Armed with a quick lesson from my mother in law and her old sewing machine, I set out to learn some sewing today. I am not very good yet but it was still quite fun. I made 2 stuff sacks and a musset. I will be reading the BPL sewing articles further and try a tarp tomorrow. After some practice I will hopefully feel comfortable sewing some of the nicer materials.

Welcome to the world of sewing, where one can experience hours of entertain, bouts of confusion and frustration, and some doses of humility (hey, I make my own shirts. I have to wear them where normal people can see them, not just DIY backpackers). I have one shirt that was an experiment. The more common comment I get is "Uh oh, you've got a problem there on the back". My reply is "I meant to do that. That's my design." And its true.

But, seriously, isn't it great to be making some of your own stuff. Even if its not perfect, its yours. Remember, mistakes are really lessons in very deep disguise.

Dwight

Also, I think your instinct to use less expensive fabric at first is a good one. Its less stressful, which allows you to sit back and take a look at how something happened, rather than beat yourself up for making fabric stores richer.

Thanks Dwight. It's real fun so far but I can see the frustration and confusion when beginning more intricate pieces or using more expensive materials. It's fun having some practice notes to follow with BPLs sewing primers and the stuff off Thru-Hiker. We'll see how this afternoon's practice goes and I'll post a picture of the tarp if it turns out.

My first sewing project was a tyvek stuff sack (plans for which I believe I got off Heniger's Web site).

Next I went to the Goodwill (a thrift store for those types abroad who might not know) and bought some cheap packs which I took apart, modified, put back together, etc.

A friend from work was going to throw away this really big tent but I salvaged it from her and have been cutting it up for free material just to practice with.

I'm currently in the middle of modifying my Granite Gear Virga pack (something I haven't seen done). I'm photographing the process and plan to display the results in the MYOG threads here at BPL.