Y'all I can sew but fitting is becoming a challenge! Let me explain. I've been sewing for years and I sewed through all of my weight gains and small losses. But this time I've lost a significant amount of weight in a short period of time. I've lost the weight and inches but in different places than times past. In this instance you would think that losing weight and experience would work for me. Well I'm here to tell you that it isn't.
Actually experience is making it harder to produce a well-fitting, well-sewn garment. I make what I think are amateurish mistakes, which frustrates me, and sends me back to the couch and a book. After years of sewing, I finally remember what new sewists feel like. How overwhelming the process of getting a garment correct is.
See, I've been attempting to sew...and choices have frustrated me. Pattern choices...fabric choices...fit choices...have all stymied me. If I didn't have actual proof, I would wonder if I actually could sew. But I've hung in there. Even though I'm moving slower, it's because I'm taking my time and working out what's wrong. That's where I differ from a new sewist. I do have some experience. 😏
I'm presently working on OOP Vogue 2647.
I originally made this dress back in 2016. I'm attracted to the pattern because my weight is the same now as it was then. The challenge, my body is different. I'm also looking for simple and easy to sew because I'm still not ready for complicated.
I reread the blog post. Greatful that I'd included so much information. I cut out not one but two versions of the dress. I sew it up, try it on, and WTF! It was tight on my body even with my Spanx on. Now it fit but it was close-fitting. Not since my 30s have I been a close fitting clothing kinda woman.
What to do? What to do? As always the answer came to me when I was waking up. But and it's a very important but, it was a complicated solution that a few years ago I would have done no problem. Now, I'm weary of the alteration. I've decided to finish the dress, after altering the seams and gaining another 1.5 inches. I will let it hang in the closet. Maybe if I lose more weight it will fit next summer.
The second version, I will make as a tunic to go over capris or jeans. I've figured out how to get it to fit my abdomen without a lot of work.
My third will be from another linen I pulled from the collection. Because after weeks of thinking about it, I realized what I did wrong with the original two.
1. I didn't add ease to my measurements. I'm chalking that up to the slight body dysmorphia I have.
2. I didn't double check the measurements before I cut. Would have saved so much heartache.
See rookie moves! I'm changing up my cutting layout and hopefully I will get a dress that fits...cause the sewing was easy!
In the next blog post will I share the finished pieces and of course more thoughts! Just wanted you to know that I am sewing...slowly...but I'm sewing.
*I know Blogger has made it more challenging to sign in but would you kindly sign your name if you use anonymous. It makes it easier to talk back to you. Thanks so much!*
...as always more later!
Long long time lurker here, I have always enjoyed your posts.
ReplyDeleteThis is the first time I have something substantial to say though! I have also lost a significant pile of weight & had a disorienting change in body shape. I lost a little more weight almost 20 years ago than I have this year, but the body changes are really quite different. I don't know if the difference is due to age-I crossed over from middle middle age to early elderly in that time-or the chemical difference-I did it by eating a very low carbohydrate diet for prediabetes before, & with tirzepitide now- but last time I could alter my trousers by darting the waists, & this time I have to remake the crotches entirely, which is much more complex & daunting! Everything takes forever to figure out & I'm so afraid of overcorrecting that my changes are too piddly & my clothes are still too big. But if I was to buy any new patterns they would still have to be the same size to start with & I'd have to alter them up one side & down the other!
I think the changing body that weighs the same weight as 10 years ago is what's challenging me too! Old patterns are no longer TNT patterns. They're just patterns I've sewn before but need to be aware of fit challenges.
DeleteCheering you on! What JOY to see a blog post from you. You’ve always inspired me and I’ll be eager to see the successes you share.
ReplyDeleteI'm having the same issues, and it has slowed down my sewing, I find myself frustrated a lot of time. I'm dragging my feet every time I need to start a new project. The plan is to work on new patterns and making muslins along the way.
ReplyDeleteTowanda
Towanda - I think that's what got me! Using TNT patterns that need to be fitted again. Good luck with your sewing and new pattern adventures.
DeleteLong time follower, so happy to see you here. I know, I know, you haven’t ever been a muslin maker, but even the fronts and back and 1 sleeve of a bodice, adjusted to fit the new you, might be worth the time. Use an old sheet, thrifted if necessary. Cut extra seam allowance.Baste with long stitches. Safety pin the front. Mark the spots you need to know, like bust points and necklines and shoulder point with a pen. Slash with scissors and measure the gap. Come back and let us know how it goes. We’re cheering for you!
ReplyDeleteKathy - now you know I HATE muslins and even this situation hasn't driven me to make them. Instead I'm working out the design challenges to make them fit. Basically I'm taking a TNT pattern and making new wearable muslins. But I'm learning that a TNT pattern isn't actually a TNT pattern anymore! Thanks for being a long time follower!
DeleteNice to see a post, and that you're sewing again! Bummer on the TNT patterns not working now. I have full confidence you'll figure out the changes needed. You've done it before. But yeah - I understand the frustration of feeling like you're starting over. I haven't sewn a garment in a few years - sometime pre-covid days. I wonder what I'll bung up once I get the ambition to make some much-needed tops now that I've done a closet clean out. I now have room to put some new things!
