Fabric's where do I start?

Dear Barb316,

For the sewing machine and hand sewing essentials I would racommend about one meter or one yard of plain white 100% cotton drapery lining fabric.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Nehzat
eSewingWorkshop.com

Hi Barbr316,  I'm a newby here, just looking around to see what I can learn and  where I might be helpful.  I realize this question was posted some time ago but there might be others new to the party who will be strolling around just like me so I figured why not add to the already posted body of wisdom.  What I'm reading even though it was posted a while ago is new for me.

When I was just starting to sew someone suggested that I make a scrapbook with samples for each technique as I learned and that I keep notes and illustrations  to make it easy to duplicate and to help me avoid making mistakes I had already made.  I numbered the "pages" and kept a legend of what was on each page.  One method of doing this that works is to get a box of zip lock bags, punch holes in the solid end of each about half of an inch in to make them easily fit into a loose leaf binder with the zip side facing outward.  You can slip samples into a bag and include a paper page explaining what's there, how you did it, what application(s) your sample might be useful for, what you encountered doing it on various types of fabric, what thread/needle/machine foot/plate/tension worked best etc, and any special preparation or care that would be needed (for example to preshrink or that this wasn't needed) and things to avoid for one effect that might be useful for another.  You will create a very useful heirloom by doing this.  As you learn more about fiber content, types of interfacings and linings, methods for transferring pattern details,  methods of altering patterns etc you could pin, staple or paste samples or miniatures to a sheet of paper or just make notes as you go. 

I recently found a page where I notated everyone's body measurements in my family during June of 1989 with a note to reposition some style elements on a pattern I used for a then nine year old and her sister who at the time was three-and-a-half.  The older one wanted to look more grown up then her sister though the dresses were similar.... I was thrifty and didn't want to buy a second pattern.  Lots of trial and error resulted in a happy big girl over and over again without needing to rethink what to do to her version with each incarnation of the dress.  Wow, I was really patient back then.  The then nine year old eventually became a twelve year old who enjoyed making period costumes for her dolls and her sister's dolls.  I caught her on more then one occasion leafing through my book and laughing at my comments.  It's a nice memory.  Every now and again I dig out one of my old notebooks and write an adendum.  Lots of things that needed to be done one way years ago can be done differently now but the basics are right there to refresh my memory and I can always add a page, paragraph, illustration or a few more samples.

I recently became a Grandmother for the first time with a darling little boy, son of my younger child ... the one who doesn't sew yet. Lols, maybe she'll be inspired. 
 

On second thought maybe you were just looking for a suggestion or two about simple projects to make. 

How about finding a round paper mache' "box" with a lid and covering the box itself with lightly padded fabric inside and out except for where the cover fits over... no padding there or else it won't fit well.  You can use a little extra padding to make it bulge outward in a rounded effect on the sides, even adding some pin tucks, lace or ribbon trim, embroidery or piping to define sections.  You can do these things to the fabric before you attach it to the box.  Make a round little pillow stuffed densely with sawdust or fiberfill to fit on top of the cover then cover the cover cushion and all inside and out to create a large pin cushion on top with spaces for various sizes of needles around the sides.  Assemble a collection of sewing aids... scissors, tape measure, sewing gauge, chalk, thimble, basic threads... what ever you think would be useful for simple repairs for instance or sewing on a button and place all of these items into the box.  It's a small useful project that can be very creative and shows off your handy work. Makes a nice gift too.

Sigh, that was a lot less wordy then what I thought you were asking for.

Anyone else have an idea for beginner projects?