Making Your Own Clothes: The Good the Bad and the Ugly

So you decided you're gonna do it. You are going to make your own clothes! It’s so exciting! Your imagination fills with images of you rocking your creations through the school hallways, music festivals, and even Guitar Center, where all eyes will be on you.

Unfortunately, these intricate sewing creations we often dream about can be unattainable. Even if you have sewed plenty of pencil cases in your time. After all, an elegant prom dress is just slightly different from that soda cozy you made back in fourth grade.

Whether it’s your first time dusting off grandma’s old sewing machine, or the hundredth, amutuer clothing design is not always pretty.

The Good

Fortunately, there are thousands of sewing tutorials online, and once you can sew a straight line, you can already make hundreds of projects! There are even sewing patterns designed not only for beginners, but for teens! Plus there are plenty of tutorials that show how to upcycle and redesign clothing you already have, so you won’t have to spend a penny.

The Bad

As you dig deeper in this seemingly perfect world of needles and thread, you may be disappointed to find that it is not nearly as elegant as you had hoped. Maybe you cut yourself with diamond-edged fabric scissors, or discover that sewing patterns require more knowledge then you have acquired through hours of YouTube binging. Whatever it may be, you are confident that there is hope, and you will get the beautiful, silky, full skirted prom dress of your dreams. After all it can’t be that bad!

The Ugly

Yes, It is that bad. Actually, it’s worse! You may have found a YouTube video showing you how to make the perfect dress, but discovered that it lacks the detailed instructions necessary to actually follow along. Though these youtubers are able to make unbelievable dresses, skirts, and jackets, their pieces can be nearly impossible to recreate-- Mostly due to the measurements being in units like hamsters and cockroaches. (*cough* *cough* Micarah Tewers)

If that weren’t enough, the road to GETTING STARTED isn’t even an easy path. Sewing machines can be daunting, and the fabric is all too expensive. Without previous experience, you could stab a needle through your hand, sew your hair, rotary-cut a finger off, or spend $50 making a skirt you could buy for $5. Whatever it may be, it is not all that pleasant--Oh and don’t get me started on cutting out patterns!

Well- That was anything butt comforting, to say the least. Some of you may be too afraid to do anything relatively close to sewing, but in the end, it’s great. While this hobby can be expensive and rigorous, there is nothing better than getting complimented on something you made. Even if it is a weird poncho…