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The Sew What’s New Archive
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From: MaryW
Date: 11-30-2006, 12:15 PM (1 of 20)
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What was the one lesson you learned about sewing that you had to learn the hard way? What mistake did you keep making until you finally figured it out? When I was teaching myself how to sew, I would skip steps that I didn't understand. Needless to say, I had many disasters. That was my lesson I had to learn the hard way. Don't skip the steps needed to finish your project. MaryW
owner/editor of Sew Whats New |
User: MaryW
Member since: 06-23-2005 Total posts: 2542 
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From: keljo60
Date: 11-30-2006, 01:01 PM (2 of 20)
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When I started sewing oh so long ago, I was a sew - press - sew kind of girl. Then I thought I could get away without the pressing part. I had to learn the hard way that the pressing was actually an important part. Now I have the ironing board set up so I can sew - swivel - press - swivel - sew. Works a lot better that way. Of course, for the final press I do stand up and press.
Kelly
Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and good with ketchup! |
User: keljo60
Member since: 07-30-2006 Total posts: 154 
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From: BabsSewingRoom
Date: 11-30-2006, 01:35 PM (3 of 20)
| Mine is a mistake that really upset me at the time but since has saved me from so many other mistakes it was probably worth it. It was maybe 40 yrs ago when money was tight(er). I made me a beautiful wool plaid jumper and a blouse of a crepe polyester. It was expensive fabric for me at that time. It looked so good but just as I was finishing I saw a wrinkle around button hole at top of blouse. Forgetting I'd turned the iron on higher heat for something else I slapped that iron down on the wrinkle and melted the spot on the blouse. I was able to make a fake placket-like and cover the spot and get many years wear out of it. But always now, not just in sewing, when I think about giving something one more final touch I will pause and think it through to just make sure that's what I really want to do. I'm so bad about always going in a run and doing things in auto pilot that this second of thinking has saved me from many more mistakes since that one. And it also taught me that when you think something is ruined, calm down and think about it and you'll figure out how to recover. |
User: BabsSewingRoom
Member since: 04-10-2004 Total posts: 80 |
From: Sancin
Date: 11-30-2006, 02:37 PM (4 of 20)
Many years ago - funny how many stories start out that way! I made my young daughter a Vogue pattern jumper out of velveteen. It called for an embroidered front bodice which I did cheerfully over several days. When putting jumper together the bodice was lined. The instructions were not very clear, which was common to Vogue patterns in those days. To this day I can't figure what I did wrong. One was supposed to sew the lining to the bodice fashion fabric right sides together, then turn, which does make nice finishing as I have since found out. Somehow in turning it I made what turned out to be something like a mobius strip and I could not figure how to turn it back or forward to be correct. I had used all my fabric and done all that embroidery. I ended up making a slash in the lining fabric to pull the fabric correctly and straighten it up, then patching it, none of which showed fortunately. It took me many tense moments to figure how to do it without cutting the velveteen. My daughter ended up wearing the jumper when we had family portraits taken and the picture is hung on in my bedroom so every day I see that jumper and think about the incident! 
*~*~*~* Nancy*~*~*~* " I try to take one day at a time - but sometimes several days attack me at once."
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User: Sancin
Member since: 02-13-2005 Total posts: 895 
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From: Hogmami
Date: 11-30-2006, 02:53 PM (5 of 20)
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My biggest mistake is buying patterns and thinking I can use the RTW sizes instead of measurements. I have finally figured that out and carry my measurements with me.
Carolyn
Michigan |
User: Hogmami
Member since: 09-30-2004 Total posts: 800 
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From: Skye
Date: 11-30-2006, 02:54 PM (6 of 20)
using my seam ripper to open the button holes on my Italian wool jacket that had gone together like a dream and fitted beautifully. well I ripped more the than the button hole - opened almost to the edge and I DID cry  . Needless to say now I have a buttonhole chisel
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User: Skye
Member since: 09-28-2000 Total posts: 233 |
From: Chrysantha
Date: 11-30-2006, 03:03 PM (7 of 20)
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I learned over the years not to sew so darn fast. I talk, move, drive, type, shop, etc, fast. The more I do, the faster I go. Fast doesn't always work when sewing/embroidering. 
Chrys
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User: Chrysantha
Member since: 09-06-2002 Total posts: 2414 
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From: PaulineG
Date: 11-30-2006, 04:15 PM (8 of 20)
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One of the very first things I made was a cat costume for my then 7 yo daughter. I made the pattern myself from a combination of a couple of others I had (trying to save money) but because home made patterns don't come with instructions I got the fabric layout wrong. I ended up cutting out two left fronts (I didn't turn the pattern or the fabric over). Luckily I had enough fabric to cut another front correctly. It actually wasn't a terribly hard lesson because I've learned it very well and now double check my layout before using the scissors.
