Trials and Tribulations

A lot has been said about the pop culture that we are all influenced by, and we do fall victims to this influence no matter if we admit we do or not. Me blogging and you reading this is just a small example. What I am upset about today is how the images blur our vision of reality. You show me a cute model in a rag and I am drooling over making this rag, go through all the troubles to find a pattern, waste my fabric and interfacing, and, more importantly, my time- only to come to the same old feeling of  disappointment.

I was really obsessed with this pattern from Simplicity, very sixties. I particularly loved the little red number. I went through a hassle of finding a download of this pattern, a nightmare of dealing with scaling issue while printing it out, and then an idea came to me...... Why don't I try it out on a cheaper fabric before embarking on something more costly.

Words can't describe how grateful I am to the moment this thought came to my head!!!!! I never really do it- I do not make muslins and always go straight for the chosen fabric- often it is a wrong thing to do, especially with more challenging patterns. However, this one was very very easy- so trying it out seemed unnecessary. But I did!

Well..... I realised, I am not really into single cut collars anymore..... Unless your neck is quite long, it will just make you look like you haven't got  a neck at all. I used to go for a high neck garments before as i had a hickey-looking birthmark on the base of my neck, but since i got a cute little tattoo over it- the issue is gone and these kind of compromises are needed no more. ( my fab tat showing a little here)

You could argue that my fabric is too soft for such style, but the bottom line is that I want to look good and not disproportionate in my clothes.  The version with a short sleeve corrects it, but only ever so slightly- it is still a no-no in my opinion. After I tried it on- I just knew this is as far as our romance goes and no more time will be spend on the other details  the pattern offered.

So this is one for the house. This fabric is quite nasty- it looks very good for the first couple of days , but then it starts developing this little furry balls all over and looks a 100 years old and very shabby.  Too bad. I have made a pajama trousers from it before and this might just be a top to match on a cold winter night.

One good point though. I got to try out the blind hem foot on my overlock- what an invention! You have to spend half an hour playing with settings and tensions,but at the end the result is quite good. I actually intentionally set it up that it catches a bit of fabric, so the threads are visible on the outside, but it adds a nice effect to the hem- I am definitely going to use it again on all my items.