LEARNING TO SEW

This month’s article includes:

• March little prize contest
  
• Local happenings that are sewing related
  
• Monthly challenge in our Facebook group (Learn To Sew Lesson #1 is coming soon)
  
• Hobby-to-pro tip #1
  

Scroll down to see more info about these topics.

NOTE: Some items in this article are linked to my Facebook group, so please join to get the full benefit.

March Little Prize Contest

The contest is easy…just read this entire post and find the misspelled word. To win, pop over to my Facebook group and be the first to post the misspelled word and to see what the prize is. The link to my group is at the end of the article.

Local Happening – Let’s Sew!

Let’s start with our local sewing-related event. On March 28, the Golden Shores Women’s Club will be hosting its annual DESSERT AUCTION and this year it’s a LUAU theme. Why am I excited about this? Because sewing with tropical print fabric is my true love and I’m making Hawaiian dresses for some of you ladies out there. For $40 and the cost of fabric, you will have your own unique Hawaiian themed dress to wear to the luau. Don’t wait too long to order, though – time is getting short and the cut off to get in on the fun is Friday, March 6, and I can only make a few dresses. If you are interested in having a dress (or Hawaiian Shirt) made, please contact me at 936-402-6021. If you want to make your own dress or shirt and need help, feel free to hit me up with questions about fabric or patterns or anything sewing related. PS – there is a costume contest, so dress up!

March Challenge

In February, I challenged you to learn to sew, to pull out your machines, pop over to my Facebook Group, and tell me your sewing story, and, if you didn’t have a story or a machine, to just let me know you are interested and want to start on your own sewing journey.

For March, I want you to take a picture of your sewing machine sitting right where it is now (closet, garage, buried under a pile of whatever it’s buried under, or sitting in the space you use it). If you don’t have a machine, take a pic of where it might go when you get it.

Here’s where you go to post by clicking here

We are going to sew together in this group, so join now to make sure you are there when our on-line sewing adventures begin. Other benefits to joining…specials, pre-orders, games, sloppy sewing tips, machine reviews, sewing tool demos, cute cat sewing supurrvisor (intentionally misspelled) pics, hobby- to-pro tips, and more.

Sewing lesson #1 is coming soon…I will be posting a list of items you need to get started (in addition to a sewing machine) over in my Facebook (link to join is at the bottom).

Hobby-To-Pro Tip #1

If you’re thinking about turning your sewing hobby into a business, there are quite a few things you need to think about. Here is the most important thing:

Make sure you love what you do and what you make.

Let’s use baby diaper covers with a matching elastic hair bow as an example. You make a few of these for your baby girl and then family and friends start asking you to make some for them. They encourage you to start selling them, so you open an Etsy shop. You make a few sets from some left-over fabric and post them in your shop, and you sell a few. That was fun and easy, so you buy a few more yards of fabric and make some more and list those. You start having regular sales and start thinking about how many you can make a day and decide that a 3-day processing time will work just fine and you can easily make a couple dozen sets in those 3 days and you are happy.

Everything is good and your sales become more regular and then it happens…someone posts something somewhere showing off your diaper cover sets and their post goes viral, and you wake up to 150 orders that you have now promised to ship in 3 days. For the purpose of this post, we will asume you have enough supplies on hand to make them, but what do you do about the time?

However you work out this problem, I guarantee that you will be sick of the pattern, the fabric, and all of the time you are going to expend trying to get those orders done. THIS IS WHY YOU MUST LOVE WHAT YOU MAKE AND THE PROCESS OF MAKING THEM.

Thanks for reading my March article and I hope to see you in my Facebook group. You can join or visit by clicking here

Past articles

How To Get Started

My goal for the rest of the time I have on this earth, is to spread the joy of sewing and creating. I want to teach and help all of those who are interested in learning how to sew and/or to help expand their sewing skills.

How To Get Started

Read my story then check out the challenge at the end to begin a new journey in sewing!

