Teaching Myself to Sew- Picking up a New Quarantine Hobby

Recently I started teaching myself to sew, much the same way I taught myself to knit

When I was younger, before I got into knitting quite as much as I am now, I had a brief foray into sewing. Sewing looked so cool and the possibilities that it opened up were boundless. I tried a few little hair ties and things, and some small projects but it was hopeless. It turns out though, that knitting has given me the patience and dexterity to now be able to try it again. So, I’ve hopped onto the “learn a new skill in quarantine” bandwagon. Now, I’m teaching myself to sew, much the same way I taught myself to knit: via YouTube and in the words of Rachel Maksy and “Just doing the thing”.

Of course the first project I chose to make was for Fynn: a new sleep sack…or two. If you are here just for the knitting, here’s a link to the version that I knitted for him.

My Process for Teaching Myself to Sew

Step One: Watch a ridiculous amount of YouTube videos ranging from “how to’s” to other people making projects and sharing their knowledge and personalities like Rachel Maksy.

Step Two: Go to JoAnn Fabrics and buy way more fabric than I need for this first project. They were having a sale though!

Step Three: Grab my never ending roll of brown craft paper and print out a free pattern from Pinterest. Then only loosely use this actual pattern and make my own. Because I wouldn’t be me if I actually followed the rules.

Step Four: Hem and haw a great deal before jumping into it and making a somewhat decent pattern while Fynn and Murphy make it near impossible to do so.

Finally, Step Five: Sew the thing together using a back stitch and be mildly surprised that the whole thing worked!

Okay, one minor confession. I had no idea how long zippers were and only bought a nine inch one. So I had to go onto Amazon and order a bunch that were 20 inches long.

Why Choose a Sleep Sack for Teaching Myself to Sew?

Practicality

I have a hard time stomaching the idea of creating something as a test or a learning experience to not be able to use it later. It seems like a gross waste of time. And if I’m going to put down my knitting to teach myself to sew, I wanted to be able to use the finished project…if it worked out.

Necessity

Fynn is, well growing like a bad weed as they say. He’s in the 99% for height already. We have a few sleep sacks, but he really likes these two that are almost star shaped. They’re starting to get a bit snug and are really well loved with how much we’ve been washing and using these two.

Simplicity

This being the project where I actually teach myself to sew, I needed something simple. And while yes, you are right to remind me that zippers are not simple, the rest of the pattern and the shape is pretty simplistic. I mean it’s a sack.

Sew, How did I do it?

Using the free pattern as a base for the shape (it had straps over the shoulder that snapped and I didn’t feel like buying a tool for snaps just yet, oh and Fynn likes the whole sleeves that go over his hands thing), I sketched a pattern. Then I laid his wriggling little body over top of it to see if I had roughly the right size. This was difficult. But I did it.

The biggest mistake that I made, other than probably fabric choice, was when I laid the pattern on the fabric and cut it out. On both of the sleep sacks that I made, I ended up cutting the front two pieces so that the pattern is upside down.

So I made one big back piece, and two front pieces (for the zipper). Then I placed the right sides together, pinned, and then sewed around the outer edge for all but the neckline. The neckline was my second mistake. I forgot that I would need to hem this part and should have added a bit of fabric here to be able to do so. This resulted in a pretty wide neckline but Fynn doesn’t seem to care a bit.

Fabric Fail

I went the wrong direction around my local JoAnn’s Store. So normally I go around from left to right, because the yarn is at the back and this is the easiest way to get there. But in doing so, I missed all the actual apparel fabrics and hit the nursery fabrics instead. So I grabbed a cheap bit of cotton and some fleecy like fabrics. Both said not for children’s sleep wear but I did talk to the lady at the cutting desk who said this is because they are sprayed with something for the state of California that washes off. Yes you bet your buttons I washed the sleep sack fabric before letting it get near him.

Next time I’ll be perusing the other side of the fabric section of the store and finding something well, actually worth the time and money. But for now, I found an affordable test fabric…that he’s already put a finger through…

Also for next time, I’ll be adjusting the pattern a bit, making the neck narrower and taller (for hemming), and making the sleeves a bit wider.