Burda Style For people who sew

Please help me to find a first time project. I have only made cushions, pillow and a simple costume for school.

I really need something that can build up my non-existent skills so that i can see and accomplish somehting.

I haev signed up to attend a one day course for beginners in a couple of weeks to aim to provide me with some long needed support and tips.

May 9, 2012, 02.56 PM by firsttimerstitcher

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  May 9, 2012, 04.43 PMby sewingfan1

  Ah,but what do you fancy making? Clothes or home furnishing style things? On the Patterns section of this web site you can select novice patterns and which style of item/season etc you fancy which has loads of ideas. I think the first thing I ever made was a tshirt that was basically 2 t shaped pieces of fabric sewn together :-)

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    May 9, 2012, 07.40 PMby firsttimerstitcher

    That sounds a good idea, as i could do it quite baggy so that it drapped off one shoulder. Thank you. I will go and have a nosey and see what i can find.

    Thank you

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  May 9, 2012, 08.31 PMby sewingfan1

  Have fun! I was thinking, 1 way to practice would be to try different techniques with cushion covers, like do one with smocking, try ones with invisible and normal zips, maybe one with something like the yin yang symbol to practice sewing curves together etc as you’d only need small amounts or remnants of fabrics so it wouldn’t cost much and most of those would be transferable skills to use in dressmaking too.
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  May 10, 2012, 04.28 AMby sew4my3

  Hello firsttimerstitcher and welcome!

  Congratulations on learning new skills!

  I have a few suggestions that I will list out here:

  1. Try our “Learning” section at the top menu or by clicking here: Learning Categories Some of the categories are; “Learning how to sew”, “Beginners and Basics” and lots of others to help along the way.

  2. Use our “Discussions” section to ask for help on anything, as you have done here. Our members are a wealth of knowledge!

  3. There is a site called Craftsy that has some wonderful online classes. Most of them require you to pay but there are a few that are free like this one: Sewing Machine 911, which can be very helpful when you run into machine issues. They have a great Patterns section that has some free and are great for beginners.

  4. youcanmakethis.com has some wonderful epatterns. Some are pay for patterns and this section is FREE. Also, they have Video Tutorials that are “pay for” but start at $3.99 and go up to $16.99. (I’ve made a few things using their epatterns)

  5. Fabric.com has some; Free Pattern Downloads that include pattern makers like “Hot Patterns”, “Create Kids” and a few more. Many are perfect for trying new techniques.

  6. Just a note; our patterns here on Burdastyle are sometimes lacking in the directions area as the patterns are translated from German to English. Burdastyle is working on correcting this, but if you need assistance please ask.

  Good luck on your next project and don’t forget to post it in your Studio sections. We love seeing what you’ve made!

  Happy sewing!
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  May 17, 2012, 02.07 PMby Gem-of-Cali

  There is nothing wrong with classes but people learn by mistakes. And if you want to make something, well make a muslin of it first and make your mistakes on that. That is how I learned to sew. I make what ever I want and have never had a class. I have made several items of clothing that my daughter loves, so I guess I did okay without classes. So just search the internet and get some books and go to town on a muslin.:)
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  May 19, 2012, 01.57 PMby Linda74Sews

  I teach sewing at Joann’s and a local fabric store in town. I believe one of the best first projects to make are elastic waist pajama pants. They are practical, teach you how to use a commercial pattern, proper techniques to pattern layout/pin/cut/mark, not to mention relatively easy construction. Its a good project for boosting your confidence and giving you motivation to learn more. Take it slow. Add a more complex technique with the next project, another technique on the project after that, etc. All the above advise is also good. You can learn a lot online, but nothing can replace, hands-on instruction.
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  May 20, 2012, 10.01 AMby katexxxxxx

  My son’s first projects were a patchwork quilt and a pair of jeans. Think what you want to wear or use, and go for it!
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  May 31, 2012, 04.41 AMby ToastyKnitsandSews

  I’ve always taught people to sew with pillow cases or simple gathered skirts (a big rectangle gathered into a waistband like this: http://www.blogforbettersewing.com/2009/08/sew-full-gathered-skirt-part-one-make.html I wouldn’t encourage a zipper for a first project though.

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    May 31, 2012, 09.29 AMby katexxxxxx

    Oh, I dunno… They aren’t hard, you just need to be careful.My first garment was a skirt with a zip. I was seven. My son was 12 when he did his jeans, including a proper fly zip.

    The biggest hurdle with beginning to sew is learning to keep seams straight. After that, everything is easy!