The Sew Weekly Sewing Circle

I have had quite a few sewing "Ah HA!" moments in my life, but usually they come after the "Uh oh" moment - that time when your brain kicks in and says "Ohhhh noooo - you're going to have to rip that out/recut that/cry."

 

On of my biggest "Uh oh!" moments was when I learned to do a princess seam for the first time and didn't know that if you pre clipped the seam allowance, that it would be easier to match up the very curved bust seam. So instead I battled this beast for hours - pinning, basting, ripping - until finally I had what I wanted! It was at this point I realized I had sewn the front panel to the back side panel and not the front side panel. D'oh!

 

Lesson learned: always mark your pattern pieces with a little chalk or disappearing ink, clip your seam allowance on curved seams before you try to piece them together (after you make sure you have cut the right size, of course!) and take a freakin' break - when you're in the middle of a sewing disaster it's hard to get back on track without a brain break!

 

What's your "Uh oh!" moment and what did you learn from it? 

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(One of) My biggest "uh oh" moments was making a slip to go under my vintage lace wedding dress. I borrowed a pattern from my mother in law that was close enough to my bust size. I started making it in two parts, the skirt and the top. Being the super organised bride I was, it was the night before the wedding and I hadn't put the two pieces together yet or tried it on. At about 6pm, I pulled the skirt part over my head and.... it got stuck on my shoulders - it was WAY too small! At 9pm I took my sewing machine to my sister's house where my family were spending time together before the wedding. I had to keep cutting sections off the top of the skirt until I could fit it over my head. I then had to take the top section apart and add a panel at the back so that the top had the same circumference as the skirt. When I tried it on... it turned out "close enough" to my bust size wasn't really my bust size - it was a bit small! Luckily, my care factor was very little - it was going to be under my dress anyway, no one would see it and I only really cared about marrying my husband. In the end my sister had to bobby pin the slip to my bra to help keep it down (it kept riding up!) and occasionally pull it down from the base of the skirt in between photos!

 

Lessons learned:

1. Pay attention to the pattern size measurements on the packet. "Close enough" often is not "good enough"

2. Try things on as you're making them - don't leave it right to the end!

3. Bobby pins are versatile!

I love this!!  And yes - bobby pins are versatile!!
Poor Amanda.. How sad..I bet you were a nervous wreck..
That sounds really stressful, Bobby pins to the rescue...and your sister!
You are a warrior lady - I would have been hiding in the bathroom in the slip all night!
I was such a terrible bride - I just didn't care about most wedding related things! The stress was my own fault - I left it too late! I took the slip out of my drawer last night and had a look - it is a truly terrible piece of sewing! I just had to laugh.

Another UH OH moment, I just thought of , I had been sewing for about 2 yrs and "thought"  I was getting pretty good. well.  My mom went and bought some nice "expensive ' fabric and wanted me to make her a dress. I was impressed, and happy,. Well, I made the dress and I thought it turned out pretty good..I was happy.. I took it too the ironing board,and this was in the late 70's [polester fabrics].When I put the "hot' iron on the fabric.. It immediately made a hugh hole ,right in the middle of the dress. No fixing this!!! I cried and cried.. Mama said,its fine.. but I felt awful..

Lesson learned...be careful with hot irons...

Okay Judy, I have one for you, right on this theme! No sewing machine, just ironing related. When I first got married I was ironing John's dress shirt and pulled out a can of starch (or so I thought) to help get the wrinkles out...um I accidentally pulled out the oven cleaner! Well, that shirt was never the same oops!

Now looking back it's really funny but at the time I was horrified.
That is toooooooooooo funny..haha  I can just see the "new bride".... Oh...how do I tell him, I just 'cleaned'  his shirt..  Oh how we can laugh now...but back then...wasnt funny ...was it???
Our apartment was tiny, I believe he saw it happen right in front of his eyes! He's a really good guy and didn't get upset but I'm sure he was seething inside, favorite shirt gone in a squirt. Win-win, he wouldn't allow me to iron either of our *good* clothes for the longest time! We laugh now, this is very typical of our relationship!
HAHAHA! My good friend had a similar episode with a set of clippers, a forgotten guard and her husband's money-saving, at-home haircut. He ended up with a bald stripe on the back of his head and was so freakin' gracious about it!
Ohhhhh.... I can relate.... we have a Leukemia Foundation fundraiser here every year called "Shave for a Cure" where you raise money and shave your head. My husband was participating in the fundraiser and thought, "I know, I'll just get my housemate's clippers and shave my own head - it can't be that hard!" He got to a point where he thought he'd done all he could and asked me to make it more even. I was in near hysterics - I did not want to be anywhere near his head or hair with clippers! He finally convinced me that it would be fine, though I continued to protest loudly. What he DIDN'T tell me was that he'd changed the razor setting from 2 (leaves maybe 1cm head stubble - for lack of a better word) to 0 (total bald) and that he didn't mean "make it more even" he just meant tidy up the little areas around his ears and base of neck using the 0 razor setting. He definitely got a 10cm bald patch runway up the back of his head! At that stage I was truly hysterical however he really wasn't that phased!

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