My First Machine Sewing Attempts in Almost 10 Years

My husband recently bought me a small Singer sewing machine because I have been "bugging" him for one so that I could start to try to relearn machine sewing.  I have mostly always sewn or stitched my hand.  I was taught hand sewing with those little plastic pieces (I cannot think of what they are called.) when I was a very little girl and moved onto regular hand stitching soon after.  I used to make stuffed animals, pillows, pot holders and small items all the time as presents by hand sewing.  When I was in my teens, I grew an interest in learning how to use a sewing machine and took a class at school to learn the basics.  I did really enjoy it however I had lost the want to machine sew through the years as it was just easier for me to sew items by hand.

With all my crafting for my daughters' dolls lately, I began to seriously think about getting a sewing machine again.  I knew it would be a struggle for me to relearn to sew with a machine as I haven't really used one it close to ten years, but I wanted to give it a try.  I decided to start with a simple project:  doll pants made from shirt sleeves.

Since I already made these types of pants using a No Sew method, I figured that would be the easiest project to start with.  I made a few pairs today.  Although they are by no means perfect, I am proud of myself for sewing the pants with the sewing machine.  I also played around with a couple of other items that are not quite done.  I am feeling a little more confident in using the sewing machine and will continue to attempt other sewing projects with it.

Here are a few pictures of the pants I made today.  I used the instructions found here at Peachy Tuesday's Blog.

Emily modeling the first pair of "shirt sleeve pants" I sewed.  They were a little tight so I decided to try them on my BFC Ink doll.

BFC Ink Aleisha modeling the same pants as Emily is wearing above.  This is a much better fit I think.

I tucked Aleisha's no sew shirt up so that the waist of the pants was visible.  I had to fold over the waist on Aleisha so that the pants would stay up because Emily stretched them out a little.

Emily modeling the second pair of "shirt sleeve pants" I sewed today.  These are made from one of my old sweaters.  They are more of a sweat pants type of pant.  I like them on Emily though because they are looser than they pink pair above.

A close up of the blue pants.

The third pair of sleeve pants I sewed today does not yet have an owner.  I will have to make at least two more pairs before I give nay to my daughters....since I have three girls and believe me they will all NEED to have a pair.  =)

 I love comments so please feel free to leave one!