In Memory of the Projects That Didn't Make It: #1

Not all projects make it to the end. Some are like that bitchy cheerleader who hangs out with the morally upright heroine and who you know is going to be the first to get dragged into the swamp because her skirt is too short.

But today I'm not here to talk about misogyny. Today, I want to remember the projects that could have been great but weren't because of my bad decisions.

Project #1: A Scuba Not

Scuba knit is a pretty cool fabric because it's pretty thick and forgiving, so when I found some at JoAnn I was like, yes please, get in my cart.

I had this Amazing Fit pattern by Simplicity (1653) and the back said to use a 2-way stretch knit. Well scuba knit fits the bill right?

Here it is, one arm and the bottom hem still not finished.

It doesn't look that bad in pics because the pattern is pretty distracting, but let's just say scuba knit doesn't quite drape the way I think you'd want this wrap dress to drape. In fact scuba knit basically doesn't drape -- it doesn't like to be folded or have multiple layers in one area. 

In addition to the drape thing, the Amazing Fit patterns are meant to be fit as you sew and because of that usually start out way too big. As I adjusted, I finally got the wrap part to fit ok, but the layer underneath bunched up because it was wider than the top panel. 

Fun.

When I put the dress on I felt like the marshmallow man. I think each layer added like an inch to my width. 

Artist rendition of me in the dress.

The sleeve style is also terrible in this fabric. 

I abandoned this project because it was clear that fabric was terrible for this style. I kept it around in case I can repurpose the scuba knit for another project, but who knows if that will happen.

What have I learned?

Don't show up to a lightweight knit fight with a scuba knit.

Scuba knit is not suitable for drapey, layered styles. It's probably best for sheath dresses, and simple designs that follow the contours of the body. The only problem with that is that the contours of my body have more lady lumps than a Black Eyed Peas song, so maybe scuba knit just isn't for me.

As for the pattern, I don't know if it's worth giving another try. In theory the wrap is there to distract from squishy areas, but the placement may just be bad for my body.

Plenty more abandoned projects to come. Stay Puft!

My Evil Twin - AKA my Dress Form

When I started sewing more "seriously" - please try to contain your amusement - I decided to get a dress form to help with fitting. 

Dress form sizes are not analogous to clothing store sizes, so a 12-14 is much smaller than my actual body size. However, the dress forms that were closer to my size were more expensive and also I figured it was better to be smaller and then pad it out because I can always remove padding. Also, I'd basically have to pad my hips anyways since I'm a size or two smaller on top.

How to pad out a dress form:

I happened to have an unfinished sheath dress made out of a totally unsuitable fabric (imagine that) that I modified to be my skintight padding form. I believe the pattern was McCall's M6920 and if I remember correctly, the fabric was too flimsy for the shape of the dress and also there were some fitting issues -- the shoulders were set really far apart, etc.

Since the dress has princess seams, I just kept altering it smaller and smaller until it was basically skintight from my waist up and then I kept some ease in the hips so that it was tight when I bent over or squatted. My theory was that this would prevent me from fitting a garment to the dress form and then bending over for the first time and splitting it open like a banana.

You know how industries have evolved over thousands of years and the practitioners refine their best practices based on years of experience?

Maybe it should have occurred to me that I wasn't being innovative and ground breaking when I came up with this idea. If it was a GOOD idea, someone else would have done it long ago.

The main issue with this idea is that knits should fit close to the body and then they stretch when you move. So when I put a knit project on this dress form, it's waaaaay too tight in the hips, which kind of defeats the purpose. Even woven/non-stretch fabrics are a bit too tight on the hips/butt.

And, most disturbingly, every time I look at the dress form I have a moment of terror, like "DEAR LORD ARE MY HIPS AND BUTT REALLY THAT BIG? WHAT IS REALITY?"

But I digress.

I took some batting and wrapped it around the dress form, doubling it around the bust and tripling it in the hips. Then I shimmied the dress over the batting, trying to keep it all in position. Before zipping it up, I adjusted the batting so that it filled out the nooks and crannies of the dress.

As you can see from the pics, there's some sloppy fitting going on to take out all of the ease in the dress. Also, I flipped out the neck facing and pinned it to cover the chest of the dress form a bit more and used the arm hole facing to wrap around and contain the batting. There was also a bit too much ease in the back so I pinned it closed around the zipper.

To finish it off, I gathered the extra skirt length around the pole and secured it with a rubber band.

Maybe one day I'll alter the dress to be an accurate representation of my hips, but until then it works just fine to help with bodice fitting. It's also helpful when tissue fitting to at least get a rough idea of how much ease I'm going to have in the hips.

Just for giggles, I went on Amazon to see what a dress form in my size would cost. Seems like $300-$400, minimum. No way, Jose. I'm way too bad at sewing to spend that kind of money on wasting less money on failed projects.

