My whole family sewed including my father. They were furniture makers so i learned to make patterns, cut and sew invisible seams by hand as a youngster.
I first took a "sewing class" in junior high and chose a blouse for my first project. I did most of it at home on my moms machine. My instructor gave me a "B" because i had not basted all the seams first. I didn't attempt much after that until i got married and my husband bought me my very own sewing machine after which, I made my own clothes, clothes for him, and then when i had kids, clothes for them. A long way from that first blouse that i forgot to put basting stitches in. I still do not baste very often although i do pin quite a bit to keep things in place as I sew whether by hand or machine. I just felt that grade was unjust because I had no problem controlling the light cotton fabric I was using and my pedal speed matched my ability to guide it so i didn't see what the problem was if my end product was satisfactory and i had saved myself some time.