Thursday, August 24, 2006

Step Away From the Sewing Machine...

I spent yesterday finishing up a simple and clever pattern:
The fit was pretty close to being accurate (the shoulders are still a little too wide on me. I've got some fine tuning to do there). However the big problem? It looks horrible on me. I showed it to Matt and he was like "eh, not very flattering on you".

I also had to use my back up sewing machine (everyone has more than one sewing machine, right?). My "high end" machine just doesn't work well. Granted it was a floor model and probably has way too many miles on it, but the tension just "goes" on it every once in a while. I can't fix it and the repair shop fix seems to be only temperary. My cheap heavy duty "who cares if I break it" machine (I bought it so I could hem jeans and stuff) works like a charm.

So I have a couple of choices: lose weight so I get down to an average size pattern (like I used to do... the problem with sewing patterns is that they use a "sliding scale" to size... each size you go up makes the neck/shoulders larger. I'm not heavy in the shoulders... just the bust, waist and hips area). Stick with skirts (the last two successful sewing projects for me have been skirts). Or just give up and stick with knit pants or jeans and hand knit sweaters.

The problem is that I really want to update my wardrobe and I like to sew. I just wish sewing patterns were a little more realistic in their sizing. If the average woman in the US wears a size 14, she shouldn't have to buy a size 18 sewing pattern that's not scaled properly.

Oh well, I would rather buy yarn.

I've got a play date set up with Julie and Ann today, not sure how much knitting I'll get done. Ann's coming to felt and wind some yarn and Julie and I'll probably play with some fabric.

Happy Knitting!

5 comments:

  1. Have fun playing with Ann & Julie.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Just as with the FLAK, I would start with the shoulder/neck/armhole to fit and make the pattern bigger at bust and hips. The pattern looks like it would work for a larger bust and hip person if the neck and armholes were right. I have these same fiqure issues and find skirts and T's or knit tops to work best but there is nothing so nice as just throwing on a dress!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous11:58 AM

    The pattern looks like you should be able to alter it to fit. If your choice is to alter the one you sewed or throw it out, I'd play with altering it for the experience if nothing else. Adjusting for larger hips/bust isn't that difficult if the neckline/shoulder area fits properly.

    ReplyDelete
  4. True about patterns. I'm taking a class on fitting a T Shirt. Thank goodness there's not much "fit" to T Shirts because I'm having to still deal with narrow shoulders, wide hips, sway back. I'm ready to just say forget it, but my "work" attire is comfortable clothes. I want to alter the company logo t-shirt so I don't feel like I'm wearing a night shirt to work. Thought it would be much easier than this.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I have a similar problem. My hips are much bigger than my shoulders. It's impossible to find dresses that fit, and I don't sew well enough to do alterations that complex. I'm tired of wearing jeans and a t-shirt all the time!

    ReplyDelete

Sorry about having to add the word verification for comments, but even with moderation, my inbox was being over run with spam. So thanks for taking the time to leave a comment!

Blogger does not give me your email address when you leave a comment, so I can not respond back to you. Keep an eye on my blog and I will try to respond there.