Pauline
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User: PaulineG
Member since: 09-08-2006 Total posts: 901 |
From: SandyGirl
Date: 11-30-2006, 04:25 PM (9 of 20)
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Button hole chisel? Been so long since I made a button hole but this term intrigues me! Sandy Oh, remember to be patient and don't try to rush through it. When your sewing lines start to get out of control, admit to be tired and go do something else! s |
User: SandyGirl
Member since: 09-16-2005 Total posts: 97 |
From: Patty22
Date: 11-30-2006, 05:19 PM (10 of 20)
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This is painful, but I remember to this day.............I had made an aline dress for school and I thought it was fine. It was a limey green with white and orange print pop flowers. There was a mock cowl collar, zipper down the back, and short sleeves. I was in the seventh grade and I didn't have any help at home on my dress as my mother worked long hours.... I thought I did everything fine. But what I didn't realize was an undercollar wasn't the interfacing (to me it made perfect sense that the interfacing was under the collar - just too literal for me). My dress had the fabric for the collar and instead of the undercollar (which was cut smaller to make the collar roll, there was interfacing in its place - not very attractive.) I wore that dress to school and the reaction from my Home Ec teacher was more than anyone else had said to me. I never wore the dress again (it would have been more beneficial if the teacher would have explained how I could have taken it apart and inserted in a new collar). I learned quickly how to make interfacing my friend. That was one long school day. So never being afraid to ask questions when you don't understand something........that is the lesson I learned. Thank goodness for sewing forums! ps. When the retro 70's prints came out recently I thought I saw the print I had used in my dress and I avoided that fabric like the plague. Patty
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User: Patty22
Member since: 03-29-2006 Total posts: 1194 |
From: Sancin
Date: 11-30-2006, 06:03 PM (11 of 20)
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Oh, Patty. Aren't you glad you are not a teenager any more? The mistake was one thing - to have the world know it was disaster. I told a collegue several years ago that one of the best things about aging was not worrying about bad hair days! "It is very easy to forgive others their mistakes; it takes more grit and gumption to forgive them for having witnesses your own." - Jessamyn West *~*~*~* Nancy*~*~*~* " I try to take one day at a time - but sometimes several days attack me at once."
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User: Sancin
Member since: 02-13-2005 Total posts: 895
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From: Patty22
Date: 11-30-2006, 08:48 PM (12 of 20)
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OH MY GOODNESS..... This sewing thread gave me another flashback...... I was in 8th grade and I made a blouse and jumper to go on our school field trip. I thought I was really going to be hot (*&^&.  White jumper and my blouse was black with white daisies. Bwhahahahahahahahaha someone should have told me that it would have been advantageous to line that white jumper.....especially with a black blouse BEFORE I went on that *(*&^ field trip, or reversed the color scheme. Thank God I am so BARMY or else I would have to go get therapy. You're right Nancy......I am so glad I am no longer a teenager. As you can see, everything I learned about sewing was from comments people made about my outfits. I don't think I ever looked in a mirror; I just sat at that machine happy as a clam sewing away. PS......don't worry, by the time I hit 9th grade there weren't anymore diasters and it is fun laughing about it NOW. Patty
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User: Patty22
Member since: 03-29-2006 Total posts: 1194 |
From: Magot
Date: 11-30-2006, 09:51 PM (13 of 20)
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I remember making a blouse and thinking there is way too much at the top of the sleeve to fit the armhole - so I didn't really ease it - I cut it to fit. I couldn't move my arms from my sides . I wore that and pretended it was fine. I was 16. ah youth.
love and kisses, Jan
Guts-R-Us Cells a Speciality DNA to order. |
User: Magot
Member since: 12-22-2002 Total posts: 3626 
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From: MotherInLaw
Date: 12-01-2006, 02:42 AM (14 of 20)
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My hardest lesson I think is take my time and when I get frustrated to put it away and come back to it when I'm calmer and more ready to remedy the problem. Only thing is I have a duster I was making for myself on my maniquien and it's been there since before Hurricane Katrina. my body double went into storage and then in my new sewing room. I took the duster with me when I evacuated but now it's back on the body double. So that's my hard lesson.
I'm regressing back into my youth, I just have to figure out how I'm going to convience my body to come along with me.
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User: MotherInLaw
Member since: 06-25-2005 Total posts: 1118 
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From: CindyBee
Date: 12-01-2006, 05:05 AM (15 of 20)
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My hardest lesson was learned recently. I've just returned to sewing garments and the last time I sewed garments I was in high school-35 years ago I just cut out the (junior size) pattern, sewed it up and voila! perfect fit. Fast forward to now, several extra pounds and 2 wadders in the trash and sewing is quite different! It's now tissue fit, alter, baste, fit, alter some more, sew and pray I can actually wear it, LOL. I'm making progress though with the help of a new fitting reference book.
