My first real limitations

I am heady with excitement as I head back to my sewing machine for my next project.  The ‘Cute dress !’ comment about my Nancy dress leaves me salivating for more new clothes courtesy of the remnants bin.

I read all over the web about making clothes from your existing ready to wear favorites.  I actually have a really well fitting simple a-line skirt which I had made to measure during a trip to Vietnam (I am such a lucky girl) so I tried to give this one a go.  I pinned out the skirt, drew around carefully and made my pattern pieces.  I checked the measurements, everything was good.

Ah, then I ran into my first difficutly – this skirt needs a zipper.  I rummaged around in the box the borrowed sewing machine came in, found nothing, called my friend who lent it to me.  No, she doesn’t know where the zipper foot is. Damn – on an island with only one small sewing shop I knew I was in trouble.

Saturday comes, and my trip to the shop is unsuccessful – they don’t stock any of these sort of accessories – there just isn’t enough demand.  And although I can find plenty online, the international shipping fees are ridiculous – $35 to ship a tiny presser foot !  I think I will wait until someone visits from the US.

So I make up the skirt as much as I can, and I sew the side seam closed, basting at the top where the zipper will (eventually) go.  I can’t even try it on to see if it fits, but to be fair, it looks like it won’t.  I probably need to concentrate more on the size of the seams I have made if I want it to be exactly the same as the original.

Oh, and I also managed to make it much more difficult than it needed to be by picking a striped material.  Its way difficult to make a triangle shaped shirt with lines – how can you get them to match?  If they match in one place, they won’t match in another.  Hmm.

I think this may be my first ‘wadder’. A term I see online for things you made that are failures, don’t fit or aren’t right for one or more reasons.  Totally my fault – poor seam allowance control, picking the wrong fabric, probably poor pattern drafting, beginners over confidence, and the lack of proper tools (a zipper foot) all lead to this one being put aside for one day in the future.

If the road to success were easy, it would be crowded with people all heading in the same direction.  I guess they can all travel on that road without me today……hmm, but what next?