aibu to want to make my own clothes?

[NoodleOodle]

a) so that they are an accurate representation of my personality
b) to be sure no child/slave labour was involved in their production
c) because it would just be cool, and other reasons like fitting well and being available in the colour of my choice, control costs, not see everyone in my town wearing the same things etc. etc. etc.

Trouble is, I can barely sew. Do any of you lot make your own clothes - how did you get started?

What part of the world are you, Oodle ? If anywhere near London, I can tell you places to get affordable (but decent) fabric.

In general UK, though, head to the ethnic parts of town.

DP tells me that the Birmingham rag market has plummeted in quality and value since he were a lad. And definitely not for the uninitiated - he tells me that the last time he went there (this summer), the number of crooks who tried to pass off polyester as silk or linen was pretty near all of them.

I'm back into sewing in a big way after giving it up for a long time, apart from curtains, cushions, and and the like for the home. I find it very soothing these days.

Good idea from a few people to pick up some old sheets, duvet covers, etc from charity shops. If it goes wrong, nothing much is lost, and it will give you some excellent experience. Also check out the 'old lady' dresses and stuff in charity shops. Some of the fabric can be amazing, and the bottom of an old dress can often be turned into a sweet summer skirt - I've just done one using a Monsoon size eight dress, which I turned into a size 12 skirt for my daughter.

You can find tutorials for many simple makes online - simple elastic waisted skirts, little girls shirred dresses, and so on.

Envelope closing cushion covers take very little time, and can look very professional and modern, especially if you embellish them in some way.

I also pick up fabric on my travels - I was in Sri Lanka last year and had half a suitcase full for about thirty quid! So if you're on holiday, check out any local markets - you can often get a bargain. If you're in the east (as well as Sri Lanka I was in Singapore a couple of years ago) you can usually pick up sari lengths for very little, about five and a half metres or so for about a tenner.

I could go on for ages.....sorry if I'm being a bit boring.

The best places to get good fabrics for a reasonable price are the remnant shops which sell the offcuts from the small clothing manufacturers. Even their offerings have decreased though with the offshoring of manufacturing.

I started sewing again when DH picked up a sewing machine for £60 in Aldi, I love it but it can be quite hard. So far I'm just doing simple children's clothes and 'upcycling' old clothes. I made a lovely denim skirt for DD1 out of a pair of DS's jeans recently
Just branching out into patchwork blankets with my scraps at the moment.
I have to say though it can be pricey and the time invested doesn't necessarily make it cheaper but it's nice to look at something and think "I made that".

You'll also need to get handy with your iron / get hold of a cleaning stick for the ironing plate. Enjoy yourself!

Go for it. But don't expect it to be cheaper than buying off the peg. A pattern alone is often around the £8 mark. Then fabric, zips, cotton, buttons... It really does add up.

If you're in the south, Fabricland is good for affordable fabric. Or cheap cotton on ebay at silly money as a starting point to practice with.

Again, probably depends where you are, but round here quite a few charity shops have sewing patterns. In fact we have one nearby that has a whole section of fabric (plus bedding, curtains, blankets), buttons, zips etc.

Prima have free patterns in every issue which are sometimes really nice.

I look at the sales....I made 2 tops out of a size 22 skirt...lovely material and cost £5!!! I am tall so things don't often fit in the bust area...so I make my own. You can but patterns that have lots of different syles.

I could not sew at all a year or so ago and am typing this wearing a dress I made myself. I have also had a go at skirts (2 and a half so far) and another dress (also half finished). I went to a workshop at my local fabric shop, got some books out of the library and then bought a couple of the most useful ones and have read lots and lots of blogs to learn (still learning though). Tilly and the Buttons has an excellent blog with lots of useful techniques explained, and her patterns are really good too, assuming no knowledge whatsoever. Good luck!

Might have a browse of the internet today see if i can get some zips and stuff in bulk. I don't mind the price of fabric too much it's all just the gubbins like you say erin.

We have a shop that sells plain fabrics for about 4.99 a metre. Plus i'm a size 8/10 and only 5'5 so i don't need much for a plain skirt or a shell top. Although i did splash out on a 40s japanese print fabric for a skirt recently.

Been thinking of doing a shift dress... anyone had any luck? Would love some input!

