Dealing With Problems

May 23, 2025

The very nature of sewing is to ask for problems.  I don't like that word  because it sounds like something bad and should be avoided at all costs.  The idea of being an artist is to ask for situations requiring solving. 

So tonight, Walt and I are up here in Yellowstone and enjoying it.  It's lovely, but we encountered a big RV problem. The springs broke, and I know nothing about springs on an RV or in a heavy towable.  So I thought it was just a slinky stretched out to make the ride easier.  What do I know? 

Springs schlings - I have no idea what this is supposed to look like but apparently not like this:

Part of the broken spring is hanging down.  This comes from going over too rough roads or roads with too many potholes.  

So, come to find out, they are a very important part, and they keep the trailer from getting excess damage to the axle and the wheels and all that kind of stuff. It's all kind of connected together, and it's technical and mechanical, and I don't know if it's above my pay grade. I can't possibly get into any solution for this, so I don't even know how to try.

So I watched Walt go to work and learn how to fix this, and he set out to figure out what was the matter, even though he didn't recognize it at first, then investigated what needed to be fixed.  Then figured out he couldn't do it on his own. So he contacted resources to find out who could fix it, and then he interviewed and worked through the list of people he had acquired to figure out who would be the best at fixing the problem.   This reminded me how to solve problems when I'm sewing and run into problems.  
 

1.  Identify the Issue -  Assess the Problem - get it out of your head.  Often, simply talking about the problem instead of getting frustrated or thinking, "Oh no, not again," goes to a more useful mindset: "OK, this time I'm going to work through this problem cause I have the time to mess with this now."
2.  Review the Pattern - Folks, I have to tell you I've seen many pattern mistakes, including designer patterns by Claire Shaeffer and Sandra Betzina, who would die if they knew their pattern had such simple mistakes, but there they are.  Do it in muslin if it's a new, advanced, or medium-difficult pattern.  Yes, it takes more time, and that's one of the prerequisites I recommend for my students - six months or a year isn't too soon to start working on a problematic pattern.  It gives you time and allows for mistakes and corrections. 
   
   I also recommend StyleArc and Jalie patterns.  These are consistently the best patterns you can buy. They are sized for almost any size.  StyleArc is starting to do this with all their patterns so that you can have sizes 4 to 40 on one paper.  You may think that's confusing, but it can be invaluable.  I wear a size 10 shoulder, a size 12 bust, a size 8 waist, and a size 14 hip.  I can trace off my pattern in the sizes I want, and be close to the size I need.  
3.  Inspect Tools and Equipment—Check the Machine. I have a Bernina from one of the top shops in the country that sells Berninas. They have a fabulous tech department, and all their staff are trained on the machines and what they can do.  They also have classes on their machines.  This is one reason I recommend you buy the shop, not the machine.  Pfaff, Husqvarna, and Bernina are all the top machines.  But if you get your machine off the internet or from Amazon, who will give you tech support?...who's going to fix your machine?  How useful is a machine that doesn't have service and training?  I'm incredibly spoiled and I know it.  I usually call the shop and say that my machine is leaning on the side, skipping a stitch, or not working right, and one of the techs gets on the phone and tells me to try this or that, and boom, I'm back sewing.  I'm also famous for making mistakes, not having the right setting, or some simple thing, and suddenly I'm telling myself, "Oh, OK - never mind then!!!!"
   
   Knowing your machine and your tech help people is probably the most important part of having working equipment.
4.  Test and Adjust and Practice - Practice, practice, practice then play.  Even if I'm doing something I haven't done in a while - like buttonholes - not too many of those in bridal wear.  I will practice a few to begin with to hone my skills and work through any problems, and then sew for real.  Often in the practice phase, I can adjust to exactly what I want and then test it again, and see if it works and has the look I'm after.  
5. Seek Solutions - Troubleshoot Common Issues: Machine, Pattern, Techniques, Resources - Don't be afraid to work through common or repetitive problems with your machine, techniques, patterns, and resources.  And don't be scared to chuck one if it doesn't work to your standard.  I have yet to make a recipe of jam or preserves with pectin that thickens the jam or preserves, till I made some in my bread machine.  Yeah, I know.  Who woulda thought?!  But dang, it works every time.  And sometimes a pattern/fabric match does not work.  Don't be afraid to learn from it; if it doesn't work, that's it.  I recently made a jacket in the most delicious salmon, which is perfect for me. I was so excited about finding the ideal salmon color, but it was a stretchier ponte than what I had been sewing my jackets with, and by the time I finished it, the hang and the drape were blah. The part I tailored was lost on the poor drape of the jacket.  I could have gone through, taken it apart, and backed the whole thing, but I found another piece of ponte that was far better, so in the trash, the blah piece went.  Don't be afraid to throw away a mistake.  I firmly believe that mistakes you hang on to bring bad karma, and I want their bad karma out of my home and studio. 
6. Implement and Evaluate - The story of the salmon jacket should go here too, to work with the new ponte, and then see the results, will be the step here.  
7. Learn and Prevent - if there is one thing I can tell you here, do not be afraid to learn, or do not think you can't learn.  Don't be guilty, ashamed, stupid, or otherwise downtrodden because you don't know everything.  None of us popped out of our mamas' wombs knowing everything or anything, for that matter.  We all had to learn it.  Those who aren't afraid of learning can move mountains.  OK - so you don't know how to do pad-stitching on a collar: You can learn.  And you don't know how to create a complicated pattern, you can learn.  If you don't know how to operate a new sewing machine, you can learn.  Once you know your brain isn't  a fixed piece of machinery subject to updates and downloads, before you can handle the new program or project, you realize you can learn.  That opens up a whole world to you.
    

If there is one thing that you can learn from these newsletters and me, it's hopefully that you can do anything you want, as long as you don't stop yourself.  It's the stopping yourself that will prevent you from learning.  My job as a teacher, mentor, and instructor is to push you and continually push you so that you will learn more and more.  You will accomplish more and more.  I remember with my mentor when I finally realized that there wasn't a garment I couldn't make.  That is a most freeing and exciting feeling.  

That freedom and excitement are what I hope to pass on to you.  

The SewingArtistry Resource Library is designed to contain information to not only make your sewing better, but to aid in you fitting and flattering your shape, size and style.  Check it out. 

Look for future classes coming in 2024
The Core Pattern Shirt, (one of my favorites for woven core pattern that you can make into a myriad of different garments), 
Basic Knit Top (core pattern class for knit basic tops, shells, tees, dresses, and tunics)
 

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