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clothes.
14/F
I want to make my own clothes. I don't have much money to buy clothes so I figure this would be a cheap alternative. I have some experience with sewing. I hand-sewed a stuffed animal in teh 6th grade and I manually (sewing machine sewed) a bag with pockets and drawstrings last year. I don't have a sewing machine. So I was wondering where I can get a good inexpensive one; fabric for clothes; patterns to make teh clothes and other stuff I would need to make the clothes.
I also want to know how exactly to make clothes. Anyone with clothing making/ design experience would help. Any additional information will help also. Thank you. (websites are nice too)
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well its really cool you want to do that, i actually got a sewing machine this past christmas because i love designing and making cloths. so far ive made a dress and a few jean skirts (ive been busy so nothing big yet, but i plan on making my own prom dress for my first prom next year!). and yes it is much cheaper than anything else. my suggestion is go to joanne fabrics, they have the cheapest fabrics, sewing supplies, sewing machines, etc. (they have a website if there isnt one by you). and sign up for sewing lessons for machine sewing at G-street fabrics, its a little bit more expensive but its worth it, because theyre the best! good luck, and good choice, making your own clothes is AWSOME!
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I doubt it'll be cheaper in the long run. It would only be cheaper if you made a whole load of the same thing in bulk and wern't at all tempted to buy clothes at shops. Why not just go to some really cheap supermarket to buy clothes there? e.g. Primark (UK), Walmart (US). You could maybe jazz them up a bit to make them differrent if you wanted. You can buy fabric paint and fabric pens, which you use to write and draw and add designs to your clothes. You iron in the designs to make them permanent. Dylon make good ones.
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I got my sewing machine really cheap at a school fair. The textiles department were selling their old ones and buying new sewing machines. It cost me £5. You can sometimes get them at charity shops/thrift stores/second-hand shops. You could hve a look on eBay, they seem to be going for anything from $15 to $200.
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I would recomend buying a sewing machine if you want to make clothes, it will save you sooooo much time and effort.
I make my own clothes for fun, to get what I want clothes to look like, instead of to save money. If you are a member of Myspace, you can check out my group, where I am showing people how to make their own stuff, and how to customise things.
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You can buy patterns and fabrics from big shops like Debenhams or John Lewis in the UK. I'm sure some US department shops will also stock this kinda stuff.
In my opinion, making clothes isn't something that's like a really difficult art that you need to have all these amazing skills to do. I don't know much about sewing or patterns myself, although I have a GCSE in Textiles (a minor high school qualification). You can pretty much just muddle through and unpick the seams and re-sew them if it doesn't work, although you can't make fabric bigger, so always take a little more than you need in case you need to alter the seams!
If you have a piece of clothing that fits you well, and you want to make an item similar to it in a different material, then you don't need to buy a pattern. Look at the item and copy the shapes of each piece of material that has been sewn to the others - copy the shape onto a piece of paper. Try to make it exactly the same size and shape. If you need bigger paper, tape more paper together! then draw another line around the outside line, about 1.5cm or half an inch away from the first line. Then cut out along this outer line. Then buy some fabric. Then sew the pieces of fabric together in the same way they are sewn together on your original clothing item. It helps me to write a letter on each piece of paper and draw a little sketch of how the go together on the original, like, A goes next to B, which joins up to C. That kinda thing. Sew the seams about 1.5cm or half an inch away from the edge of the fabric. Remember to sew it all together inside-out so the seams will be on the inside when you turn it the right way out. When you're done, take a needle and poke all the loose threads into the inside and make a knot in them so they won't come loose, to make it more tidy. And Taa-daa! You have your new clothes! I've made a dress, two skirts and some t-shirts this way.
If you buy something cheap that isn't your size you can always alter them. With tshirts or simple dresses you can just turn them inside out and sew in a bit more, or add a little more material down the sides. With too-big jeans you can cut a little into the sides of the belt and sew them so they overlap. I have done all this stuff before, so I'm not recommending you impossible stuff!
If you don't mind your first efforts looking a bit slap-dash, a few loose threads, a slightly wonky seam, it's quite easy to make clothes. People say ooh its so hard but it's not. Things get to look more perfect the more you practise and the better you get with your sewing machine. It's like cooking: anyone can follow a recipe. Just like if you're careful, anyone can cut some material and sew it together. I would say mastering all the gadgets on your sewing machine is the hardest part about it! Also, purchase a fabric pencil, or get a white piece of chalk or a white wax crayon, coz you'll neeed it to make markings before you sew stuff together.
It is basically not that hard, as long as you're willing to acept that at first, things may look a little slap-dash. However, I use this to my advantage and make it look kind've arty, or punky. They can get away with being a lil bit scruffy!!!
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i have to warn you its really not that much cheaper..
i had to make a purse for my sewing class and after getting all the fabric and thread and buttons and what not i need it was like $30 and i prob could have gotten the same style of purse for like $20 (acually they had the exact same style purse i made just dif fabric for $24 at american eagle)
but anyways you can get fabric and patterns almost anywhere.. fabric stores, walmart, even ebay
personally i would recommend reading alot of books or taking a sewing class before starting to make your own stuff because there is alot to learn around fabric and how they fit and wash and what not.
i got a sewing machine for like $30 on the home shopping network (its a mini semi mobile one) and i would say it was a very good buy.. it was ment for children/beginners so it was easy to thread and works like a charm.. i would say if you can get one off of there
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