Eine Kleine Nap Sewing

Yay! It's Saturday!

My husband wasn't feeling well today so I thought I'd take my toddler to JoAnn's for a quick trip to pick up some fabric for a quilt I'm going to make for her room. Unfortunately my toddler didn't want to put her clothes on so I was forced to leave her at home with my sick husband while I went off to the Place I Have Never Spent Less Than 2 Hours In.

Reader, I was there 3 hours.

In my defense, I figured my toddler -- henceforth to be referred to as Below Average Toddler... just kidding! Henceforth referred to as Above Average Toddler (AAT) (because my child is a veritable GENIUS!)

Ahem.

In my defense, I figured AAT would take a nap shortly after I left.

My husband texted me 2 hours and 45 minutes after I left.

No big deal. I would just finish up getting my 8 carefully-chosen bolts of fabric cut by someone who might have just learned how scissors work and quickly get home and be a responsible mother.

I got home, fed AAT 2 frozen Gogurts because she asked for them and I can't say no to that little face, and then lulled her to sleep by putting her to bed in a dark, quiet room.

Whew. Finally some ME time!

For my nap-time project, I selected a georgette from JoAnn called "Silky Prints Floral Black Red Blue" and Butterick pattern B6378.

I selected the A view, but when I asked myself, "Self, what about that bow thing?" I replied, "Not today, Satan."

I spent way too long on this graphic.

Nothing against bows, I just don't need anything to distract from my collarbones, such as they are.

I also chose the back that was longer than the front panel and went with the slits from the D view.

Project Cost So Far:

Pattern: $1.99 (on sale)

Fabric: $5.00 (I think I got a remnant and it was priced weird, but I think it was 40% off $9.99 *  2 yards)

Thread: Leftover from another project 

Years of sewing lessons my parents paid for: Priceless

Total: $6.99 + eternal gratitude for my parents 

Sountrack:

First: My Favorite Murder Podcast 

Second: "Mom Music" Playlist

Time to Complete:

One AAT Nap = 3 hours

Sewing Mistakes I Knew I Was Making:

Mistake #1

I cut my sleeves extra wide and long.

This was an intentional mistake that could have gone either way. I'm pleased to say it worked out for the best.

I have the arms of my people, which is to say I have the upper arms of generations of potato farmers. Sleeves tend to be tight on me and I have never quite figured out how to adjust for this when sewing from patterns. I've watched some pattern adjustment tutorials online but this blog is called Below Average Sewing for a reason.

What I did was add about an extra inch to each side of the sleeve to leave a bit of room for Potato Farm Arm and then cut the length at the shorten/lengthen line for the long sleeve version instead of the short sleeve line. 

Who could guess how this would impact the rest of the project? Not I.

I also didn't actually cut into the sleeve's length on the pattern on the off-chance that I would repeat this pattern in the long sleeve version.

Mistake #2:

I didn't read the directions carefully and when I was attaching the facing to the neckline I sewed all the way around instead of just in the v-neck.

Look pattern makers, if you want someone to understand how to do this stuff you really should include clear...

Never mind.

Mistake #3:

I didn't use interfacing on the neck facing because I'm lazy and never get around to buying it and sorry not sorry.

Mistake #4:

The fabric was sort of a mistake. It actually is sort of nice in the finished garment in that the weight and draping is appropriate, but it was very delicate and when you're undoing seams multiple times you can realllly tell on this fabric.

It's also already unravelling. I suppose I should encase them or bind them with a zig zag stitch if I want this garment to last for more than 1 wear.

Moment of Truth: The finished result

Self Q&A

What the heck is under that shirt on the mannequin?

A dress in progress, of course!

Why didn't you take it off the mannequin before taking the picture?

Why, indeed.

So how did that sleeve adjustment work out?

When I put the sleeves on I lined up the notches and just shifted the armpit area down an inch or so, starting from the notches. It seemed to work just fine to accommodate the extra width on the ends.

Ratings:

How the finished garment looks on me: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭒

It fits and is pretty comfortable. I wouldn't do jumping jacks in it because I'd probably pull a Hulk, but it's pretty floaty otherwise. The fabric, side slit, and longer back combination is pretty flattering and forgiving of my "childbearing hips" and "never lost the baby weight" tummy. It doesn't exactly accentuate my waistline, but one garment can only do so much. The gathering at the shoulders does a nice job of giving the boob area some definition without darts.

Pattern: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The pattern was clearly explained and the difficulty level was easy. I appreciate such things in a pattern.

Was this project a mistake overall?

No. 

I'm still below average but I'm getting better at choosing patterns that will work for my body and choosing fabrics that are appropriate for the pattern. I am proud that I made some good modifications that worked out and only had to pull out the seam ripper twice.

Thanks for following along on this adventure! Although we made it to our destination this time, this is the Below Average Sewer so a sewing 10-car pile-up is just around the corner.