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August 27, 2021
I'm at my friend's home as she's having surgery this week - long surgery, and she needed someone to come stay with her. We've been through thick and thin with each other and this was a no-brainer. But while she's recovering (which will mostly her under drugs to rest and sleep, so really there's not much for me to do except be here) I've brought a lot of sewing to catch up on. This is almost like a sew-cation for me. Something I rarely
get. She has a beautiful sewing area, so it's easy for me to step right in and make myself at home.
The amazing thing is that I brought a few things that have needed attention for a while, mostly mistakes. Yes, that's right, I make mistakes and I have made some doozies in my day (and this mistake fits into the category of a "doozie of a mistake! " But right now the emergency that I have needed to take care of in a while is that somehow my woven core has gotten out of whack and I really need to fix it.
What happened is that I was cleaning out - yeah, we've all been there and I'm sure you can hear the rest of the sentence....I threw away my original core pattern. I was thinking it was a duplicate of a variation, but didn't check for sure, and poof - it's in the city dump, only now it's probably disintegrated into a 1000 pieces.
This really isn't that hard. I have the base of the pattern - height, bust height, shoulders, sleeves are good, waist height, good length and overall, the pattern works. What doesn't work is the center front and center back locations that seem to be all over the place with each pattern I make. This is very frustrating and confusing and I need to simply make a new pattern, enshrine it in gold and not throw the dang thing away.
Problems, Frustrations, Mistakes and Failures.
We are human will make mistakes and the best we can do about them is to correct what we can, make do the best we can, and throw away what we can't fix. That's why we pay attention to older people when they teach or give advice. They've been through some problems and worked through them. Here's some of the thinking and problem-solving techniques I've worked through to get to success.
The more you do, the more mistakes you will make. This is the law of averages. No matter how excellent, experienced and empowered you may be, there will always be mistakes. Realizing that and being gentle with yourself about your mistakes, allows you to recover from them faster. That's important cause there's nothing that takes the desire to find a solution away faster than being hard on yourself for making inevitable mistakes. This gets you into the
problem-solving mode much faster.
*****
Being tired, pressed for time, and otherwise nervous are not good times to seek solutions to your problems. And believe me, I've been on those scary deadlines that would turn the staunchest pro pale. And in the middle of that made a huge mistake.
- The first thing I do is walk away.
- The next thing is to sit, stretch and breathe, even if it's for a couple of minutes. This does wonders for your disposition.
- The next thing after that is to calm myself.
- Then work at what's happened, how much to undo the mistake, then how much to redo it correctly, and think about my timeline. If I don't have an immediately deadline, then I get some rest, a power-nap, or time to go to bed for the day (an no 4pm is not a good time to go to bed for the day!😁 )
*****
I always have a plan B! This doesn't include my customers. Although when we went through the "hanging chad" presidential election, I had several contracts for inauguration gowns if one candidate won, and another set for the other candidate. What I did was sit down with all my customers and personally prioritized the ones who really needed a new gown, and those who had something in their closet that would work, albeit they would have liked something new, but
I wouldn't have time for all of them. We had a plan B for each client and although I lost a bunch of contracts that year, I gained the respect of my clients because I actually sat down personally and talked with each one, and they understood I was in a bind not of my choosing.
For me, I will always have a back-up plan so that if something goes wrong or time runs out, I have a plan of something to wear that works. Inevitably, when I have an important family event that I want and need something new to wear, I will get a line of clients who need something, and work getting their contracts finished, while I'm left wearing plan B, but at least I have a plan B!
*****
I don't keep mistakes around. If I find that it's beyond repair, even if I know the solution to the problem. The solution might be horrendously time-consuming or obvious, and I might be able to complete the solution at a later date, I might keep it for a short period of time, but most often I throw it away.
The reason is because it's a constant reminder of a mistake, and this brings on the guilt of making the mistake, the guilt of not fixing it, the guilt of procrastination of fixing of the mistake, and this is a black hole that works on itself and does nothing but compound onto the bad feelings of making the original mistake, with added guilt. And no one needs that - ever!
*****
Mistakes are as much a part of life as breathing. Mistakes are simply how we learn and go ahead. We are a little like the mice in the maze, going from one trail to another to find that cheese at the solution to the maze. Only difference is that our problems are much more complicated, but then we have a much more superior reasoning force to solve those problems.
There are some very great people who have walked this planet, who have made some colossal mistakes. Churchill, who is credited for saving Western Civilization from the Third Reich and the Empire of the Rising Sun, had suffered humiliating and horrible failure.
As he took the realm of PM he watched in the first 30 days of his administration, the fall of the Maginot Line, the fall of Paris, and the fall of Dunkirk. He had to feel he was stepping into another failure, but that's not what happened. That's why most of Churchill's famous quotes are from this period. Here are two:
Here are some other wonderful quotes that stand the test of time.
These are all world-reknown historical figures, but think about this:
- How many times did Chanel have to make up her famous jacket before she got it right?
- How many variations did Dior have to work through before he got the famous Bar Suit?
- How many suits did Yves St. Laurent have to design before he got the "Le Smoking" jacket right?
The truth is that we really don't know. But there's not an artist, designer, or historian out there that will tell you it was easy, on the first try, or very simple. You are most likely not inventing a new look or new style, but anything new to you, is always fraught with problems. So if these big-shots have the same thing, just consider yourself in great company!
In the meantime, I'll post a photo of my corrected core pattern!
This is the quintessential toolbox for the wannabe designer, and you don't even have to draw to use them. All you have to do is trace. That may sound just a little too far-fetched, but believe me, not all designers can draw, and most of them do not sew. So you are one up on most designers.
This package includes a lot:
Elements & Principles of Design w/Color
Proportion (Divine and Rule of Thirds) and Apex Point Fitting
and something new:
 Sketching - taking the idea to sketch, to pattern to garment and yes, you can do that. It's not that hard. There are a lot of steps, but this is the final part of the whole package of creating something especially for yourself.
You know all those pictures on Pinterest or pinned in your studio or on your bathroom mirror?...those ones you know you would look smashing in if...1.) you could find the right pattern, 2.) you might be able to find it in RTW, but to fit you would be a problem or 3.) you've always wanted to create a look or certain collar or fabulous sleeve or some other detail and never knew how. Here's how to do that.
This does require that you have your core pattern up and running. That's what the whole pattern will be based on and it is what makes all this work so well. Whereas commercial pattern makers and designers have to go through 5 to 8 iterations to get it right, with your core pattern, we already know it works, and what we're doing is copying that to make the style you want.
If you already have only one of the above, then you have the opportunity here to bring your toolbox up to date by acquiring the only what you need at a discounted price. The Sketching Resource is the only one that's new that no one has before this month.
At the same time if you want the whole kit and caboodle, it's at an even greater discount than normal. Here's everything with the whole kit and caboodle at the bottom!
Enjoy!
Elements & Principles of Design with Color Primer - This is what art and design students learn in art school. The only difference between them and you is that they have the time to play around with them. But we can do the same, albeit a little less time.
Fitting with Proportion and Figure-Flattering Tools
(This one comes in two parts)
Sketching - From Idea to Garment
The Design Toolbox - All Three Resources above in one download at a terrific price.
Once this special is over, the Sketching will go into both the Proportion and Elements & Principles (it's already in the Toolbox), at regular pricing.
On the Blog
From the time I started my design company, I was sketching designs for clients. It was the only way that ...
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What has happened to fashion? There was a day when well-dressed and even not-so-wealthy women looked to the latest in ...
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A student asked a very interesting question, which I love to hear. This question is one that I've discussed here ...
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