Homestead Education Channel is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site we may earn a small affiliate commission at no additional cost to you.
In many families, there is a tradition of sewing passed down through the generations. Our great-grandmothers made and remade clothes, mended tears, darned socks, and even made decoratively stitched samplers, pillowcases and curtains to beautify their homes. Sewing and mending were skills that were imperative to have in every household.
Young women were taught sewing skills, decorative needle work such as embroidery, needlepoint and cross stitch as a part of their education. They learned to mend clothes and darn socks, as well as how to sew their own every day wear for the family. These skills were invaluable and a part of every young woman’s readiness to marry and keep her own home.
Of course, the advent of machine sewing changed the lives of our grandmothers. No longer did they have to spend hours mending by hand (though some still chose to do so). Sewing machines became one of the most important appliances in every home. These traditions faded somewhat when ready-made clothes became affordable for the average household, and women began choosing career options rather than learning the home arts. It was no longer necessary to have sewing skills to make or mend clothes. Not when you could go to a department store and readily replace them.
For modern homesteaders, generations removed from these traditions, sewing and mending skills have become important again. Rural country living often means that trips to the store are few and far between, especially in cold weather, and delivery of parcels and packages can take weeks. Simple repairs such as patching holes, mending tears or sewing on buttons can come in real handy.
Here are some tips on what kinds of supplies you should have on hand, and the skills you should cultivate in order to be able to sew and mend on the homestead.
Supplies
Your sewing kit should have a variety of needles, types of thread and buttons. You never know what kind of garment you might need to mend, so as always, it’s smart to be prepared.
- Needles
You need a different type of needle for linen or cotton than you do for denim or leather.
Darning needles for socks or those that use embroidery thread or yarn are must haves in your kit.
- Thread
You should have several basic colors, white, black, blue and brown . Make sure you have cotton, polyester, nylon and silk thread in your kit as well as some embroidery thread, and yarn for mending blankets and sweaters. You’ll want several gauges of thread depending on what you’re sewing, and the type of wear the garment receives.
- Scissors
Basic fabric scissors, small scissors, and pinking shears are great additions to your complete sewing kit. You can do with one pair, but they need to be dedicated sewing scissors and not used for another purpose. They must remain shart in order to properly cut fabric.
Other additions to your supplies should include a seam ripper, measuring tape, Iron-on or sew-on patches, and scraps of fabric that can be used for patches, an assortment of buttons and a few different sizes of zippers in basic colors. You also want straight pins and a pin cushion and some like to have a thimble on hand for hand sewing.
Bulk Fabric
If you get into sewing at all, you’re going to start collecting fabric. Having bulk fabric on hand is a must for the sewing enthusiast. You never know when you are going to need to make or mend something and having a variety of fabrics to choose from is helpful for when creative inspiration strikes and you simply must make yourself a new blouse or pair of pants.
Mending
Even if you only want to sew enough to mend and repair clothes, and don’t want to sew from scratch, these are valuable skills to have. Especially with kids on a farm or homestead. They seem to forever be ripping their knees out of their jeans or catching a shirt on a fencepost or wire, losing buttons, getting holes in their pockets or outgrowing their clothes.
Skills
Sewing skills that we think are essential to have are stitching a torn seam or rip in fabric, patching (either with sew-on or iron-on patches), sewing on buttons and hemming and letting out length on pants and dresses.
Stitches
You don’t have to be a world-class tailor to be able to handle sewing needs on the homestead. Having the utility of a handful of basic stitches is all you will need. However, you may just find that you want to continue to improve your skills and if that’s the case, the sky’s the limit as far as how far you can go in creating your own garments and sewing for your family.
These are three basic stitches.
Running stitch
Blanket stitch
Back stitch
Here’s a link to some tutorials that can help you learn these stitches. Hand-Sewing | Basic Stitches and Techniques (youtube.com)
Machine vs. hand stitching
Having a good sewing machine can make life so much easier if you have a lot of sewing that you want to do. Machines are finicky at times, and have very fine-tuned adjustments that are needed. It can be frustrating when they don’t work right. That’s when it’s good to have your own hand-sewing skills to fall back on.
Learning these valuable skills will allow you to make everything from curtains, quilts, and clothes to decorative pieces for your home Even toys and costumes for the kids. If you’re crafty and creative, you will be inspired by having the ability to create from scratch. If you’re not, just having the basics will save lots of time and money in the long run.
A good quality sewing machine is a great investment in your future. Imagine all the money you can save by sewing your own clothes!
A name brand Singer or Brother sewing machine will cost around $200-$300 and you can go to the top of the line, computerized machines for $1,000 or more. This Brother machine we found on Amazon has a price point that’s right in the middle.
Patterns
There are a plethora of patterns available at your local fabric store as well as mail -order or online services for downloadable patterns. It’s a bit of a learning curve to learn how to fit the patterns and adjust where needed for specific sizes and body types. Once you have your adjusted pattern, however, you can use it as many times as you like to make a favorite wardrobe item in as many fabrics and colors as you want.
Check out this link to free downloadable sewing patterns on Pinterest: 75+ most popular free PDF sewing patterns – Swoodson Says (pinterest.com)
Medical and Veterinary
It may sound strange, but sewing skills are not just for fabric. There is also great value in having the ability to stitch a wound should an emergency arise. None of us would want to face that, but being able to sew up a wound can sometimes mean the difference between an injury and loss of life for both people and animals.
Living in a rural area means that your small animal veterinarian may be far away and your large animal veterinarian may be on a call in a different part of your region when you need them for an emergency.
If you can stay level- headed in the emergency and close the wound, you can help the animal survive until you can get them to see the vet.
The same goes for humans, although we hope you never need to do it. You would be able to suture a wound and help an injured person until you can get them into a doctor or the emergency hospital.
Medarchitect makes a Suture Kit that you can buy on Amazon that provides materials and instruction on how to suture a wound. Practice on a kit like this will enhance your ability to handle a medical or veterinary emergency.
Honestly, when you’re living rural, out in the country, away from services, you can’t really have too many skills. You never know which ones might come in handy at any given time.
When you learn fundamental skills like sewing and mending, you are able to not only save valuable time and money by patching and mending clothes, you’re also opening up a world of creative expression as well.
There’s no end to what you can create on the homestead with your newfound sewing skills!
Here at http://homesteadeducationchannel.com/ , we are dedicated to helping you find resources, education, and information regarding all aspects of the homesteading lifestyle.
