Shadowing Practice: 8 Things No One Teaches You About Sewing Your First Garment! - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Let me tell you something that no one told me when I first started sewing.

It's that sewing clothes is actually two skills.

It's sewing and it's fitting.

And unfortunately, you need to learn both.

And that is the point of this video today.

I am going to go through with you all of the hard earned knowledge

that I have come to about sewing

and fitting your first clothing your first garments that you're making the things

that I wish someone told me because you only learn it

when someone tells you some of them are obvious

but you don't know until you know

and I'm here to let you know these are important things

that you need to know that aren't in sewing tutorials they're not on pattern instructions

but you need to do these things so

that you get really good results they're the hidden things

that you need to do both related to sewing you up your garments

and then fitting because once you sew it together you realize it doesn't fit.

And where does your sewing journey go from there?

I want to impart with you all the hidden knowledge so

that you can sew and fit clothes that you dream of and continue your learning path,

your sewing journey with ease and a lot faster than I did.

Welcome back, my dear sewing friends.

It's wonderful to have you back.

This is number video five.

If we're actually just meeting my name is Evelyn Wood I'm the creator of VintageSewingSchool .com

and back here on YouTube at the moment we are doing a series learn to sew in 30 days

or less you can absolutely do it or less

and this is video number five so the idea is

that I've taken it down the learn to sew process into different stages categories

or areas that you need to focus on

and they build in order from each other so

if you haven't seen number one to four yet I recommend

that you go there because we start with your sewing machine

and getting set up and your needles and threads and all that sort of stuff.

Then we move on to the tools and equipment, your scissors, your signs, your everything else that you need as well.

Then we walked into video three with fabric.

So learning about fabric, drape, structure, how to buy it, how to know what it will be like.

All of that is in there.

And then video number four dealt with the pattern.

So we went over all the pattern, the markings, how to read it, and very importantly, how to pick your size.

And now we arrive here.

You're ready to start sewing up and making your first garments.

And this video is going to encapsulate all of my, I like to call it,

you know, wiser wisdom of years of sewing that I'm compiling that's not included in most tutorials or sewing instructions.

And it's not really anywhere,

but it's the most useful practical tips to help you start sewing and fitting the clothes that you absolutely dream of.

If you haven't already, go and subscribe to the channel because I'd love for you to see more of this coming up.

Let's talk about the difference between sewing and fitting.

So it's not that sewing is two skills, it's that sewing clothes is two skills.

So knowing this actually helped me learn what to focus on when I was making something up, like what to focus on learning or doing well,

because you can't do everything all at once.

So sewing is using your machine, using the pattern, marking your notches, having it turn out right, sewing in your zip, getting those gathers right.

All that stuff is sewing related stuff.

But then it's a garment.

It's a 3D object that we put on our bodies and it has to fit us the way that we like it.

And that is a totally different thing to sewing.

And so fitting is more skills that encompass pattern making skills understanding patterns

and stitch lines and seam marks and flow through

and being able to pivot darts and knowing you know pulling out fullness here

and here and looking at wrinkles and thinking where will i make those changes on the pattern

and that's a whole other skill as you're learning already skill

that is for further down the track

that you evolve into right you don't start off fitting your clothes you just start off sewing them

and then you learn and you keep going and you fit them better

and better and better and kind of having

that mindset made me realize to just focus on sewing first

and then once i got

that sort of okay then i could start looking at picking the best size first

and i go all right get better at

that then you move on to looking at fitting

and doing fitting type exercises and we'll talk more about what those are in a minute

so one thing i wish i knew more about was seam finishes every pattern

if you're lucky will tell you to maybe finish a seam

then you have to find out what finishing a seam means right

and we've talked about that in our previous videos

but no one really talked about doing different types of seam

finishes for different reasons for different looks for different aesthetics for different fabrics

and it's something i had to learn on my own

and still now i continue to learn about what looks best it's the single number one easiest thing

that you can do to modify any pattern not really even modify the pattern

but modify the way that it sewn up to customize it to your own way that you want it to look.

because maybe you don't want all of that overlocking stitch all visible or the zigzagging stitch.

You want to hide it underneath a French seam

or a felled seam or do a beautiful Hong Kong binding with a contrast ribbon on it.

Examples, right?

So there are lots of seam finishes that you can do.

Some of them are Hong Kong binding or bound seam.

You could do French seams where all the insides, all the raw edges are encased inside and looks really nice and neat.

