Why I Stopped Sewing
Mar. 6th, 2014 06:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sakon76I'm remembering now why I stopped costuming, and in fact stopped sewing for myself, period. It's been ages since I sewed anything new. Most of my sewing over the past six months has been either jabs at the mending pile, or hemming lengths of cotton and flannel into swaddling blankets for the Squiddle.
Last week, I finally pulled out my small stack of baby clothing patterns, picked one (Simplicity 4243... though apparently it's been renumbered to 1447), and set to work. It took three days, due to only being able to sew in fits and spurts, but I finished it Saturday night. We put him in the outfit Sunday morning, and within an hour it needed to go in the washing pile! But apparently he liked it, or he liked the photo session his daddy and I did, or something, because he would not stop laughing. ^_^ According to the pattern, Squiddle is currently a medium. So I made a large. Which fits him perfectly right now. So much for room to grow!
This week, I tried a different pattern (Simplicity 1700), which apparently runs truer to size, since the large is absolutely huge on Squiddle. Though I may make it again with short legs....
Emboldened, and encouraged by Wonderful Husband, I pulled out patterns for myself. You see, the CGW has an outing to the Rose Bowl Flea Market this Sunday, 1940s-50s dress encouraged. Which I would kind of like to go to. I got the back of the pattern working, and the skirt's no problem. But what I cannot do is make the front of the bodice work. Because most patterns assume a B cup. There are a rare few which contain variants for up to a D cup. But I breezed past those sizes over twenty years ago. Even before I was breast-feeding a baby, neither would fit me.
Trying to make a B-cup pattern fit a G-cup nursing mama chest? I cannot make that Full Bust Adjustment. FBAs have always been hard even when I've had a costuming partner helping. Wonderful Husband doesn't do fabric craft (and believe me, trying to make flat fabric fit a curved human form is a skill and an art), and I can't finagle this by myself.
I'm going to give it one more go this evening. If it doesn't work, screw it, I'm done crying, I'm going back to baby clothes. Those at least will fit the kid sooner or later.
Last week, I finally pulled out my small stack of baby clothing patterns, picked one (Simplicity 4243... though apparently it's been renumbered to 1447), and set to work. It took three days, due to only being able to sew in fits and spurts, but I finished it Saturday night. We put him in the outfit Sunday morning, and within an hour it needed to go in the washing pile! But apparently he liked it, or he liked the photo session his daddy and I did, or something, because he would not stop laughing. ^_^ According to the pattern, Squiddle is currently a medium. So I made a large. Which fits him perfectly right now. So much for room to grow!
This week, I tried a different pattern (Simplicity 1700), which apparently runs truer to size, since the large is absolutely huge on Squiddle. Though I may make it again with short legs....
Emboldened, and encouraged by Wonderful Husband, I pulled out patterns for myself. You see, the CGW has an outing to the Rose Bowl Flea Market this Sunday, 1940s-50s dress encouraged. Which I would kind of like to go to. I got the back of the pattern working, and the skirt's no problem. But what I cannot do is make the front of the bodice work. Because most patterns assume a B cup. There are a rare few which contain variants for up to a D cup. But I breezed past those sizes over twenty years ago. Even before I was breast-feeding a baby, neither would fit me.
Trying to make a B-cup pattern fit a G-cup nursing mama chest? I cannot make that Full Bust Adjustment. FBAs have always been hard even when I've had a costuming partner helping. Wonderful Husband doesn't do fabric craft (and believe me, trying to make flat fabric fit a curved human form is a skill and an art), and I can't finagle this by myself.
I'm going to give it one more go this evening. If it doesn't work, screw it, I'm done crying, I'm going back to baby clothes. Those at least will fit the kid sooner or later.
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no subject
Date: 2014-03-07 03:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-03-07 03:55 am (UTC)I found this on Tumblr. The biggest tip was to use a t-shirt you no longer wanted/needed, because you're going to cut it.
This link had a few tips on helping the form keep its shape a little better.
I'm keeping it in mind for when I get back to sewing, but I thought I could share it with you right now.