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Have you heard? Upcycling is the new charity shopping. A quick glance on Depop will turn up hundreds of accounts selling hand-stitched goods, from crocheted tops to men’s shirts that have been sliced and diced into high fashion pieces.
The same applies to Instagram, where influencers like Sewing with Solana and @mimigstyle have amassed hundreds of thousands of followers by sharing videos of them transforming blankets into coats, dresses into trendy two-pieces and imitating the viral Ganni top with decidedly more budget raw material.
In that spirit, I thought, surely it wouldn’t be too difficult to join in. After all, how hard could sewing be?
Turns out, a lot harder than I thought when I foolishly agreed to learn how to sew in a month. Nevertheless, in the name of journalism, I took command of a Singer Talent sewing machine, set it up after work and spent my entire weekend figure out how it worked, exactly.
Fortunately, getting the basics down in 30 days is more than do-able – whether you’re hoping to become a Depop side-hustler or just modify some clothes to fit you better.
Want to learn sewing? Here are some tips for getting it right
Yes, a sewing machine looks terrifying to the uninitiated. Just look at that needle! But once you’ve cracked it, it’s actually surprisingly simple to use. It’s important you get a good one – after all, a good quality machine will last you longer, will sew better and will be able to tackle pretty much any material you throw at it (within reason) without breaking.
I opted for the Singer Talent, which is a great all-rounder and a good place for casual or beginner sewers to start on their journeys.
Most importantly, it’s easy to learn how to use – there are a range of handy tutorials on YouTube, for one thing, as well as a rather intensive manual. But it also comes with a range of handy features (including 21 types of stitch patterns) and also has an automatic needle threader, which saved me many hours of pricking my fingers and cursing. (£190, )
Living as we are in a golden age of streaming and internet accessibility, it would be foolish not to take advantage of the treasure trove that is Instagram and TikTok.
In particular, influencers are a great place to start when it comes to picking up some ideas for how to modify (or indeed make) your clothes. Some good places to start are Instagram influencer Sewing with Solana, who posts easy to follow tutorials for dresses, shirts and all sorts of summery clothing as well as inspirational pics of the finished items.
If you’d rather something a little more hands on, Evelyn Wood is probably one of the best (and most helpful) sewing teachers out there. A lover of vintage fashion, her YouTube videos on how to master sewing are many and varied, and include things like how to backstitch as well as the more straightforward pieces on how to get started and how to sew around corners.
It’s not a surprise – she has more than 25 years of experience – but whether you love vintage or not, her insights are extremely helpful.
In addition, Reddit is (as ever) a goldmine for anything sewing related. I spent a lot of time on the /SewingforBeginners Subreddit, but there are a lot of different ones out there, and they’re full of some very knowledgeable people.
Case in point: /SewingTips is a great source of information for people who are having trouble with their machines, /SewingPatterns offers easy to follow patterns for people who want to make their own clothes, and /Sewing is mainly just a nice place to hang out: it’s full of people posting images of their latest projects.
Their advice? Start small, perhaps with a scrunchie or bag, before working your way up to bigger garments like shirts.
The easiest and fastest way to superpower your sewing knowledge is by doing a class. Fortunately, London is full of them, and top of the list has to be The New Craft House, which is based out east. Not only do they sell a variety of threads and cloths (all good when it comes to crafting your own clothes), but they also put on a lot of classes that range from total beginner level (two hours getting to grips with a machine) to fiddly stuff like learning how to sew silk, or making your own pair of trousers (beginner classes start from £45; ).
Another good repository for all things sewing is Ray Stitch, which sells everything from patterns to haberdashery fabrics – and has a large range of very detailed classes. This is the place to come if you want to learn how to make quilts, copy the pattern for your favourite top, or just learn garment sewing more generally. A goldmine ().
If you don’t have the budget – or time – to book a class, that’s okay: YouTube abounds with helpful tutorials, videos and sources of inspiration: Made to Sew and Seamwork offer step by step tutorials on how to get started.
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