What is Sewing Success?

How do you define a sewing success?

Exhibit 1. 
This top was made from fabric selected by my 5 year old daughter as a birthday treat and then sewn into a top (as requested) within a week of purchase, with instructions for "no ironing!" followed strictly. The fabric is from Tessuti Fabrics, and the pattern is # 151 from BurdaStyle issue 11/2010 (also made in textured Japanese cotton for summer here and in riotous winter colour here) with the gathered raised waist turned into pleats and centre back zip omitted. The bodice is lined in a soft lyocell fabric for comfort, and the whole thing sparkles and shimmers beautifully in the sunlight.

But this is a top that will not be worn because the style is wrong. Apparently 5 year olds wear tight stretchy tops; looseness is for dresses and little girls.  So that's a fail.


What about this?

Exhibit 2. 
This is a top made for Mr Upsewlate to test out a pattern I put together based on one of his favourite long sleeve t-shirts. The fabric is cheap stuff from Lincraft (and I've used it before for a quick & dirty top for myself) but soft and cottony with a nice weight. Remarkably for a cheap fabric the stripes run pretty straight (and have been matched on side seams, sleeve seams, shoulder seams as much as possible - of course). The neckband and sleeve bands are made from a coordinating rib knit.

You'd think that basing the shape on an old favourite would be smart...hmm. Apparently this top fits better than the original (now you tell me!) and feels comfortable on, but obviously the shoulders are way too broad and the sleeves are also too wide and too long. I think this will get worn but I will always be conscious of those ridiculous shoulders, so this is a fail too.

And this?

Exhibit 3.
What can I say... I think you know the answer already. I hate it on me! I do like the neckline and the shoulders / sleeves but that's it.

This fabric was an interesting remnant from Tessuti fabrics that I held onto for ages because it didn't really seem to be my style - I don't like brown and I don't wear 70s. The pattern started with the top from Vogue 1310, the recent Chado Ralph Rucci pattern, which I turned into a dress (and obviously it's not cut on the bias). I made this dress as a tester for a planned winter dress which I am now very unsure about.

It's better on my dress dummy, and the zig zags are reasonably symmetric and reasonably matched on the side seams, and the neckline and shoulders are properly stabilised with clear elastic, and the self-fabric lining matches pretty well on the zig zags too - but all that doesn't make me want to wear it. Another fail.



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So I think for me sewing success is about wearability - part and parcel of that is whether it's been sewn neatly, whether the fit is decent, and whether the fabric / colours / style look good on. I don't require my sewing to look perfect on the inside so long as the imperfections aren't evident to my eye from the outside of the garment, but I don't think I'd be happy wearing noticeably wavy hems or puckered seams - I don't want people to know from 50 paces that what I'm wearing is homemade.  I don't require immaculate fit because I haven't had much experience of it to date, but I expect to get more picky as I become a better seamstress.


I see that the success / fail metric varies a lot across the sewing blogs. Some of us are happy to make something we can wear, but others are really tough on themselves.  Do you think some seamstresses are seeing errors that the rest of us don't even notice??? [That's my hypothesis....] And what about finish? Should RTW be the yardstick for garment finish, or should we be aiming for couture perfection?  I haven't ever seen couture IRL, but my David Coffin trousers book shows there can be couture seams with no finishing - so how does that reconcile with my serger ownership aspirations? Can I still justify one?

Burda dress again

I've made another of those BurdaStyle dresses (10/2010-151) for my daughter, another variant from the same original pattern. My earlier versions are here and here. This one is loose and light, intended for active summer wear but also good for layering with optional fairy wings.

I am really not keen on this fabric - it's a quilting quality cotton that's way too fussy and floral for my usual tastes - but it's the one my daughter selected from a huge (stash) selection. And I suppose it was only ever in there because I'd thought she'd like it.

these colours are true

In this version of the dress I made several changes:

• lengthened the bodice by a few centimetres, 
• significantly narrowed the skirt (fabric constraints...), 
• added in-seam side pockets, 
• added facings for the neckline, and 
• lowered the neckline a little all the way around. 

I also had a go at making this sort of tulip sleeves, but I didn't do a fab job with them. The rolled hem or whatever it's called went quite well but I haven't angled the wrap over steeply enough. Oh well, I'll know better next time - the technique for creating this sort of sleeve certainly works though!

but these tulips don't look quite right, do they!

I'm pretty happy with the rolled hems

 

The Boss is satisfied for the time being.

Burda girl's dress #151, issue 11/2010

On a whim, I made this little dress for my daughter yesterday morning. Obviously the kids were playing together exceptionally nicely; Saturday morning sewing is quite rare in this home.

I only had 0.7m of the fabric (a medium weight textured Japanese cotton from Tessuti fabrics), and my daughter wasn't sure she liked the fabric - but she agreed to suspend judgement.

The dress was really quick to make; the pattern (Burda magazine 11/2010-151) was already traced out from her recent birthday dress - and this sort of cotton is very pleasant and trouble-free to sew.  Some minor modifications: sleeves left off, a narrower skirt with pleats not gathers, an angled patch pocket, and some trim from Lincraft (all around the hemline but only on the front neckline).

Easy peasy lemon squeezy!

Today was a two-party day for my daughter, and with choices including her Tinkerbell dress, a Snow  White dress and her birthday dress, she chose to wear the new blue dress.

Judgement has been passed - it's a success. And worn all the way to bedtime.

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Back onto grownup sewing, I've finished my grey wool trousers but haven't yet taken their pictures, and have started a cheap (hopefully wearable) version of the kimono sleeve Vena Cava dress (V1228).

And I'm mulling over ideas for a colour blocked linem version of this dress, V1074. 

These are the colours I was thinking (and that I have in my stash).  Any thoughts? Would these colours look alright? They remind me of gelati and sunsets. The weather is heating up...
























I don't have enough of any one of these for a whole dress, and probably have only just enough of the pink for the bodice and straps. Your views would be much appreciated.