It’s Earth Day! And on this day, probably just this ONE day, you’re thinking about the planet maybe a teensy bit more than usual. And you’re saying, I’d like to start sewing my own clothes. Here’s how to get started:
Find a local sewing shop and take a class.
That’s the very first thing you should do. All of the rest filters down from there. I am in Michigan, and in my city (Lansing) we have an indie sewing store called Seams Fabric. We also have 2 quilt shops. Seams has a location in SW Michigan in Kalamazoo and there’s another store, Haberman Fabrics in Clawson on the east side of the state. These are all garment-focused stores that can help you learn to sew your own clothing.
Quilting stores also teach sewing, and even if you want to sew clothes, they can get you started. But a garment-focused store will also teach you to sew clothes, and since JoAnn fabrics closed, a lot more quilt shops are branching out into serving garment sewists with fabrics and classes for sewing your own clothes.
Make what you actually wear
A basic wardrobe consists of tops and bottoms that you can mix together. I love a good capsule, and here’s what I recommend you start with:
3 bottoms – skirts or pants or shorts (seasonally)
3 tops – long or short sleeved
2 jacket/blazer/cardigans for over the top of your tops and bottoms
Accessories like vests, bags, totes, scarves and wraps
To start, SEW WHAT YOU WEAR EVERYDAY. If you’re a work from home or casual office or retail, you probably don’t need formal clothing every day, sew things you’ll wear every day. Basic pants, tops and skirts are beginner friendly and offer you a lot of options to be creative. You can see how three bottoms could be pretty varied – depending on your typical day and your lifestyle.
Consider earth friendly fabric sources – thrift stores, rummage and estate sales often have fabric. Ask around. Someone’s aunt or grandma had a stash and I’ve been gifted several stashes of fabric that I’ve used and loved! You can also find mutual aid groups online (trade/freecycle) dedicated to sewing, or even destashify groups and websites for secondhand fabric.
Consider earth friendly fabrics like linen/cotton – at the end of their lifecycle, these garments will break down and go back to the earth. Plus, they’re nicer to wear!
Shop indie designer patterns and local stores where possible. The sewing industry is full of indie designers for almost anyone’s personal style, and you can find something that suits you that you’ll sew and love! Ask at your local fabric store (or mine: seamsfabric.com) for pattern and fabric recommendations.
Use this blog, and other, plus YouTube, to discover patterns, designers and ideas for upcycling, using stash and creatively scrapping fun garments.
Capsule wardrobe (search the search bar, I have dozens of articles!)
These are garments I made from fabric scraps. From left, the Tremont Jacket in fabric scraps, the Antero Shell top in scraps, lower left, another Antero Shell in scraps and a Tremont vest in wool scraps. The nice thing about sewing from your scraps is that you have built-in wardrobe coordinating garments The blue pants in the pic top right started it, and the scraps continued. I also have a jacket made from some of the hand dyed scraps shown in the blue top and the blue Tremont jacket as well – everything works togther (and with other things in my wardrobe.)
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