” Like A Virgin, Sewing For the Very First Time.”

Whether you lost your virginity 5 years ago or 50, every woman (and maybe some men) remembers their first. In the creative world of sewing, that recollection is no different. Whether an expert or a novice, everyone started somewhere and everyone remembers their first…..project that is. Was their first all they expected it to be? Maybe. Did they give intimate blow by blow details of it all? Depends on how good or how bad it was. If they knew then what they knew now, would they have done things differently? In the case of bad……YES!!! 

I say this all to say that sewing firsts are special, even if they don’t turn out the way we plan. Whether that special moment in time just involved you a few yards of denim fabric, or a mixture of novelty cottonfleece and African fabric, if your first time was what you hoped it would be and you walked away with a smile on your face, then that is great! But if you were a virgin to sewing and you don’t quite know what you are doing, it’s ok. We’ve all been there. The trick is to trust in yourself, believe you can do it, be willing to learn as you go, and give it your best shot. Nothing reigns more true than the old saying ” Practice makes perfect.” The more you do it, the better you will get, and the more confident you will become. Maybe even enough to challenge yourself to do more. Next thing you know you’ll be teaching someone else the tricks of the trade and swapping your memorable sewing stories with the best of them!

So, for all our virgins out there (and our experts too), here are some funny and not so funny first time stories that will hopefully put the perfectionist in you at ease just long enough to remind you that everyone stumbles before they walk. Enjoy the journey to seamstress greatness!

First time, second time, and 50 years later sewing mishaps:

” On one of my first attempts to make a dress I took hours to pin the fabric together and then painstakingly sewed everything and finally stood up to proudly see my first dress only to realize that I had reversed the fabric and the “wrong” side was showing. My friend, my companion, my sidekick….the seam ripper. Uggggg!”                                                      –Maura Fitch McNulty

” Our one cat LOVES plastic bags – the crinkly ones from the grocery store. He loves nothing better than attacking and rolling a plastic bag. I had 4 yards of black material in a plastic bag and forgot to put it up. I woke up the next day to see the bag torn to shreds and holes in the material, right on the fold. Yep, the cat had clawed holes which ran the length of the material RIGHT DOWN THE MIDDLE! I put my material in plastic tubs right away now.”  –Pam Halter

” I was happily sewing away joining a couple of 2 inch strips when I felt a tug on my shirt. It had gotten caught on a pin and went right up with the fabric. I sewed it all together for about 6 inches.” -Carla Heller Finley

” One of my first attempts at sewing for my new husband(over 20 years ago) I carefully cut out a beautiful silk parrot fabric (hey, it was the eighties!!) Not realizing the fabric repeat was one way! Result, upside down parrots Yikes!”                –Robin Larabee van Loon

” In 7th grade right before I was to turn in my shirt project, I was trimming threads and clipped a huge hole in the back of it with my pinking shears!” –Jennifer Bruton Suleiman

” My worst sewing mishap was trying to design a black goth wedding dress. I couldn’t get it to do what I wanted 2 save my life!” –Always Silky

” Making my first rag quilt and when I pulled it out of the washing machine it was full of hole, clipped to close to the seams. It is still laying up in the closet waiting to be fixed.” –Sherry L Smithck

” Took 7 tries to get a collar on a shirt correctly. Needle in finger, only once so far on an industrial machine.”                         –Lourdes Echevarria Brolly

” While serging the seam on a pretty little sundress, I caught part of the dress in the seam and cut a pretty little hole in the dress. Thank goodness the shop still had some of the fabric left!” -Betty Mikie Bocell Rust

” I bought 4 yards of a cool cotton print knit, and the fabric seized up in prewash into a board. Stupidly I tried to sew it anyway and the resulting dress was like cardboard felt. Into the trash it went.” –Joanne Cleaver

” Let’s see. The time I completed a beautiful jumper for my mother (I was in college), only to discover that I’d inserted the zipper at the hem instead of the neck? The time I ended up in the ER after a wayward rotary cutter had its way with my index finger? The chain pieced set of 50 HSTs I’d sewn wrong side to right side?” -Pat Deck

” My worst was ruining a skirt by forgetting to check if my iron was clean and ended up melting sticky something all over
my nicely done skirt.” -Ame Greco 

It’s beyond explanation and is still sitting on my sewing table 1 year later.” -Janice Baar Schuiteman Peterson

” The first thing I remember is a stuffed animal in Home Economics class in Junior High. It didn’t turn out too well,
but then I made a solid maroon skirt with a real waistband and I was so proud of it. Practice makes perfect!”                         -Bib Shoppe

So there you have it; the good, the bad and the ugly that the loss of virginity can bring! The beautiful part is that if you can turn each stumbling block into stepping stones, your imagination  and creativity will help take care of the rest. Happy Sewing!

 

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