Apr 14, 2014

Where did I learn to sew?


"Where did you learn to sew?" I've been asked this question by both - the ones who sew and the ones who'd like to learn to sew. Those who sew but aren't very satisfied by their skills and would like to improve their knowledge often do not know where to start from. The ones who'd like to learn to sew are even more confused - they expect perfect results from the start.

Stepalica: Where did I learn to sew?

In my case, the truth is I was self-taught. I started sewing twenty years ago, during a summer holiday when I was in a high school. I was 15 and I had no clue what I was doing. The following thirteen years I sewed by a hunch and learned from my own mistakes. In time I got neater and better, but I still made some serious mistakes while sewing.

I didn't know how to alter patterns to make the clothes fit me nicely - the pants were always sitting too high on the waist at front, while at the back they sat too low due to my protruding rear. Also, most of my garments simply screamed - hand made. I didn't pay enough attention to details - I omitted sewing vent pockets on all the garments, since I didn't know how to make them nicely. If I wanted to have the pockets, I would disguise them under a large pocket flap so that it wouldn't show how lousy they were made. I didn't bother making belts, belt loops, epaulettes and similar details that make a jacket look rich and professionally made. And even if I would force myself to make them I would do it sloppily.

I was guided by a principle - "however it turns out, it's OK". I wasn't aware of the fact that I could control the pattern and alter it according to my body. I was a rather fast and nervous seamstress, speeding up to finish a garment in order to wear it as soon as possible. I avoided fixing the errors I had made while sewing, thinking that pressing would fix the slight pulling by a lining or flatten the gathers that I made by a mistake. It was a big mistake, typical for most of the beginners!

And then 2008 happened, a year that was really important for my sewing career and skills. First I became a member of Burda Style website, where you can find a section with tutorials about various sewing techniques, which I browsed through for months. I think I stopped visiting the website on a daily basis only three years ago; until then I would spend several hours a day browsing through the numerous pics of other people's creations and looking for interesting information. One of the ways of learning was to look at creations, analyze details and compare the used techniques with the ones I was using. The other way of learning was, and still is, trying out new techniques and practicing.

Soon afterwards I discovered a whole new world of sewing related blogs, where I found a lot of information and tutorials about sewing, with lots of details, pics and illustrations and step-by-step descriptions.

The first blog I discovered was Laura's sewing room, where I found several techniques about sewing shirts as well as great instructions for sewing a lining to a jacket. Unfortunately, Laura is not as active with her blogging as she used to be, since she became a mom, but I do hope she'll start writing again soon, since the woman has a lot to show.

After that I discovered Tany and her blog Couture et Tricot. I've learned a lot from her - she writes very detailed posts about sewing and she sews impeccably. I think her blog influenced me the most and was an inspiration to me when I started Stepalica - I wanted to show the same level of details and perfection in my work and on my blog. Tany has also been less active in the last two years as she got a baby, but she's started showing off her new creations recently, which is great.

Then it was Bunny and the blog La Sewista! I was amazed by the smocking and her attention to details. I think it was her blog where I first saw a collar finished by a bias band. Bunny frequently sews gorgeous dresses for her grand daughters, which are works of art. I have to say I was really honored when my blog caught her attention and when she started following me and commenting my work. A great thing is Bunny posts frequently and displays her new creations.

I am very fond of Sigrid's blog. I got ideas for some of my creations from her blog more than once. Sigrid also writes useful tutorials, and she used to run a separate blog that featured numerous tutorials collected from various sewing blogs.

I follow a lot more blogs from which I still learn, and I'll list those that have made the greatest impression on me and that I've learnt the most from. These are the blogs I that inspire me, some give me new and fresh ideas for sewing, the others give me inspiration for writing my own tutorials.
Along with the blogs, I follow Sew News and Threads magazines' websites and I surf through Pinterest a lot, looking for interesting techniques and instructions, that I pin to a separate board of mine.

So, these are my sources of knowledge and inspiration. I've given you a lot of recommendations and sources of information to start from.

Have on mind that sewing is, like any other craft, all about the practice - the more you use a certain technique, the better you'll get at doing it. Finally you'll master sewing well enough to perfectly execute a technique you've never used before, but have only read about it. It happens to me all the time, and with every new method I (successfully) execute, my self-confidence raises. 

I'm sorry I don't have the garments I made ten or more years ago, to show you how differently they were made compared to the newer ones. Of course, the new garments are much neater and prettier.

Related posts

Gde sam naučila da šijem?


"Gde si naučila da šiješ?" Ovo pitanje mi sve češće postavljaju i oni koji šiju i oni koji bi da nauče da šiju. Oni koji umeju da šiju, ali nisu prezadovoljni svojim umećem i voleli bi da avanzuju, često ne znaju odakle da krenu. Pitaju se gde je taj izvor informacija sa kog skupljam svoje znanje? Oni koji nikad nisu šili su tek zbunjeni - očekuju savršene rezultate od prvog šava.

Štepalica: Gde sam naučila da šijem?


U mom slučaju, istina je da sam samouka. Počela sam pre ravno 20 godina, na letnjem raspustu posle prvog razreda gimnazije. Imala sam 15 godina i nisam imala pojma šta radim. Narednih 13 godina sam šila po osećaju, i učila na sopstvenim greškama. Vremenom sam, naravno, bila bolja i urednija, ali sam i dalje poprilično grešila. 

