Some time ago I decided to learn how to make my own clothes. As expected, it goes really slowly. I'm not exactly a woman that just sits down and get things done even when I know exactly how (just look at the frequency of this blog's updates...) so obviously when I'm in an uncharted territory the relatively simple things can take ages to complete. This dress was supposed to be a Christmas gift for my sister. It ended up as an Easter one. The fact that my sewing machine broke twice (or actually just once but it wasn't properly fixed the first time so the problem returned really quickly) didn't exactly speed things up but let's be honest, I can't blame more than one week of the delay on it. All the rest was just me being overwhelmed by the fact that I'm trying to transform a piece of fabric into a wearable item.
Well, I cannot tell if it is more of a success or a failure. It's not horrible and my sis is able to put it on, but it's not pretty or comfortable either. There are many flaws and there's no way she's going to actually wear it. She just slips into it for an hour or so if there's a party at our place to say half-proudly, half-amusedly 'look, my sister made me a dress!' Luckily, both of us are quite happy with that. I, for one thing, learned a lot. Which is why I'm writing about it at all. It's great if I managed to show-off a bit and even better if I made you laugh, but my main purpose is to share some of my experience. I don't know if there are many people who have even less experience than me and still attempt to sew, but there's no harm in posting it anyway.
1. Cut generously
I was sure that two extra centimetres will be enough for the seams. Maybe it would've been if I was a pro and had all pieces flawlessly cut according to a pattern. But I didn't. I followed a crude sketch I had made myself based on a rough idea of how it all should come together. I planned to just tack it, make my sister try it on, make adjustments, and just repeat the whole process until it fits. It wasn't a bad plan but for it to really work I needed those few additional centimetres. And more patience but that's another story.
To sum it up: if you're learning don't underestimate how much extra fabric you're going to need. And when you're learning AND improvising, double that. You can learn to be more economical later. It's really less of a waste to use more fabric than necessary than to end up with an item that is too tight and unwearable.
I was sure that two extra centimetres will be enough for the seams. Maybe it would've been if I was a pro and had all pieces flawlessly cut according to a pattern. But I didn't. I followed a crude sketch I had made myself based on a rough idea of how it all should come together. I planned to just tack it, make my sister try it on, make adjustments, and just repeat the whole process until it fits. It wasn't a bad plan but for it to really work I needed those few additional centimetres. And more patience but that's another story.
To sum it up: if you're learning don't underestimate how much extra fabric you're going to need. And when you're learning AND improvising, double that. You can learn to be more economical later. It's really less of a waste to use more fabric than necessary than to end up with an item that is too tight and unwearable.
2. Align with care
This project was too ambitious for many reasons. One of them was that orange stripe at the waist because it's really visible how the back and front don't meet the way they should. There's like 2-3 millimetre difference in where the orange starts and it's quite frustrating. It could have been avoided had I tacked the final version once more and made sure everything is in place. 2mm is really not that much of a mistake when you measure with a soft tape but it's actually quite a lot on a finished garment.
This project was too ambitious for many reasons. One of them was that orange stripe at the waist because it's really visible how the back and front don't meet the way they should. There's like 2-3 millimetre difference in where the orange starts and it's quite frustrating. It could have been avoided had I tacked the final version once more and made sure everything is in place. 2mm is really not that much of a mistake when you measure with a soft tape but it's actually quite a lot on a finished garment.
3. Mind the fabric type
This is probably the most important thing I've learned. After all the other two weren't exactly a revelation, I simply lacked practice and didn't appreciate how careful I should be. But this one is something I didn't realise I should watch out for until I screwed it up. The thing is, different fabrics have different physical properties and therefore serve different purposes. It should be obvious but somehow I didn't realise what a disaster it can be to use a wrong type of fabric.
Those orange details, you see, were meant to be the highlight of the dress and it may seem in the photos that the plan worked. But in reality, it didn't. In reality, they've ruined the dress. Or rather I've ruined with them. Because it's not the fabric I should have used. It's heavy and very elastic with practically no stretch and it's great for pants and skirts. As a matter fact, I did make a skirt out of it and I was all happy with how it doesn't wrinkle... Then I decided to use the leftovers to liven up that dress without thinking that if it doesn't wrinkle I won't be able to shape it with an iron as well. I believe I've learned my lesson and from now on I will remember to use something thin and non-elastic for details, especially curved ones.
So that's it for now. I'm currently working on a blouse. I'll share my experience regardless of the outcome but if it is a success I might publish the pattern too.
P.S. I'll share project #1 and #2 if I make more clothes of the same kind.
This is probably the most important thing I've learned. After all the other two weren't exactly a revelation, I simply lacked practice and didn't appreciate how careful I should be. But this one is something I didn't realise I should watch out for until I screwed it up. The thing is, different fabrics have different physical properties and therefore serve different purposes. It should be obvious but somehow I didn't realise what a disaster it can be to use a wrong type of fabric.
Those orange details, you see, were meant to be the highlight of the dress and it may seem in the photos that the plan worked. But in reality, it didn't. In reality, they've ruined the dress. Or rather I've ruined with them. Because it's not the fabric I should have used. It's heavy and very elastic with practically no stretch and it's great for pants and skirts. As a matter fact, I did make a skirt out of it and I was all happy with how it doesn't wrinkle... Then I decided to use the leftovers to liven up that dress without thinking that if it doesn't wrinkle I won't be able to shape it with an iron as well. I believe I've learned my lesson and from now on I will remember to use something thin and non-elastic for details, especially curved ones.
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| Here you can see how badly the zipper looks but I have no heart to elaborate on that... |
So that's it for now. I'm currently working on a blouse. I'll share my experience regardless of the outcome but if it is a success I might publish the pattern too.
P.S. I'll share project #1 and #2 if I make more clothes of the same kind.
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