ReplyDeleteThe joys of an aging body! I'm now 78 1/2 years old and despite my weight loss, I too, have more in places I don't want it and less in places that would help. I purchased In House Patterns Bodice Class several years ago, and didn't actually use it. Since now, to my dismay, my makes are not fitting well do to age and the typical changes made from sitting over a computer way too many hours, I am going through the class, making the bodice, and when I'm done will have an excellent starting place to alter commercial patterns. It's something to think about. If you have a bodice that fits, and can overlay your pattern, you'll catch a lot of those errors before cutting your beautiful fabrics. I'm hoping this will help me get some blouses made out of my beautiful stash fabrics! HTH!
ReplyDeleteI relate so much! I recently sewed a pair of TNT pants and a pair of shorts that Do Not Fit, and I swear I am wearing garments sewn identically! I know I’ve gotten complacent, and I don’t try on incomplete clothes and fit as I go as much as I used to. But menopause is a bitch. I suspect brain fog and body changes are tag teaming me.
ReplyDeleteOops, signed Sheila
ReplyDeleteThanks Sheila! I appreciate you signing your name!
DeleteThis is Sneakers - thank you for being so honest about frustrations in sewing too. Congrats on the weight loss - but yes, as we age, we loose weight differently. Looking forward to seeing the next dress.
ReplyDeleteThanks for candidly sharing your fitting challenges and opening the flood gates of “me TOO!” It’s encouraging to read that even someone with your mad sewing skills still gets stumped and makes mistakes sometimes, and the discussion around fitting aging bodies is just as important as conversations about fitting curves and challenges of sewing for younger bodies. We’re all cheering you on and look forward to learning from you as you work out what you need to do to get a great fit in the beautiful body you’re inhabiting today.
ReplyDeleteRebecca - I know I don't see as many conversations around sewing for an aging body as I do for a younger one. It's definitely changed my perspective on what I'm going to sew and how.
DeleteDitto, ditto, to all of the above except no weight loss here. Carolyn, thank you always for your posts.
ReplyDeleteI am sorry for your struggles but have no doubts you will come out in the end with some beautiful garments that you can wear. I look forward to seeing them. Always cheering you on, Jean
Its frustrating when the weight is the same but it seems to have shifted . Good luck with the dresses I'm sure they will be fantastic as always
ReplyDeleteMandy - thanks! It really has made me look at things differently. I have a short list of things I want to make before I head off on vacation...so we shall see!
DeleteHappy to see you sewing again! I feel like the first project back a break is a bit like the first pancake... maybe a bit soggy, maybe a bit burnt, but a good trial run for the next one. I hope your next few projects sew up beautifully!
ReplyDeleteAwesome analogy.
DeleteHey Carolyn. I hope to have that (weight loss) problem soon enough. What to do? One word, my dear heart: Muslin. For the new proportions you've achieved. Oh yes. One other thing: Deep breath. You've got this. Don't despair. Enjoy the process. And congrats on the "new you". All the best.😘 Kim
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting. Sorry to hear that things are not going how you would like, but I always love to read about your work. I appreciate that you share your struggles so openly. And the pattern on that linen at the end -- so lovely.
ReplyDeleteI've suffered from some of the same problems when I started sewing again post covid, and changed size for the first time in over 20 years. If I can give any advice, it's to forget about TNTs. Don't try to adjust what used to fit you, instead pick a company that seems to draft for your general body type and adjust a clean copy. It's less confusing, and you have a better chance of success
ReplyDeleteOops, that was Marie-Christine
ReplyDeleteOh, Carolyn, I so get where you are coming from. I had a rapid weight loss five years ago and I can honestly say it took me a good 3 years to figure it out. It was combined with a real and final retirement and move to a different state and culture fashion wise which compounded things. I figured out a few things which you may already have. Losing weight rapidly (out of my control and a medical thing} and never to gain it back, means loss of muscle mass. This left me with a new body as well, minus my muscular curves. I still exercise but that pert behind and buff arms that existed prior to never came back. In the beginning it was a long period of using the same patterns and trying to adjust. It took forever to just get the sizing right. It still really isn't. I just make whatever is the smallest size of the pattern and adjust. Flat pattern measuring and understanding ease, which I know you do, helped a lot. I just had a hard time accepting that I was smaller and just recently started buying retail pants that fit, size two. In my brain, I would never fit a size two so in these five years of lesser weight, never tried a pair on. I now know they fit perfectly. That discovery is withing the past 6 months. Our brain does weird things with our own body images. I sympathized with your difficulties. You are a star sewist and will figure this out. Hold on to that dress. As your weight loss continues, if it does, its value will present itself. You will get this figured out. It is a real journey with a lot of self talk and experimentation. I urge you to experiment. You are at a space where you can go out and have fun trying on various retail sizes, just for the heck of it. I think it would be a valuable experience for you. I know it was for me. Leaving things on the rack because my old self image assumed they were not workable for my body did me no favors. Good luck on this journey. I wish you the best and know you will get it all figured out. It takes time and effort. Don't get discouraged.
ReplyDelete