Lord, I must have been high on something when I forgivingly suggested that I'd wear the latest version of the Janet Jacket out of the house. Seriously, it's amongst the crappiest things I've ever made. You could not get push me out the door in that thing of ill-fitting splendor. It's taking all of my willpower not to trash it this instant (recognizing I'm going to need it for the next attempt).
It's like I took a perfectly good pattern and hacked it to bits. (Maybe this is a slightly over-dramatic take, but I don't know just at this moment...)
I feel vaguely wallow-ish, nay despairing, like I really can't sew my way out of a paper bag. Never mind one made of fabric.
But, I suspect, no one ever got better at sewing by wallowing in despair over one's lack of talent. Or one's apparent inability to learn.
Whenever I feel this way I turn my mind Kenneth King's sage words (and I'm seriously paraphrasing here cuz I cannot remember where first I heard this): You haven't learned to sew till you've wrecked thousands of yards of fabric.
I feel eight or so yards closer to perfection.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
I hope posting this made you feel better because it sure made me laugh! And feel better. My sewing resolution for 2014 is to have more wadders and less paralysis. I get so afraid to choose/ alter/ cut/ sew/ try on the finished object which might be unflattering, messy or just plain stoopid. And because every step is accompanied by paralysis and relevant or irrelevantly frantic web browsing, by the time I've finished I've invested far too much time and angst in the project.
ReplyDeleteMake a t-shirt. Put it on, love it, go back to the jackets.
That's a great resolution. I love it! And now I'm off to make a t shirt.
DeleteI admire your courage tackling these hard patterns. I end up with wadders from even super-easy patterns, so don't feel bad. It happens to all sewers, I think.
ReplyDelete:-) Chris
It's true - it's somehow even sadder when it happens with the easy patterns :-)
DeleteYou have proved over and over again that you are a great sewist. As we all know, sometimes it's the pattern, sometimes it's the fabric choice, sometimes it's both that cause us problems. On to your next great masterpiece. Now I'm charging you to tell me the same thing if I ever go through a similar dilemma (lol)..
ReplyDeleteFaye - this is why I like your comments so much :-) And I will be there for you if you encounter a similar dilemma.
DeleteI agree with K King. A chef I know told me that I shouldn't despair over my ability to make homemade pasta until I had destroyed hundreds of pounds of flour. That's what they do in culinary school. claudia w
ReplyDeleteClaudia: I've destroyed a lot of flour too! And somehow it doesn't bother me as much.
DeleteI was wondering if maybe drafting your own bodice sloper might be a good way to go - your fitting challenges seem to be pretty unique, so a sloper made after your measurements could help.
ReplyDeleteYou could then just superimpose it over the patterns to see where stuff needs to be added or removed.
I've tried - and I've taken info from previous attempts (princess seam and darted). I've not been able to crack the code quite yet on highly structured bodices. But you're totally right.
DeleteMaybe if we saw it in person at our next sew-together we could help you crack the code?
ReplyDeleteI don't think I can bring myself to look at this again for a couple of months. And I can't bring myself to show this disaster to anyone. But thank you! Maybe when I hate myself a bit less :-)
Delete