How to learn to sew?

Hey folks! It's safe to say I've been sufficiently bitten by the costuming bug. The skill I'm lacking that seems like it would be most valuable is sewing. Besides being taught by you mother or grandmother when you were kids, how did the rest of you learn what you need to know to sew costumes? Hand stitching I can handle. I bought a machine a few years back but haven't done anything more than straight lines for quilts. I feel a need to be able to do more complex things... but don't know exactly what those thing might be or how to learn them. Just curious if anyone has any ideas or success stories they'd like to share.

Many fabric stores offer classes in sewing. If you're enrolled in a college, you might look into costume construction classes. Before I just came over completely to the costume world, I took classes in the university costume shop for fun in undergrad. Not all colleges have an open door policy on this though. My graduate school only allows non-theatre majors into costuming courses during the lighter enrolled summer session.

You also might check what's available in your community, some areas offer adult education classes in this kind of thing, or possibly taking a course at a community college with a theater.