I'm thinking of getting sewing lessons. Due to my other commitments it's almost impossible to take group classes. I've called several places and most of them have hours I can't attend. This one place (a small shop that sells/services sewing machines) offers one on one private lessons whenever I want but it costs $25 an hour (ouch!)
How can I make most of this time with the instructor? Here's my background. I can thread a machine and bobbin. I have made curtains, pillow cases and little dresses for kids so I know my way around the sewing machine somewhat. I'm not comfortable with the quality of my end product. and I want to learn to sew clothes for myself.
I'd appreciate any suggestions. If you have any questions, please post.
Do you know anyone else in your area that sews, a friend or family member or co-worker? I bet if you told them your problem they would be happy to make free time for you. Another thing is to start small, like a skirt. And don't forget to use your iron, that makes all the difference. Maybe look up what you need to know online, or on here, or on
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in the forum.
The most important thing is to keep practicing, it isn't something that you learn instantly so if you don't like what you made put it away and try something new. Its easier to start from scratch.
Ouch??? Have you priced other professional fees lately? I just paid $125/hour for a plumber, the electrician won't even come out for less that $90/hour with a two hour minimum, even the beauty shop operator gets $40.00/hour.... Why should a teaching professional charge any less?
For one-on-one lessons I think $25/hour is *very* reasonable, provided that the instructor *is* a professional. If you prepare very well for each lesson, do the "homework", make notes, ask questions, PAY ATTENTION, you should get a lot of value for your money.
I suggest you go to your local free public library and look at any and all sewing books they may have, particularly "Sewing for Dummies", "Reader's Digest Complete Guide to Sewing", any of the Singer series, and whatever else the nice librarian can dig up for you. Take one or two of them home to peruse at your leisure. After you have some ideas, and have perhaps played with a few suggestions in the book, THEN go for your private lessons, armed with your mistakes and experiments so that the instructor can see exactly where you need further guidance.
Good luck, and come back whenever you need to.
p.s. Individual lessons at $25 an hour might end up cheaper than a whole course at $75 if you learn what you need to.
I have to agree, Beverly. I was trying to remember what my husband pays his piano teacher for his lessons. Whatever it is, it's worth every penny. It seems like a group class would cost at least that much, and you'd be sharing the teacher's attention with all the other students.
At $25.00 an hour I would be wary of the instructors credentials. A good seamstress can command mush more than that and all they have to do is what they know best.... Sew
Before taking private lessons, may one make a suggestion? Purchase one or several good sewing books (Reader's Digest, Vogue, Singer all have excellent books), they can be found cheaply on eBay. On a quiet afternoon/night/day with no distractions sit yourself down with a bevy of choice and have a good read. Read everything through until you understand completely, just as one does at school, then it is time to put theory into practice. Remember to feel free to experiment, if you can achieve the same results by using a different technique or method, have at it; you are not being graded.
Go to your local fabric store, or even on eBay and buy some cheap cotton muslin, about several yards, and any other sewing supplies you are lacking. Then start practicing various seams, stitches and techniques until you have them down. It is far better to go to an instructor with examples of what one is doing wrong, then just asking carte blanche "teach me to sew".
After you have mastered certain techniques, look for projects, either in the aforementioned books or patterns that cover said techniques and try to run them up. If you make a mistake, don't kill yourself over it, that is what cheap muslin is for. Rip out and start over, and keep at it until you get things right. Though it may not be up your street , I recommend Miss. Ahles' s book "Fine Machine Sewing". Besides giving instruction on heirloom sewing, Miss. Ahles give some very good basic information for all sewers, beginner, novice and advanced. Sometimes it is the simple things like tension, thread choices, and other basics that throw things off.
Believe it or not "Google" can be your friend when it comes to sewing. Once you can identify a specific problem, try searching Google. More likely than not you will find answers because some one, some where has been there and done that.
Like every thing else, excellence in sewing is going to require practice, practice, and practice. You can be sure no beginner sewer sat themselves down and made a perfect haute couture suit their first time out, so take it easy on yourself. With practice and time you'll find yourself where you want to be.
I don't know how other people would feel, I am just speaking for myself, I always love to help out people I know when they really want to learn something that I know, thats just me though, I have always been like that. I would make them come to my house though!
Nah. I'm sticking to my guns. What I know is valuable, as is my time with my family. If somebody wants to make extensive use of my knowledge this automatically carves into my personal time.
If and where I can fit it in, I don't mind answering questions, etc., but the fact that I'm relatively competent at sewing doesn't necessarily mean that I'm interested in offering up freebies.
In addition, the person offering freebies *might* be undercutting another person who depended on (and deserved) the $$$.
We all share in this group, freely and willingly. If OP needs specialized instruction, he/she should really be willing to pay the going rate for it. JMHO.
What you need to do is talk to the person teaching. Tell her all that and ask for suggestions. I am working with a student this summer (and that's about what I charge for lessons as it's on a par with my normal labor rate.) She is going to the Fashion Institute in NYC this Fall. Her designs are great but she didn't feel like her sewing skills were where they need to be. We are working on garment construction from a pattern. What she needed most was to know how garments are put together. Our first project was a pair of shorts with a fly. We're going to try and fit in a blouse and possibly a bagged skirt.
We planned all that out just by sitting down and chatting for a half hour. That's what you need to do too. We can all offer you opinions here but the only ones that count are yours and the teacher's.
Depends on where we are Ron. Big city -v- smaller city -v- little bitty town. We all charge what we need to cover overhead and what our market will pay.
I live in a little bitty town near a small city and many of the shops I service would jump with joy if they could get a good seamstress for less than $25.00 per hour. When I worked in the factory 16 years ago there were girls making close to $20.00 P/H piece work, but those few never spent much time in the break room, and I am sure there was a bunch that barley covered minimum wage.
I'm with you. I'd like to hang out with a friend, sewing. Of course, they'd have to be pretty green for me to be teaching them anything. :)
As for the OP, after you buy all the books, look around. My local Hancock Fabrics has in-house classes that are free and/or quite reasonable. There is also a local Sewing Guild that costs a little for an annual membership, but I'll bet if you went to the meetings some of the other sewists would be friendly enough to help you with the things you get stuck on. It's always good to hear 2-3 different solutions, another advantage of a group situation.
I always get asked by friends or sometimes mere acquaintences if I will sew something for them and I almost always tell them "NO!" But, these are gals that I KNOW have a sewing machine but no confidence or much experience. So I always give them an open invitation to bring their project to my kitchen table and work on it at my house. That way, we can chat, ....if they have a question I can answer it.....if I happen to notice them going astray or they need reminding that bad seams really DO need to be removed and re-sewn....or, if I need to show them how to get a part started ......it just works out great. My house is never any messier for it, I can still putz around and get my stuff done so I havn't lost too much time, I spend time with a friend and after a day or so they are done and AMAZED with THEMSELVES! Joy in Michigan
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