How I Learned To Sew

Back in the day there were a few different ways to learn how to sew.

• You grew up around people who sewed and just kind of absorbed it.
  
• You were coached by a relative or friend.
  
• You learned in a class setting, usually Home Ec at school or maybe a class at a church or fabric store.
  
• You had a machine in your household and decided to sit down and figure it out on your own.
  

In my case, I watched my grandma make clothing as an elementary-school aged kid then, as a teen, I watched a neighbor make costumes for her dance troup. Also, as a kid, I hand-sewed dresses for my Barbies, but my first real pattern attempt was for a doll gifted to me that came with a pattern when I was about 8 years old. My mom gave me an old dress my sister had outgrown, and I cut that up, followed the pattern directions, and hand-sewed that doll dress all by myself. It wasn’t perfect and the collar pieces were not quite in the right places, but I remember looking at it and thinking, “Oh...that’s why the directions said that!”

My second attempt with a pattern was when I needed a maxi dress to wear to a luau. I purchased the pattern and fabric and cut and sewed that dress completely by hand. I had an aunt who then took pity on me and loaned me an old Singer sewing machine in a cabinet that had nothing but a straight forward stitch and that’s where my machine sewing started. When I was a senior in high school in 1973, I had a job and I took my first tax return ever and bought a brand-new Kenmore that had 7 stitches on it. I learned to use every single one of those stitches and kept that machine until 1977 when I upgraded to a new Kenmore with 3 boxes of accessories and cams and a lot more stitches...I still have that machine, it still runs, and it’s older than 2 of my children.

The decision to learn how to sew can come from many different places. You may have ripped your favorite jeans and need to mend them. You may need to shorten or lengthen a dress. Or maybe you need a Halloween costume or you want to make new curtains for your home. There are many reasons for wanting to learn how to sew and it’s a great skill to have and the joy of creating something with your hands is a very rewarding one.

FEBRUARY CHALLENGE!

So...I am going to challenge everyone who reads this article to learn to sew. Pull out those old machines that have been sitting around gathering dust. If you don’t know how to use it, it’s okay. Pull it out, dust it off, and come and join me in my Facebook Group, SEWING PANTS & COFFEE and friends (link will be below). Just let me know you’re there and tell me your sewing story. If you don’t have a machine OR a story, it’s okay...just tell me you’re interested in starting your sewing journey and hang out for learning opportunities and fun!

Join me on Facebook at Visit Facebook Group where I will attempt to document my journey to recovery and any sewing workarounds…because you just never know when you might need one of my workarounds for yourself.

Well I started the 2025 Holiday season out with a bang. The Friday before Thanksgiving, I stepped outside with a bunch of fully-packed Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes and I tripped and fell. What started out as an almost probable surgery to reattach the ball of my humerus bone to the rest of my arm turned in to a mini miracle. In the 12 days I waited to be seen by a specialist, the bone pieces that were about 3” apart on my ER xray were back together, so no surgery as of this date but a really long healing period of about 6 months.

As of today, the bone seems to be healing well, but I fear there are issues with the damage done to muscles, tendons, and ligaments. Pain is much reduced, but I still can’t use my right hand to do my hair, open jars, or even pet my cats. I can use my hand at about waist level, but there is no strength there. And I can’t climb up in my car, let alone start it or shift it.

So what am I going to do??? I’m finding workarounds for some things, but here is the scary part…I CAN’T SEW! I need both hands to operate my machine and guide the fabric and I can’t lift my dominant hand up enough even get it on the table, let alone use it for anything important. I have a friend that has been so much help…she has cut and prepped an entire wholesale order for me and has even serged the ruffle and skirt pieces together.

Tomorrow, things are changing…my friend is leaving for the holidays and I will be on my own. It’s been 4 weeks and 2 days since my accident, so it’s time for me to figure out how to get back to work! I have found workarounds for quite a few things so I’m confident I will be sewing this week!

