Value in making your own

Absolutely! Even if you just make curtains and cushion covers you will save £££. Who wants to pay £25 for a cushion? Not me!

I am ashamed to say I can hardly sew a button on. Just never had the slightest inclination to sew or knit, but wish I was interested in these crafts. I admire creative people who can make their own clothes, and am sure the pleasure and satisfaction they get from their skill outweighs the fact that sometimes it may be cheaper to buy ready made.

I have started to learn to sew with a little Chinese lady who trained at the London School of Fashion. I also study pattern cutting with a lady who used teach at Huddersfield Uni, as well as Canada, India, Turkey etc. I met both these ladies whenI joined the Labour Party. I do feel blessed that they are now both my friends. I think you are never too old to learn a new skill. For the lady who’d like to put new zips in her trousers, go on YouTube (the university of everything).

Does it matter if there is monetary value in it my son's mil is a wonderful seamstress and takes pride in what she creates

The value? Wow.. We all know that it's more expensive to make certain things but it's not about the money. It's great to produce to others something we have done ourselves. A cake ,clothing, something we have grown or even our ideas. It's good for an individual's well being our self esteem and passing skills on for further generations is priceless. I have a friend who was never taught how to thread a needle who throws clothes away because a button fell off ! I don't have skills to make a suit but can hem trousers and sew buttons on??

My grandmother was a tailoress.

I enjoy sewing and listening to radio 4 as I sew. My dresses are simple but unique and must less expensive than anything comparable on sale.

My great aunt was a tailored too, phoebes. Highly skilled. She would always correct anyone who said she was a seamstress.

I can sew, used to make a lot of my own and DDs’ clothes, but don’t now. I don’t find it as satisfying when I can buy much cheaper. I still make curtains for the family though, which is worth it financially. I haven’t changed my own for more years than I care to remember.

tailoress, not tailored, for Pete’s sake!

I would have loved to have made the DGC’s christening gowns if they’d been christened! They’re all boys anyway, but DS was baptised early so we could get away with the intricate gown and bonnet I’d made for his sisters before him. That sort of thing is still a joy to make, and still worth it financially as well.

I did city and guilds Womens Light Clothing manufacture which included pattern cutting and always made my own unique clothes and the children’s when they were small.

But gradually the cost of good fabrics and notions went up and the selection went down. I found it was cheaper to buy good quality clothes in the sales than make my own.

Now that I am no longer a slave to fashion trends I have returned to making quite a few of my own clothes, drafting patterns from expensive bought items which I know fit, and devising designs which require little or no buttons and zips. I have an extensive range of fabrics and old buttons which need to be used up

There is nothing more rewarding in sewing your own garments. I recently made my dress for my daughter's wedding. It was a challenge because I'd never made a dress from a pattern before, and in silk and fully lined. Took two weeks and I couldn't have been happier because it actually fitted me and I've worn it three times so the £110 outlay on materials seems reasonable. If I'd had to have bought a dress, it would've cost more than the £110, and it wouldn't have fitted so well.

So is there monetary value in sewing? Yes but I suppose it really depends on what it is your sewing and how skilled you are in adapting patterns to suit your shape - if you don't happen to be a standard size.

When I first started work 40 years ago I used to make all my work skirts because I just didn't have the money and to be fair, material was cheaper then, especially on Petticoat Lane.

My daughter and I both sew. She said she knew the best place to get fabric. Oh my days, what a trek but well worth it. The fabric shop centre of the universe as far as London is concerned is Tooting.

There is no value in it . It cost more to make your own than to buy it in a shop or on line . The only thing you get is self comfort that you made it your self .

I can think of other reasons too. Fashion dicates styles, colour. and pattern. It's often quicker to make your own than trek endlessly in vain around every frock shop getting more and more despondent.

I've just made curtains for DD and she thinks she has saved £200 due to my free labour. Sufficent off-cuts to make a couple of cushions too.
I'm seldom happy with clothes I make for myself but enjoy buying remnants to make simple clothes for GC.