Nisam umela da korigujem krojeve kako bi mi bolje stajali - pantalone su mi, zbog isturene zadnjice, uvek napred bile preduboke, a pozadi jako plitke; nisam znala kako to da popravim. Takođe, moje stvari su vrištale na sav glas - napravljeno u kućnoj radinosti. Nisam posvećivala pažnju detaljima - moja garderoba nije imala džepove, jer nisam umela uredno da ih napravim. Ako sam baš želela da imam jaknu sa džepom, džep sam morala da sakrijem ispod poveće kapne, kako se ne bi videlo koliko je neuredno odrađen paspuliran otvor. Mrzelo me da pravim kaiševe, epolete, gajke za kaiš i slične sitne detalje koji jednu jaknu čine raskošnom i zaista lepom. Čak i kad bih se naterala to da uradim, šila sam na brzaka i traljavo, neuredno. 

Šila sam po principu - "kako god da ispadne, OK je". Nisam imala ideju o tome da bih ja mogla da kontrolišem kroj. Bila sam prilično brza i nervozna krojačica, bilo je bitno da što pre sašijem stvar, da bih mogla da je odmah obučem, pa sam žurila i izbegavala da ispravim greške koje sam usput napravila, misleći da će se neželjeni nabori ili lagano zatezanje postave koja vuče spoljni sloj jakne ispraviti  kada se stvar raspegla - velika zabluda, koja je tako tipična za većinu početnika!

A onda je došla i ta 2008. godina, za mene jako bitna. Prvo sam se učlanila na sajt Burda Style, na kom se nalazi sekcija sa tutorijalima o različitim krojačkim tehnikama, koje sam danima prečešljavala i upijala sve informacije koje su tamo bile izlistane. Mislim da sam tek pre tri godine prestala da intenzivno visim na sajtu; do tada sam svaki dan provodila po par sati dnevno na samom sajtu, pregledajući tuđe kreacije i tražeći korisne informacije. Jedan način učenja za mene je predstavljalo i samo gledanje u tuđe rukotvorine, analiziranje detalja, upoređivanje tehnika koje su drugi koristili sa onim koje sam ja primenjivala. Drugi način je bilo, i još uvek je, isprobavanje novih tehnika u praksi.

Ubrzo sam otkrila i čitav svet blogova o šivenju, na kojima sam našla mnoštvo informacija o različitim tehnikama, tutorijale pojašnjene do detalja, ilustrovane jasnim fotografijama i korak-po-korak opisima.

Prvi blog na koji sam nabasala bio je Laura's sewing room, gde sam videla par tehnika za šivenje košulja, kao i sjajne instrukcije za šivenje postave na jaknama. Na žalost, Laura nije više toliko aktivna na svom blogu, od kako je dobila dete, ali se nadam da će ponovo početi da piše, jer žena zaista ima šta da pokaže.

Potom sam otkila Tany i njen blog Couture et Tricot. Sa njenog bloga sam svašta naučila - žena piše veoma detaljne postove o procesu šivenja, i perfektno šije. Mislim da je njen blog bio najveći uzor kog sam se držala kada sam pokrenula Štepalicu - želela sam da taj nivo detaljnosti i perfekcije predstavim i u svom radu i na svom blogu. I Tany proređeno piše u poslednje vreme, pošto je i ona postala mama nedavno, ali je počela po malo da prikazuje svoje nove stvari, što me jako raduje.

Zatim je usledila Bunny i blog La Sewista! Kod nje me raspametio vez i posvećenost detaljima. Mislim da sam kod nje prvi put videla paspuliranu kragnu. Bunny često šije predivne haljine za svoje unuke, a kreacije su joj prava umetnička dela. Moram da se pohvalim da sam bila izuzetno počastvovana kada joj je moj blog privukao pažnju i kada je počela da ga prati i komentariše moje kreacije. Divna stvar je što Bunny redovno piše, i svako malo prikaže novu sjajnu kreaciju.

Veoma rado pratim i Sigrid, od koje sam nekoliko puta ukrala ideje za svoje kreacije. Sigrid takođe ima lepe tutorialje, a imala je i zaseban blog na kom su bili skupljeni različiti tutorijali sa mnoštva blogova. To je bila prava riznica znanja.

Pratim još mnogo blogova sa kojih i dalje učim, a ovde ću navesti one koji su na mene ostavili najjači utisak, i sa kojih sam najviše ideja i tehnika naučila. To su i blogovi sa kojih često crpim inspiraciju, neki mi daju ideje za šivenje, neki me inspirišu kako da pišem svoje tutorijale.
Pored blogova,  pratim i sajtove Sew News i Threads magazina, i dosta surfujem po Pinterestu, tražeći interesantne detalje, tehnike i tutorijale, koje sakupljam u zaseban album.

Eto, to su moji izvori znanja i inspiracije. Dala sam vam dosta preporuka i izvora informacija odakle možete krenuti. Na žalost, ni jedan blog nije iz regiona, jer ja ne znam ni za jedan koji tematiku šivenja obrađuje na način koji sam imala prilike da vidim na pomenutim blogovima.

Imajte na umu da je šivenje, kao i svaki drugi zanat, stvar prakse - što više puta ponovite određenu tehniku, sve lakše, bolje i urednije ćete je izvesti. Na kraju ćete ovladati šivenjem toliko dobro, da ćete savršeno odraditi i potpuno novu tehniku, koju nikada ranije niste isprobali, a o kojoj ste samo čitali. Meni se to dešava stalno, a sa svakom novom tehnikom koju isprobam (uspešno), skoči mi samopouzdanje još malo.

Žao mi je što trenutno nemam stvari koje sam šila pre desetak godina, rado bih ih uslikala izbliza i pokazala vam razlike koje postoje u odnosu na stvari koje sada pravim - nove stvari su mnogo urednije i preciznije napravljene.

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