Join me on Facebook at Visit Facebook Group where I will attempt to document my journey to recovery and any sewing workarounds…because you just never know when you might need one of my workarounds for yourself.

My sewing life started around 8 years old when I began hand-sewing crude dresses for my Barbie dolls. Then, in about 4th grade, I was given a Charmin’ Chatty doll for Christmas that came with a real tissue sewing pattern. My mom donated one of my sister’s old baby dresses and I cut it up and used the pattern to make my first ever structured garment. It had a skirt, some kind of sleeves, a collar, and a facing with snaps down the back. Was it perfect? Of course not! I remember struggling with the collar and facing and deciding that the instructions must be wrong and doing it my own way (story of my life). The collar was not quite right, but I was happy and it was the beginning of learning how to follow a pattern.

All my doll clothes were sewn by hand…with a good old-fashioned needle and spool of thread and everything I sewed up until I was 15 was by hand. I even made myself a dress completely by hand. That was when my aunt took pity on me and loaned me a sewing machine. It was an old Singer in a cabinet that only sewed a straight forward stitch. I was in heaven and started sewing all of my own clothes. I was learning to sew by following the pattern instructions.

My senior year in high school I saved up a little money and headed to Sears and purchased my first sewing machine. It was a Kenmore machine in a cabinet and had 7 stitches (I was so excited to have a reverse stitch and to be able to zig zag and make buttonholes). In 1977 I had outgrown that machine, so I upgraded to a new Kenmore that had tons of attachments, an entire box of cams, and a monogramming attachment. That machine saw me through making clothing for myself and my family, through many dance costumes, lots of home décor and gifts, and it still sits on the table in my sewing room. Although she is no longer my primary machine, she is the one I started my business with and still gets used when I need a heavy-duty machine that can sew through many layers or heavy fabrics.

I could go on about my sewing past, but sewing has basically been a well-loved hobby that has turned into my profession. So how did I learn to sew? I had no teacher and no one to ask advice from. My nearest sewing mentor was my grandma, and she lived in another state. I was on my own. Thank goodness for sewing machine manuals and sewing pattern instructions.

As far as learning to work a sewing machine, I didn’t have much to learn. I don’t recall anyone teaching me how to thread my aunt’s machine, so it probably came threaded and I just memorized that. The only adjustments would have been the tension and the stitch length, so there wasn’t much to learn. My Kenmore machines came with manuals, so I just followed them when needed. Once you have sewn on a few different machines, they are usually pretty easy to figure out, especially the Kenmores.

Learning to actually sew, however, kind of just happened. I learned all of the sewing techniques I needed to know for each item I sewed, using the pattern instructions. I have heard people say that the instructions are difficult and hard to follow, but I didn’t find that. Still, lots of people struggle with them and maybe they are more confusing today than they were back when I was learning.

So where do you go today, if you want to learn how to sew? You used to be able to get lessons in high school and college, but I haven’t seen those kinds of classes offered any more. Michaels, Joannes, and other fabric stores used to offer classes but independent fabric stores and Joannes, along with most fabric franchises have disappeared. I have seen random quilt shops here and there that will refer people to outside sewing instructors, but they are few and far between. And you can still go it on your own, like I did, but I was lucky that my sewing journey started with a straight forward stitch and that I was very stubborn and determined to learn from the pattern instructions.

If you have a desire to sew, I urge you to reach out and find an instructor…check with your aunts and grandparents or a local craft or hobby shop (ask if they have a bulletin board). And if you are local or close to the Golden Shores area, give me a call. I offer sewing classes to children (beginning at about age 8) through adults. Most classes are private and are taught on a boutique lesson basis. This just means that you choose what you need or want to learn. Need to start from the beginning and don’t even have a machine yet? That’s just fine…you can learn on one of mine until you can get your own. Already know how to sew and just need to brush up – we can do that. Just want to learn how to make buttonholes or sew in a zipper – we can do that, too. New machine and want help learning to use it…I can help you. Come and join me and let’s start a sewing revolution.

