Learning to Sew in 2010

Every year I try to make a resolution to learn something new. In past years I've resolved to learn about photography, about online publishing, vegetable gardening, and how to read tarot cards. This year, my big learning goal is to learn to sew.

Sewing is making a comeback in popular culture in the last few years. There are hundreds of blogs written by talented and creative seamstresses that are chock filled with ideas. There are also many books on the market geared toward helping those of us who are all thumbs when it comes to a hem figure out how to work our sewing machines.

My goal is to be able to sew a dress by the end of 2010. At the moment my skills consist mainly of being able to sew a straight line. Ultimately, I would like to be able to adjust a pattern to fit me or my daughters perfectly. I am also interested in being able to repurpose and update my vast collection of vintage clothes into wearable garments.

Here's how I plan on getting all that done:

1. I'm going to recruit my husband into helping me make a dress form from duct tape. This will make me feel professional and inspire me to get to work!

2. I'm going to pull out my collection of sewing books. My favorites are Sew Everything Workshop by Diana Rupp and Bend-the-Rules Sewing by Amy Karol.

3. An entire room in our house is filled with vintage clothing I've picked up here and there over the years. Very little of it fits properly, or even comes close to fitting at all. I bought it because I loved the design or the fabric, and thought I could do something with it. This year I plan on getting into that room every month and actually accomplishing at least one project involving the items in it.

4. www.craftster.com is a great place to get ideas, as well as encouragement. Seamsters from all over post their completed projects and often give great tutorials. I plan on posting my completed projects here, as well as perusing the site for great reconstruction and from-scratch projects.

5. I plan to complete one sewing project, other than the reconstruction I talked about in number three, each month. These should build up in difficulty until I'm able to make myself a dress.