All you really need is a little plastic thing of needles ($1), some pins ($1), thread (varies but even good cotton thread isn’t that much), scissors (where you might actually consider investing a little - do not use these scissors for anything else, and consider a rotary cutter if you really get into it), and fabric.
Fabric might seem like the pricey part of the equation, but consider how much a thrift store is going to charge you for a duvet or a pile of t-shirts! I have something like 30 t-shirts I spent maybe $5 on several months ago, and I’ve been working through that pile for a while.
You can turn a t-shirt into a pillow, a reusable bag, use the scraps to patch clothing, make dolls, quilts… The bits that get to be so small to be unusable for a scrap quilt you can use to stuff things.
It takes a lot of time compared to machine sewing, but it’s an activity that can be done while watching a tv show.
I hate sewing, but it has saved me thousands of dollars over my lifetime and I am convinced that everyone should know how to do it unless they really don’t care about money.
They tried to teach me to sew in high school and I immediately knew that I was shit at it and ran far, far away.
PLEASE BUY THE ODD SIZES FROM THE THRIFT STORES AND NOT THE SIZES I WEAR THANK YOU IN ADVANCE
PLEASE DISREGARD THE PREVIOUS POST, NORMAL SIZED PEOPLE HAVE PLENTY OF CLOTHING OPTIONS. LEAVE THE ODD SIZED CLOTHING FOR ODD SIZED PEOPLE
I AM L FOR LUMPY AND SOMETIMES M FOR MANGLED OR XL FOR EXTRA LUMPY I AM FINE IF YOU BUY THE REST PLEASE AND THANK YOU
CAN WE PLEASE STOP YELLING, IT’S STRESSFUL
IT IS IMPORTANT THAT PEOPLE NOT BUY THAT JACKET I WANT TO BUY THEY DO NOT MAKE THEM LIKE THEY USED TO, PROBABLY ON PURPOSE
BIG JACKET CONSPIRACY STRIKES AGAIN
ok
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER
I hand-sewed some goat legs for halloween last year with basically zero sewing knowledge, it was genuinely such a blast to figure stuff out :D Took like 2 weeks worth of evenings while watching a show but 10/10 would do again.
spoiler
Very cool.
Got any plans for this coming Halloween?
This Halloween falls on a friday, so I’ll probably just be wearing the legs to work with a normal shirt and not mention them at all. Gotta fix all the hot-glued parts until then though, they fell apart very fast last year and I haven’t fixed them yet lol
Machine sewing isn’t that much more expensive, and it’s a VAST improvement over hand sewing unless you’ve got plenty of time, and lots of boredom.
I was going to advocate machines, specifically the vintage Singer machines (the black, all-metal dudes). They are very simple, there’s tonnes of information online for repairing & maintaining them, and you can usually find people just trying to get rid of them. Find one that isn’t rusty and moves freely and you’ll probably just need to oil it and mess with the tension.
If space is a concern, you don’t need to keep it in the sewing table (though it’s more comfortable). Those vintage machines are simple and tough to kill.
What about repairing the knee on jeans? I have several that I’d love to repair (as I’m not normal sized, nice clothes are rare for me) but I only have a classic sewing machine.
unless you’ve got plenty of time, and lots of boredom
also if you like needles relentlessly stabbing your thumb.
That’s what thimbles are for, my dude.
They’re not part of a drum kit? Tho thrange!
Doesn’t fit in my backpack tho
This is a great point. I will say though that I’ve struggled to “get good” with machine sewing - enough for my occasional small projects. And OP just reminded me that I can actually step down to hand sewing if that is all I need.
Also space and peace of mind. Sewing machines aren’t the largest of machines, but they do require a dedicated space, and can be somewhat noisy.
they don’t need a dedicated space, just a space. I have a cheapo lightweight machine with a built in handle that takes 1 minute to set up
Sewing machines also are much worse for patching things.
Just think through the logistics of how you would use a sewing machine to reinforce the knee of some pants or to reinforce/repair a well loved stuffy.
If you are actually Making things, a sewing machine is well worth it. But it doesn’t replace knowing a few basic hand stitches.
Just think through the logistics of how you would use a sewing machine to reinforce the knee of some pants or to reinforce/repair a well loved stuffy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WO6VezZSfus
Like this – Doing knee patches, or small stuffies isn’t difficult with a proper sewing machine. You just bunch up the material to get around it.
