10 things I've learned about sewing - introduction

A comment from Deirdre on my recent post about learning styles really made me think. I've been learning about sewing for so long - do I have some lessons to share?

At first I leaned towards 'no'. I only consider my skills beginner/intermediate. I'm still absorbing so much information from others, and have so far to go.

On the other hand, I have improved my skills recently. I initially learned to sew from my Mum - probably 25 years ago. But until I threw myself in the deep end by sewing alone, here in Auckland, I never challenged myself much or developed new skills.

An early attempt at eveningwear. That's me on the right, about 10 years ago. The first thing I sewed without help from Mum was this shiny poly-satin ballgown, on a 30 year old machine I found in the basement of my university dorm. I cut it out on the shared kitchen table, as there wasn't enough space in my room. Thankfully, it wasn't a disaster!

After getting so much help from the online sewing community, I'd love to give something back... even in the smallest way.

I'm going to share, in a series of posts, ten concepts that I think have improved my sewing. They aren't new or innovative. A lot of them could be extrapolated to other hobbies (hey, maybe I could expand this idea to photography!).

Each week, there will be a new concept or idea to discuss. If you bookmark this page, I'll add a link to each lesson as they're posted.

Hard-won sewing tip #1: Quality Hardware

Enjoy!