You could do felled seams by machine

or by hand you can even do simple turn

and stitch seam allowances and I've made other videos on how to do different ones of these

and they're absolutely avenues for you to go and look at

because that's the point you can do different ones

and it's the easiest thing you can do to customize it I wish someone had really brought

that to my attention early on

because honestly I don't really like the look of overlocking or surging inside all of my garments and you probably don't either.

Just to take us back to lesson number one here, episode number one, we talked about the golden rule.

So remember this.

What is it I hear you say?

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That's right.

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The golden rule is that you sew a seam, you finish it, you press it, and then you move on.

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That is the sort of hidden instructions within the instructions when they just say sew the seam.

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Insert the golden rule.

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That's what they actually mean, right?

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And on that note, I wish I knew more about pressing

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or how important it actually is because oh

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when you know you know right when you press something well

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or you get better at pressing your garment just looks at least 10 times better just

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when you press it you don't have to get better at sewing

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so you don't have to learn how to do that zip better

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or you know get those zigzags you can see your stitching is still the same

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but you press it well and it looks so so much better

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so I took me a while to realize this but

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when I did of course I never go back

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and I press everything you've got steam you've got your little hams and sausages

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that help you with the pressing process pressing cloths all these things are super important I even recommend

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that you upgrade your iron before you even upgrade your machine

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so you get a nice iron that steams well

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that doesn't spit water everywhere it's nice

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and clean it gives you a nice clean finish

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and something that's really you just like working with because

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when you like it ironing more you're going to do it more right

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so just don't skip this step just

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because you don't see the importance I wish it was drilled in to me and hopefully

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I'm imparting that knowledge to you now that you don't skip

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that step either let's talk about testing

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so there's two forms of testing here testing sewing and testing

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and trials and mock -ups and things and we're going to get to all of that so I wish I

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knew that I could actually do a zip on a practice piece of fabric first

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or a practice skirt

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or practice anything before I did it on my real fashion fabric I had no idea until I realized

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that it's one of those super obvious points

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that of course you can do that

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and I see this in my students all the time at vintage sewing school

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so that's why I'm mentioning it here

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because it's not obvious it is it's only obvious

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when you know of course I could do a practice one

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why would I do the very first zip for example on my garment

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that I'm planning to wear that is a recipe for disaster

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so you want to be testing just your stitches in general do they work on the fabric

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that you're going to sew test your seam finishes does it

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work on the fabric do a sample zip do a test hem do a test your interfacing especially

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and make sure it works before you do it on your

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real garment you do it once like the second time you do it it's it doesn't even weigh up

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and that's where I come into the next one is testing

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via a mock -up a twirl a muslin what is this you probably heard this term before.

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All of these are the same thing.

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It means a test garment, a prototype, a mock -up of your garment that you're going to make.

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So you very often do it in a cheaper fabric, maybe don't even do the finishing hems or things like that.

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And it's meant to, in industry, they do it to sort of test the fit more.

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So it's made out of calico muslin or a similar like -for -like fabric.

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So it falls and drapes about the same.

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And it's made so that you can test the fit, change the design line here, make it fit a little bit differently here, change the length here before you cut it out of your expensive fashion fabric

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but i know you're thinking i don't know how to do any of

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that yet and that's beyond me and

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that is absolutely you're right what you do your trial

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or mock -up for at this stage when you're just starting is to practice

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and test sewing everything up it is a brilliant way to

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do your zip do your hem do your neckline do your facing do your all your things on your garment

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and do it as a test run because then when you do it on your next, your real fashion fabric, right?

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Your real one.

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Oh my gosh.

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The second time you do it, you think it'll be twice as good.

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it's not.

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It's at least 10 times better than the first time you did it.

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I know the math doesn't add up like that that way but it is.

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It's just like magic math at least 10 times better.

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And then when you do get to that stage definitely do your trials

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and mock -ups to test your fit so that you can do practice

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and test your pattern and see how it fits you to make all those changes.

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Which brings us to moving in to the fitting portion here.

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I really didn't know the difference between size and fit and that they're two different things.

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We talked about in this in previous videos, but let's just recap.

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Size is what we pick from the pattern envelope and we pick our best starting size.

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And I say starting size for a reason.

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Size is when we go up or down in the pattern in the same proportions, the same scale, right?

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It just goes up or down, the same shape, the same everything.

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Fitting is where we start to mold and shape and tweak and create a different shape.

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The proportions change because we fit it and mold it to our own unique bodies.

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And when I sort of started to, in my mind, separate those two, it made the process so much easier.

