While hunting up more long yellow-headed "pleat pins" that my mom told me she hates, another thought rambled through my caffeine-fueled mind: not only am I still unorganized, but I am still quite the stubborn little newb. My mom has decades of sewing experience, and advised me not to use these pins ... yet here I am digging through bags of stuff to find them.
This amused thought led to another, less amusing one: in the PR chat room, one gal says she used to think she was an intermediate sewist until she met me and maggie. For the record here - we both insist we are newbs. We just want to make things well beyond our respective skill levels and have no hesitation at the idea of diving right in and learning as we go. We're both quite crazy in this respect - and have spent several evenings discussing this. So please, unless you think you are as crazy as either of us, don't compare yourself to us!
Speaking only for myself now, I can say I now know what a welt pocket is ... which is a step better than last year. I now also know an invisible zipper is a separate item from a regular zipper, and the invisibility does not depend on how you put it in (compared to a regular zipper again). I haven't done either one. Nor have I made myself a nice jacket yet, much less one for hubby. Pants? Err ... nice loose swishy stuff, nothing fitted. While I did a mock fly, I still haven't gotten back to the Simp pattern with the real fly. Don't get me started on knits ... and the funniest thing is many swear knits are easy! I'll take fitting a corset over sewing a knit top any day ...
Which - as usual - brings me back to corsets. When I started making first the boned bodices, then my Elizabethan, I didn't really know corsets are supposed to be "advanced" and difficult. I just knew I needed an Elizabethan pair of bodies for my Renn Faire garb, and didn't know anyone to fit and make me one at the time. So, if I was going to have one to wear for Faire last spring, I had to figure out how to make it myself. I'm wearing it right now. Pics for those who haven't seen it:
Not even a year has passed since I made my Elizabethan ... and already I want to make a better one. I've learned quite a bit from making it last spring, and even more while wearing it these past ten months. The biggest thing I've learned is ... it actually doesn't fit me quite right. It's close enough to not be uncomfortable, but it's a bit short through the torso, and the straps slide off my shoulder which means something aint' quite right there. As y'all can see from this back view, it gaps in a couple spots and overlaps at the very tops. With wear, it now gaps a bit in the front as well. Part of the problem is fitting (which I really didn't have a good grasp of the concept last year) and the other part of the problem is my fabric choice. Then again, reading through my review of the pattern from last year ... I had my hands full just getting a wearable garment! Oh, for those curious, this is from Simplicity 2621, which is a pretty decent pattern for being a Big 4 costume pattern, and does result in something wearable.
Don't y'all love when I come back after a day or so of quiet? I had another bleh day, then yesterday had both motivation and energy ... and did more housework! LOL I even reorganized my pantry after a massive cart-filling grocery trip, and got my son to organize his shelf of the pantry as well. Today is a big fabric-attacking day for me, since hubby and son escaped to a war gaming tournament for the day.
1 comment:
Val's "used to think she was intermediate" comment kinda changes now that we've seen her corset progress, though.
She's does the opposite of what we do, just shies away from anything that seems "too advanced" for her on a quest to make everything perfect, whereas we just ignore difficultly level and do projects way beyond what we consider our ability.
If we dive in way over our heads, she wades gracefully along the shore never messing up her outfit. (Figuratively and literally!)
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