See my ad here on the website or contact me for more information. Tell me what you want to learn and I will make a lesson plan for you.

Happy sewing!

Denise

Join me on Facebook at Visit Facebook Group where I will soon be posting learn-to-sew information and details about my new Infinity Dress Pattern.

How to contact me:

Email: denise@devoncheycreations.com

Phone: 936-402-6021 (or text)

Last month’s article

I have a routine I do every morning...wake up, hit the bathroom and do whatever has to happen in there, get dressed in my sewing pants, make my bed, pay attention to whatever cats decide to greet me in the bathroom, turn the bedroom fans off, head down the hall to the other end of the house where the kitchen is and maybe throw in a load of laundry on the way. Then I feed the cats, give them fresh water, make coffee, and do what I need in the kitchen. After that I head either to the sewing room or to the dining room table where I usually pull out my laptop and open the blinds. Well, today was table day...imagine my surprise when I opened the blinds and a donkey was casually walking by...just munching on a mouthful of weeds (they must be desperate).

So, I quickly threw on my shoes, grabbed my phone, and headed outside to try to get a pic so I would have proof, but then there were 2! Now, here is where it gets kind of scary...they both came running straight towards me! Since I recognized these 2 because our street has adopted them and I knew they were friendly, I only peed my pants a little (just kidding) and didn't take off running myself. Since this is a mother/son pair and the baby was right up on me and I'm a strange human to them, I didn't know what mama was going to do. These crazy donkeys stopped right in front of me and just stared at me. I gave the baby a few pets, switched to the mama, got a nudge and a love bite from the baby (that was scary) then they trotted out my gate and moved on to the next house. I figured they expected me to feed them, but since I was too unnerved to even consider that, they gladly left my property..

So…what does this have to do with sewing, you ask? Absolutely nothing, except for the wildlife I get to see outside of my windows every day, no matter where I sit. It’s usually quail, doves, more rabbits than you might expect, some squirrely chipmunk creatures, roadrunners, hummingbirds, and don’t forget the donkeys and my inside companions, my 3 domestic shorthair sewing supervisors. I am truly blessed to live here is this beautiful desert!

My photo that I took was pretty blurry, so I’m posting photos provided by a friend…we call the little guy, Harry. Photo credit goes to Melinda Muehlhausen (she’s awesome, by the way).

Three years ago, I saw a little blurb in our monthly Topock Topics newsletter about a church sewing group that was looking for volunteers to sew dresses for needy kids. I pulled out my sewing machine travel case on wheels and loaded up a machine and all of the goodies I needed for sewing and headed out to Golden Shores Baptist Church. When I walked into their fellowship hall, there was only one person there and she was setting up fabric and supplies and getting ready for a 2-hour sewing session. That was the day I met Joni Sanders, one of the nicest, sweetest, and most dedicated group leaders I have ever encountered.

A few other people showed up that day to cut and prep dresses, but there was no one else sewing except Joni and me. I was very happy to help, and we cranked out a few dresses in our 2-hour sewing session that day.

But who were we sewing for and why? It turns out that I had no clue what I was getting myself involved in. Our little sewing group is part of a much larger organization called Operation Christmas Child, a project of Samaritan’s Purse. This is a worldwide movement that spreads the message of God’s Love and the Good News of Jesus Christ by providing Shoebox Gifts to children in need around the world. This organization has affected me so much that I am now a year-round Community Relations Volunteer.

I soon learned that our little sewing group was part of a much bigger plan. Into the boxes, we pack lots of other things in addition to the clothing we sew…toys, school supplies, hygiene items, shoes, socks, books, and many other things. There are groups like ours who pack and collect hundreds of these boxes every season and many people are involved year around. This movement is so large, that for the 2024 season, in the United States alone, 10.5 million shoeboxes were collected and shipped!