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So I would pick the best starting size first and do

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that and make sure I get that because that gives you the base, the best starting point to then move to fitting which is later and

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so i think separating those two different jobs in your mind

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really helps you know where to focus your attention on do you need a better starting size first

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so you can focus and work on that

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or are you at the fit stage

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and it's time to start working on learning how to fit this pattern to you

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and you look at that area and go there.

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Making the same garment twice.

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This is very very very wise information that no one told me

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that again is very obvious but it's only when you know you know you're like well obviously

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but again I see it and hear it from my students they're like of course I should do that.

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Oh why didn't I think of that?

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So we're here having this conversation.

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It's okay and you should in fact make the same garment twice

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if you want to get better results we just talked about

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this right the second time you make something it's 10 times better

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and generally you're here because you want to learn how to sew well

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and so when you make something I know you've taken your lessons you know what to make from

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that that first project that you did made a mental note

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or even better wrote them all down all the things

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that you would do differently next time when you do it

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so logically just do all those same things again on your second version

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and it is going to be way better so I really do recommend

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that you make the same garment twice you do use a

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different fabric you use you know it's going to look different

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and it will just look so much better

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and you get to really cement those skills

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that you're learning rather than just going to a different thing

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here different thing here different thing here different thing here

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and never really kind of cementing and solidifying the things

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that you've learned and sort of building a ladder of skills you know upon the others

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because sewing is that you start with your basics right

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and you build one skill and you bring it in you get another skill

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and you bring it into your little like skill bucket over here

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and then you get another one you bring it in

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and your bucket gets bigger

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and bigger every time right your little bubble here do you like

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that little analogy of my skill bubble there okay

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so let's talk a couple of shortcuts to help you through this fitting process

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so number one make the same garment twice

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because then you can keep making new versions of the same one well fitting takes time.

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It takes a really long time to learn.

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And you'll like, you're probably fine.

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You learn to sew quite quickly and then you get to here

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and then you're in fitting and you will spend the whole rest of your sewing journey in here, just getting better and better and better at fitting.

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I'm not ever finished learning.

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Like there's always more to learn and you never get to a point where you're like, I know everything.

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It doesn't happen.

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So you're just forever mastering this skill.

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So knowing that helped me realize that there's no like end point.

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I'm not doing bad.

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I'm just always going to be doing better and better and better.

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And that is the point.

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And so how do we use this to our advantage?

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Well, the way industry does it is they start with what's called a block pattern.

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And so it's a kind of basic block, be it a basic t -shirt, a basic A -line skirt, a basic shift dress, whatever you like, right?

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The basic style of a certain silhouette or style of garment.

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And what they do is once they perfect that, then they just make different versions of

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that same thing they might add a different sleeve change the

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neckline shape add buttons instead of a zipper they might change

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the length they might change the skirt shape on the dress

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right I think you've seen what I'm talking about you've seen this in stores

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and you've definitely seen this on sewing patterns where they have the same style essentially

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but like different versions like one's got sleeves one's shorter one's longer you can absolutely learn how to do

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that yourself and that is what I recommend as the shortcut to kind of having to fit.

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So once you fit your basic block ride your lovely standard dress

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that you love to wear for example right the good news is is

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that we usually like to wear the same type of fitting garment over

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and over right we like it because it's the fit

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that we like so we use that to our advantage

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or the same pant fit right you like that same cut

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that same fit use that to advantage when you do all the work

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and trying to fit at once

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and start with a basic sort of one of the style

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that you like do all the work it'll take forever

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and ever and ever and ended it and a day

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and a half and forever and a day and a half

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and then once you do fit it you just make new versions of it right

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if it's a pants maybe the waist is higher

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or lower different size waistband belt loops no belt loops all the different kinds of pockets

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that you can add turn them into shorts maybe taper the

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leg for one thing change tops change the neckline add the buttons learn how to put different sleeves on right

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so you can keep mixing and matching and

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that way you get to make the same thing multiple times

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but it's a little bit different each time

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and you don't have to refitting it

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because fitting is the real hard thing learning the principles of pattern making

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and foundations throughout learning that skill and then you can just use

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that to maybe change and tailor your pattern that is my little shortcut

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that i think is the like golden nugget of like where

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you headed it gives you the vision down the road of maybe where i like to head

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and where i teach my students to go where i find

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the most success in doing like getting the most value out of your precious sewing time

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or I should say sewing and fitting time

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because there's two skills remember every time I think I've mastered this there's always another level

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that I can take things to and I guess that's the whole point

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that I'm trying to impart here to you in that don't be

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so hard on yourself sewing learning to sew takes a long time especially

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when you get to this stage because you think I should be doing better.

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You've learned all this stuff, right?

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Videos one to four quite quickly.

