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Sewing the Seeds (of Garment Construction)

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The New York Sewing School

I won’t bore you with the list of things I’m hoping to work on in 2026, but here’s one I do want to share. A few years ago, my sewing machine died, and I went to my darling, talented cousin Elise’s house (Hi, Elise!) to get some Drag Invasion costumes done. I fell in love with her much-more-fancy sewing machine, so I found a used model and bought it. To be honest, while I’ve been sewing/embellishing costumes for decades, I never really learned how to make proper garments. I have never followed a pattern and have no idea how to do sleeves, zippers, pants, etc. If you need draping, I’m your girl, but I cannot construct a real garment to save my life. I really meant to learn how to use the new machine (a Husqvarna Viking) properly, honest I did. I have repeatedly threatened to visit my lovely and talented friend and fellow blogger Guenevere of ArtfulBlasphemy for sewing lessons, but that hasn’t happened yet, so I still don’t really know what I’m doing.

So when I learned that there’s a marvelous place called The New York Sewing Center that gives (adult) remedial classes for beginners, I was over the moon. This is a new year’s resolution I can actually keep!

You can learn more about The New York Sewing Center on their website and on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. And I’m going to learn to sew properly!

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Author: Donna from One Beautiful Thing

I have committed to spending part of every day looking for at least one beautiful thing, and sharing what I find with you lovelies!

6 thoughts on “Sewing the Seeds (of Garment Construction)”

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  1. artfulblasphemer's avatar
    artfulblasphemer
    January 2, 2026 at 9:50 am

    I saw the title of this in my email notification and thought, “OH, FOR ME?” but shiver me timbers, it IS for me! I’m just…blushing and thrilled to be mentioned (ya’ll can find me on IG @artfulblasphemy).

    And, I was going to comment that A) IF ONLY I could open a sewing school like this and then I saw you mentioned me and B) ALSO IF ONLY I could have you over for lessons!

    I just took on a 10 year old student in addition to my middle granddaughter, she who just finished her second pair of pajama pants (and possibly exposed me to flu B in the process lol) and has been promised a trip to look at a new, more grown up machine.

    All to say, THANK YOU, you have inspired me to maybe take the Sewing Salon dream another step forward, since the way I teach sewing includes a ton of feminism, social justice and…well, during the the PJ pants making lesson, the middle grand and I discussed the ridiculosity of school dress codes extensively. “Like, how are these exclusively pajama pants? Is it the flannel? The elastic waist? The pockets? Because it seems to me that we could find that in actual pants too, right?” etc. It’s what I love to do.

    LOVE YOU, friend, and thanks for the nod. Made My Day.

    Now we’re off for the first hike of the new year and the first once since all that cancer bullshit started in 2024.

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