Thursday 22 February 2018

On Sewing Mistakes ,Sewing Doldrums And Sewing Successes.




  I have been trying to make my first ever pair of jeans. When Style Arc sent an email advertising a pattern/ stretch denim package  for jeans I immediately bought it which is another first and I don`t know why . The mysteries of advertising which tap into the human psyche .
One advantage of making my own jeans was to be able to customise the back pockets .
My sewing machine has an embroidery function which I rarely utilise so a couple of weekends ago I set about relearning how to use this , looked through some folders of designs available to me ( which my late father created for my mother - what a man to spend hours doing this for her ! ) and practised some designs which I liked. I finally settled on one from a Pfaff Creative Card 300, design 27 .I even really liked their chosen colours.


I practiced on some old serviettes and then went to work on the denim of which there was not much to spare. It all went really well.
Now I have discovered that I mainly make mistakes in two situations . One is when I am tired and it is later in the day and I just want to finish up a project. I relearnt this several times and now I just do not go there. Once I am tired or a  bit sick of sewing I just stop even if I am really close to completing something.
The other time  is when I am really excited about a project so I just tend to leap in . I don`t think there is much I can do about this.
So I was in the process of sewing up the pockets and noticed that one pocket was slightly larger than the other . Then I realised what I had done. I cut the pocket out the wrong way so the stretch is going vertically , the pocket size is out and the design is going the opposite way. And here I thought I was so clever by making a see through plastic pocket template so I could centre the design properly !


I was seriously thinking about just making this a design feature but even though I am a bit of a slapdash sewist - a wrinkle here or there  doesn`t bother me- I knew the magic closet would not work with this one .
So last weekend I set up the embroidery function again and redid another embroidery.


Well everything was going really well until I got to the orange colour . Is it my imagination but does that look a bit different to the original ? Sob, no my glasses did not need cleaning , I had picked out the wrong colour. Sigh. So I worked out the correct orange embroidery thread and off we went again. ( very hard to tell in the above photo but the orange colours are different - one is more a bronze ) .

Success ! Finally . ( This saga does not even include the one where the embroidery thread broke and I realised too late ) . Now initially I told myself I was a sewing eejit but does that make me feel better about myself ? No. Does it get the embroidery done ? No . Now I am telling myself that it was all good practice and the wrong colour confirmed I liked my initial choice and I am much quicker at setting up the embroidery part of my Pfaff now . I am still frustrated at the waste of time but I am not putting myself down.
This leads me to sewing successes and how we perceive them. I recently read an excellent post by Diary of a  Sewing Fanatic asking whether we compare ourselves to others in term of how much sewing we get done. A lot of people admitted they did. I have  not  been a joiner inner on sew alongs etc. I joined in MMM and a fabric fast last year . I have always been on the fringe of things all my life and being part of the sewing internet community is one of them. But this is also why I think I am successful. My blog is so small but I have not given up. If I judged my success by the number of followers and comments then I would have quit years ago. I have read people complain about this but IMO this is not a reason to blog. I blog and sew for myself. I have never sewn the trendy indie patterns or the latest fabrics or sewn couture or been artistic  but I wear my home sewn clothes almost every day and keep them for years and years so this is a success. It does seem so obvious to say this but comparing yourself to others does not lead to contentment . Besides we only ever show the best / happiest side of ourselves on the internet.

One last photo - an outtake for my latest sewing project yet  to be blogged . A sewing mistake and success all rolled into one ! .I was using the self timer and my daughter was trying to get past .
Well hopefully anyone in the sewing doldrums can read this post and feel better about themselves.

7 comments:

  1. Those jeans are going to be excellent. You’ll be so glad you re did them until they were right.

    Agree with not competing. Personnel best is the only way to go!

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  2. Wow Janine you were persistent with those pockets. Like you I don't worry about how much I sew or how many comments I get on my blog. I blog as a way of keeping track of what I make as well as providing information that maybe someone may find useful for their own sewing.

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  3. Persistance is the name of the game in sewing (and a lot of things) and you persisted. I often tell my sewing item, I will not give up so it may as well just let it go and get made! Crazy. I like how you know what to let go of and what to persist in as well. I don't compare myself to others overall, but sometimes I wish I could just sit and sew something slowly and not be desperate for it...i.e. that I really need it to wear. I'm always on the back foot. Sewing is a part of my life not all of it and I don't follow trends or (mostly) don't follow the leader either. Lucky we don't rely on comments or followers to survive. I am still amazed anyone would follow and so pleased when anyone take time to comment.

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  4. Embroidery & sewing are such great learning g experiences - your pockets look great . Is there somewhere else on the jeans you could add an “appliqué” of the other pocket ? Perhaps along the hem ? This way all your effort is used - just an idea

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  5. Your pockets look amazing! Love Maryellen's idea--carrying out the embroidery elsewhere would make them au current and super cool. I don't sew on trend very often. I just sew and blog for me. I may get inspired by others (and envy their speed and skills) but just sew what I like and wear it-- for a long time usually.

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  6. Oh dear---yes, the mistakes we make when we should not be sewing...but I also find that if you wait for optimum moments, sewing also would not get done...I often sew when tired as it is the only time I sometimes get for sewing. And how frustrating with the pockets - sometimes it seems that with some projects the jinx is well and truly playing with them!. AS for comparison, no, not a good idea - like you, I never have been in the "In" group, nor do "likes" light up my reward centre! I prefer my small group of followers that I can also follow and relate to. Looking forward to reading more about the dress and jeans.

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  7. First the red dress with the lurking huge daughter on the side is a great picture. The magic of perspective, which for me is the real lesson in this post - beating ourselves up for mistakes not productive, etc. What a good reminder.

    ceci

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