How to Teach a Teen to Make Their Own Clothes

Hand-crafted shawl

Young people are very particular about what they wear. Your teen has undoubtedly gone to great lengths to find those tattered jeans and baggy tees. You know how difficult and expensive it can be to purchase clothing for a teen, and you know how equally difficult it is to produce exactly the right garment to suit her tastes. You can teach any teen to make her own clothes. This gives a teen freedom because it leaves the fit and fashion decisions to her.

Instructions

1. Teach your teen how to read and use a printed pattern. It isn't difficult at all, but a new designer might find some of the symbols and directions to be a bit like learning a second language. Point out the information on the back of the pattern's envelope. Help them understand how much fabric the project will take, and make sure they understand the direction for buying additional materials such as lace, buttons and elastic. Recommend a simple pattern for the first project.

2. Teach your teen how to select the right fabric for the garment in question. Help her understand fabric weight. Wide corduroy is great for warm shirts and skirts, but it is not the best idea for use in a summer outfit. Explain fabric comfort. Polyester doesn't breathe, and wool pants can be itchy. Explain all the tricks and ideas you know about selecting comfortable, durable fabric.

3. Teach your teen how to use the tools for making clothing. These tools include a sewing machine, a seam gauge, tracing paper, and straight pins. Assume that the young person knows nothing about this process. Be prepared to share the most basic information. Shrink fabric before you sew. Pin and cut fabric on a flat surface. Insert straight pins perpendicular to the seam line to avoid breaking a needle. It is important to backstitch seams to prevent them from unraveling.

4. Be available to answer questions. Offer to lend a hand to the designer/tailor while she works on her first project. Help her to solve problems and work out of jams. You don't want her to become discouraged. Be positive and complimentary on her efforts, and lead her in the right direction when she goes astray in the project.

5. Help her choose a more complicated pattern after her first one is successfully completed.

Tips & Warnings

• Let your teen learn what works best for her.

• Don't be overly critical. Hurt feelings could discourage all future efforts from your budding seamstress.

Resources

• Guidelines from Sewing.org