Lost art of Sewing

Judy, I agree with you about the workmanship today. When my sisters and I were growing up, my mother made clothes for all four of us. We had the best looking clothes around. She learned to sew early in life because her mom did it for a living. I can sew to some extent, but never could get a zipper in right. Two of my sisters can sew very well, but they just don't have the time to sew today. I sometimes wonder how my mom found time with four of us. It's hard for me to find something to fit in a local store because I'm 5'8" and have very long legs. I usually have to order online to get tall slacks and tops. Everything my Mom made fit perfectly because she knew how to alter patterns. I think it's a lost art today.

I completely agree. It either i'll walk in and see something thats made insideout or the seams are already ripping and still on the hanger, or i'll simply see something and go..'i could make that better and still save money' I really want to be a fashion designer so this is were my heart is, i hate seeing girls with dresses they paid a lot of money for and they start ripping a month later. Stuff doesn't last as long or endeu the same strength any more. I thought it was crazy at the fact that girls in my clothing class didn't even know how to thread a needle let a long a machine. As for the marriage thing, i think people rush into things far to quickly, i personally think a couple should live together before saying vows. Its just because you know if you can handle being around that person and how they act for the rest of your life if you don't see first hand what it's like to live with them and know there gross little habits, but thats me personally. Have a good one

I agree with you. My mother was a very well known tailor in her heyday and she took pride in providing the very best in workmanship to her customers who came back time and again. I could remember she would be drafting out the patterns and her 8 seamstresses would carry on deep into the night on each holiday season. I too lament the lack of quality workmanship in readymade shirts and dresses nowadays and young women no longer have interest in tailoring. Even the drapery shops are slowly dying, giving way to the overflowing mobile phone businesses. There are some reasons but two I could think of is that people nowadays find it more convenient to buy off the shelf that wait 3 days to wear a new clothing ensemble. And this disposable generation is getting out of hand. I have even heard the 60-year-old aunties saying, "nowadays, everything so cheap, wear one time, don't like it, throw-loh". People nowadays never take pride in their clothes anymore. We used to wear our clothes and then wash and carefully hang them in our cupboards to wear another day and even get to wear them still in presentable form one year later. It also has to do with economics. Our generation had little money to spend on clothes, buying them only once a year, mostly during the Chinese New Year season, or having them tailored during this period. Nowadays, you can find people wearing oversized T-shirts and short pants (even those who look terrible wearing them - so many fat women, with obvious stomach bulges and exposing their overthick thighs - ugh!!!) you can buy for RM5 apiece (about US$1.50) in Chowkit Road. In my day, if you wanted to look gorgeous in the latest Italian or Paris fashions, you have to spend about RM500 apiece in a posh boutique, now you can buy all kinds of fashions, mix and match for about RM10 apiece. And girls nowadays prefer to sit pretty in nice offices than work at sewing machines (even though we have electronic ones now) for about 10 hours a day. So, with the mass production, you cannot expect to get a decent fit and one that won't go to pieces the first time you wear it. That's life and the so-call progress we brought upon ourselves (sigh!)

I love to sew! Before my girls were born, I used to sew a lot of my own clothes... but then I had kids and didn't have as much time because I was also working full time. However, I still make occasional outfits and have taught both my girls to sew. I've always made their halloween costumes each year, and I've made a few fancy dresses for important events. The girls love to make their own sleep pants and pick out their own fabric to use. My youngest dd even made purses as presents for some of her friends for Christmas last year. So I've passed on my love of sewing to my girls!

I agree with you 100%. You cant buy anything without having to strengthen a seam, reenforce a button(s) or mend a zipper for something you paid through the nose for. I still make my own dresses and some of my husband's nightshirts and pullover tops. Its ridiculous what they pass for dressmaking nowadays!

I agree. I remember as a child watching my mom on her sewing machine.Today I sew my own clothes, drapes,blankets, tableclothes,etc... I believe its a good skill and trade to have. I wouldn't give it up for the world. I enjoy making my own styles and being diffent from the rest of the world.Too many people don't sew now a days.

