My mum made my clothes. Not all of them, but enough that the sight of her spreading out patterns on the floor and running them through the sewing machine wasn’t at all unusual to me. She would take some paper and some fabric and it would become a dress. It was magic. It was mystical. It was terrifying. But it was normal.

When I grew up and moved out I decided I wanted to uncover this magic. I wanted a sewing machine, my friend wanted an excuse to buy a new sewing machine. So she gave me an open-ended loan, and she got a new machine. It was win-win (for us, not for our husbands). But now there was this issue. I had a machine, with all its scary poky bits and noise and buttons. I wanted to make beautiful things, but I didn’t know where to start or what to make, but I think my biggest fear was probably the cost. I was scared of making mistakes that would waste fabric. So if you are like me, here is how I got through it. Hopefully you will too.

Where to Start There were a few things that were instrumental in getting me going. The first was investigating the machine. I read the manual. I read it over and over. I didn’t understand it, the terminology was foreign and the diagrams were vague. But I read it until it was at least familiar, even if it still didn’t make sense. There was a list of parts, as there should be in yours, but about a third of it made any sense to me. I played with the machine. I turned dials, I flipped switches, I moved knobs. I turned a screw and the needle fell out. I pulled a lever and the foot came down. And I consulted youtube. Tutorials about any basic sewing machine taught me the basics of my own model. For example, the thingy that makes the needle go backwards to secure the thread seems to be pretty much the same deal on all the basic models, it might be a switch or a lever or a knob, but there will be one and it’ll do the same thing. Find each lever/button/dial and label them if you want to! But the biggest thing that helped was finding a friend who knew what she was doing (you can find mine in our ‘About’ section). Find a sewing group and watch, find someone who sews and text them questions incessantly (sorry Shanelle!). Join an online community. It’s easier and more helpful than you might think!

What to Make The cliche answer to this would be “anything!” and there is a bit of truth to this, but with a caveat. If you want to start off making a complicated patchwork, don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t. Just be aware that the learning curve will be greater, it will take you longer, and if you’re prone to disillusionment, then strap yourself in. I started sewing by making myself a wheat bag. It was a very simple matter of choosing fabric, cutting it out, sewing it right sides in, turning it inside out, filling it with wheat, and hand-sewing it up. It taught me the very basics of how to get the machine going, keeping it kind of straight, how much seam to allow (and that this is called a “seam allowance”), and that you want to hide your seam inside the bag by turning it inside out. That’s about all it taught me. I was still scared of the machine, but less so. A little of the magic had rubbed away, and been replaced with another kind. I made this. I took some pieces and turned them into a real thing I could use. It was a new kind of magic.

Fear of Cost This is an interesting one. I’d like to start by saying that I have wasted very little fabric, and what I have wasted has always taught me something, so is that really a waste? I had spent hours selecting the most beautiful fabric and then I was too scared to actually use it. So if you are concerned about wasting fabric, here is my advice: find the bargain bin. There is always something nice in the bargain bin. It might not be your first choice, but remember, if you don’t use your second choice fabric to practice, you’ll never get to use your first choice fabric for that project you’re dying to make. And that will be the real cost. Now, because the fabric you bought was cheap, and you were so scared of wasting it all, you accidentally bought too much, but you didn’t ruin it all, so you have leftovers. So what are you waiting for? Make something else! Make another one!

If you want to make beautiful things but you are afraid, anxious or apprehensive, about taking the plunge into quilting, or any kind of sewing, have a think about what it is that’s stopping you, and find someone to talk to about it. Think about what your hurdles are, and what tools you’ll need to cross them. Be okay with mistakes, you’ll make a lot of them, but none of them will matter. Work to your strengths, know yourself, trust yourself. And if you’re worried you’ll become addicted, well, welcome to the club! We’re happy to have you here :)

Thought of the day: Done is better than perfect.

QuilTerminology: The thingy that makes the machine sew backwards is usually called the Reverse Button, Reverse Lever, or I’ve also seen it called the Backstitch Switch. Sewing in reverse is called backstitching, and it is important to backstitch when starting and ending a line of stitches, to stop it from unravelling. The only time this can be skipped is when you are going to be sewing over the line another time, for example, when quilting, you can sew off the edge without backstitching as you will likely trim it and then go over the line when attaching the binding (although if you plan to leave the quilt half finished in a cupboard for three years, maybe backstitch just in case!).

Challenge: Got an old tshirt you don’t like? Put a contrasting coloured thread in your machine and go nuts! You might like what you end up with, and if you don’t, you’ve had a bit of practice, a bit of fun, and all you’ve lost is what you didn’t want to begin with!