Diving into sewing

[breakinglight11]

So I have decided to dive right in and try to sew something. I am attempting to make a "full, gathered skirt" as directed here by my new hero Gertie of Gertie's New Blog for Better Sewing. I am doing several silly things on this project. The first is that though I should probably wait for my mom to send me her sewing machine, which would make this worlds quicker and easier, I am too excited and feel like diving right in, so I will be doing it by hand. I like hand-stitching, so it might be fun. Secondly, it's probably too nice a fabric to waste on what will likely be a distrous early attempt, but it was so pretty, and on massive sale, so oh, well.

 

Here is the piece I cut for the body of the skirt, just a large rectangle that will be gathered into a waistband at the top and wide at the bottom. I'm hoping that the way the fabric holds its shape will make for a nice full silhouette.

I am mentally preparing myself for my first attempt to be a mess. Sewing, after all, is actually quite hard to get good at. I remember when I was in the Natick Mall with my parents this past weekend we looked at the display of outfits made by local fashion design students. Some of the designs were interesting, but I was struck by how amateurish the construction of the garments was. I commented to my mother, "My friends captainecchi and electric_d_monk's work is way better." Shouldn't design students, I thought, be good at sewing? But it occurred to me then that they probably have only beeing sewing as long as they've been designing. They're probably only paying their dues hoping that they'll be able to get into a position where they don't have to do their own sewing. It just shows that sewing is hard to get good at, so it won't happen unless you're really working at it.

As a side note, "sew" is one of those words that I never pronounce properly in my head; the misleading spelling just really dug into me for some reason. Somehow I always manage to say it correctly, but when I read it in my head it always sounds like "soo." 

Comments

[lisefrac.livejournal.com]

Predictably, I find myself having a lot to say in response to this post!

First of all: how did I miss that Gertie post? What a great idea to make a simple first skirt! I should totally do this to make some contradance skirts!

Second: While I'm flattered by what you have to say about my sewing skills, alas, I have to agree that fashion design is not about the sewing. They don't usually have to wear what they design, and all they're doing is building a prototype that will look good on models who are selected to look as much like a coat hanger as possible :) Have you ever watched Project Runway? It's a good look at what they do. You can put a dress together with safety pins and nail glue for the runway, and I suspect designers often do ;)

[valleyviolet.livejournal.com]

A really good design student will learn to sew properly. If they don't they don't have a future in the fashion world. I would cut them a little slack in that those projects may have been very rush (but not a lot of slack :/ ).

Sewing is not all that hard to get good at, it's just a matter of being willing to learn and lots of practice. Much like carpentry or plumbing it's partly an intellectual skill (understanding the materials and techniques) and partly a physical skill (using the tools). There's a near infinite number of materials and techniques you could be using, so most people can improve all their lives, even once they reach a minimal level of proficiency. What really separates the ok from the great is the desire to learn and dedication to getting it right.

No individual skill is hard, just be patient with yourself and don't get upset when some of your early works don't turn out to your high standards. Every project will get better. :)

[arthoniel.livejournal.com]

Ohh, sewing. If it makes you feel any better, I do a fair amount of sewing myself, and I do it all by hand. (In all fairness, that one's entirely on me- the first time I tried to use a sewing machiene, I totally freaked out, got convinced I was going to sew myself to my fabric, and... well, I never actually learned, so I just do it all by hand.)

That being said, once you get a hang of what you're doing, sewing is actually fairly easy! You just need the basics - how to knot the thread, a simple stitch, and how to tie off your thread at the end - and you're pretty much set!

I want to ask though... that fabric you're using looks almost shiny. Are you using satin or silk?

[breakinglight11.livejournal.com]

We should sew together sometime! And to answer your question, it is silk dupioni. :-)

[arthoniel.livejournal.com]

Oh, absolutely! I've needed time, while at school, to be able to just sit down and get some sewing work done. XD

And be careful with silk... I don't want to give advice when you're not asking for it, but I've had a hard time working with it. It's difficult for beginning sewers. Not at all impossible! It's just annoying sometimes. Just sayin'.