Teenagers and sewing

I see it all the time in our local laundrette they spend more time googling the shop and they come in asking us to sew a button on their shirt/ jacket/ skirt !. Most of them don’t know how a washing machine and iron works!.

Three of the issues about teaching students to make a garment at school:
One, the cost of patterns
Two, where to buy material
Three, the number of weeks it takes to make a garment over one lesson a week.
Not to mention the cost to the school 🏫 f the machines.

No none of my grandchildren sew or knit neither of my daughters sew or knit either and neither do I ( I have in the past I used to crochet and tried to revive that more recently but couldn’t do it at all)
I did sewing at school and hated it
My mum was a seamstess so must have been disappointed but never said so
One grandaughter had a go with a machine but after making a few bits the machine didn’t come out again but she’s an excellent cook as is her brother ( and neither her mum nor me are that either) 🤣

in the 1960's my friend and I would buy some material from a remnant shop and make our own dresses...no sewing machine it was all done by hand sewing,,,one yard of material would make a dress,,,

I was homeschooled (that's what we call home ed in Canada) from Grades 4-8, and took sewing with my mom in Grade 7. I made a bag that I originally used to hold my music books (I'm a pianist) and still have today. In Grade 9 I started on an online school and took a fashion studies course. With my mom's help, I made a dress. I still have it today and wore it for my wedding rehearsal, 12 years later!

I have got a sewing machine that was a gift from my parents, but I do admit that I'm a little nervous about using it. I do want to learn more about sewing with a machine.

I love cross stitching and do it frequently. I also do a little embroidery and have tried some needlepoint.

We are moving house and I will be making curtains on an industrial scale.

My non-sewing youngest daughter has done some beautiful cross stitch work over the years.

I don't think she sees cross stitch as "sewing" per se.
She also tried lace making but that wasn't for her.

My grandson wanted to try cross-stitch having seen mine. I set him up with a very simple pattern, but he lost interest very quickly when he discovered that it wouldn't be completed in less than an hour...

petra

I’ve tried with the one granddaughter who lives near me but no joy.
It’s not just the making things. It’s the alterations that you can do to something that doesn’t fit properly.
Shoulder seams are my thing to correct.
This is why I’m donating 2 perfectly usable sewing machines to the Tools With a Mission charity.

Shoulder seams are my thing to correct.

I think that may be what I need to do with a blouse I just bought. Apart from some alterations and mending, I rarely get out my newish machine, just don't feel at home with it after my trusty old Singer gave up.

My DGC don't sew.
One DD sews but is generally too busy now.

I was delighted when my 16 year old GD asked me to teach her to sew. I suggested she start with something simple. She decided on an apron and measured an apron of mine to calculate how much fabric to buy. She loved the fabric store, chose some jazzy cotton and was very keen to get started.
Job done the same day and GD delighted. Fingers crossed she"ll want to progress to something to wear!

I sew quite a lot. Much of the stuff I do is altering shop bought clothes to fit or adapting part of the design to suit me better. Years ago I had read something about Princess Catherine buying high street clothes and getting them altered/modified to fit and look better. I thought to myself ~ I can do that! So I do, and very useful it is too.. It's quite handy to be able to update a 'look'.

I have done sewing with my grandchildren. It has mostly been embroiderty stitches with binca and chunky needles. Also basic hand stitches that can be used in lots of different ways to make clothes for their toys. I find that my grandchildren love the idea of sewing but don't have the patience to practise stitches per se. They want to get to the completed item as quickly as possible.

Meant to say I am left handed and clumsy maybe that’s why I failed miserably…..

I am 69 approaching my 70th. Always been useless at sewing knitting and crochet. I can sew a button on and decorate a tutu with sequins but that is my limit. Did attempt crossstitch kits in my 30’s but used to unpick more as I went wrong. You either have it or you don’t I most definitely don’t.

grandMattie

My DGD asked for sewing lessons for her 10th birthday. She now has a sewing machine which I got free from a WI friend.

But - have you seen the price of fabric? The cheapest, acceptable fabric I can find here is at least £7 per metre, more usually around £11 per metre. Not very conducive to make your own, is it?

