New to sewing... (x-posted in dapier making)

[LoveLife]

I mean BRAND NEW.

I've been wanting to learn to sew for a while, and my DH got me a sewing maching for my b-day. YAY!

SO now I'm ready to start and I want to be able to make cloth dipaers when we have kids, as well as just be able to sew anything and everything.

The other night I successfully threaded my bobbing and machine- and practiced a few straight and zig-zag stiches on some rags. But patterns, etc-I'm clueless.

Ok- to my question... do I need a class to learn how to sew and be good at it? Sewing classes I've found are rather expensive- so I'd rather not.

Can I learn from a book? Any recomendations? Thanks for helping a newbie out!

Sorry to cross post, but I didn't realize this thread was here!

[marziechar]

I do think classes can be expensive. I never tried learning from a book.

I didn't have very much experience when I started, either, and I started with diapers. I had to take 3 weeks of home economics in middle school and we sewed a stuffed animal from a kit, but that was the extent of my experience.

Basically, it depends on how much of a perfectionist you are. I intend to use even the ugliest that I made , but you may want every CD to be perfect.

I finished my stash and am eagerly awaiting my 1st baby, but during my wait, I sewed 60 diapers (pocket), 150 wipes, and 120 pocket stuffer/soaker things. I do have to say that my last 15 or so are just darling and the first 10 or so looked great at the time (I've even given some to friends of those 1st 10 and they really liked them), but are really pretty ugly.

I started with a free pattern, but quickly and continuously altered it to A) be what I wanted it to look like, B) be easier to do many without pulling my hair out.....(as they are tedious and stressful sometimes)

You can always ask questions when they occur to you here and on other sewing forums, but the manual was enough for me....(my sewing machine is a super old hand-me-down that does only basic stitches)

Hope this helps a bit!

[sabrinat]

You don't need classes to learn. You can surely learn from a book or from the internet. There's several great groups dedicated to sewing and all things crafty. You can check out diapersewingdivas, sewingmamas (tell them I sent you ), patternreview or sewing.org. I myself like a good book and some scrap material and just go for it approach. The first things you make might not look awesome, but it's like most things that you will improve as you sew more.