How can you help? Start by packing a Shoebox Gift. Boxes will be available from the Golden Shores Baptist Church or you can contact me (contact info is below) and I can get one for you and drop it off. There are other volunteer positions available and opportunities for your church to get involved in this wonderful program (see link below to find out more).

And if you are one of those people who love to create and sew, you will find me and my sewing students at my dining room table on Saturday afternoons, making items to pack into these wonderful boxes…come and join us from 12:30-2:30 each Saturday (please RSVP…space is limited).

How to contact me:

Email denise@devoncheycreations.com

Find out more about Operation Christmas Child

There is a movement happening in the sewing world. It’s not obvious and you probably won’t notice it unless you are one of us (meaning people who sew…often).

In my last couple of articles, I wrote about Joanne’s closing, the Big 4 patterns being sold to a liquidator, and the tariffs that are affecting those of us who purchase fabrics made in other countries and shipped here. If this type of trend continues, how will it affect our clothing and fabric supplies here in the US?

Did you know that the USA gets about 40% of their clothing from China with a lot of the rest coming from other Asian countries. Some of our most popular designers have their clothing manufactured in China, like Nike, Gap, Ralph Lauren, Victoria’s Secret, Tommy Hilfiger, and Michael Kors.

Here is my question. What happens if we can no longer get clothing OR fabric from China. Although the US is capable of producing both fabric and clothing, how long will it take to move the manufacturers for these items back home?

This is where the subtle movement comes in. I have seen it slowly picking up speed in the sewing world and lately it’s all around us. So, what is this movement? It’s right in front of our faces and has been a part of our lives for a few years now, although it hasn’t directly affected the sewing world until recently. The movement is RECYCLING AND UPCYCLING.

We’ve always seen the quilters recycle fabric by using old clothing, fabric scraps and remnants to make their beautiful quilts with. In the garment sewing world, however, recycling hasn’t been popular, although it is now growing as it becomes more and more apparent that fabric could be scarce in the near future. We have been seeing a lot of seamstresses upcycling garments, especially taking old prom dresses or wedding gowns and making them modern by changing them around or even making them into something completely different. I’ve seen mama’s cutting down their older kids clothing and making something new for their younger ones. I’ve seen dad’s and grandpa’s shirts made into teddy bears and other mementos. But the newest wave of recycling comes from the thrift stores.

The latest trend that I have seen is with our sewing mamas sourcing donated fabric, sheets, and pillowcases from thrift stores and then sewing their kids clothing with it. This is an awesome idea that has become a popular trend that started popping up once the news of Joanne’s closing got out.

Although pillowcase dresses have been around for decades, who remembers flour sack dresses?

“The motto of the Depression Era was "making do" while making sure nothing was wasted and everything was re-used or recycled. This sparked families to get incredibly creative with how they handled meals, clothing, and rationed water and utilities. One of the most interesting innovations came when women began using cotton flour sacks to make dresses and shirts for their children. This trend quickly caught on and once the flour companies got word of this, they chipped in by beginning to print patterns on their bags -- and even adding color!”

This photo shows the printed flour sacks and some dresses made from them. The companies not only printed the flour sacks, but they capitalized on them and eventually started charging a little extra for the printed ones. They also gave directions on how to remove the actual labels from the sacks. You can read more about these awesome flour sacks and see more photos at https://archiveproject.com/the-amazing-history-of-flour-sack-dresses-10-photos

Other places to acquire fabric that you can use for your own sewing, are garage and estate sales. You have no idea how many people are sitting on grandma’s fabric stash and have no idea what to do with all that fabric. If you are looking for fabric, ask for it! Put a little ad in your local paper and offer to come and pick it up and haul it away. Then share it with your local quilters and seamstress groups

I will close with a saying made popular by a well-known homesteader in North Carolina. ““Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.”