Monday, January 21, 2013

Mama said there'd be days like this!

Okay, not to complain, HOWEVER, ahem. Some days I feel like I have lost my mind. I now know not to cut out my patterns early in the morning without checking and double checking what I'm doing! Senior moments happen more frequently when I'm not fully awake. :P}}

I spent last week working on my next SWAP garment, a pair of trousers in a nice brown wool from the stash. I was quite careful and did an excellent job if I do say so myself. All the top stitching was good with no wobbles, and the pockets were as close to perfect as I could get. Photo below:

 
So this made my third garment, and it was the end of the third week in January. Good. I'm keeping up and that's wonderful. I may actually get through this with flying colors. Since it was my TNT, self drafted pattern, I never even thought to pull them on until they were completed. Then... WHAT? I can't get them zipped. I know I'm a little bloated, but come on.
 
Panic sets in. What the heck. I run jump on the scale. No, I haven't gained 20 plus pounds in the last week. So what's going on? I am frustrated and confused. I pull out another pair of pants from the same pattern, in a similar wool fabric (from last year's SWAP) and they are fine. Scratching my head, I finally pull out a tape measure.
 
OMG! The proverbial light bulb went off. I was cutting out early in the morning to get them done so I could sew in the evenings. My pattern was drafted without seam allowances, as I can more readily adapt it to other designs. I CUT THESE SLACKS OUT WITHOUT SEAM ALLOWANCES, and then proceeded to sew them together. They may fit if I loose between 20 and 30 pounds. But not now.
 
Lesson Learned! I either have to add seam allowances to each pattern when I draft it, or check, recheck, and recheck again. A whole week's worth of sewing, and a lovely wool pair of slacks, which I need, going in the give away bag.
 
I have the next espresso brown wool for the next pair of slacks and a tweed for a jacket at the cleaners right now. They will be ready for pickup tomorrow. In the meantime, I'm starting on the next pair of slacks. A heavy charcoal/brown very subtle pinstripe in a cotton. I think I may add extra seam allowances this time just in case. LOL
 
Hope you all are having a wonderful time and getting great garments fit to your unique bodies!
 
More later!
 
 
 
 








3 comments:

  1. Oh Lynda, that's heart breaking! And easy to do with Burda magazine patterns for instance (my go to for pants patterns). I have found that the amount of stretch within the fabric can also affect the fit at the end.

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  2. Oh geez--bummer! Pants are so difficult to fit in the first place and then to have this happen! I've made a pants pattern from SureFitDesigns that fits me well, and I just turned that pattern into jeans. I did put seam allowances on the patterns. Well, off you go to make another pair.

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  3. I think the most frustrating part is I've made these pants so many times I had to copy the pattern and figured I didn't need my notes on it. I sure won't make that mistake again.

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