The Sew Weekly Sewing Circle

Just saw a very interesting article....

 

WHAT'S YOUR SEWING SIGN?

If you were to turn one of your handmade garments inside out, what would your sewing style reveal about you? Do perfectly straight seamlines indicate a fastidious temperament? Or do loose threads suggest an individual who might wear a T-shirt that says “DONE IS GOOD ENOUGH.” Take a look at these 12 sewing personalities and see if you recognize yourself. For each profile, you'll find great advice on how to make the most of your sewing style. We'll also suggest some Sew Stylish, Volume 1 articles that will feed your specific sewing pysche.

 

NOTIONS NERD

Profile: Do your notions have notions? Do you scan the notions department of your sewing store looking for something, anything that you do not already have? If you have a drawer or sewing kit with more than two items still in their original packaging, chances are you are a NN. With twenty different pairs of scissors designated for cutting ONLY the fabric specified by the special “scissor marking labels,” you are the go-to person for all of your sewing friends. In fact, more than one of those friends has asked you if you ever plan to open your own store. You have THAT many sewing toys.

 

Advice: Since the constant accumulation of anything can lead to space as well as cash-flow problems, ask yourself “Is this really necessary?” before you buy yet another box of flower-head pins.

 

FABRIC FIEND

Profile: Does your pulse quicken whenever you enter a fabric store? Can you identify a fabric’s fiber content by touch and smell alone? Are you mentally creating dresses, skirts, and pants for yourself, your friends, or mere acquaintances to justify the purchase of the dreamiest fabric you’ve seen today? You are a dreamer, and have yards and yards of potential “whatevers” piled high all over the place.

 

Advice: Stop staring at that silk velvet and pay attention: There is always going to be a better, more beautiful fabric to buy—always. Think of how amazing it will be to see your idea for some lovely, irresistible fabric through to actually making it. Then think of how you can buy some more once you've finished.

 

FAST & FURIOUS

Profile: “Speed demon” should be your middle name. You cut, fit, and sew as if you are in a reality-show race. In fact, you often give yourself “Project Runway” challenges: a skirt, top, and jacket in two hours; an evening gown in an evening! You love nothing better than seams racing through the sewing machine, scissors slicing every which way, and fabric whipping about ferociously. All with a wild gleam in your eyes.

Advice: Okay, unclench your teeth and repeat twice slowly: Sewing is an enjoyable hobby and not a cause for intervention. Slow down.

 

MICHELANGELO-ITE

Profile: You thrive on challenge, perfect fit is your personal Mount Everest, and you have the amazing ability to turn the simplest of projects into a sewable Sistine Chapel. A Vogue beginner pattern with an eight-hour maximum can easily take 1,500 man-hours once you get your hands on it. Think: Taj Mahal. There is no project too simple to complicate.

 

Advice: When you find yourself thinking, “How hard could that be?” experience the ease of a simple project for a change. It could open up a whole new world for you.

 

EMBELLISHMENT EMPRESS

Profile: Do you find Faberge eggs to be dull? Did your whole life change when, at age 10, you got a Be-dazzler for Christmas? You never saw a piece of fabric that didn't beg for a little gussying up. A big plus for an EE? The local bead shop sells you beads and sequins at wholesale prices. On the down side, you can hear family members jangling 15 feet away.

 

Advice: Turn towards the East, EE. A little Zen philosophy can go a long way. Start the practice of the "less is more" and "everything in moderation" variety. Like all great superpowers, your skill to turn something ordinary into something spectacular must be used with caution.

 

 

FOREVER FRUGAL

Profile: You only visit fabric stores with coupons in hand. You think patches are appropriate for office attire. If a pattern says to buy three yards of fabric, you figure that you can lay out all of the pieces in one yard. And, hey, if you cut the buttons off of some old clothes and rip out a zipper you won’t have to buy notions. Come to think of it, maybe you don’t need to buy any new fabric. Your husband never wears his black wool coat, and there’s plenty of fabric there for a skirt. Sound familiar, FF?

 

Advice: While frugality has its place, and the recycling of materials is always a great idea, like the rest of these types, it's easy to go to extremes. Splurge on a fabulous fabric once in a while. If you divide the cost by the amount of times you’ll wear the garment...oh, never mind.

