[Toyota888]

Hi Liesl

I have finally uploaded some photos on Flikr (under Toyota888) to document my sewing journey with O&S – there is a pair of Sandbox Pants undocumented but everything else is there – phew. For the edification of other learners… along the way I…

1. Cut two left pants legs by not cutting on the fold!

2. Sewed the tab of the birthday party dress into the armhole seam allowance by a single stitch!

3. Sewed the outside shoulder seams of the birthday party dress too far from the inside ones (about 4 times).

4. Didn’t really know how to finish the ends of the 2+2 blouse ties nicely – so much fabric – so little room to move!

Hmmm I’m sure there were more daft things, but overall, I am pretty amazed at how cool they look! Thanks for teaching me how to sew!

Miranda

[April Henry]

This is a fun thread! I know I’ve got a long list of silly things, too… I’ll have to make a mental note now as to what they are so that I can post them. It’s nice not to feel alone in mistakeland. 🙂

[Liesl Gibson]

Oh, I’m sure I could add lots to this list as well. Thanks for the laugh! And I’m glad you can laugh about it, too. Even more glad that you’re happy with the results and are enjoying the sewing!

[corlee]

my recents include:

1) cutting out the notches versus cutting away from the notches on the pattern.

2) sewing the sleeves not only to the armholes, but to the bodice as well.

3) thinking i could hem the 2+2 blouse without pressing first. yeah, that didn’t work so well.

4) forgetting to switch stitch settings between gathering and regular stitching.

i’m sure i’ll be able to add more moments of brilliance to this post soon… 🙂

[Liesl Gibson]

I just managed to cut a huge (5″) gash in the hood lining for S’s new School Days coat. I hope I can find leftover piece so I can re-cut it! So much for quickly sewing a few seams every night. Maybe the “quickly” part needs to slow down a bit.

[Sarvi]

From Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Beginners:

*Thought it would be clever to cut both pyjama pants legs at once by folding the fabric — and wound up with the pattern upside down on one leg.

*Made the contrasty bit for the top of the popover sundress from thickish corduroy, and made the dress reversible, and added ribbon to both sides — so now there are a million layers, it’s too thick for my sewing machine, and I’ll need bias tape twice as wide.

*When it felt like the material was too thick, I ‘just took it slow and easy’ and kept going — and sewed a placemat to the pyjamas (perils of sewing at the dining table).

Sometimes I wonder if there’s a whole other word for my level of novice.

[Toyota888]

Sarvi I laughed out loud at the placemat one – that is so cute! I can imagine myself thinking “gee this is thick, better be extra careful sewing it”.

[Liesl Gibson]

Todd and I are both laughing at the placemat. Thanks for the chuckle! (And sorry about the ripping out that was obviously necessary.)

[Sarvi]

Ha, it’s ok. It was one of those forehead-smacking moments. The PJs still came out so adorable.

[mylittlegirlscloset]

I made a puppet show dress out of an old men’s shirt. When I was pinking the seem where the sleeve meets the yoke I nipped a hole in the sleeve. No fabric left over and the dress was complete at this point 🙁

So I ironed on a tiny piece of interfacing to the spot inside the sleeve to keep it from getting any worse and to act as a bandaid.

[ckcsbella]

I have one to add! I was making the Sunday Brunch jacket for my oldest DD. She had picked out fabric that has grasshoppers or crickets marching across it. It’s lovely, but it’s directional. I went to gather the back part of the jacket, and discovered I had cut it out upside down. Argh! Luckily, I had enough of the fabric left to cut out another piece, but I did manage to swear quite a bit as I frantically tried to sort it out.

It’s almost done and looks fantastic. It would have looked much less fantastic if the grasshoppers had been on their heads.

[Anonymous]

argh! I’ve done the upside down thing several times myself – glad you had enough left to re-cut it!!

[Anonymous]

mylittlegirlscloset – I did a similar thing on the first jumprope dress I made. I accidentally snipped a hole in the bodice, but luckily right under belt! I used the darning stitch on my machine to repair it. Even without the belt, it really is hard to find. You might want to try that on the sleeve too.

[Aviatrix51]

Today, while I was sewing the edge-stitching on the bodice of a tea party dress, I sewed the back strap to the bodice.

Sigh.

Easily fixable, but embarrassing.

[Rebecca W]

When sewing the first sleeve tab for the Jump Rope Dress view A, I sewed the right side to the wrong side. So I picked it out and fixed it. Then, I went to do the 2nd one and thought- ok- sew RIGHT sides together. And I made the same mistake again. Oops.