It’s only these days that stitching and sewing are considered to be hobbies, and only a few of us actually bother to learn it. However, only just a few generations ago, almost all women – and a few men – knew how to not only stitch, but sew and embroider.
Stitching wasn’t a choice before, but something people needed to do to make their own clothes and accessories. Only a few decades ago, most people made their own clothes and they needed to know how to sew and stitch perfectly.
Now, however, stitching is something mostly done as a hobby, or to make something special, for yourself or for a loved one.
Most of the time, we see our grandmothers and great-mothers sewing, stitching, embroidering and knitting. This is something we’ve always seen them do, without even knowing where or how they learned them.
Most women of the previous generation learned these skills when they were quite young, probably in their early- or mid-teen years, as these skills were a part of their education.
However, since modern women – and men – aren’t required to learn sewing or stitching, this is a skill they can learn at any point of their lives.
Now the question arises: if you want to learn stitching, how long is it going to take?
There is, of course, no definite answer for this question. It can take someone an hour to learn stitching, or it can take another person a month. It always depends on the person, the amount of time they can spend every day to learn it, how they are learning and from whom they are learning, and how dedicated they are.
However, to learn to stitch well enough to design and make your own clothes, you might need more than a few months of practice. Stitching your own clothes requires not just the skills of sewing, but also measuring and cutting your fabric, and that takes months of practice.
Easy Stitches to Learn as a Beginner
At the same time, if you are in a hurry, there are a few kinds of stitches that you can learn as a complete newcomer. For example:
- A backstitch, which is the most basic stitch used in any kind of outlining;
- A Running Stitch, which looks like dashed lines and used for adding details to your embroidery;
- A Straight Stitch, which can be used to form any designs, add texture to your stitches, or make scattered floral fills;
- A French Knot, which is quite a difficult stitch to learn, but extremely elegant and looks like a small bud;
- A Stem Stitch, which is another basic basic stitch used to create smooth outlines;
- A Chain Stitch, which are used to make borders on your embroideries, and looks like a link formed of stitches;
- A Satin Stitch, which is used for filing in areas;
- A Feather Stitch, which look like open linked stitches that are moving, and can be balanced and layered with other stitches;
- A Split Stitch, which is used for sealing in outlines just like backstitches, but backwards;
- A Detached Chain Stitch, which is also known as a “single chain”, as they look like chains, but are single in number;
- A Fly Stitch, which is similar to a detached chain stitch, but in the form of a “V” shape or a “soft curvy” shape;
- A Woven Wheel Stitch, which is actually an advanced embroidery stitch, and looks like a fully formed flower;
- A Blanket Stitch, which is quite easy to learn, and are used to make decorative lines and borders; and
- A Couching Stitch; which is a filling stitch for creating textures and making outlines.
These are the easiest stitches to learn, and each of them can be learned in a few hours. These stitches are usually used in embroidery, but also to attach fabrics together. It is very important to learn these basics if you want to learn to stitch, embroider and make your own clothes.
These stitches won’t take very long to learn, as they are quite easy. However, if you can learn them, you will be able to do any kind of sewing or embroidery needed later.
Easy Stitching Ideas
There’s actually an easier way to sew and stitch, and even embroider these days, that doesn’t take a lot of time and practice. This is possible if you – instead of using your hands to fo the stitching – use a machine.
Before the modernization of sewing, everything needed to be done by hand, but it’s not necessary to do so now. There are different types of sewing and stitching machines that can help you do everything related to sewing and stitching, even embroidery.
These days, all sorts of sewings are done with the help of a sewing machine, even the most complicated ones.
Even detailed decorative embroideries can be done with an embroidery machine; the computerized embroidery machines can actually be connected to a computer to do all the work, instead of having to direct them with your hands. The entire work can be completed in a few minutes as opposed to taking weeks.
If you have a sewing machine, a stitching machine or an embroidery machine (computerized or mechanical) at home, you actually won’t have to learn how to sew with your hands.
You might have to spend a few hours learning how to use the machine, but after you do, it’s all going to be easy from there. A machine will make the sewing and the stitching part easy, so that you can concentrate on your designs and cuts more.