 |
To view in browser click here.
June 24, 2022
How is the quality of your work?
Sometimes we have a tendency, and I fall into this category, that we'll shave corners, or we'll not put the extra effort into a seam or sewing technique to make it a little easier or simpler. We know how to do a technique and how to make it look excellent but for one reason or another, we'll simply not take that extra effort to do it as well as we possibly can.
Time, energy level, or simply the time of day can affect how we may accomplish our level of excellence. Even having taken the seam out repeatedly will discourage us from making that extra effort to make the garment as well as we possibly can.
 I'd like to argue against that on several counts, but the most important one is that you are the most excellent person you sew for, therefore you deserve excellence in your work or at the very least the best you can do.
 Another argument for this excellence in your work is that you will wear it forever. There's a durability built in to the work that has excellence written all over it. But there's an added benefit here too, and that is the immense satisfaction and joy you have when wearing the garment
knowing how well you worked toward problem-solving.
Now this may sound rather severe - not to finish a garment till everything is excellent about the garment, but it's actually not severe at all. It's the process of qualifying your work to a standard that meets what you expect.
As sewists, we know a lot more about how clothes are constructed - more in fact than the huge majority of clothing consumers. As a result, we know what a good seam looks like, what a good dart looks like and what a well-made garment looks like. If we let our techniques and work slide into mediocre work (that is more indicative of RTW), then we allow ourselves less than what we know we are capable of.
Things like matching plaids and prints in seams or center front/center back closures, crisply turned corners or turns in the garment and this includes double-ended darts that require clipping so that the curve in the dart lays flatly.
Of course a major part of this is pressing which gives a dramatically professional appearance to a garment.
 Even something as simple as a matched stripe in a collar, or using enormous buttons, but instead of button holes, they are slits in a placket front. Executed well, can mean a classic garment.
Not only should this inspire you to more creative solutions to your problems, but inspire you to make those solutions as well-built and finely executed to meet the professionalism that you know in quality garment construction.
Of course, this quality level is far and above anything you can purchase, and although the garment usually doesn't scream well-constructed, there is an element that can not be ignored in first-rate execution. It's plainly evident as the sky is blue and the night is dark. First-rate construction can not be hidden.
The degrees that I use to give me good boundaries for fine quality, and to prevent me from becoming obsessed with this are fairly basic. If I know the difference then that's when I need to fix the problem.
At the same time, this isn't a chance to be obsessive. Even in fitting, the most glaring fitting problem is essential to fix, as is usually the secondary, tertiary and on. However when you get down to the 8th or 9th most glaring problem, it's probably time to quit. As my mentor used to say, "No one is going to notice on a galloping horse!" That's of course a joke, but here's the real comparison, if most of the consumers consider RTW okay to
wear, then your 8th or 9th most glaring problem is going to look so minor, that it's really time to declare the garment finished and start wearing it.
Like anything we do in life - too much one way (sloppy or irregular work) is just as bad as too much the other way (delving into 14th and 15th most glaring problem in a garment). The median is what is where the real excellence and beauty lay.
And here's the thing, after you've worn it a couple of times, and that "glaring problems" still bothers you, there's nothing wrong with bring it back into the sewing space and correcting it to your liking.
This is about the joy and the pleasure that the garment gives you from the excellence and fine work that has gone into your garment. It's also an element that can not be purchase - well it can for tens of thousands (if not hundreds of thousands) from well know design houses.
So here's my permission to give yourself the gift of excellence and satisfaction in appreciating your fine excellence.
This is a beginning guide on what to do with your core pattern after you have fitted and worked on it.
All the work that you have done in your core pattern contains all the information to make a garment that you will totally love. This means you really don't have to buy another pattern for making skirts, pants or leggings. Variations on your core pattern makes it possible for you to have the styles you see in a photo or on Pinterest without having to look for the pattern that looks like it might work. You can now simply trace it onto your core pattern and
you're done.
This resource also contains some other important resources at huge discount because they are so important to this creative process of varying your core pattern. It also contains some downloads that aren't available in the Resource Library at all, but are vital toward making good design.
In this world of crazy, illogical fashion, we sewists are having to turn into designers. That sounds really hard and foreboding, but it's not. Unlike designers, we simply haven't had all the experience they have, most of that experience they got when they went to design school. More than anything I wanted to make this process encouraging, empowering and enlightening without having to worry about whether or not you could vary your core pattern.
You can! It isn't that hard. It is knowing some guidelines and charging out into the unknown. That's what we sewists do and we do it very well most of the time.
This is the beginning of the series into variations on core patterns. I wanted to start with something basic, so that you wouldn't feel so intimidated. It takes a while to write these up, cause I'm an idea factory, and coordinating and organizing these ideas can be monumental with the sewing muse yacking in my ear 24/7.
The resource is available now at a discount so that you can enjoy it before spring starts in full force. Right now, I'm thinking happy, colorful and pretty. Those are all fresh looks for future clothes. When things seem upside down, it's great to have something to make us happy and often bright, springtime and summertime fabrics are just as much as drab, dark and somber fabrics. I'm ready to be beautiful, comfortable and look flattering in my clothes and
I'm dying to share that with you.
Skirts, Core Pattern Variations, Part 1 (but there's more than skirts in here)
On the Blog
|
|
|
We may think that the models on the runway are all bone-thin, and they are, but how close are they ...
|
|
|
|
The Met Gala is the creation of Anna Wintour, chief editor of Vogue US, and she manages to outdo herself ...
|
|
|
|
I wrote this about 10 years ago but since then I've changed IT folks twice, changed hosting services, had my ...
|
To view in browser (so all images can be seen) or past emails or in your browser click here.
NOTE: Some email clients, software and web sites, do not allow pictures because they can contain nasty worms and viruses - ICK! So they will by default block you from seeing the pictures. This is a security measure from your email. I can't change that cause that means I would have to get inside your computer and mess with your security which you don't want! So you can do two things: 1.) you can disable your image blocker and that will
depend upon your software. You can Google it to see how to do that for your specific email. 2.) You can view it in your browser which is equipped to handle the nasties that might be in pictures. To do that you can click here to enjoy the full email with pictures!!
To talk about a sewing problem, a style quandary or size situation one on one with Claire, click here.
We respect your email privacy.
|
|
|
|
