Nearly every woman has gone into a clothing store, walked out without making a purchase and then threatened to start making her own clothing. Many times, clothing either does not fit properly, is not well made or is just too expensive for your budget. Those ladies who threaten to become their own seamstresses would be making a wise choice if their carried out their threats. By sewing your own clothing, you take back control over the factors that prevent you from making a clothing purchase that you will be happy with. You will quickly discover that there are many benefits to sewing your own clothes, affecting your self-image, your purse and the durability of your wardrobe.
Saving Money
How many times have you tried on a designer dress, only to take one look at the price tag and nearly collapse with the fear that you will damage it before you can take it off? This is even more painful when the dress was exactly what you were searching for. Realistically, the expensive designer clothing that most women look longingly at, but can never afford to purchase, costs relatively little to make. By purchasing a pattern or designing your own, buying the materials and making the dress yourself, you can have a designer duplicate for just a fraction of the retail cost.
Assuring the Right Fit
Women come in all shapes and sizes, meaning there are very few who fit into a standard size, each and every time. Some may have a size 10 waist with size 14 hips, or they may have a large bust and broad shoulders, with a narrow bottom half. Clothing is generally made for the perfectly proportioned woman, leaving most out in the cold. Rather than settling for garments that do not fit properly, that are too long or too short or that just need a few adjustments, why not sew the clothing yourself? You can adapt the pattern and style to better suit your body type, resulting in a cleaner, more polished look to your outfits. When clothing fits well, you will feel better about yourself when wearing it.
Personalised Wardrobe
Often women will spend hours searching for the perfect outfit or item to add to their wardrobe, only to find that nothing that is even close to what they need is available for sale. When you sew your own clothing, you have the opportunity to create the exact items that you need or want, whether or not they are in the current season or if they are what is considered “in style”. You can add your own personal signature to items made from a pattern by embellishing your clothing to your own tastes. If you are the creative type, you can even design your own clothes to create your own fashion line that no one else will be wearing. Sewing your own clothes gives you a freedom of expression that no boutique or department store could ever allow. Whether you prefer styles that are no longer available or would like to tone down or jazz up current fashions, sewing your own clothing will give you the opportunity to dress the way you wish.
Quality Control
The old saying that things that are not made as they used to be is the blatant truth. As the manufacturing process has become automated, quality control has diminished and items are not as well made as they once were. Add to that the propensity of manufacturers to cut corners and use less expensive materials to create their products, and you have a recipe for clothing disaster. Seams may not hold up, buttons may be lost, zips may break and fabric may tear easily. When you sew your own clothing, you can choose higher quality fabrics and accessories, assuring that your garments will stand the test of time. You also control the quality of the work, itself, leaving no one to blame but yourself for poor workmanship.
Though sewing your own clothing does take a bit more effort than walking into your favourite department store and choosing something off the rack, the benefits are well worth the extra effort. You will ensure that your clothing fits properly, is well made and suits your personal style perfectly, all while saving massive amounts of money. If you have a bit of sewing knowledge and can follow a pattern, you will be well on your way to becoming your own fashion designer and reaping the benefits of creating your own wardrobe.
Recommended Reading
For more information and advice on sewing your own clothe, take a look at the following books:
Sew Everything Workshop
Design-It-Yourself Clothes: Patternmaking Simplified
Make Your Own Clothes: 20 Custom Fit Patterns to Sew
The Illustrated Hassle-Free Make Your Own Clothes Book
Sew Fast Sew Easy: All You Need to Know When You Start to Sew
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By Betty on 21 Nov 2008
My mum made most of my clothes when I was a child. They were the most amazing pieces and I really learnt about good workmanship. However, I don’t think most women today have the time to spend on developing such skills. To be really good takes time and diligence.
By samantha on 27 Mar 2010
Sewing today has changed from our mother’s time. We are busier today and many of us are looking for new ways to design, sew and wear our clothes should we decide to sew. We also take into consideration the cost of material today and cost versus sales rack price of clothing. Women today are more creative than our mother’s days of sewing as well. We are seeing that it is not just about patterns but that there is a thing called ‘’draping”, which looks better than most patterns when a woman finishes her pattern choice. Today, we are also told there is no wrong way to sew something, and that the rigidity and follow the book of the past, is no more. We are at last free to sew and create and find new methods that we like and that work for us.