Sewing with Jubilee

Before I left for college, Jubilee knew that she needed to learn to sew. After all, there should be at least one resident seamstress in the Lofgren house at all times, right? =) She had done some sewing before, but hadn't been interested that much, so I didn't push it. It's better to learn something when you want to learn something, so that you end up actually enjoying it. It took longer to get to it then we originally planned, but after the musical was over, we had more time to actually sit down and sew.

While Jubilee sewed, I worked on other projects, helping her when I needed to. It was great sister time, and I enjoyed teaching her to sew. She was a quick learner, and did really well! Though she's not sure she enjoys sewing as much as I do, she's done quite well, and now has this skill under her fingertips.

She first started on a dress using discount fabric from the $1 table at Walmart. This fabric, however, ended up being very low-quality, and didn't sew well, so we stopped that dress and started another.Jubilee made the above dress to wear at my sister Miriam's wedding, since it has her plum color in it. We used a simple pattern, Simplicity #9597, which I believe is out of print. But, you can probably find it online if you want to. I've made the pattern quite a few times, and enjoy the fact that it's quick and easy, having no zipper and simple seams. We added a sash made out of the satin we used for the bridesmaids' dresses. Jubilee made it over a few sessions on 2-3 days, and did very well!

Her next dress was a little more difficult, having princess seams. However, it too went together pretty quickly, despite a few initial snags. I'm afraid I don't know the pattern number and don't have my patterns to look it up, but if Jubilee or Miriam wants to comment with the number (it's the same one we used for the choir dresses), that'd be great!

Time flew quickly, so Jubilee actually didn't finish until the day before I left, sewing while I worked to pack up my room. But, she finished in time! Again, this dress was nice because it didn't have a zipper, just pulls over the head and has back ties. The fabric was a little pricey, but it was so pretty and such good quality, and will last for a long time. The green also looks lovely with Jubi's red hair.

Jubilee, great job! I enjoyed sewing with you, and hope that you'll have fun making things in the future.

If you've never taught someone to sew, consider doing it! It's rewarding to see what they can accomplish, and fairly easy to teach them step-by-step. The only thing it requires is a lot of time to be with them (but you can do other things while they work) and extra thinking to be one step ahead! If you've never learned to sew, consider asking someone who knows how to teach you. You may be surprised at how many know how to sew and wouldn't mind teaching a novice!