Learning to sew.

[Effybriest]

I'm ploughing through the sewing bee series whilst recovering from long covid. It's inspired me to have a go at sewing once I'm a bit better. Hoping to make clothes and maybe soft furnishings, cushions, blinds...
I can do a basic stitch, that's it . Learnt chain stitch ( I think) as a teen in the late 70s, but can't remember how to do it and doubt it will come in handy .
I've not got a sewing machine (but thinking about one for xmas) so anything I attempt will be hand stitched. Anyone got any advice re websites, blogs or books for true beginners ? Happy to start with pin cushions, simple cushions at first !

Lots of threads on the "arts and crafts" topic. Join us over there. There are threads full of advice on sourcing materials, technique, equipment etc. Hope you continue to recover well.

@MenaiMna thanks, will do !

I have found ‘Sewing for Dummies’ invaluable! Lots of great advice with clear diagrams. I love sewing and find it very rewarding so good luck 😉

Thank you for the tips. I did sew at school but cannot even remember how to thread a sewing machine needle now. Shall be watching with great interest.

So relaxing watching sewing bee and I'm in awe of their skill. My sons are both teens so doubt they'd be up for wearing any of my creations

I don’t have any specific recommendations but I learnt to crochet from watching YouTube tutorials. Maybe watching a few sewing tutorials would be a good place to start and give you some inspiration.

If you’re planning to make soft furnishings or clothes get a sewing machine, doing long seams by hand soon gets frustrating & hard to get even if you’re not skilled. Needn’t be expensive. My DiL is learning & recently bought a really nice machine from a local auction house for £40 including buyers fees or if you can catch them at the right time the ones Aldi & Lidl sell are surprisingly good for the inexpensive price. You don’t need, or want to start with, an all singing, all dancing expensive one.
Prima magazine includes a free sewing pattern each month if you either send off from the magazine or tick the box for it on subscription, they don’t automatically include it in the issues they sell in the shops.
Chain stitch is an embroidery stitch not a construction stitch.
Speaking of hand sewing, when I was a student my friend & I shared a house with two girls who were attending a domestic science college. Their needlework final was to make a complete outfit for themselves using a Vogue pattern & to do ALL the sewing by hand!

You can pick up basic model sewing machines for around £100, or second hand on market place for about £50...

id recommend learning a backstitch to go with the regular running stitch, much closer to a standard machine stitch and much more durable. definitely start with making a pin cushion for yourself, useful and good practice. lots of sewing shops do sewing courses too

For hand stitching as a place to start look for panels at a fabric store. Then you can use a same sized piece of plain fabric on the back, with some wadding between the layers then stitch around pieces of the pattern to quilt it.

Panels you can buy:
Xmas themed. - fabricguild.co.uk/product-category/fabrics/christmas-from-nutex-new-in/

Just panels - fabricguild.co.uk/product-category/fabrics/panels-fabrics/panels/

Quilting technique ideas:

www.marthastewart.com/1529650/techniques-for-hand-quilting

www.craftsy.com/post/basics-of-hand-quilting/#

You can get a Brother LS14 for about £80 and it's a lovely sturdy easy to use machine to get started on.

Be warned though you don't just take up sewing as a hobby it goes hand in hand with the hobby of buying fabric which is a whole different beast, addictive and expensive

Have look at adult education courses in your area, there's a good chance your local authority may be offering beginners sewing lessons either online or face to face and they are often a good place to start.

When I get stuck now though I can usually find someone to show me how to do it on YouTube.

Look for sewing cafes and fabric stores with workshops too. They aren't prolific but there's a couple within an hour of where I live, you can hire a machine for an hour or two, sit and hand sew with other people and chat or sign up to a class

Thanks for all the lovely advice !

Thanks everyone, really good ideas ! And @HalfShrunkMoreToGo great links.