Beginner sewing- What are the basics I will need to deck out my sewing room? Also,sewing machine recomendation

Question

I want to sew my own clothes. Stuff that looks normal, professional and not too home-made.I am seeking to sew shirts, skirts and would love tips on how to sew jeans and denim skirts, too. I know you have to start simple, but what are the basic items I will need to create my own clothes? machine, material, string, scissors, pins, and what else? Please recommend brands of material, especially Earth friendly stuff.
What is the hardest thing about sewing? the easiest thing to make? What is a good way to start and what materials are required and which are extra? Thank you so much in advance!

Answer 1

The basics are a table or floor with a hard finish, scissors, tape measure, chalk pencil, pins, some needles for hand sewing for those little details you can not do on a sewing machine.
Brands in those are not really important.
Scissors should be reasonable good, but I have used a $5 pair for years, never a fail, and have seen $50 pairs being worn in a year.

Most professional made clothing is done on simple machines. They can do straight stitch.
Check your own wardrobe, often that is the only stitch used.
A good beginners machine can do zigzag and buttonholes too.
There are many machines that have many fancy stitches, most are never used.

Generally people advice to buy an older but basicly more expensive machine second hand from a good dealer near you. The shop will be helpful and sell you a good machine, hoping you will come back to them to buy a new machine when you found you like sewing. They get these machines as people trade them in for new machines.

For thread, I would buy a roll of thread with each project for the start. That way you build up a collection. You can get cheap kits with 25 colours, they do not satisfy.
You can start with just black and white, and that are the colours you will mostly use anyhow.
You will need to buy fabrics and patterns too, the same shop can also sell you thread.

A good way to get experience is to join a class, often the shops that sell the sewing machines do know or even give classes. That will get you over the first difficulties, teach you how to use your machine and you will have people to fall back on when you get stuck later.

There are many tools and other extras that are mostly fancy, a class will also teach you about the tools they feel are needed.

Answer 2

Hi:

First read the following books :

Creating Your Perfect Quilting Space: Sewing-Room Makeovers for Any Space and Any Budget
by Lois L. Hallock

Dream Sewing Spaces: Design and Organization for Spaces Large and Small
by Lynette Ranney Black, Lynette Ranney Black, Pati Palmer (Editor) - a good book

Organizing Your Craft Space
by Vanessa-Ann, Jo Packham, Sara Toliver

Where Women Create: Inspiring Work Spaces of Extraordinary Women by Jo Packham, Brad Mee

here are some books on using a sewing machine:

For Machine embroidery ( or sewing machine sewing) :

Sewing for Dummies
by Janice Maresh, Janice S. Saunders, N. Graf (Editor)

Sew U: The Built by Wendy Guide to Making Your Own Wardrobe
by Wendy Mullin, Eviana Hartman, Beci Orpin (Illustrator), Beci Orpin (Illustrator), Agnieszka Gasparska (Illustrator)

Encyclopedia of Sewing Machine Techniques
by Nancy Bednar, Joanne Pugh-Gannon, JoAnn Pugh-Gannon, Joann Pugh-Gannon

ABCs of Serging: A Complete Guide to Serger Sewing Basics(Creative Machine Arts Series)
by Tammy Young, Lori Bottom, Naomi Baker (Foreword by)

Machine Embroidery with Confidence: A Beginner's Guide
by Nancy Zieman

Embroidery Machine Essentials: How to Stabilize, Hoop and Stitch Decorative Designs
by Jeanine Twigg, Lindee Goodall

Embroidery Machine Essentials: Basic Techniques: 20 Designs and Project Ideas to Develop You Embroidery Skills
by Jeanine Twigg

Embroidery Machine Essentials: Fleece Techniques
by Nancy Cornwell

More Embroidery Machine Essentials: How to Customize, Edit and Create Decorative Designs
by Jeanine Twigg

Embroidery Machine Essentials: Applique Techniques
by Mary Mulari, Jeanine Twigg

Sew with Confidence: A Beginner's Guide to Basic Sewing
by Nancy Luedtke Zieman

101 Ways to Use Your First Sewing Machine
by Elizabeth Dubicki

Everything Sewing Book: From Threading the Needle to Basting the Hem, All You Need to Alter and Create Beautiful Clothes, Gifts, and Decorations
by Sandra Detrixhe

Making an Old-Fashioned Patchwork Sampler Quilt on the Sewing Machine
by Andrea L. Shedletsky

Fine Machine Sewing: Easy Ways to Get the Look of Hand Finishing and Embellishing
by Carol Laflin Ahles

Sewing Machine Guide: Tips on Choosing, Buying, and Refurbishing
by John Giordano

Sewing Basics: All You Need to Know to Begin Sewing Clothes and Home Furnishings
by Wendy Gardiner, Mary Senechal (Editor), Kate Simunek (Illustrator), Martin Norris (Photographer), Paul Forrester (Photographer)

Encyclopedia of Sewing Techniques
by Wendy Gardiner


Hopely this will get you started in the right direction.

Hope this helps

There available at any library or bookstore:

Those books will give ideas and a tell you what you will need to get started on doing this

then go from there. plan where you want threads to go and storage spaces to put your projects, tools, and other things
draw this on a piece of paper. then check and see if will go with the flow of work so you can work easily and effectually

This is all explain in the above books.

That all the help I can give you for now