Survey Says: We Love to Learn About Sewing!

Thanks to all of you who responded to my Back to School questions. What an interesting conversation! Feel free to keep adding your thoughts.

Here are survey results so far...


How do you like to learn about sewing?

	Count	Percent
Sewing books and/or magazines	18	32%
Blog tutorials and/or sew-alongs from non-professionals	13	23%
In-person classes at a local store, craft collective or one-on-one lessons	9	16%
Blog tutorials and/or sew-alongs from professionals	8	14%
Webinars or videos /dvds	3	5%
Other (please tell me what in the comments!)	3	5%
I learned all I need to know in Home Ec!	2	4%
Wait, you mean I don't have to figure it all out on my own?	1	2%

My hat is off to whoever it is who's been trying to figure it out on their own!

Interestingly, in the comments many of you talked about learning from your mother or home ec teacher. However, sewing books and magazines seem to be the learning experience of choice in the poll until you look at blog tutorials and/or sew alongs by both professionals and non-pros as one statistic - 21 responses total.

However,  I suspect that if I had included a box for "all of the above" it would be the most chosen answer. I didn't because I wanted to know the favorite. But it seems like most of us learn in any number of ways. I keep a stack of sewing books, mags and patterns next to the bed, I attend classes in person and on Craftsy, scour blogs for helpful tutorials, and on occasion I've done sew alongs.  

At the end of the day, there really is no better way to learn to sew than by getting some fabric and sewing it up. Right?

And speaking of which, there is some slithery silk which is almost a finished V1247 waiting for me at home.  Plus I'm drafting some design changes to my pencil skirt for my next version. Have a happy sewing weekend, everyone!

Class Is In Session: How do you learn to sew?

I've been on the road for work these last two weeks and it's been a bit more hectic than expected. But Autumn is here, it's back to school time of year and also National Sewing Month.

Travel gives me time to reflect on sewing while not actually doing it. This trip, I've been thinking about learning to sew and learning new techniques.

Class Dismissed!

It seems like there's been a teaching explosion in the sewing world over the years that sewing has been a part of my life. In addition to sewing magazines and books, which have been around for the long haul, more fabric stores and creative spaces have started offering in-person classes, there's been a proliferation of blog tutorials and sew-alongs, and new web-based platforms have given rise to all sorts of webinars. As the sewing blogosphere has grown, so have the opportunities to learn.

So, I'm curious to know: with all the options, how do you learn best and where do you like to get your info from? Here's a little poll I've created:

 I hope you will say in the comments why your choice works for you! 

I view the growth in classes and tutorials as a generally positive phenomenon. However, with such a proliferation of teaching, there's a distinct downside. Not all of it is good. One reason this is on my mind is that I was recently invited to lead a sewing webinar on a popular sewing website. My immediate reaction was to be suspicious of the quality of the teaching on this site. Ha ha.

Don't get me wrong, I was immensely flattered and I don't mean to disparage myself or my skills. I'm confident, but I still view myself as a learner. I don't do tutorials; I do try to document what worked for me in a given situation and where I learned it. That way I have a reference for myself in the future.

I suppose it boils down to this: even though my Sewing on Leather post is my most viewed  post ever, and the number of hits it receives continues to climb, I don't think that, because I've tried something once and been successful at it, I'm an expert or have any business teaching it to others. When I went to a Sewing on Leather class taught by Kenneth King at Mood, it was very much to learn what I had done right, what I could do better or differently, and to possibly cringe at what I may have done wrong. It turns out that I really did pretty well with my jacket. Whew! Up until then, I had worried that I might be giving out bad information.

So far I've been fortunate to have only taken classes - webinars and in person - that I think were worth the time and expense. But I know several people who have had poor experiences. For me it has all come down to who is doing the teaching. Likewise with tutorials. I'm pretty glad that I know enough to spot bad information when I see it these days.

So my second question set, which is open ended is: What do you think of this teaching explosion? How do you choose your learning experiences? Have you had good, bad or ugly experiences? What have you taken away from them?

Oh, and before you answer, please know: I'm not looking to start any trash talk about anyone or any particular platform. What I'm hoping for is a dialogue. Please contribute!

Lace (swoon) and My Kimono Project

File this one under new vices, right next to silk and cashmere.

On Tuesday night I attended a seminar at Mood on lace, lead by Susan Khalje. The hour-long talk covered the different types of lace, how to use them, best techniques for working with each, and tips for buying. Best of all, Susan brought lots of sample garments - many of which were recognizable from Threads - to illustrate her points. What's clear to me is that prior to Tuesday, I didn't even realize how much I didn't know about working with lace. Every few minutes, there was some new revelation.

A "white shirt"

That is not to say that the class was overwhelming in the least. It was not. At one point, Susan made a Cinderella reference (to the Disney birds that help with the sewing) and from that moment on I could not help but think of her as every sewist's fairy godmother. She has such an encouraging and calm manner, that with a little "bibbidi-bobbidi-boo", I feel like I could make something spectacular out of lace.

Would you just look at that corset!

Anyway, I thought  it was just the right intro to lace and definitely got my juices flowing for my upcoming kimono robe project.

Burdastyle 07/2011-124 - Kimono robe

Speaking of which, after hearing about luxe guipure, delicate chantilly and gorgeous alencons, I'm somewhat  bashful to confess that I'm going lowbrow with my fabric choice for the kimono. I need a project with fabric that I'm not worried about ruining. So, I'll be using a very fun and inexpensive animal print lace that I bought on a whim at Chic Fabrics a year or so ago.

I'm trying to decide what color silk to use for the lining. I tried a bunch of fabric from my stash just to test the color (none are actually fabric that I'd use for this).
 

 At first I thought about a pretty rose color, but I think it just looks too 80's retro and, well, tacky.

I tried a light blue, also. Oddly in this photo it made the lace look brownish. It's black.

And then I tried an oyster color. It's the best of the three, but I would love some input. At this point I'm leaning toward a metallic or neutral-ish color - silver, oyster, champagne... Given my general mental state in the morning (ie: murky until after coffee), I think a robe that is too bright will hurt my brain. Any thoughts for a color or color family to pair with this black animal print that I haven't thought of?

Thanks for the input!

Lege Latine, girls!*

Sea-Horse Mosaic in the Roman baths in Bath, England

My fellow former Latin Scholars, it is time to put on your thinking caps or togas and make Mrs. Young proud. I saw this mosaic in the Roman baths last weekend. Was it or was it not pictured in or on the cover of Jenny, our beloved Latin textbook? I am certain I have seen it before.

*Polyhymnia, who easily outclasses us all with her knowledge of Latin and all things Roman, tells me that strictly speaking "Latine" is actually medieval Latin, since the Romans didn't actually call their own language Latin. Take that, Jenny!