Sewing Cold Weather Gear

[Irulan]

My mom sewed. And she always said that clothing on sale was less expensive than making it. I learned when I was a child, but not that well.

I have a nice sewing machine, a detailed Simplicity 'how to sew' book, and this set that comes with a DVD and very slowly (boring) goes through about 2 hours of basic stitches.

The book is too complicated, and the DVD coma-inducing.

Any suggestion for a project I can do that comes with basic instructions, a pattern, and can remind me how to get started? I can see using the more detailed stuff once I get started, but it's just too much to pick up.

Thanks for the link. I want to try using technical fabric.

My dogs love clothing. The jackets they are wearing in the pictures run about 75 each. On sale for 50. Fleece inside, windstopper on the tops. I can see making them some fleece jackets in exactly the same style. Wouldn't cost much, and you can get good fleece from Walmart.

Ditch the Simplicity book, it's crap. Check your local library for the Singer Sewing Series. Many fabric stores, Adult Ed etc offer beginning sewing classes.

AS for saving money, it's relative. :-)

[Melalvai]

The nice thing about sewing your own clothes is you can wear things that weren't made in a sweatshop in a 3rd world country. Trying to get US-made clothes is expensive and difficult. Even if it says Made in the USA there are tricks to get around that & still legally be able to say it. I don't care so much what country it is made in but I want to know that it is fair trade and not made in a sweatshop. I'm willing to pay a little more, but it's usually a LOT more and I can't afford it.

Not that I sew my own clothes. I can sew a little but not that much, and there's only so much time. This weekend I chose to build my own bicycle wheel and regretted it. It was fun, and rewarding and all that, but it made for a busy weekend and I didn't get it finished so I'm without a bike at the moment. (I walked.) Long before the weekend was over I wished I'd paid to have it done.

[Tri Girl]

WOW!!! I'm SO incredibly impressed with your jacket! It is quite simply breathtaking- and that pink reflective piping is so subtle and so striking. Seriously-I would pay $250 for a jacket that nice (because if I spent that much on one from a store it wouldn't be that nice). You should quit your job and just become the TE forum members seamstress and clothing designer.

Congrats on finishing your project! Wear that jacket with pride.


Do you have any words of wisdom for making mittens? I want to make my own felted wool/fleece lined mittens because I'm tired of buying cycling specific store bought gloves that don't keep my fingers warm in this cold weather. I made a crudely constructed pair of felted mittens last week and wore a pair of glove liners underneath and they were MUCH warmer than my fancy schmancy cycling lobster gloves.

[azfiddle]

That's amazing- that just looks gorgeous and it sounds like you got all of the technical bits just right! I just don't do well with anything besides a straight seam- so I am impressed with what you've accomplished.

[goldfinch]

Do you have any words of wisdom for making mittens? I want to make my own felted wool/fleece lined mittens because I'm tired of buying cycling specific store bought gloves that don't keep my fingers warm in this cold weather. I made a crudely constructed pair of felted mittens last week and wore a pair of glove liners underneath and they were MUCH warmer than my fancy schmancy cycling lobster gloves.

This is a great tutorial on how to make fleece and felted wool mittens: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXN4sDGOfSo

[Tri Girl]

This is a great tutorial on how to make fleece and felted wool mittens: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXN4sDGOfSo

thank you!! Duh- I feel so dumb. I never think to look at youtube. I searched google but had so many results I didn't find one I liked. This is just perfect. Thanks again.