Sunday, April 13, 2014

Ten Things You Forget When You Stop Sewing

Or, Ten Things You Remember When You Start Sewing Again.


1. Choosing fabric for your project is terrifying. It has to be perfect. What if you get it wrong? Worse, what if you mess up your project? That one-of-a-kind vintage bolt end is gone, baby.


2. Pinning and cutting the pattern pieces is soooo tedious. How can it possibly take so many different parts to make a simple top/dress/skirt?


3. Was it this hard to thread the needle last time I sewed? The eye must have shrunk from disuse. That's the ticket.

4. You have to keep the tension when you're winding a bobbin, or you end up with a loose, saggy mess of thread. There's probably a metaphor for life in there somewhere.


5. The cleanest, straightest seam you ever sew will be when you didn't notice the bobbin thread ran out halfway through.

6. Nothing is quite as specifically, exquisitely painful as sticking a pin into the pad of your fingertip.



7. Pressing is even more important than actual sewing. Getting a perfect press does more for the quality of the finished garment than sewing a perfect seam.


8. Stay-stitch, slip-stitch, edge-stitch, tack-stitch...so much sewing that no one ever even sees! But it all totally counts.


9. Pattern pieces under a type of fission and expand in size once released from their package. Once out, they will never, ever, ever go back in again.


10. Sewing time doesn't work the same as regular time. The phrase "just give me five minutes to finish off this edge" bears no relation to reality. Five minutes means you've missed two meals and all your favorite TV programs.

I've really missed sewing.

4 comments:

  1. My mother does all the sewing in the family. I only do buttons...and I STILL end up skewering myself. I'm just not good with sharp things.

    ReplyDelete
  2. My mother used to sew, I used to love to go with her to look through the patterns. I don't have the patience to do anything other than darn and mend. Wish I did. You might like my friend's business: https://www.facebook.com/PatternsFromThePast

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is why I'll stick with pottery. Clay is a much more forgiving medium than fabric, although it can be just as frustrating. Although halfway through the class my instructor said, "Oh, you're left-handed. That makes a big difference!"

    I imagine it would make an even bigger difference in sewing.

    ReplyDelete

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