Newly Born-Again Sewist? Start Here.

When Carolyn (Diary of a Sewing Fanatic) and I met for lunch last week we shared our sewing back stories with each other. She's been sewing since she was young and never stopped. I started sewing in earnest when I was 12, but I took an 18-year break from it that only ended about 20 months ago. Carolyn was amazed that I was able to table this hobby for so long. "I could never stop sewing," she declared.

But it turns out my sewing back story is not that unusual. Life--career, marriage, kids, elderly parents, etc.--can take us away from the things we enjoy doing. I regularly get emails from women who identify with my profile and are now also resuming their own long-lost passions for sewing. For all you recently born-again sewists out there, here are some tips to ease your reentry to sewing:

• Find a dedicated space for your sewing. If you have to pack up your sewing machine so the family can eat off the dining room table, as I used to do, you will begin to view sewing as an inconvenience. You need to set your machine up and leave it up so sitting down to sew a seam or two when you have a spare moment is not an ordeal. My sewing area is in a corner of our family room, and I have one of those fold-out sewing tables on wheels that I can push out of the way. Space is tight, but my sewing machine and serger are always at the ready and that's good enough for me.
  

• You don't need the newest sewing machine with all the latest bells and whistles. What you do need during this reentry phase is a reliable machine that does a straight stitch, a zigzag stitch and basic buttonholes. If you don't have a machine consider buying a used one--check out Craigslist, eBay and PatternReview. Many Sears stores sell reconditioned Kenmore machines which can be a good deal for reentry sewists. Sure, a fancy new machine would be wonderful to sew with, but I recommend you first get a feel for your own sewing needs--by racking up several completed garments--before you invest in a new machine.

• Take your measurements, accurately. Every now and then I would attempt some garment sewing during my hiatus and always be so disappointed when whatever I made didn't fit. Gee, Vogue size 12 always worked for me before so this dress should have been fine, I'd think. Uh-uh. Our bodies change, pattern companies' measurements change. Get someone to help take all your measurements, write them down and use these new measurements as your starting point.
  
• Make a muslin before you do anything else. Another reason my few sewing attempts in the '90s and early 2000s failed: I'd just cut into my fabric and plunge ahead, hoping for the best and failing miserably. When you have early disasters you're more likely to quit. Making a muslin--a test drive of your pattern--can ensure your success and eliminate wasting of precious time and fabric. (Ann just did a brilliant post on "ain't no such thing as a wearable muslin.")

• Avoid sewing with cheap fabric. Cheap fabric is for your muslins and only your muslins. Do not say to yourself, well I'm just getting my feet wet again with sewing and I may not be that good, so why waste a lot of money on fabric. Cheap fabric--and I'm not talking about quality fabric on sale, which is something we all love--is the stuff you find at sewing store megachains and WalMart and is mostly manmade fibers. Even the best sewists cannot spin gold out of cheap fabric. Sewing with quality fabric is a pleasurable, tactile experience and will make you want to return to your sewing machine again and again.

• Speaking of fabric, don't be afraid of knits. They're easier than you'd think to sew and achieving a good fit can be a breeze. When experienced sewists want to hit an easy home run, they'll make a knit top or dress. The book Sew U Home Stretch is a good intro to working with knits.

• Make sure you're comfortable when you sew. You need a sturdy chair that supports your lower back and you need good lighting. I use a task chair I got from WalMart (good for chairs, bad for good fabric) and a portable acrylic sewing table I ordered from Clothilde that creates a large flat sewing surface and gives me a comfortable place to rest my hands. If you're comfortable you'll sew more.

• Avail yourself to all the fabulous sewing information that's on the Internet. Before I began my dedicated reentry to sewing I lurked on sites like PatternReview and sewing blogs, just digesting all the sewing intel that's out there now. I thought sewing was a dying art because I didn't know anyone who sewed her own clothes, but no, there's a whole world of active sewists out there who are more than willing to share their sewing trials and tribulations for others to benefit. Post your pattern reviews on PatternReview or your own blog so we can congratulate and encourage you. My Internet sewing sisters get 100 percent credit for stoking my renewed passion for sewing.

Sewing again after all those years away has been incredibly gratifying for me. I hope these tips help and encourage any renewed sewists to stick with it. The more the merrier, right?