Teacher Education in Europe

After having my first son, I needed a hobby and was interested in making baby clothing (Baby Kleidung), but hadn’t a clue where to start. I went down to my local college who had evening classes in dress making. I enrolled on the course, which was due to start in September. I realised that I needed a sewing machine. After searching the web, I finally found one which was reasonably priced on a site which sold second hand products. I put in a bid and got it.

I was all set and ready to go, so my next step was learning how to make baby clothes.

I went along to college. The person teaching said that, it is best to learn the basics and the simplest patterns first and then progress on from there. She started with a technique called Kwik Sews, Kwik start line. I had a variety of garments to choose from, which she said was a good starting point. I chose a t-shirt to start with, but there was others such as skirts, accessories for women and clothing for children and men. I felt that the t-shirt would be the easiest. I was a little apprehensive, but the teacher assured me that the instructions for these patterns, are written for people like me in mind. They are for someone who has little or no sewing experience.

I started with my t-shirt and actually found that my finished product was quite good. I wouldn’t of said it was wearable, but for a first attempt at using a sewing machine, it was good.

So I continued on attending my college course, and putting into practice what I had learned when I got home. I was improving week by week and the garments that I started producing were actually quite good.

My real goal was to learn how to make baby clothes, I wanted to be able to make a living out of doing this, so my finished articles would have to be good.

Once I had learned to basics, I found that I could take on tougher patterns and challenges. By the end of my college course I could sew a lined skirt in 25 minutes, that included a zip in the front of the skirt, the waist band and pockets.

Once I had time on my side and I was churning my products out quickly, I decided it was time to move onto making the baby clothing. I could make an entire baby outfit in less than 30 minutes. I started to advertise my baby clothes online and in local shops.

I am making a tidy little profit out of my baby clothing business, it is something that I can do from home whilst looking after my child. Although I often have to entertain him with musical instruments (Kinderinstrumente) while I finish my work. There is no pressure on me to complete orders as I only sell the products that I have already made. It was well worth learning to make baby clothing, and I have the added bonus of being able to make my own little boys clothes too.