[Tamara]

This isn’t exactly Oliver and s but a Lisette pattern….

Ok was going really well on getting all this sewing out of the way and so this morning decided to go do the buttonholes (finally) on the denim Traveller dress for Imogen. I never bat an eyelid but during the day I was thinking about it (as one would do when they would rather be sewing over anything else) and it occurred to me that something might not be quite right. And yup! The hunch was right! I went and sewed the buttonholes on the WRONG SIDE! Oh clever clever me!

We will just call it the “boyfriend shirt dress” shall we?

[Liesl Gibson]

No one will know the difference but you, Tamara!

[needlewoman]

I like the idea of a boyfriend dress, T, and of course, Liesl is right – most people have no idea that male/female button panels differ. My latest error was this morning. I was attaching bias to hem the latest Sandbox pants in wide-wale corduroy. Sewed the bias around one leg, and then joined the bias to fit. When trimming the bias ends, I cut through the strip between join and where already sewn. Had to unpick whole bias, and put new piece on. Groan! But my silliest is just ‘discovering’ a stitch on my machine that double ziz zags seams of fabrics that fray viciously (linen, drill, corduroy). I’ve owned my machine for about 10 yrs, and when I think of all the hours I spent double sewing such seams, I feel sick.

[Tamara]

@liesl I know! I just want it to be right you know? I still have these little insecurities about my sewing even after years of practise. But it is about perfecting the skill. And despite show winning entries and the like my daughter loves the things I make her and she actually requested I make this. But I didn’t add the pocket she wanted so I have to make her another one with a pocket.

I did the buttons by machine today for the first time in ages. I broke one but fortunately found a replacement.

We need a classic sewing botch moments thread for patterns other than Oliver and s because I can’t mention today’s little flopsy.

That’s why we must never trade our machines in like we do our cars @needlewoman.

[Lindsay]

This is my first post, and I just came across this thread while looking for something else. I can’t tell you how much better I feel reading all these!

Most recently, I was sewing the Sunday Brunch jacket, and I sewed my bias tape beautifully around the facing. I’d accidentally started on the front and topstitched the back, but it looked pretty good anyway. Then, the next early morning, I was going to sew it onto the jacket, and somehow came to the conclusion that I had done it backwards, so I took it all off and started to sew it to the other edge. Fortunately, I only sewed the first run on (no topstitching) before I realized, nope, I’d done it right, and now I had to rip it out again and sew it back like I had it.

[Liesl Gibson]

I should start a list of stupid things I’ve done while developing new patterns. It would start with sewing a zipper completely closer earlier this week…

[Eleanor]

Last weekend I made a pair of Playtime leggings, which was only my second time ever sewing with knits. I was feeling very smug – I read the pattern instructions which said to use a zigzag or a stretch stich, so I pulled out my sewing machine manual and found a good stretch stitch, remembered to put in a ball point needle, and did some test seams.

Then I discovered I sewed one pant leg inside out. It hadn’t occured to me that there would be a right side and a wrong side to knit fabric. This would be a fine beginner mistake – except that I am primarily a knitter and *know* that there is a right side (with the knits up) and a wrong side (with the purls up)!

I decided to ignore this and moved on to the next step in the pattern – who was going to notice an inside out leg on a toddler-sized pair of pants, and she’s going to outgrow them in a month anyways. That is when I discovered that this would require sewing a pant front to a pant back – in other words, I had made two left legs. Sigh. That is when I learned that pulling out stretch seams is much harder than seams for woven fabric.