I agree. Nothing is quality any more. When my daughter was in the third grade (she's 37 now), she was given a pantsuit which she wore to school until she outgrew it. Then we gave it to her younger cousin, who wore it and passed it down to a niece. The niece passed it back to my granddaughter! And it was still good with the original buttons still attached. Today, you're lucky if a set of clothing lasts through two kids without falling apart.

It has changed,my Grandmother could sew an outfit by just looking at it,with no pattern. I do sew but I have to have a pattern. You are right , a lot of items are made so poorly, and the materials used is shoddy.

Past seems always better, especially if we get older. When my mother was young, she used to have only one dress. It was washed only once a week. She could take a bathtub once a week. My mother loves new disposables because we can keep it clean.

Art of Sewing has nearly disappeared.....people are opting to buy clothes from outside and moreover this is an era of Branded clothes and Designer wears

I guess when you lived in an era when marriage was sacred and men were men, you would find the present time very dedicated to practicality. Im not saying that people of your time were not practical. However, the people of today usually want the best in a short amount of time. So that's what they get, a low quality dress.

Oh yes, you are so correct! Most of the clothing is made overseas, and the 'models' for size are so very small. I also firmly believe that 'home economics' needs to be brought back to the high schools. Girls AND BOYS need to take it, and it needs to include basic sewing, HOW TO COOK (neither of the girls my older sons married even knew the basics of cooking) and much more. My grandmother sewed EVERYTHING...even my grandfather's suits. My mother never learned. I took a basic sewing class at a community college a few years back and can do basics...but sure wish I had time/talent to do more!

I often wish I had the skill, or knew someone with such a valuable skill. My mom taught me how to crochet and I have made blankets for each of my kids. They are very proud of them. Clothes today dont even last through ONE child, much less have anything left for hand-me-downs. I also think kids today are stuck on fast food, and just-heat-it-up foods. My kids know the basics to cooking and baking at least.

I totally agree with you. My neighbor's daughter was getting married and she had a dress shop to make all her dresses for the wedding. 2 of the dresses ripped while they were just being put on for the wedding. I love to sew and do still make most of my furniture throws, quilts, table runners, placemats and many of our clothes. I have found that it is the only way to get exactly what I want. It is hard to find quality fabric but it is still available if you want to pay over $7.00 a yard. I go to thrift stores and purchase used clothing such as jeans when they have bag sales. I can get a garbage bag of jeans for $2.00. I use them to make quilts and placemats. I did teach my daughters to sew but none of their friends can sew. I agree it is beginning to be a lost art. One that is so important in being frugal

My grandmother taught my mother to sew and my mother taught me. I found that I could not find the same quality in store bought clothing as the quality of that which I make myself.

when i was young my mumm had this huge sewing machine and it was in that machine that she made my school clothes and all that.later on as my mum worked late,she no longer had time to hand sew my clothes adn all that.i still miss the sound of that sewing machine,the sound it made as it sewed clothes! http://www.alibaba.com/countrysearch/IN-suppliers/Sewing_Machine.html http://www.ushainternational.com/home.html

Yes, these days sewing at home is only limited to those people who can't afford to buy these expensive branded cloths... But believe me, home sewn cloths are better in terms of their stiching.. my personal experience is for cloths sewn at home.. the cloth would even wear out and not the stiching... where as you can never rely on the stiching of the readymade cloths.

Wow, Mrs. Sims... I know how to sew, and my marriage is nicely intact. And yes, the workmanship is paltry in by far in comparison to much of the tailoring one sees these days. No, we haven't gotten used to uneven hems. It's just that many women today haven't the time to sew because they are too busy working to feed their families. Many men still believe that sewing is women's work, and too many people do not even understand the meaning of the words "quality", "workmanship" and especially "permanence." AUNTY

i agree totally with you

Yes as child I was even taught how to darn socks. Now you just go buy more.My daughter bought a dress for Prom and while she had it on in the store the zipper just came unraveled ,the owner offered to sew another in, I refused to let her and told her I would rather do it, funny she gave me $20 off but I have never returned to the store.The quality of the sewing was just awful.