oops

I remember mom letting us go to 4 H when I was ten.
At the time, I had already been trying out her treadle machine. At 4 H we learned how to make gathered skirts . Do not remember putting in a zipper though so we might have made the skirt with the placket in the pocket.
Long before that time, I was patching my dads work pants by hand. Then I always ended up doing them as everyone else managed to ignore them.
It was fun to learn to use the sewing machine as we were always given clothes. Which were always too big for me as I was a little thing all through school. I would latch onto the dresses and cut them down so I could make gathered skirts out of them for school. Out of seven girls only one of us does not have a passion for sewing. Most of us made clothes for the kids but got away from it as we grew older and things got cheaper.

badger

I was about 12 or 13 when my Mother taught me to sew. She was making all my clothes at the time. At about 15 or so I began making some of my own clothes, and by the time I was out of high school, I made everything I wore, and did so until long after I was married. Even made my two boys clothes, until they were out of toddler things. About that time I started knitting, and until a few years later, didn'd sew much - then started on quilts and household stuff-curtains, drapes, upholstery etc. Love to sew!!!

lfw045

I was about 5 or 6 and made clothes for my Barbies out of my Mom's scraps. Actually the first thing I sewed was paper. My Mom would draw lines and curves on paper and get my brother and I trace them on the machine without any thread in the machine.

marymild

I made a gathered skirt in Home Ec--7th or 8th grade, I think. But then, I never sewed again until I retired five years ago. My mom would hem my skirts, etc. until she was 88 years old. But when I retired five years ago I started watching Alex Anderson and Simply Quilts and got hooked. Went to a local quilt shop and have been quilting ever since.

vickimc

It was summer I turned 10, in July, I said one too many times, I am bored. Mom, a former county home ec. agent. sat me to the sewing machine. I made a pair of shorts. red and white stripes about 2 inches wide with the stripes going up and down. I had a twiggy figure back then. not now.LOL. I was tall and skinny, they made me skinner. I wore them out. after that I was hooked. made barbie clothes. by the time I was in high school made my own clothes. kept getting in trouble in home ec. class. I wonder why.?? fun remembering.

CarolLady

In 8th grade, home ec. So embrassing. I made pants and a cute top. Unfortunately I didn't know about shrinkage and pre washing and they both shrunk :o( Pants to short top to tight not good. I did continue on to take sewing in high school and sewed satin pants and a satin top. That was a challenge too, using kitchen knives to hold the material in place while I cut the material to avoid using straight pins. How times have changed. lol The satin pants and top did turn out really good! (disco was in then) lol

RugosaB

We had a wonderful Home Ec teacher at our high school (I graduated 1976) who I knew because her daugthers were in 4-H the same time I was. I tried to take Hone Ec because really
at the time, I didn't cook anything, but she told me I was beyond her in sewing and the cooking I could learn on my own

SewExtremeSeams

Yes, it was in 7th grade home ec, on a treadle, and it was a fixed waist line gathered skirt, made of polished cotton. I know, that dates me. Electric machines were well established, I think the school just got a good deal on treadles or something. I loved the skirt and wore it for many years.

Mom tells me I wanted to sew since I was 5 but she felt inadequate about teaching me. So sad since she learned to sew in her early teens at her Auntie's wedding gown/formal wear factory in San Fransisco. She pinned everything and then hand basted over that before sewing on the machine. Tedious and meticulous work. She sewed all of our clothes for years.

I bought my first machine when my first daughter was born and have loved sewing ever since.

Thank you everyone for a walk down memory lane and for your wonderful stories. It is good to look back and see where we came from.

Just a note: look how many of us learned to sew in home ec classes. And 'they' decided that home ec classes aren't needed in our schools anymore. It delights my heart to no end when I see young people enjoying sewing!

CarolLady

I didn't realize they were discontinuing home ec classes in school. Both my kids took it and sewed something in high school They have been out for 5 and 2 years. That's sad! Glad they were able to do the sewing they did.

maryb119

I grew up watching both grandmothers and my mom sew. One gma was babysitting me when I was about three and I was being a brat and hitting my younger brothers so she gave me a needle and thread, a scrap and a button. I sewed it on and wanted more buttoms. I don't remember this but I heard the story lots of times. I had lace up cards and I would have them done correctly and match the colors of the htreads with the card. I guess I was meant to sew, huh?