Sew awesome!! :)

Sew awesome & special!! Oh my, those puns are GREAT :D.

How are you all? I somehow wanted to share with you some resources about sewing. I went to a small list of things I*d like to do and there was "Learn to sew" written on this, so I thought I should write about this a little, share some resources with you, etc. :)

During my childhood, I had an almost-"sleeping beauty" moment when I tried handling a sewing machine without anybody to give instructions & help, and then got my finger in between a piece of fabric and the needle - ouch! That moment, I SWORE to myself to never touch a sewing machine again. In fact, I started despising people who did sew, and I though they were "too feminine" in my eyes. Because being feminine is evil and all that *note for the readers : SARCASM!*.

Then Natron & Soda happened to upload their page(s); I am mainly refering to the actual site of "Natron & Soda", because Soda took down her site years ago, and I won*t blame her for this. However, "Natron & Soda" REALLY was a great place to start, at least for me. Basically, the page used to be all about sewing and generally making goth-related clothing, accessories, and so on. It is amazing!

So, I made a list of clothes to sew, but the list grew and grew and basically said includes (almost) every piece of clothing introduced on this site :). I *always* wanted to cut that list down, but all the planning is getting boring, to be honest. I can, however, see where the patterns come from - or better said, there are (mainly?) sewing instructions on the page on how to make your own unique pattern and how to sew it. They also give tips on music to play whilst doing that, and many people have contributed their own sewing instructions :).

So that was a turning point - discovering this site. Ever since, I couldn*t stop thinking about "I want to sew!", just imagine that with a zombie voice ... "Need ... to sew!! BRAINS!" (Need to sew brains? - Sounds like a cute version of a plushie to me :D!) Ah, that said, they also featured how to make some plushies on the page. I will put the link under "Resources" :).

(The page*s in German only as far as I know, though.)

So, I bought some books from book-selling pages which are famous for low prices :). Around the same time, Burda (a sewing/DIY magazine) released a collection of four magazines in which they explain the basics of sewing, and that said, the instructions are easy to understand. :) For example, I learned (theoretically) how to make a bigger version of an existing sewing pattern - which to me is really important, as many awesome sewing patterns are not available in my (plus) size.

On BurdaStyle*s homepage you can either download [or order?] sewing patterns ("Schnitte & Shop"; you can also regularly buy the magazine, it is really worth it!) ... There also is a section (somewhere) in which people explained how they tailored their clothes, plus there is a how-to on how to (ORLY?) make your own dress form. Great, I say!! (Also in German.)

Then, there are also resources like Dunkelsüß, Kostenlose Schnittmuster, and Cut Out And Keep. Dunkelsüß is probably most famous for being probably the most popular German-speaking page on which you can find information on lolita clothing. I am far from being as elegant as many lolitas (I mean it! I am just really clumsy and all that :(!), BUT I love the fashion styles in this genre. It is beautiful to look at, plus I like the broad creativity which enables fashion designers to create unique and pretty pieces of clothing.

BTW, there is a great page called SpoonFlower for designing your own fabric!! (Link in the resources!)

Anyways, I*d love to try out wearing Lolita fashion [I don*t want to make myself ridiculous but it would be an honour and a pleasure to me to wear it?], and for the reason Dunkelsüß also offers some sewing instructions for Lolita fashion, I want to go for this :). (Reminder to self : Do that!! :D)

Also, you might find the releases of the "Gothic Lolita Bible" interesting. They also feature some patterns on how to make some Lolita fashion items yourself, like scarfs and such. I only own one of the releases but they show how to make a skirt there, explain how to alter sewing patterns, and there*s a kitten scarf explained :). The version of the GLB I have is in English even.

Kostenlose Schnittmuster is a collection of links to all kinds of sewing patterns online. Some descriptions are in foreign languages like German, [English,] French, and Japanese. I guess there are even more languages I didn*t come across, but brace yourself for the mass of languages you can choose from (I find this amazing. If you need help with some, please tell me!).

As for Cut Out And Keep, that is an English-speaking page on which everybody can contribute their WIP for creative projects. Some might show you how they painted their shoes, some may show you how they dyed their hair, some may show you how they tailored a skirt ... It is an amazing resource and in my opinion one of the best :)!!

Of course, you can also google DIY blogs or craft blogs or sewing blogs or whatever you like.

Lastly, some words on the "Nähmaschinen-Führerschein" and the "Große Nähschule" : I have bought the former book, and it is showing you step-by-step how a sewing machine works. You have small tests to pass after each lesson, and all through the book you get to sew smaller items like plushies or bags.

The latter I haven*t bought yet, BUT I once saw it in a book store in one of my former hometowns and thought, "Someday I will buy this book!! It is amazing!", and my opinion hasn*t changed ever since. Fabrics are explained, steps on how to sew what are explained, and so on. I think it doesn*t contain any sewing patterns unfortunately, but the general knowledge delivered makes it worth the price nevertheless.

Okay, now I want to sew :D. I also have two (!) sewing machines, one is a bigger one by Singer, and the other one is one of these small sewing machines which you can use for smaller projects. Which one would you choose for your first projects? (I haven*t tried either of them. Maybe they still need some oil or so? Hm!)

Resources :

Web Sites :

* BurdaStyle. (Also has a "physical" magazine you can buy over here.)
* Cut Out And Keep.
* Dunkelsüß.
* Kostenlose Schnittmuster.
* Natron & Soda.
* SpoonFlower.

Books :

* Der Nähmaschinen-Führerschein (Author : Eva Schneider).
* Die Große Nähschule (Author : Alison Smith; original title : "The Sewing Book").
* Gothic Lolita Bible.