Have a look at this site.

www.poundametre.com/

My mother was very good at making soft furnishings and quite good at making dresses .
I used to make clothes occasionally.
She was a skilled embroiderer.
I also can embroider - I can make my own designs .
To be frank - not all our dress making efforts were that successful.
But my daughter aged 15 had far more skill than either of us .
She would draw a design ,cut a pattern out from newspaper and run it round the machine.
She's also a skilled milliner , furniture maker and ceramist though she earns her living as an artist and art lecturer .

I think that it's a gift .

No never been interested in sewing or knitting really disliked these classes at school. I had no aptitude for it, as a left hander trying to learn to knit was a nightmare. I agree that learning to cook and how to manage household finances is much more important.

I come from a long maternal tradition of excelent/professional/sewers/dressmakers. I am a bad sewer, I have dyspraxia, but I enjoy sewing and still do it. DD started sewing at 4 and hasn't stopped since. Her house looks like one of those Kirsty Allsopp home crafts tv programmes.

DD and I decided that DGD should learn to sew, so at about 4, when she came to visit, she made a skirt for one of her dolls, on her next visit, several months later, we used exactly the same technique to help her make a skirt for herself. This included a trip to the fabric shop to buy the fabric - and it hasn't really stopped since then.

Att 11 we all clubbed together to buy her own sewing machine, and now she uses it as and when she needs it to to alter clothes, repair clothes and refashion clothes.

She is now 18, and may not use her machine for 6 months at a time, but then will make or alter something. The main thing is that she has the skills and she has the equipment and those will last her a lifetime.

We tried to itnerest my DGS in sewing, but he showed little interest.

I think if you are to interest children in sewing they learn best through making things. DGD picked the basics up - sewing buttons, turnimg hems etc when we made clothes that required them.

NotSpaghetti

JaneJudge I am a weaver - though admittedly mainly of woven art.
Some of my wall-hanging pieces take a working day to weave a few centimeters.

Obviously simple cloth would be much much quicker but nevertheless!

Oh how lovely to have an expert on here you have illustrated what I was trying to say entirely

To the best of my knowledge, all KS3 pupils, boys and girls, will spend some time on their timetable each year doing Textiles on the Design Tech rotation. Ditto Food, electronics, woodwork, Computer-Aided Design etc in preparation for GCSE choices
I'm sure there's a primary person who can tell us about what pupils do with DT at KS1 & 2

I must add that none of my daughters, nor my son have ever touched a sewing machine, but one of my sons in law is a skilled machinist.

JaneJudge, some fashion brands still manufacture part of their range in Britain. My daughter worked for a fairly prestigious brand and visited factories and home workers, here and abroad.
I do agree with other posters.
I sewed children's clothes when mine were small, because fabric was cheap, and clothes expensive. Now it is the other way around, although my youngest daughter does buy from small, local makers. There is still a market for such garments, but they come at a price.

My mum was a lecturer in Soft Furnishings and Dressmaking at a FE college.
Like her I loved it and she taught me so much over the years. My sister who is 4yrs younger than me, can just about sew on a button. She has never been interested.

My DD wanted some new curtains for a Bay window, she liked a particular fabric but having the shop make them was rather expensive for her. So I said I would show her how to make them. We did them together, but I made her do the lions share and to use the sewing machine. They were lined, and even had weights in the corners, turned out perfect my Late Mum would have been proud of her.
She's not made anything since, but I think she might one day.

I think teenagers need to want to learn these skills if they are to be successful. I tried to teach my granddaughter to knit when she was about ten but she wasn’t interested. At sixteen she asked me to teach her again and then she taught herself to crochet by using you tube. She has made several blankets and lots of soft toys and really enjoys doing it but I doubt whether she can sew on a button or take up a hem.

My youngest GD (10) is keen to sew. Her Year 5 class were paired with a child in Reception to make them a soft toy. She really enjoyed it and since then has made her cousin a soft owl.
She has asked to go to a sewing group but there is nothing remotely like this in our area which seems a shame.

My DGD asked for sewing lessons for her 10th birthday. She now has a sewing machine which I got free from a WI friend.

But - have you seen the price of fabric? The cheapest, acceptable fabric I can find here is at least £7 per metre, more usually around £11 per metre. Not very conducive to make your own, is it?