About Us at Teach You To Sew concerns tradition and heritage. It all began with my great great grandmother.
My Great-Grandmother’s Story
What You Will Learn
In 1877 my great-grandmother ventured forth from San Francisco to become one of the early school teachers (mistress) in the town of Mendocino on the California coast.
Her mother, (my great-great-grandmother) who worked at the famed Parisian Bakery, pushed a small jar of sourdough starter she had stolen from the bakery into her sewing basket and tearfully bade her only daughter goodbye.
Hard times were ahead, as Mendocino was a remote lumber town filled with men and women seeking their fortunes.
Once she arrived in the developing lumber town, she set to work gathering the children for school, whom she noticed had very few clothes. As she had learned how to sew from her mother, she would spend evenings repairing the children’s clothes.
Soon she earned enough money to purchase a sewing machine.
My great-grandmother owned the first sewing machine in Mendocino and children gathered around to watch the needle fly in and out of the cloth as she pressed the treadle up and down. She somehow kept up with the latest fashion trends, as there is a picture of two women ( I believe they ran the Mendocino Hotel and other establishments in that rural town) wearing a skirt-lifter which was in style at the time…and a necessity since the Fords kept cows in what is now the Evergreen Cemetery.
My Sewing Story
My name is Joleen Washington and I have been sewing since I was eleven years old.
I wanted clothes for my dolls, but coming from a family of six children, there wasn’t money to spend on fancy dresses and clothing. So, I learned to sew on a Pfaff machine my mother won from the Safeway store giveaway.
My first creation was a blanket for my doll bed. That led to more designs and soon my dolls were fashion queens with gowns made from scraps sold at the church fundraising events.
My mother did not sew…or cook if I am honest, so I found inspiration and informal lessons from other women at my church.
After my mother died, I inherited the few remaining pieces of sewing my great-grandmother had created, and I treasure them dearly.
Sewing is part of a community, and I hope you feel these articles help you find the friendship and love I experienced from other sewists.
Teach You To Sew has been created with only one purpose in mind:
To bring you the best information when it comes to materials, machines, and all the other appliances used in the sewing and quilting process.
Like everything, some machines are better at performing certain tasks than others. But how do you find out which is the best sewing machine for you?
That made me realize that no one sewing machine was perfect.
I immediately knew what had to be done: Write my experiences down for other enthusiasts to enjoy, so that they too would have an idea of how to begin their journey!
I hope you find the information on this site helpful and that it brings you the joy of creating something that makes you and your family beautiful!
Facebook: https://facebook.com/JoleenWashingtonSewist/
Our Product Review Process on Teach You To Sew
At Teach You To Sew my product review process is simple.
My writers and I find what we consider to be the best products on Amazon or other affiliate sites for the topic at hand.
My site is a review aggregate site, so we summarize the products that we feel are best for the article topic. Please note that we do not test the items ourselves in all instances.
How I decide on what to recommend:
My goal is to help you find the best sewing resource for your requirements. I do the legwork to ensure you get the most for your money, whether you’re shopping for high-end gear or the bare essentials.
I consult experts, sewists, teachers, and/or craftspeople, and family members who are also sewists; I scour the Internet for information on how sewing supplies are used; I read customer reviews by real users; and, of course, I rely on my own accumulated expertise as a sewist.
Sources We Rely On