{"id":484,"date":"2009-12-31T08:36:30","date_gmt":"2009-12-30T21:36:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ginevra.org\/blog\/?p=484"},"modified":"2019-06-16T10:58:34","modified_gmt":"2019-06-16T00:58:34","slug":"why-i-dont-sew-my-own-clothing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ginevra.org\/blog\/why-i-dont-sew-my-own-clothing\/","title":{"rendered":"Why I don’t sew my own clothing"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Dress\"Yes, that’s a photo of me in a dress I sewed for myself (burda 07-2009-132).  I wore it at my sister-in-law’s wedding. And only 2 weeks before, I’d sewn a dress and worn it for her hen’s night.<\/p>\n

Sudden productivity. It’s been a long time coming.<\/p>\n

The backstory<\/h3>\n

You see, in 2007, I decided I wanted to sew my own clothes. Started collecting burda magazine<\/a>. Didn’t sew anything, spent the year reading about sewing. That’s OK: I’m a read-everything-before-I-start type person.<\/p>\n

In 2008, I made my first skirt<\/a> and a couple of tops. A little too big, interfacing a little too stiff. And, admittedly, rather too complex patterns for a first-timer. An eight-piece pattern, top-stitching, self-drafted cowls. Asking a bit much of myself.<\/p>\n

Then we moved to Tokyo. I thought I’d sew there<\/a>, but really, I was too busy going out, exploring, trying to interact (and cope)…<\/p>\n

And 2009? We came home. And? Nothing. I’m not generally lazy, so what’s stopping me sewing?<\/p>\n

Shopping vs. sewing<\/h3>\n

OK, suppose you go into a shop, looking for clothes. You’re thinking whether the clothes will fit, look good on you, and be appropriate for the occasion. I mean, you usually know you want something for work, or something for a party, something for the beach…<\/p>\n

Fit? Well, you know whether something fits or not once you get into the changeroom. And flatter? By now, I know what I think looks good on me. I mean, if it makes me feel ugh, there’s no point, is there?<\/p>\n

So in a shop, you spend most of your time thinking about the occasion. Who else will be there? What will they wear? If I wear this, what will they think of me? Do I want them to think of me like that? It’s complicated. It takes a lot of thought, but in the end you can decide. Sure, budget’s always a factor. The rest of your wardrobe might be a factor too, if your wardrobe’s bigger than mine!<\/p>\n

Why is sewing so hard?<\/h3>\n

I don’t mean sewing is difficult: it takes practice, but I’ll improve. What I mean is, mentally.<\/p>\n

There’s no fitting room. Sure, I can measure, “tissue-fit” (hold the pattern up to me) but, well, I’ve still made plenty of mistakes. I’m never sure what I sew will fit. And flatter me? Even reliable looks for me: V-neck, fitted top with an A-line skirt… well, it turned out horrible. I’ve never shown you. Sure, I can analyse why: I’d simply never tried on a dress like that before. So two issues that are easy to eliminate when you’re shopping, they’re unknowns, right until I’ve completely finished my sewing.<\/p>\n

Then the occasion. Yes, that’s still a worry. Particularly weddings, you know?<\/p>\n

Plus, there’s the guilt. It’s nice fabric, will I ruin it? Is this the best use for it? Should I save it for something else?<\/p>\n

And the decision paralysis. I mean, theoretically, I could make anything I want. I’ve collected burdas since 2007, that’s roughly, umm, 1440 patterns? In various sizes: no, don’t even get me started on sizes and the possibilities of grading! Or I could try to draft my own…<\/p>\n

And that’s why I wasn’t sewing. Too much thinking. Too many worries.<\/p>\n

How I solved my problem<\/h3>\n

I bought the fabric specially. Silk, usually an expensive fabric, but cheap if you sew your own.<\/p>\n

I gave myself 3 days to worry, to re-decide a thousand times.<\/p>\n

And then I said to myself: I’ll stop. The deadline for worrying has passed. It’s time to focus on making the tracing accurate, the cutting neat and the sewing right.<\/p>\n

And so that’s what I did. Focused. And finished.
\n(Even though I’d picked the wrong size and had to design extra side panels, hah!)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yes, that’s a photo of me in a dress I sewed for myself (burda 07-2009-132).  I wore it at my sister-in-law’s wedding. And only 2 weeks before, I’d sewn a dress and worn it for her hen’s night. Sudden productivity. It’s been a long time coming. The backstory You see, in 2007, I decided I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-484","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sewn"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t