 

NEVERENDING NOVICE

Profile: How many dinner napkins can a beginner make before advancing to the next level of expertise? Never enough, according to you. You love to learn, and buy every sewing book, magazine, and video on the market. If pressed, however, you’ll admit to a lack of sewing confidence and of being slightly afraid of your sewing machine. What in heck are all those hieroglyphic markings on the stitch dial?!!

 

Advice: In order to realize your full sewing potential, you have to be bold. You know more than you think you do, and so what if you mess up? There really is something to be said for learning from your mistakes.

 

COMMUNITY-MINDED

Profile: You log so much time at your computer visiting sewing chat rooms that you decided to just move your laptop next to your sewing machine. You take three different sewing classes a week, started a stitch club on Saturdays, and drive to any, and every, sewing show within a three-state radius. December 26th finds you busy blocking out the pattern for next year’s holiday quilt to be raffled off at the local crafts fair. And, you long to find some women to form an old-fashioned sewing bee.

 

Advice: Some people sew because it’s a quiet, solitary hobby, but not you! You’re a people-person, through and through. Just thank goodness for the Web…sewing friends from all over the world are just a click away.

 

 

COMPLETELY INCOMPLETE

Profile: You are just winding up a major project. All that is left to do are the finishing touches when—uh, oh—a new idea pops into your head. Suddenly you are off buying new fabric while yesterday’s effort lies in an unhemmed, buttonless pile. Not to worry, the garment will make good friends with the unfinished coat from 1996 and the half-finished pajamas that were supposed to be a gift two Christmases ago. You get the picture.

 

Advice: Set aside a week or two to commit to the completion of everything that is lying in wait. You’ll have a whole new wardrobe in no time! Then make some rules: no new fabric until you finish a project.

 

 

METICULOUS MANIAC

Profile: All of your pins are organized by color and type—and you rue the day a bent pin finds its home there! When other sewers look inside one of your creations, they wonder how can human hands make a garment with that kind of precision. Every seam and every stitch is aligned with such mind-blowing perfection that even Martha Stewart would shake her perfectly coiffed head in wonder.

 

Advice: The Navajo Indians purposely integrate a human error into their handmade rugs so that they do not offend the gods. Remember this, MM, when you find yourself ripping out a seam for the fifteenth time. You're only human, after all.

 

 

MIDNIGHT STITCHER

Profile: Scene: 11:45 p.m. You’ve long tucked your family into bed, you’ve quietly pulled out your fabric, and spread your sewing paraphernalia all over the dining room table. It’s just you and the purr of your machine. Just like Cinderella’s mice, you sew as if by magic. Your best work is done at 3 a.m. and by dawn's early light, a new, beautiful garment is usually hanging in the closet.

 

Advice: Tough call. The wee hours might be the only time when the phone—and kids—are silent. But if you are up because some inner demon is driving you to sew, sew, sew when you’d much rather be asleep, asleep, asleep, then you have a problem. Deep breathing or counting sheep might help.

 

 

DECONSTRUCTION DIVA

Profile: You fearlessly wear seam allowances on the outside of your clothing. Frayed edges and long, swinging thread ends make your heart sing. You see yourself as an artiste, a misunderstood visionary: Why do only pants have legs? Why can't a dress have legs? Can a jacket look like a building?

 

Advice: Recently the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art exhibited a show called "Skin & Bone" featuring the artistic fusion of architecture and fashion. There was a coffee table skirt and a shirt that converted into a suitcase, so you’re not alone. Knock yourself out, DD, but don’t complain if someone tries to put a vase of flowers on your shoulder, or tries to trim a loose thread off your skirt

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Well.. I guess its confession time...I'm the fabric fiend. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE  fabric and fabric attracts me for a mile away..  I must say...when I purchase a new peice of fabric..most of the  time, I have something definite in mind.. but when I get home..I have tons to choose from.....and I can't choose which comes first..

   AND while confessing...I love,love.love a bargain.. If  its on sale..I MUST  buy it..Now................when will you see fabric that "cheap" again...and .....you know, I might  need that later on.hahaha

  But all in all..I must say................It brings me much joy to have this stash.. I love to sew and It is so nice to get a pattern and to go into "my own  fabric store" and pick out what I want to do next..

