3 Reasons I Like Sewing My Own Clothes

The [short] sewing manifesto –  and why you should start sewing for yourself

I’ve been talking to a lot of people who want to sew their own clothes lately. People who aren’t necessarily crafty (do you think you have to be crafty to sew well?), who don’t necessarily buy handmade, who didn’t grow up with a mother or grandma who was a seamstress and didn’t have a roommate in college who used to repair their hems and shorten their skirts.

People who want to sew because they thinks it’s fun, because they’d rather wear something they made rather than buying an item that was made in a million copies. And cut from fabric that’s mostly plastic, very rigid or badly dyed.

1. I choose quality over quantity

I always say I’d rather make an item and invest more in fabric and making than buying something that I’ll wear twice a year if lucky.

Then, there’s another issue: stuff.  Junk we buy because we “never have enough pairs of boot cut jeans”, enough black sandals and enough short sleeve tshirts.

(Please, if the SALES are still in your town, don’t buy anything that’s knit and cut in a T shape. You already have more than you need of those.)

We keep buying things for the sake of buying. Stuff we don’t need. Stuff we don’t love. Stuff that doesn’t fit well (It’s amazing how many pieces of clothing that didn’t actually fit I bought in the last 10 years. And I am just discovering that while my sewing, pattern making and fitting is improving. )

I don’t know about you but “stuff” makes me tired.

3. I love what I wear 😉

And there’s another thing I always tell people who want to start sewing; the clothing items you make will live longer than store-bought clothes. (Provided you use good fabric and you follow a few basic sewing rules, like closing your stitches etc.) I have blouses I made four years ago, wore every other week and still look great. And four years ago I was just starting to make clothes that required patterns with more than two pieces.

And the best part of it: I love these items because I made them. Because they’re comfortable, fit me well and are exactly what I wanted to wear. (No more – do you have this in red instead of khaki?)

Ok, enough about me, let’s talk about you 🙂

Why do you sew? And if you don’t would you like to sew for yourself?