My goal is to inspire individuals to sew. At this time, I have no plans of creating items to sell on Etsy but of course this can change. My goal is to motivate others to get the “sewing bug”. I want you to see what is being created and realize you can do it. I learned how to sew thru family friends, attended several sewing classes but mainly it has been self-taught. I have no special talents or genetics; I just practice, fail and continue to learn.
Sewing has come a long way. The machines are computerized. There are multiple YouTube tutorials, online classes, blogs, and books available to help increase your success. Also, look around at these clothing stores, their clothes are not perfect either. You will find a button that fell off, a seam that unraveled or even a plaid that didn’t match up.
Mistakes will happen when you that is just life. Yes, I have cut fabric wrong and had to go back to the store to buy additional fabric. I made pajamas with the animal prints upside down. I forgot about the direction of the penguins when I cut the pattern (kids didn’t care). I forgot to pre-wash fabric before completing the project. I washed it and saw the fabric fall apart when coming out of the dryer. Put buttonholes on the wrong side of the shirt. Trimmed a garment only to get too close and cut the outfit which put a hole in it. Embroidered shirts for my husband’s workplace and actually put a hole in two of his co-workers’ shirts. We actually embroidered right over it. If you saw the shirts from the outside, they looked fine. But on the inside, they looked like a thread war.
After seeing all of these mistakes, you are probably wondering should I be the one inspiring folks to sew. The answer is yes. Get out there try new techniques. Didn’t Thomas Edison state, “I didn’t fail, I just found 2000 ways not to make a lightbulb?” He only needed to find one way to make it work. Don’t be hard on yourself, if your sewing project was a dismal failure, scrap it or find another use. The next time, you won’t make the same mistake. You will also have a lot of success, if you do not give up. Anyone can quit but to be great you have to pick yourself up, dust off and learn.
Let me know of some of your sewing mistakes. I think it is important to get it out there to help newer sewist overcome their fears.
Happy Sewing –
Valerie
The Saturday Seamstress 