  

Haha, this is awesome!  I'm totally a fabric fiend.  I know some of you girls have large fabric stashes, but I'm quietly horrified (and also a bit secretly delighted) that I can pretty much guarantee my stash is at least twice the size of any of yours.  Yes, I have a problem.  And I know it.  But there's so much pretty fabric out there, and it's calling out to be made into pretty, pretty things!!!

 

(I'm trying to curtail it a bit this year with a No New Fabric rule.  Sadly, this has meant I'm now buying at least two vintage patterns a week.  Oops!)

 

The Sew Weekly challenges are helping me start to make headway with some of my stash, though.  I'm only allowed to use things I already own, and I have to try and use some of the 15 boxes of fabric I have in the house before I can go and get any more of my stash out of storage.  (Yes ladies, my fabric problem got THAT BAD.)

Kat... your stash sounds alot like mine.. I too, am trying to use what I have for my weekly challenges..but I have not did quite as good as you.. when I enter the fabric store.. I usally leave with some more.. and I am definitely buying the vintage patterns.. I am really enjoying that too, since discovering them through sew weekly.  so..you are not by yourself..ha
I bow to your awesome stash! :D  At least patterns are smaller and (potentially) easier to store - LOL!

I think I'm a combo of completely incomplete and community minded, though I have had plenty of late night sprees.

 

In the end, I really am completely incomplete more often than anything else though. I'm trying to cure that habit, which is why I'm on here and all these other websites, to keep me on the track to completion.

 

:)

 

Thanks for a fun post!

Hee hee! This is hilarious! I am a definite Fabric Fiend with a healthy dollop of Embellishment Empress (I love me some rick rack, lace, and buttons!).  I'm also a Midnight Stitcher.  There's something so soothing about completely uninterrupted sewing time. :)

This is fun!  Where do I start ..... I have  "multiple personality" disorder .......

 

Community Stitcher - there is something very "organic" about women coming together to "craft".  I have in the past started a quilting group and craft mornings at the school.

 

Neverending Novice - I have always questioned my skills and ability - trying very hard to embrace the "it doesn't matter if it doesn't work out" mantra.

 

Midnight Stitcher - I have to admit .... sometimes I do leave things to the last minute.  I work well under pressure!

 

Fabric Fiend - I do love fabric, although I don't have much of a stash these days (after enforcing a "only buy for specific projects" rule).  This rule has gone out the window this year!!  I am totally in awe of Kat & Judy's stashes - oh I'd love to have a peek!

 

Sew Weekly is the perfect therapy for all of us!!

 

Debbie,

 the real truth is I am just about all of these too..[I just said the fabric fiend,because that is the worse part of me,ha]..

    You don't need  to see my stash...it would be dangerous as it is sooooooooo contagious..Your---- 'ONLY buy for a project rule" would be GONE.. HAHAHAHA..

    Everyone laughs at me. Ladies at my church [none of them sew], will ask me,"why do you buy all that fabric? why would you want it ,if your not using it?" I just tell them...you dont understand..I  have to have it.And it is so nice, to go look in the shelfs and find what I want to sew.. and MOST of the time, I dont have to run out to a fabric store , to make something.. [see, I'm making excuses for myself,lol]. Have fun...

uh oh! I can relate to every one of these (well maybe not deconstruction diva!) Not sure if that makes me well rounded or schizophrenic. Well I am a Gemini... so it's anyones guess really.
 I say, Well rounded".. Happy Sewing.

Oh aren't we all in the same camp! I dip my toe in so many of these descriptions but I truly land in Fabric Fiend. And just this morning I was thinking I needed fabric…really, really??? I'm addicted, how could I possibly need fabric, I'm growing fabric mountains! Okay Kat you might win this one but I'm closing in on you. And Sarah, you are right, perhaps focusing on patterns is a better way of going.

 

My burning question is, how much yardage do you buy when you aren't sure what the end use will be. I use to think 1 yard but have reconsidered, not enough and moved it up to 2 yards…or should it be???

I've been known to buy 10 metres if something's cute enough, "just in case".  My standard is 5 metres for woven fabrics (just in case I feel like making a full-skirted 1950's style dress) or 2 metres for knit fabrics (just in case I feel like making more than one thing!).

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