchy things I learned in the process:

• keep seam allowence in mind when cutting the fabric, you probably don't want lots of really skinny patches
• work assembly line style - for speed
• don't plan out patchwork too much, the fabric has a mind of its own
• you will use lots of thread, if your top thread color is important, be prepared with at least 3 spools
• as a firt time patchwork fabric, corduroy is very forgiving
• corduroy is very thick, make sure your sewing machine can handle the layers you'll have to sew
• patchworked panels are thick and heavy
• don't give yourself too much waistline allowence, all that fabric will have to bunch around your waist
• if you insert pockets in your panels, take the height of the waistband into consideration
• if you insert pockets or other important features in your panels, remember to inset them enough, that it doesn't get chopped off in seam allowance
• if you want vertical strips to connect panels, either: have horizontal patches in the strips, or make sure the panels are very a-line (very triangular), see second picture to understand why.