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And then this is like, oh boy, right?

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Give yourself some grace.

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It takes time and it is, there's no end.

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You will keep learning and keep building your skills from here in sewing and fitting your first and last and second.

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And there's no end, right?

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If you want the workbook version of this whole series, and of course, today's lesson, it is for YouTube members for a part of our sew club.

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We've got that there for you.

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There's also extended videos and things like all the fun stuff there.

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It's a little like behind the scenes area for those

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that want a little bit more of what we do here on YouTube.

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We've just launched that this year so I'm super excited for you to join that.

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All the links are down there.

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You can just click the join button to find out how to do that.

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And of course I want to hear from you down below.

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Tell me how is your learn to sow journey?

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I would love to hear more about your experience, what you struggled with, what was hard, what you've mastered, what you like to learn more of

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because this is what I do here on YouTube and so this is where I get my ideas from is you.

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So put those down there and I might just make a video about it.

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I'm so excited for your sewing journey ahead and until next time my sewing friends, happy sewing.

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Bye!

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This video has 302 sentences and 3650 words to shadow. The speech runs for 17:53. The speaker talks fast, about 204 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 86% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.

Key vocabulary in this video

15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
skill noun	/skɪl/	A capacity to do something well; a technique, an ability, usually acquired or learned, as opposed to abilities that are regarded as innate.
garment noun	/ˈɡɑɹmənt/	A single article of clothing.
fabric verb	/ˈfæb.ɹɪk/	To cover with fabric.
stitch noun	/stɪt͡ʃ/	A single pass of a needle in sewing; the loop or turn of the thread thus made.
mock verb	/mɑk/	To mimic, to simulate.
instruction noun	/ɪnˈstɹʌkʃən/	The act of instructing, teaching, or providing with information or knowledge.
lesson noun	/ˈlɛs.ən/	A section of learning or teaching into which a wider learning content is divided.
skirt noun	/skɚt/	A separate article of clothing, usually worn by women and girls, that hangs from the waist and covers the lower torso and part of the legs.
sleeve noun	/sliv/	The part of a garment that covers the arm.
modify verb	/ˈmɑ.dɪˌfaɪ/	To change part of.
bind verb	/ˈbaɪ̯nd/	To tie; to confine by any ligature.
belt noun	/ˈbɛlt/	A band worn around the waist to hold clothing to one's body (usually pants), hold weapons (such as a gun or sword), or serve as a decorative piece of clothing.
loop noun	/luːp/	A length of thread, line or rope that is doubled over to make an opening.
upgrade verb	/əpˈɡɹeɪd/	To improve, usually applied to technology, generally by complete replacement of one or more components.
differently adverb	/ˈdɪf.ə.ɹənt.li/	In a different way.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Meaning
find out verb	To discover, as by asking or investigating.
go up verb	To move upwards.
start off verb	To begin.
add up verb	To take the sum of; to total.
come up verb	To emerge or become known, especially unexpectedly.
go back verb	To return to a place or state after having been there at a previous time.
go over verb	To look at carefully; to scrutinize; to analyze.
go through with verb	To carry out (something planned or promised); to proceed with or continue with.

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:

Structure	In the video
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	have come · I've taken · haven't seen
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	are encased · was drilled
Verb + -ing enjoy, keep, stop… + -ing — verbs that are followed by the -ing form	started sewing · start sewing · keep going
Superlatives the -est / the most … — the top or bottom of a group	the most useful · the best · the easiest

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 83 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, don't, I'm. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “th” sounds: mathematics /mæθ(.ə)ˈmæt.ɪks/, clothing /ˈkloʊðɪŋ/, thread /ˈθɹɛd/, gather /ˈɡæðɚ/, underneath /ˌʌndɚˈniθ/
The “sh” and “zh” sounds: instruction /ɪnˈstɹʌkʃən/, proportion /pɹəˈpɔɹʃən/, contrast /kənˈt(ʃ)ɹæst/, essentially /ɪˈsɛnʃəli/, gosh /ɡɑːʃ/
Long words — get the stress right: differently /ˈdɪf.ə.ɹənt.li/, mathematics /mæθ(.ə)ˈmæt.ɪks/, essentially /ɪˈsɛnʃəli/, importantly /ɪmˈpɔɹ.tənt.li/, analogy /əˈnæləd͡ʒi/

How to practise with this video

Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like skill, garment, fabric.

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

Shadowing Practice: 8 Things No One Teaches You About Sewing Your First Garment! - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

Key vocabulary in this video

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Grammar in this video

Pronunciation to watch

How to practise with this video

What is the Shadowing Technique?