Fresh faces in original outfits

Fourteen-year-old Chelsea Hoggle plans to wear a blue eyelet dress — a guaranteed original — for a banquet she will attend later this month.

“I like to have something that no one else has,” says Chelsea, a rising freshman who lives in Darnestown. She plans to answer the question “Where did you get your outfit?” with a proud “I made it.”

Chelsea is taking an intermediate sewing class at G Street Fabrics in Rockville, where she is learning how to read patterns, use a sewing machine and construct garments.

“Sewing really isn’t hard if you have some instruction,” says Donna Smith, education department manager for G Street Fabrics, which has three more stores in Northern Virginia.

Beginning sewing enthusiasts like Chelsea have a variety of options for learning the basics. They can take sewing classes through fabric stores, sewing machine dealers, parks and recreation centers, 4-H programs, art schools and community colleges. They can get instruction from private instructors, dressmakers and tailors. They can attend sewing expositions, conventions and conferences that include sewing classes and seminars. Or they can follow the steps in an instructional DVD or online sewing course.

“One of the best places, if you’re a total newbie, …is an independent retailer that sells sewing machines,” says Margo Martin, executive director of the American Sewing Guild (ASG), a nonprofit organization in Houston that promotes sewing as an art and life skill and provides sewing instruction through some of its chapters. ASG has five chapters in Virginia, including the Northern Virginia Chapter in Alexandria, and one chapter in Maryland, called the Bowie Chapter, in Silver Spring. There are no chapters in the District.

Sewing machine retailers often offer beginners classes with machines available for student use, as do some fabric stores, such as G Street Fabrics and Jo-Ann Fabrics and Crafts, Ms. Martin says.

These machines, which have advanced in the past decade, can include a disk drive or be connected to a computer, enabling users to scan in, download or create their own embroidery designs and stitches, she says.

Machines range in price from $100 to $10,000, says June Mellinger, director of education for Brother International, a privately owned manufacturer of sewing machines and small home-office products in Bridgewater, N.J.

“People aren’t sewing for utility today. They are sewing to create something unique,” Ms. Mellinger says.

More than 35 million people in the United States are classified as sewing enthusiasts by the Home Sewing Association (HSA) in Monroeville, Pa., meaning that they know how to sew and have sewn in the past five years.

“Everybody knows somebody who knows how to sew,” says Karen Koza, spokeswoman for HSA, a nonprofit organization that supports and promotes the home sewing industry.

“Sewing is a great, time-honored tradition,” Ms. Koza says. “It’s a nice way to bond with someone. It’s something you’re doing together, something you enjoy, and you’ll have a good end piece when you’re done.”

Enthusiasts sew to relax, to relieve stress and for a creative outlet. Or they may want a custom fit.

A surge of beginning sewing students flooded classes after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, as Americans returned to “nesting” and doing activities at home and fulfilled a desire for doing something for themselves, Ms. Martin says.

“They say sewing skips a generation,” she says. “My own daughter doesn’t have anything do with sewing. If a mother does it for you, instead of inspiring you, it’s common to let your mother do it.”

In addition, sewing is being cut from some school programs to increase the time available for standards requirements, Ms. Martin says, adding that a few young people are picking up the interest anyway, possibly from home-decorating television shows.

“While there’s fashion trends, this generation has an interest in being a little more unique. They like making things for themselves,” she says.

To make the “unique” garment, beginners need to learn a few basics, according to sewing educators and associations.

“The most important thing is to start small,” Ms. Koza says. “Don’t take on a huge project. … Start with something that’s achievable and build from there.”

Beginners benefit from becoming familiar with their sewing machines and learning how to read and follow patterns, take body measurements, select and cut fabrics, and assemble garments — skills taught in the typical beginners class, Ms. Martin says.

“If they want to sew garments, pick something very simple,” says Judith Ruff of Sterling, Va., a certified trainer with HSA and a sewing hobbyist. She adds that pattern companies typically indicate the level of difficulty on the pattern package.

“Take a simple pattern with few details; do that pattern first. Then you can take the pattern and change it around,” Ms. Ruff says.

People who sew also benefit from knowing how to adjust a standard pattern to body shape and size, how to alter the pattern for designing purposes and how to select the best materials to be used with the pattern, says Rae Cumbie, custom dressmaker in Baltimore and vice chairwoman for chapter relations for the Professional Association of Custom Clothiers in Ellicott City, Md.

“You need to have good tools, including a sewing machine, iron, good pair of scissors, pins and needles, and marking tools,” Mrs. Cumbie says.

Helen De Roo, an instructor at G Street Fabrics, says she tries to instill good sewing habits in her students. She teaches them how to sew accurate seams, pin materials, hold scissors correctly and be conscious of what they are doing on the inside as well as the outside of the garment.

“The philosophies and attitudes are just as important as the skills themselves,” she says.

As sewing instructor Lori Petitti says, “You just need to have a little patience. Like any skill you develop, you get better the more you do it.”

Ms. Petitti, producer for Hip Line Media in Los Angeles, produced five step-by-step instructional videos for beginners to show how to sew handbags, quilts and home decorations and how to buy fabrics, sewing machines and notions, including scissors, needles and thread.

“The thing about sewing, there really are no bad mistakes you can make. You can rip it out and start again,” Ms. Petitti says.