Sewing - The Basic Truth

If you've ever been to my 'About' page, you may know I am a 'trained professional'. I have studied tailoring, technical design of clothing and manufacturing, and fashion.

My tailor training started from zero basically. For the first half year, we learnt basics - seams, pockets, pattern cutting for skirts and trousers. Somewhere during that first half year (I think it was a month after the year started) we were let into the sewing lab. We got to pick a machine and a table. And we started stitching. Paper.

Yes, you heard me correct - paper. These 'papers' were mass production from Soviet Union times, all sorts of lines boxes etc. printed on them. These were to teach us precision, train our eyes for measuring and so on.

Then we moved on to cloth. We had to sew large oval shapes, following the previous row of stitches in parallel. And getting graded on how well we did.

Basically we were taught how to sew straight first. Then we were shown how to properly treat a seam with steam and press it. And only then did we move on to pockets and closures. And in second half year we started sewing for actual human beings aka. clients.

So for me being able to sew straight has always been the core truth of sewing. And a straight seam line goes hand in hand with proper fit.

Not so long ago, in a sewing group on Facebook, I was basically told that I am stupid and know nothing. And that the basic truth of sewing is to pick a good silhouette and being able to fit it to yourself or the customer. And that anyone can teach themselves how to sew straight at home on their own.

Now correct me if I'm wrong, but when a person starts from zero, how would they know what a good seam is? Or maybe, being able to sew straight and knowing what thread tension is; is actually over rated these days?

In short, I was being left with oh so many questions, which no one wanted to answer because I be stupid.

So dear readers, how did you get started with sewing? Did someone teach you, or did you teach yourself? And most importantly - what comes first: straight seam or good fit? 

In full clarity - I know that good skills are waisted if the fit of a garment is poor. Fit and construction go hand in hand.