Failure... Sigh

[Maryn]

We were invited to an Easter dinner, and I decided to make myself a spring-ish dress, since I own nothing pastel. It went together well enough, first the complex swirled skirt, then the simple bodice, and an hour ago I attached the two and tried it on.

I hate it. I look awful in it. How can a not-tight dress add pounds?

It's very nearly done--the neckband isn't topstitched and the sleeves need hemming--but it's so disheartening to see the way it really looks compared to how I envisioned it in my mind's eye. The last time I stopped sewing altogether was after a series of similar failures, the garment completed well enough but the look unacceptable.

Share your failures in anything hands-on so I'll feel less demoralized.

 

[Cobalt Jade]

I once painted a whole house bright green, bright, BRIGHT traffic-light green, and had to re-do it in a darker shade because it was just too bright. (Rather, pay the guys to re-do it.) I still live in the house ad the brighter green, with the wear of the years, is peeking out in a few places.

 

[Maryn]

Whoa, the whole house! I beat myself up over painting the entryway and stairwell a nice creamy shade of white, forgetting the windows had snowy-white blinds custom made to fit their odd sizes. The paint looked awful when we put the blinds back up. Repainted it light blue, which was a little too powerful for the small space but still an improvement.

 

[Fi Webster]

When I was thirteen, in 1967, my mom said she'd buy pattern, fabric, and notions for anything I wanted to sew. My grandma had taught me on her Singer Featherweight. (Later I inherited that machine. It still works today.) I chose a demure pattern—high neckline, puffed sleeves—and an unassuming small floral print. What I didn't tell my mom was that I was gonna make my first minidress. I'd been eyeing features on Mary Quant in the women's mags, so I was psyched.

It came together well, but.... boy did I err on the side of short. Ridiculously short. Top of my thighs short.

No one stopped me from wearing that dress, but I discovered pronto I could barely sit down in the damn thing. Epic fail.

 

[Maryn]

I had something similar happen with my first short skirt. I lived in a very hot climate at the time, but that skirt was decidedly not water-fountain friendly. There would be no bending over for any reason whatsoever.

 

[Gramps]

We were invited to an Easter dinner, and I decided to make myself a spring-ish dress, since I own nothing pastel. It went together well enough, first the complex swirled skirt, then the simple bodice, and an hour ago I attached the two and tried it on.

I hate it. I look awful in it. How can a not-tight dress add pounds?

It's very nearly done--the neckband isn't topstitched and the sleeves need hemming--but it's so disheartening to see the way it really looks compared to how I envisioned it in my mind's eye. The last time I stopped sewing altogether was after a series of similar failures, the garment completed well enough but the look unacceptable.

Share your failures in anything hands-on so I'll feel less demoralized.

I'm sure it's the Easter illusion of additional pounds that don't exist. Perhaps, it's a problem with the lighting. It can't be you...everyone has told me you're perfect!

Gramps

 

[Unimportant]

We were invited to an Easter dinner, and I decided to make myself a spring-ish dress, since I own nothing pastel. It went together well enough, first the complex swirled skirt, then the simple bodice, and an hour ago I attached the two and tried it on.

I hate it. I look awful in it. How can a not-tight dress add pounds?

It's very nearly done--the neckband isn't topstitched and the sleeves need hemming--but it's so disheartening to see the way it really looks compared to how I envisioned it in my mind's eye. The last time I stopped sewing altogether was after a series of similar failures, the garment completed well enough but the look unacceptable.

Share your failures in anything hands-on so I'll feel less demoralized.

My initial reaction is, does it reflect your personality? Is it eye-catching? Does the colour go with your complexion? Is it fun to wear?

Sometimes adding pleats, to the skirt or under the booble area, can change the pound-adding features. Or so I'm told; I can't sew for crap.

I grow lemongrass and bring the excess to work. One of my students would weave three or four leaves into a plaited circle and, whether fresh or left to dry, they were perfect for making a delicious cup of lemon tree. Student has since left. I spent about an hour last week trying to plait the leaves, weave them, twist them, tie them, knot them, anything!!! to make a little wodge I could put into a teacup. Epic fail. I am all thumbs.

 

[mrsmig]

Did you make the dress pattern yourself, Maryn? If so, I'm impressed even if you didn't like the end result (hell, I'm impressed anyway).

I can hand-sew without difficulty, but I despise machine sewing and can't really put my finger on why. Maybe because feel like I fight the thread tension all the time. Or it goes too fast for me. I dunno. I have a machine my mom gave me gathering dust in the attic.

 

[Unimportant]

When I moved to NZ, I bought an oooooooold Singer (the black cast iron kind. It had been converted to electric with a foot pedal, but it was ancient). I used it for about a year to make cat blankets and stuff before I managed to break it and couldn't fix it. Then I bought a modern machine. After six months I broke it. Then I was given a high quality quilting machine. After ten minutes I broke it.

Clearly me and sewing machines do not go together. If I need to repair a dog toy or a rip in my jeans, I do it by hand. I can't hand sew for crap, but at least I can't break my hand doing it.

 

[MMarquez]

I started pajamas for my son in October that were supposed to be his Christmas present. Towards the end of November I almost had the shirt done but I felt like it didn't look right. Christmas came and went and I wasn't done so I let my son see what I had finished so far and let him try it on. Not sure who came up with the size on the pattern but it is ridiculously big and the shape is all wonky. I thought it was just my sewing but then I found YouTube videos where people complained about the same thing.

Long story short, the PJs are still not done because I'm not excited about completing a project that is so oddly sized and shaped.

 

[Brigid Barry]

The garment industry for horseback riders has decided that I'm too fat for their nice clothes. They just aren't made in my size. I tried to get a jacket custom made and I warned her: my top and bottom are two different sizes with no segue. I'm like a barbie shoved into a cake. It was an epic disaster.

