You know how there are times when you go looking for clothes and nothings is the right size or the size is great but the colour looks terrible on you?
I always suffer this problem. At the moment everything fits great (freak of nature) but it is all in pastel colours which make me look ghostly and fat.
For years I have wanted to have a go at making my own clothes so that I can get the style, length (also a big problem - my parents must have forgotten to order the 'Regular' length instead of the 'Short' length legs for me in the baby shop)l and colour that I want. But something has always stopped me.
For years our family has been haunted by a terrible trait. None of the girls in our family, not nanas, mothers, sisters - no one can sew. Our few attempts are characterised by awkwardness and consist mostly of curtains, hemming pants and once - 2 pairs of shorts. The shorts were the scariest thing because they were fluorescent (not my chosen colour or pattern) and in the first attempt had the leg holes in the crotch sewn together so that no living person could get into them. I was forced to walk around in these garish pants for a couple of years when I was a kid. Grandma was responsible for these and although I will always remember her fondly, it has traumatised me for some years.
The other impediment is that I didnt have a sewing machine. My mother had one, which I borrowed with best intentions 2 years ago. She had owned it - forever - I dont know how long and I dont want to be rude by putting a figure on it. Maybe before decimal currency? However the poor machine was drowned in the floods. We opened it up in its case and water poured out and the hide tide mark of mud was well over its workings.
Two weeks ago we went on holidays and I bought pants to take away with me. I ended up (by accrual) with 5 pairs of pants to take up and decided - enough is enough. It will cost me almost that much to get a shop to take up all those pants. Spotlight were having a sale on sewing machines for $99 so I bought one.
What a revelation. I can actually sew. I often spend 6 years trying to get the bobbin bit to come out so that I can start sewing, but it eventually behaves and I am off!
The first thing I made was happy pants. They were for my brother (who is now 23) and he happened to mention at a recent family dinner how much he used to like happy pants when he was a kid. You know - the pants with elastic in the top and bottom and look like MC Hammer. They are bright blue Hawaiian print with pink flamingos. Though they are a little big, I'm told he wears them quite alot, however it took him some time to get over the shock that happy pants are not really as flattering as he remembers.
What next - feeling confident, I went back to Spotlight and purchased a pattern and some more fabric. That afternoon I sat down and spent 4 hours deciphering the instructions and cutting our the pattern. OMG, what a challenge. Lucky I had got some extra fabric than what was recommended because I had thoughtlessly cut out half of the pattern up side down (so that the pattern on the fabric would be upside down when I sewed it).
Yesterday I had set aside the whole day to finishing it off, and it took all day! However by 4:00pm I had it all done, except for the hem. I went into the bedroom to check the hem in the mirror and when I put the dress on discovered that the waist was too low (that the bodice was too long) and therefore nothing did up properly. This was just the kind of problem I had thought to avoid by making my own clothes. I had to unpick all of my careful waistline stitching and put the whole waistline over the detail on the bodice that i had worked song long. However, it all came together in the end, and here it is.
The fabric is a 'vintage' look - as part of Spotlight's vintage range, I think it looks rather Christmassy with the pink flowers on green background, but it certainly cannot be confused for anything in a shop (at least in this decade).
What next? I am so excited about my success that I am going back today to get another pattern. I am so glad to prove that someone in our family can sew, if she just puts her mind to it (and 2 days). Finally, the evil spell is broken and we can take control of our own body coverings.
I always suffer this problem. At the moment everything fits great (freak of nature) but it is all in pastel colours which make me look ghostly and fat.
For years I have wanted to have a go at making my own clothes so that I can get the style, length (also a big problem - my parents must have forgotten to order the 'Regular' length instead of the 'Short' length legs for me in the baby shop)l and colour that I want. But something has always stopped me.
For years our family has been haunted by a terrible trait. None of the girls in our family, not nanas, mothers, sisters - no one can sew. Our few attempts are characterised by awkwardness and consist mostly of curtains, hemming pants and once - 2 pairs of shorts. The shorts were the scariest thing because they were fluorescent (not my chosen colour or pattern) and in the first attempt had the leg holes in the crotch sewn together so that no living person could get into them. I was forced to walk around in these garish pants for a couple of years when I was a kid. Grandma was responsible for these and although I will always remember her fondly, it has traumatised me for some years.
The other impediment is that I didnt have a sewing machine. My mother had one, which I borrowed with best intentions 2 years ago. She had owned it - forever - I dont know how long and I dont want to be rude by putting a figure on it. Maybe before decimal currency? However the poor machine was drowned in the floods. We opened it up in its case and water poured out and the hide tide mark of mud was well over its workings.
Two weeks ago we went on holidays and I bought pants to take away with me. I ended up (by accrual) with 5 pairs of pants to take up and decided - enough is enough. It will cost me almost that much to get a shop to take up all those pants. Spotlight were having a sale on sewing machines for $99 so I bought one.
What a revelation. I can actually sew. I often spend 6 years trying to get the bobbin bit to come out so that I can start sewing, but it eventually behaves and I am off!
The first thing I made was happy pants. They were for my brother (who is now 23) and he happened to mention at a recent family dinner how much he used to like happy pants when he was a kid. You know - the pants with elastic in the top and bottom and look like MC Hammer. They are bright blue Hawaiian print with pink flamingos. Though they are a little big, I'm told he wears them quite alot, however it took him some time to get over the shock that happy pants are not really as flattering as he remembers.
What next - feeling confident, I went back to Spotlight and purchased a pattern and some more fabric. That afternoon I sat down and spent 4 hours deciphering the instructions and cutting our the pattern. OMG, what a challenge. Lucky I had got some extra fabric than what was recommended because I had thoughtlessly cut out half of the pattern up side down (so that the pattern on the fabric would be upside down when I sewed it).
Yesterday I had set aside the whole day to finishing it off, and it took all day! However by 4:00pm I had it all done, except for the hem. I went into the bedroom to check the hem in the mirror and when I put the dress on discovered that the waist was too low (that the bodice was too long) and therefore nothing did up properly. This was just the kind of problem I had thought to avoid by making my own clothes. I had to unpick all of my careful waistline stitching and put the whole waistline over the detail on the bodice that i had worked song long. However, it all came together in the end, and here it is.
What next? I am so excited about my success that I am going back today to get another pattern. I am so glad to prove that someone in our family can sew, if she just puts her mind to it (and 2 days). Finally, the evil spell is broken and we can take control of our own body coverings.
Congratulations. It looks fab, and I really like the colour and pattern. I used to sew for much the same reasons. My sewing machine is here in France, but my eyesight is going and the machine is wearing out. No more sewing for me I think. Two days doesn't sound like an outrageously long time to make a dress from start to finish. Prep and finishing are everything, and they take time. I see you were ready to move on to more important things too, with a glass of chilled white at the ready...
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