I haven't rtft but I would love to do this. I mentioned it to DP and he suggested taking a class, which I may do soon :)

In my teens I made the odd dress or skirt, and at uni I would make evening dresses for balls (after attending my first one and being 1 of 3-4 in the same Laura Ashley velvet and taffeta number, that I hadn't really liked much anyway!)

Made the odd thing since then, mostly children's dress up things. I love that as I cobble it together without a pattern and it doesn't have to be perfect at all. Lots of fun!

I have been thinking about making some skirts and dresses again. I now know the styles that suit me and if I can find a nice design I was going to buy that and then I can make that style in different fabrics.

My mum is brilliant at dressmaking and used to make our clothes when we were younger, often using old clothes or materials. I may have had a von Trapp family style curtain dress

There is a blog called Refashonista that I have been following for about 3 years. Some of the items are a bit questionable for daily wear, but on the whole she creates beautiful things from unwanted items. Certainly worth a look. It's a great way to recycle old clothing whilst creating unique well fitting clothes.
I've had more success with this than going it alone. Otherwise I can make bags and cushion covers but patterns make me nervous!

There's loads of sewing magazine available now as well. Sew Magazine in particular is one I buy every month and there is a free pattern with it too. Ok, the mag alone is around a fiver, but there's loads of tips and tricks, and you can download other patterns as well.

I used to make a lot of my clothes when i couldn't afford to buy all the nice things I liked. My mum always made my clothes as a child so she would help me to start with then I was bale to do it myself. I don't do it as much now as I just don't seem to get the time but I do the odd thing and I love making dressing up clothes for my children.

I never actually follow a pattern, I just make it up as I go along and it usually works out fine.

I really wish I could knit too, I may have to ask my mum to terach me that too :)

Thanks to Tilly and the buttons I have developed a thing for vintage patterns
Etsy and Folksy are excellent for fabric and haberdashery that are a bit different, bit pricey though.

A workshop sounds like a good idea, and an opportunity to widen my social circle. Your stories are inspiring, thank you.

Mu Mum was a fabulous home sewer (and knitter and crocheter). She made lots of my clothes when I was growing up and used to make gorgeous dresses for herself for evening functions. She made my wedding dress and my bridesmaids' dresses!

I made quilts but never tackled clothes but about a year ago we got involved with the Steampunk scene and really couldn't afford to buy complete costumes for a family of four so I had a go at sewing. I started by making a waistcoat which turned out great so I made some more, about six more. I've now made skirts, blouses, bustles and coats, upcycled lots of charity shop finds. I even made three steel boned corsets!!!

Everything looks pretty ok, other than the blouse for me which really didn't work. I'm short and chubby with big boobs and the pattern, although my size, just didn't fit in the right places. Craftsy were having a sale so I've signed up for a course in altering patterns for the larger lady. Hopefully this will show me what to do to fit my figure because I'd love to have a go at dresses and blouses for normal wear.

For a bit of upcycling inspiration I'd recommend charityshopchic.net who makes some amazing designer dupes from charity shop finds. She is amazing.

KarinMurphy thanks for the link to charityshopchic.net, I could spend hours on there.

Not Unreasonable at all.

Anyone who is interested come over to the dressmaking thread, we quite a new thread, definitely not a quiche and don't claim to be experts but we like a chat and will help out anyone if we can.
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/arts_and_crafts/2173137-is-there-a-general-chatty-dressmaking-thread

I went on a weekend course here. I havent had as much time to devote to it as I would like, but my local evening school sometimes has sewing saturdays that I sometimes go to - it just gives me 8 hours of time and space and help if I need it. The readers digest mentioned above was also recommended on my course.

I wanted to learn to sew because nothing was ever quite right. Also I live in another country and the fashion is slightly different and not really me at all. But I haven't made anything for me yet! Have had great fun making costumes and clothes for DS. He's been a peapod, dragon, christmas elf and penguin.

Get a couple of easy patterns (www.jaycotts.co.uk/collections/simplicity), a good book on techniques and some cheap fabric and have a punt! I've done a couple of cheap dressmaking courses via groupon, but there are loads of YouTube tutorials.

I recommend the books by Alison Smith, she is a sewing teacher and I find the instructions really clear and to the point.

Anyone thinking of investing in an overlocker, get thee to Lidl - they have Singer overlockers at £129 at the moment (or maybe next week - I saw an ad somewhere on my travels).

I bought one the last time they did them and it's great.