I'm also quite short and therefore careful as to the styles I buy as not everything is available in petite ranges. Being a bit adept with a sewing machine I do like to make much of my own clothes too, this means I can have fashionable designs in slightly different fabrics/colour ways than commercially produced garments and not turn up to an event "in the same outfit". Much of the shop bought stuff is mass produced for cheapness, it looks cheap too and I'm mindful about the working/living conditions of the workforce as very very little is produced in the U.K. now.

LondonGranny my daughter (late30s) and her sewing buddies describe themselves as “sewists” to avoid the sewer problem.

Sewing your own isn’t cheap if you are like my daughter-in-law’s mother. She can’t resist lovely fabrics, and is always buying lengths of material which will ‘come in handy’. She has enough stashed away in her cupboard to last at least 50 years.
I am the opposite, picking up bargains in charity shops and car-boot sales to unpick and re-use, or make over. Even the scraps, and odd balls of wool are used for patchwork, dolls clothes or childrens’ stripey sweaters. It’s very satisfactory to produce something attractive at minimal cost.

It is definitely cheaper to make your own clothes than to buy them, if, that is, you sew well enough to want to wear them when finished.

Right now, I am preparing dolls' clothes for a class at the local museum for children who want to sew doll's clothes.

I bought remnants the other day in two charity shops and got nearly 11 yards of material for £3, 59. There is far more material than even 10 children could possibly use, however wasteful they might be, or however many mistakes they make. I estimate that a set of blouse, skirt, underwear and coat for, let's say, Barbie would cost about 50p when we factor in sewing thread, electricity etc.

The cheapest dress I can find online costs over £4.

Another advantage to sewing clothes yourself is that you know precisely what the fabric, thread and fastenings are made of, which is important for people with allergies.

I needed a black dress for a funeral but they were all mega expensive. I found a lovely high street label dress in a charity shop costing £10, bought it and altered it. That certainly saved me a fortune. I wouldn't make a dress from scratch, though.

I have been repairing cushions by replacing the silk backs where they wore through and the material I bought from scap bins in John Lewis, Laura Ashley and haberdashers was horrendously expensive for throwaways.

Only curtains and cushions are cheaper IMO. We do our crafts for love, and to keep our brains alive!

The value for me is many sided, the time factor, just sewing peacefully while listening to the radio, problem solving eg doing a full bust adjustment and working out proportions when re-sizing a garment. Hand making something that fits me perfectly in a style/fabric that no-one can buy

I hate doing curtains, memories of covering a lounge floor while cutting and pinning. I hate altering curtains, have done enough for several lifetimes. I now have shutters

I made a coat a few years ago, love it still and wear it. I was 23 when I made my wedding dress and 4 bridesmaids dresses.. Its a pity that younger people, mostly, have no interest in learning

From when I was a teenager until I was eighty I made all my dresses, day and evening, and suits. Made for my daughter until she died and when my son was little made his shirts and shorts. We all knitted. My husbands first effort was a layette for his sisters baby and he then knitted his socks and pullovers. Not just for economical reasons but for the pleasure. We did a lot of caravanning and it was a quiet and clean hobby. When we were touring Europe by caravan by caravan after my husband retired I took the sewing machine and bought material in the markets to make my dresses and his shorts.
I also made curtains, chair covers and cushions.
Years ago there were more fabric and wool shops. Because of the need for women to go out to work they haven’t the time. I know a number of women who cannot knit. My mother was a great knitter and crochet and I could knit before I was five.

I had a wrap dress with a narrow skirt, tailor-made in slate grey jersey. This was before they became really fashionable.
It was made by a local seamstress and cost £350.
Never again. The dress is classic but the price extortionate.
I've been looking at sewing machines online but have no idea what is good better or best for a beginner.
I'm not going to try dresses but might have a go at a skirt when I get the hang of it...the machine...if I buy one. ??
I fancy making lampshades in my own fabric but need to look on YouTube to see what you need and how it's done and yes...I do know you don't make them using a sewing machine. ?