Sewing Fails - When things don’t go so well!
Not every sewing project ends up being a win, every now and then we get a fail. I strongly believe God likes to humble us every now and then (some of us more than others) to keep us in check and well this is a story of the Tessuti Bias Cut dress gone wrong.
Based on my measurements I cut the larger size they offer and boy was I off. WAY OFF!
When I tried on the dress I couldn’t understand why the dress was so too big on me. Even after taking in 2” both sides. Decided to reach out to the wonderful community at PatternReview.com to see if there are any reviews on this dress and boy did they gave me some great pointers on how to deal with fitting a bias dress from their own previous experiences and classes. I linked the forum topic above if you want to read all about it.
I also decided to reach out to the folks at Tessuti as I have reached out to them in the past regarding fabric purchases and they have always answered my emails.
After a rambling email inquiring about sizing, comparisons between the larger size range vs. their smaller size range, and what is the best way to select a size …they mentioned to select a size based on body measurements and NOT finished garment measurements.
Remember when you got a garment’s grainline on the bias the fabric will naturally stretch so whatever that size will get bigger. Linen which was my fabric of choice tends to stretch / grow even more! So that actually makes sense.
Colette at Tessuti also suggested that I add a little bit of extra seam allowance in case I want to fit the garment as I go which makes perfect sense. In addition to that, she mentioned if I have a big swayback to use the fish eye darts included in the pattern.
I went back and took out all the side seams and recut my pattern ( I left about an inch of seam allowance on the front and back pattern pieces…. yes I had to redo the arm holes and all that bias tape but needless to say I’m glad I did, the dress looks so much better.
Another story, just worked on the Dern shorts from Daughter Judy Patterns. It is a very well drafted pattern, notches match, instructions are really well done (although I don’t love how the zipper is inserted) but all-in-all. This is a sold pattern. I made it with one yard of left over Joann’s stretch twill fabric AND I don’t love the style on me. :( Can I fix what I don’t like? Sure I can, do I want to do that? No. Not really. Mostly because I didn’t care for the style on me and I have to say this is a tough place to be in because I spent the time making the pants and with welt pockets in the back and the side pockets this was not a slam dunk. It took slowing down and getting it done. So even though the sewing went really well, I hate to say it but its a fail.
Another pattern I just made (I know I’m full of examples this time around) is the Scout pattern from Merchant and Mills. I cut out size 16 and folks looks like I can go down one more size because size 16 has more ease than I care to have in a top. I will have to raise the armhole because it feels too low so arm movement is somewhat limited and make sure when I sew the bodice that my sleeve hits the shoulder point vs. 1 inch down my arm. Do I consider this a fail? No. Not really. I used this inexpensive ecru fabric to make that muslin (if it worked well I could have made a wearable toile) but since it didn’t there is no loss in this one besides my time.
Moral of the story: every now and then sewing a new pattern doesn’t go quite as planned. Just like my Dern Shorts, great pattern, instructions are wonderful, but I’m still uncertain about the style for me. You just have to reassess what went wrong, get help if you don’t know how to proceed and try again (or not!). In the case of the Tessuti Alessi dress I’m glad I did, I love this pattern!
