When I was growing up many parents in my neighbor made their kids clothes. Not mine, she couldn’t (or wouldn’t?) but one of my older sisters did. She was a whiz on the sewing machine. She would even make matching outfits for the three girls still living at home (herself, me and another sister). I still remember a yellow Easter outfit that she made for us. It was too cute! And she made my first halter dress.
During this time, we seemed to always need dresses sewn for some special occasion at school or church. Today, kids are told they need a white dress and any type will generally do. Back in my day, we were told we needed “McCalls #4545” and off we went to get the material and the pattern.
As I got older, I learned to sew but I chose not to. My sister continued to make many of our outfits; in fact, she made my high school graduation dress (I still can’t understand why we needed a special dress since we had our gown on!). Over the years, I have sewn things for the house- made a few curtains, lace towels and such, but no clothes. I made one outfit, a two-piece skirt set, when I was in high school Home Economics class. I never got over the amount of time and patience needed to put together a wearable piece of clothing.
Like I said I can sew but I choose not to. I thought about making clothes for Tyler when he was a baby, went as far as looking at patterns. But I decided I didn’t want the hassle. I didn’t think many parents were still sewing their kids’ clothes anyway. I was wrong. I was reading in the paper the other day that parents are indeed still making clothes for their little ones. What surprised me is that some parents didn’t know how to sew before they decided they wanted to make their kids clothes. They simply took a sewing class and learned by trial and error.
Many parents decide to make clothes for their kids because they want to have an outfit that is unique. Instead of having the same outfit that everyone else on the playground has. Other parents said it’s a way to bring out their creative side.
If you think you might like to join the 35 million sewers (according to the Home Sewing Association), you can get a basic sewing machine for a few hundred bucks. If you’ve never sewn before, you should take a beginning sewing class. If it’s been awhile since you’ve sewn, you may want to take a refresher course or make a few practice outfits. Also, start with patterns labeled “beginner”, “easy” or “two-hour”. I’m even reconsidering my “no sewing” stance. Who knows, maybe I’ll see you at Clothworld!
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