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User: CindyBee
Member since: 10-21-2006 Total posts: 8 |
From: DorothyL
Date: 12-01-2006, 08:26 AM (16 of 20)
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I don't know about the hardest lesson -- there have been plenty of hard ones -- but the most recent was not to change your mind how you will clean something. I made a silk jacket that I love -- It has a very cool lining that is also the lapels. When I made it I had just gotten my serger and decided to serge seams that should have had a nicer finish but it still looks good and it fit great. I didn't prewash because I figured I'd have it dry cleaned. One day I came home and noticed make up around the collar (the jacket is black and white and the make up was noticeable). I decide to just wash it. Cold water, delicate cycle -- and it shrunk. At first I was afraid it had shrunk so much the lining would hang out -- remember Patty? -- but it doesn't. I can still wear the jacket but is not as comfortable and doesn't look nearly as good. I sure see a lot of myself in some of your mistakes. Dorothy Dorothy |
User: DorothyL
Member since: 12-09-2002 Total posts: 3883 |
From: Patty22
Date: 12-01-2006, 10:57 AM (17 of 20)
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Mistakes and the lessons that go with them are just a part of life. It gives us humility and warmth for those who are posting their frustrations as we've all been there and done that. We also know that the sun returns the next day..... "The sun will come out tomorrow...tomorrow..." Okay, okay, I didn't do chorus. Dorothy..........I love that jacket! But then I love all your creations as you are so adventurous with those surprise linings. Patty
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User: Patty22
Member since: 03-29-2006 Total posts: 1194 |
From: MotherInLaw
Date: 12-01-2006, 11:56 PM (18 of 20)
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The sun'll come out Tomorrow Bet your bottom dollar That tomorrow There'll be sun! Just thinkin' about Tomorrow Clears away the cobwebs, And the sorrow 'Til there's none! Patty I can't sing either but I love that song. Only thing about that theory is that tomorrow my mistakes are usually still there. 
I'm regressing back into my youth, I just have to figure out how I'm going to convience my body to come along with me.
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User: MotherInLaw
Member since: 06-25-2005 Total posts: 1118
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From: HeyJudee
Date: 12-02-2006, 04:08 PM (19 of 20)
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Hard lesson learned...go to bed when you are tired! My hard lesson was learned late one night when trying to finish the binding on a quilted wall hanging. I really loved the hanging and was anxious to get it done. Started sewing on the binding when I realized that I had not trimmed the batting and backing around the edge. Decided to continue and just trim afterwards. Well when I was trimming the edges without thinging I cut too close to the mitered corner and cut right thru rhe binding which was to form the miter in 3 of the corners.  To fix, I would have to rip out and make more binding. But I have very little leftover of the binding fabric which I needed to fix it...so it's been sitting in my closet for over a year (another UFO) waiting for me to figure out what I am going to do! But...on a happier note...when working on my handmade item for the Christmas swap, I found a technique that will probably work for me to fix it with the little bit of fabric I have left. 
TTFN from
Judy |
User: HeyJudee
Member since: 01-25-2005 Total posts: 1366 
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From: blackie
Date: 12-02-2006, 06:11 PM (20 of 20)
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What was the one lesson you learned about sewing that you had to learn the hard way? What mistake did you keep making until you finally figured it out? Hmmm... this is a hard question for me. Mostly I've enjoyed every step of the way! I guess one lesson I've learned (and am still learning) is to take time to think of what to sew next. If I sew something where I'm trying to be "too frugal" (sewing using fabric from clothes - many of which are donated to me or found at a thrift store - or stash fabric I don't like all that much) I end up not enjoying the process nor being proud of the finished project. Yet I can't (and shouldn't) justify buying new, fabulous fabric for EVERYTHING I think of. I am still really struggling with this, since my ability and speed now officially outstrips my buying power. Hard lesson learned...go to bed when you are tired! [ snip ] Well when I was trimming the edges without thinging I cut too close to the mitered corner and cut right thru rhe binding which was to form the miter in 3 of the corners. I have done this more than once! I think I was also tired the first time or two. I think it's an easy mistake, but heartbreaking because it's al the end of the quilting process when you just want to complete! When I've done this (on potholders) I just handsewed a lot at those corners and had a rather "rounded" mitered corner. Another thought for this kind of blunder - have someone else (friend, for a trade, or pay a seamstress to do it) fix it for you! They won't have the emotional weight attached and will have "fresh eyes" to do it. Earlier this year I hired out a couple waistbands I'd messed up on two pair of pants I made my daughter. It cost me $35 bucks to get them both done but I felt good about supporting my fellow seamstress AND the pants were done pronto. AND I learned my lesson on waistbands and have done much better with them since. This is painful [ snip ] ... I wore that dress to school and the reaction from my Home Ec teacher was more than anyone else had said to me. I never wore the dress again (it would have been more beneficial if the teacher would have explained how I could have taken it apart and inserted in a new collar). What strikes me is how if that teacher had been more sensitive and helpful you would not have a "painful" memory at all! You were a teenager and she expected you to sew perfectly? Some teacher. :-( see the mundane life of a housewife.
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User: blackie
Member since: 03-31-2004 Total posts: 594 |
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