(Updated below)
This week has just flown by! I've cut out the outer material for a pencil skirt and for the front of what will be DF's new Glen plaid vest. I managed to sew four darts in my skirt but, that's as far as I've gotten. Sad, yes.
You may (or may not) have noticed, I fully line nearly every item I sew. The patterns never call for it (why is that!?) but I throw one in anyway. And with fall coming, bringing with it plans to sew with some very lovely wool, I'm certainty not going to break habit now. Linings, to me, just make the garment look and feel nicer. (Though I don't blame anyone else for not using them!)
Of course, I don't just want to line the garment. No, I want to line it in the most difficult way possible (apparently). Take my pencil skirt: I could sew the lining and fashion fabric as one and follow the pattern directions but instead, I want it to be separate - something very difficult when the skirt has a vent. Not a slit, nor a pleat - those I could work with - but a vent, an overlap where the lining may show if the wind happens to blow just right. Oh, and I want mitered corners, which no pattern includes. I'm self-taught, have no one available to answer questions, and the information on the internet is so sparse when it comes to these less-common techniques. Finally, I found something that directed me to a book, which I have requested from the library in the next county. My skirt is now in-hold until said book arrives.
On to DF's vest. Uh oh, he wants two double-welt pockets and a single welt pocket, facings attached to the lining (me and my big mouth!) and a collar. The pattern includes instructions for the double welts only and has an included collar but DF wants the vest and collar to be one piece, not two. Ugh! Information regarding men's garments is even more sparse so we've omitted the collar idea for this version. Now, I just have to draft facings and learn how to do welt pockets.
Well, I've spent so much time on Google and on sewing boards and scanning my very limited collection of sewing books that everything is at a standstill! DF laughed late yesterday evening and told me this is called analysis paralysis. I've spent so much time analyzing the patterns and stressing over all of the changes I want to make that I've paralyzed my sewing for the week.
Did I mention these are the muslins!!??
Have you ever experienced this? How do you overcome it? If you have any information which may help ease my freeze (or regarding the location of my sanity), I'd greatly appreciate it! x
This week has just flown by! I've cut out the outer material for a pencil skirt and for the front of what will be DF's new Glen plaid vest. I managed to sew four darts in my skirt but, that's as far as I've gotten. Sad, yes.
You may (or may not) have noticed, I fully line nearly every item I sew. The patterns never call for it (why is that!?) but I throw one in anyway. And with fall coming, bringing with it plans to sew with some very lovely wool, I'm certainty not going to break habit now. Linings, to me, just make the garment look and feel nicer. (Though I don't blame anyone else for not using them!)
Of course, I don't just want to line the garment. No, I want to line it in the most difficult way possible (apparently). Take my pencil skirt: I could sew the lining and fashion fabric as one and follow the pattern directions but instead, I want it to be separate - something very difficult when the skirt has a vent. Not a slit, nor a pleat - those I could work with - but a vent, an overlap where the lining may show if the wind happens to blow just right. Oh, and I want mitered corners, which no pattern includes. I'm self-taught, have no one available to answer questions, and the information on the internet is so sparse when it comes to these less-common techniques. Finally, I found something that directed me to a book, which I have requested from the library in the next county. My skirt is now in-hold until said book arrives.
On to DF's vest. Uh oh, he wants two double-welt pockets and a single welt pocket, facings attached to the lining (me and my big mouth!) and a collar. The pattern includes instructions for the double welts only and has an included collar but DF wants the vest and collar to be one piece, not two. Ugh! Information regarding men's garments is even more sparse so we've omitted the collar idea for this version. Now, I just have to draft facings and learn how to do welt pockets.
Well, I've spent so much time on Google and on sewing boards and scanning my very limited collection of sewing books that everything is at a standstill! DF laughed late yesterday evening and told me this is called analysis paralysis. I've spent so much time analyzing the patterns and stressing over all of the changes I want to make that I've paralyzed my sewing for the week.
Did I mention these are the muslins!!??
Have you ever experienced this? How do you overcome it? If you have any information which may help ease my freeze (or regarding the location of my sanity), I'd greatly appreciate it! x
P.S. I hesitate hitting the "Publish" button because I feel badly that this post is not at all interesting or informative and worse yet, just solid venting. However, as a blog is supposed to be nothing more than a web journal, it feels good to get it out. What sewist doesn't get frustrated now again? I'd love feedback to know I'm not alone but I do apologize for the rant! Please stick around - more pleasant things are sure to follow! x
UPDATE ("So soon?" "I know! I guess a little venting was just what I needed."): I set my analytical mind to a more useful task and drafted all of DF's vest facings. It feels good to have that off my shoulders and it wasn't difficult. I took pictures for every step so I'll try to have them all ready by the time I review his vest. Also, I decided how to get out of my "too difficult" pencil skirt slump! While I'm waiting on the library book, I obviously need a skirt that doesn't require a lining. So, I'll be making one out of corduroy! Even I don't think those need a lining. So, I can test out my pattern and whip up something easy, hopefully in time for week 4's self-stitched post (I know I still owe you week 3 - it's coming :) ). Yay!
You don't have to wait for that library book! Sunni of "A Fashionable Stitch" has a great on-line tutorial for adding a back vent and lining to a skirt whose pattern does not include it. It is really well written and easy to follow. I think I have a link to it on my blog post "Pretty on the Inside", but you can also google "A Fashionable Stitch" and you should be able to find it.
ReplyDeleteThank you @Annabelle!!! How could I have forgotten! I'd even bookmarked that post. (My original comment seems to have vanished but I loved that skirt btw!) Then silly me deleted all of my mobile's stored data and my bookmarks disappeared... I think I'll still go ahead with the corduroy because I need a quick pick-me-up project but I've bookmarked again and will definitely use the tutorial. Yay! This is why I love the online sewing community!
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