But the rules about attire changed; I don't need a jacket, I just need a vest. So I got the biggest vest pattern I could find and bought some very cheap fabric to experiment with. It took a week or so but I got a pattern assembled that fit me and looked okay.

So I got the fabric together (very nice stretch suiting and some LOVELY lining) and put it together using my pattern. Then I had to do the two rows of buttons before I tried on the final thing (I got some gorgeous abalone shell buttons too).

Imagine if a kindergartner was drawing clothes on a picture and that's what it looked like. All that time and effort and it was an epic failure. the bottom of the vest somehow landed right on top of my bottom when I tried it on with my riding pants, making it look absolutely horrible on me. I put it in the bottom of my clothes box and haven't looked at it since. At some point I am going to take the buttons off and might try a longer vest pattern with a simpler front with only a single row of buttons.

 

[Gramps]

Maybe because feel like I fight the thread tension all the time

Writer's create their own tension. Maybe, your machine is fighting the competition?

 

[Janine R]

You're working on a dress that you intended to wear today! I'm impressed.

 

[TeresaRose]

A few years ago, I was invited to a Halloween party and wanted to bake a special chocolate cake from scratch. I had a Martha Stewart recipe and all the ingredients. What a flop - the lumpy mess looked exactly like horse poop!

 

[Janine R]

A few years ago, I was invited to a Halloween party and wanted to bake a special chocolate cake from scratch. I had a Martha Stewart recipe and all the ingredients. What a flop - the lumpy mess looked exactly like horse poop!

Sounds like the cake I made for my friends birthday. Not only that I tried a German coconut icing which required browning under the broiler. I pulled out the charred remains out when the smoke alarm went off.

 

[Jazz Club]

OK, how's this? In primary school we had to knit cactuses (I have no idea, either) and I was so bad at knitting the teacher eventually finished it for me. Haven't picked up a knitting needle in anger (or peace) since.

 

[Brigid Barry]

OK, how's this? In primary school we had to knit cactuses (I have no idea, either) and I was so bad at knitting the teacher eventually finished it for me. Haven't picked up a knitting needle in anger (or peace) since.

I was the only lefty in my family and no one could be bothered to learn how to teach me so I either did it right handed or not at all. My mother tried to teach my crochet and she said I did it upside down, inside out, and backwards all at the same time and we never tried again.

As an adult a friend had a left handed sister and his mom knew how to teach me. I can do precisely one pattern. I can make rectangles and change the "pattern" by using different size hooks.

 

[Gramps]

A few years ago, I was invited to a Halloween party and wanted to bake a special chocolate cake from scratch. I had a Martha Stewart recipe and all the ingredients. What a flop - the lumpy mess looked exactly like horse poop!

please don't disparage horses around here. Certain individuals don't take it well. You have been warned.

 

[Brigid Barry]

please don't disparage horses around here. Certain individuals don't take it well. You have been warned.

Nah, I'm good.

 

[Gramps]

Nah, I'm good.

Whew!!! I smelled Armageddon in the wind, or was that the stables?

 

[Brightdreamer]

I once painted a whole house bright green, bright, BRIGHT traffic-light green, and had to re-do it in a darker shade because it was just too bright. (Rather, pay the guys to re-do it.) I still live in the house ad the brighter green, with the wear of the years, is peeking out in a few places.

Our elderly neighbor painted her house a flaming shade of pink-orange called Hawaiian Sunset.

You could see it way down through the trees from the main road, it was so glaringly bright. It made an impressive landmark for years.

(Note that she had red and white trim with this...)

When she passed away, her offspring replaced it with a cedar shake look that doesn't match anything at all.

 

[LucindaLynx]

I can knit. I can make a chain stitch. I can make a single crochet. I've never tried anything more difficult than that. I always make single crochet stuff, when I bind off knitted things.
Once I wanted to make myself a winter skirt, but it became way too big. I took the biggest size, and it was way, way too big, although it was 6 knit, 2 purl. I became so uncertain. The length was fine, but I was certain the skirt will pull everyone's attention to my thighs or something, and I don't want that. Maybe knitted skirts aren't my thing, as much as I'd love to knit myself a skirt. Back then I didn't know anything about tension or how the thickness of yarn will affect the pattern and the size.

 

[Realspiritik]

I hate it. I look awful in it. How can a not-tight dress add pounds?

Now that I'm a senior, I'm finding that my body shape has changed, though my weight has been fairly stable. Nothing sits where it used to, so styles that used to look okay on me now look ridiculous. I've been going through my closet this week and chucking (well, donating) items that are still in good shape but clearly belong in somebody else's wardrobe.

I admire your bravery in sewing your own Easter clothes. My mother's sewing machine is resting quietly in a back corner of my closet. The machine and I agree it's best to let it serve as a memory of my mother's sewing talents -- less stressful for all concerned.

 

[Maryn]

The Kid--our adult daughter, self-taught at sewing--has promised to help me determine if the fit can be tweaked to make this dress something I'll wear without cringing, next time she visits. I suppose I should finish the neckband before then. (It wouldn't lie flat, so I picked out the stitches to try, try again.)

 

[NickyRainbow]

I somehow failed at making a salad today. I was rushing, and my cutting boards were in the dishwasher, so I decided I'd just throw everything into a bowl and just chop it up quickly with scissors. In my haste/sleepiness, I somehow forgot what the pressure of scissors-squeezing does to tomatoes if you don't pierce them first. Absolutely painted my ceiling with more juice than I could ever have imagined would fit inside one plum tomato.

I'm sorry your dress didn't turn out as you hoped. I hope you can manage to tweak it without getting too disheartened! But if not, know that those of us with no sewing talent are in awe of your ability to make anything at all