I used to have my mom fix my clothes when they ripped and I was a kid and she used her machine to do it. The stitching was always this huge bulky seam. Now that I do it by hand it’s much more compact and almost invisible if I can get it to line up well. Not sure if it was some setting on the machine that could be changed to look better as I don’t have one but I like the outcome when I do it much better.
Counterpoint: hand-sewing reduces your impact on the environment more because you can’t impact environment that much with both hands occupied for dozens of hours. It’s like touching grass but productive.
By that logic, the best thing to do for the environment is to die - which is probably true, it’s just not a very good (or even particularly interesting) argument.
right on both counts
You can take your stuff outside and sew and touch grass at the same time.
I’d imagine that machine sewing is quite useful in “making the thing,” but hand sewing is more fun for “doing the stitch”. And there can be some stitches on a “thing” that require hand sewing even if most of it is machine made, so it’s not a bad idea to know some different hand stitch techniques.
My view is if I have a friend with a machine or there’s a community center or something with one I’ll absolutely use it for many projects.
But otherwise for self use sewing with needle in hand works fine!
When you have clothes that you want to keep and they get holes in them, just sew up the holes ya dingus! For your health!
I personally would hyphenate “stupid cheap” in this context, I thought you didn’t like hand sewing at first.
I was taught how to hand sew in school for an art project and it has been so useful. As a teenager I was intentionally getting damaged clothes at the thrift store for extra cheap and sewing them back up myself.
Us traveling kids just use floss for thread. Works great.
Welcome home, fam.
I have made two plushies this way and I feel an extra connection to them. I look at them and think “aww cute” but also “I did that!”
https://edunham.net/2016/04/11/plushie_rustacean_pattern.html https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9bjNCo3dk4
So cute!
That’s super cool!!
Well, if it’s stupid I think I’ll refrain. /s
knitting too. Knit patches on sweaters / cardigan are silly easy to do and can often look pretty badass.
also careful. these hobbies are cheap but cozy yet ADDICTING. 😂
I have always wanted to learn to knit, how cool would it be to make sweaters?!
I knit sweaters. I don’t like knitting socks, I don’t wear hats, and so sweaters it is. I get lots of compliments on them and when people find out I knit them myself, they’re always pretty astonished.
Turning the gusset is actual witchcraft. I’ve made a cardigan, but never a sock.
Depends on the kind of gusset, there are easier techniques but they might mess up the wool pattern (like if you use one with stripes for example) and there are ones that are seamless, but a little more difficult.
I don’t need anything sewn to my hand, thank you very much.
Depending on where you live, those thrift store shirts are not material you really want to use for anything you would touch. “Lightly worn” means very different things in different areas and the more bougie areas tend to get picked clean REAL fast by all the “life hack” kids. And the less bougie areas… there is very much an argument for leaving the thrift shops for those who need them but that ship has sailed.
But yeah. I would just add on that it is well worth it to pay the extra buck or two for some self threading needles and a thimble. If you can’t thread a needle for physical reasons (e.g. vision or dexterity limitations) you probably don’t want to be doing too much sewing for things that experience wear, but not having to thread a needle is borderline life changing. Just stick the needle in something to stabilize it and then pull the thread down into the eye and boom, you are done.
A good trick is to thrift “by touch” - feeling for cotton or heavier materials. There are a lot of quality cotton XXL blood drive/college or work event t-shirts that no one will ever want. I’ve volunteered doing some sorting through donations for a homeless shelter before, and they weren’t lacking for those at all. It was more a lack of dress pants for job interviews that were needed.
Resellers are usually going for names and not necessarily quality from what I’ve noticed.
I thought that every pack of needles came with a needle threader, which looks like a diamond shaped metal wire and a little part that you hold. That already is a big help.
Is that what that fuckin thing is for?
Not sure about every pack, but every kit (which is usually worth grabbing just because it is a cheap way to get the basics and a couple colors of thread) definitely does. But it is one more thing to faff about with and you still need to thread the wire loop. Versus just putting some thread in the slot and pulling/pushing.
So many different kinds of stitches to use and learn. I love the Henson stitch. Yay Muppets!
