My grandma also taught me to sew on her mothers machine the old belt and wheel Treadle machine. non electric just a grate that one placed their feet on and the speed was controlled by how fast your feet pumped.
The only thing it did was to sew in one one direction and one had to reverse the fabric to sew backwards. Loved that old work hourse, one could make most anything on it and Grandma did.
Through the years I had a few other modern electric machines, one so complicated I could hardly work it.
Today I have a very cheap Brother that I taught my 8 year old niece to use to make hand bags and pouches on in one day. The simpler the better for me.
So the cost of frabric is going sky high today, a shortage in cotton or some such. I have no worry as I have not bought material more then twice in 10 years. I go to the thrift stores and buy a super large size dress in a fabric I like, take it apart and for less then $4.00 I may have 4-6 yards of material. I also check the section for table cloths, large napkins and curtains. Some of the stock is miss labled and a Sarong may be thought of as a table cloth or small sheet.
I seldom buy paterns as they are really expensive so if I get say just one long silk crutain, I trace around a shirt I like the style of , and can put in darts later if necessery.
Jeans are difficult used as they do shrink so my size 8 will just fit into a size 12-14. I get them home and turn them into shorts or get out the plastic sheets for stamping designs on walls etc. color the legs in with fabric color and embroider around the design. May take a week or so to finish but it looks at the finish like high cost jeans.
So much can be done with little money if you have a sewing machine. I bought a used book on how to turn used T.shirts into other uses. I took my old concert shirts and made skirts from them with the logo and picture on the front. Little sewing just a top hem for the elastic waist band. A hem under the top and a blouce, all for the cost of thread and elastic.
What fun to have one of a kind clothing and have people come up and ask you where you got it.-------I allways tell them Boston because if I tell them I did it myself for some reason they snear and walk off.
Fact of life people only value what they must spend allot of money for , home made things are considered crap no matter how great it looks.
Try this, deliver a home made cake to a friends party and they thank you and will sometimes put it aside and forget it. Have someone deliver a cake close to yours with a $30.00 price tag on it and that cake goes to the front of the table.
