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Mistakes ... sigh ... :-(

4/17/2014

3 Comments

 
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LOOK WHO'S BACK!

Yesterday was a rough and sad day for me ... I returned that beautiful and HUGE Bernina and got hassled a bit in the process, but they were nice in the end.  There were a lot of things I liked about it, but it was fussy. And I can't have a fussy machine when I'm constantly working on deadline.


Also, it was REALLY expensive and I thought I should get more for that amount of money.  It was my fault, I know.  I should not have been so blindly loyal to Bernina.  But, dang! there are NO machines as good their old mechanical ones.  Anyone who has an 830 or 930 Record would never part with it. And my 1030 is just as good with added stretch stitches. It just sews and sews well, period!

So, I was saying to a friend yesterday on the phone, that I thought when I became a grown-up I shouldn't make such mistakes.  But she, by way of comfort, said we all make mistakes.

Which makes one of the postings on today's Pattern Review's daily email very appropriate!

I invented a term years ago, which many friends and family members have adopted.  It's called a "Melitta Mistake." Melitta coffee makers were very popular in the 70s and 80s.  They have funnel shaped cone with a paper filter and you manually pour the water into it.  The possibilities for mistakes when half awake in the morning are endless ... putting the coffee in without the paper filter, and then sometimes actually pouring the water into it,  pouring the water in when there is no coffee in the filter at all, pouring the water into the filter when it is sitting on the counter instead of on your cup or coffee pot, a very messy mistake, forgetting to grind the coffee beans and putting them whole into the filter, and then sometimes actually pouring the water in, and on and on ... 

Well, over time, this term "Melitta Mistake" has become what any stupid mistake is called.  And this morning on Pattern Review there is the best list.  I will share some of my favorite ones.

1. I picked up my 18mm rotary cutter instead of my tracing wheel the other day and happily started tracing (oops cutting ) away

2. Fused interfacing to the wrong side of the fabric piece (actually did that 5 minutes ago) 

3. Just cutting that last piece of thread off your just finished dress.
Only to end up with a hole in the dress.....  ( from Andrea -I've done THAT ... OY!)

4. I cut an appliqué out of a piece of scrap fabric....or so I thought! It was really part of a knit top I was sewing    (that one, too ... from Andrea)

5. After sewing a collar, I flipped it right side out... and.... Now why is the interfacing on the outside? :(

6. I was making a jacket for my dd and sewed one sleeve to the neck. 

Three times. 

To a fabric of high loft curly fleece. Those stitches were fun to take out!


7. Here's a new one, serging on a sleeve only to get the sleeve cap caught into the serged seamed. On an extra good day, I'll cut a nice hole into the sleeve cap with the serger blade while doing this. :)

8. I made a simple skirt and didn't notice until I was finishing it that the flower pattern ran one way only - and mine were all upside down! The flowers are actually on stalks. Oh well, it's a comfy skirt and I only wear it around the house and the occasional visit to local shops.

9.  At sewing class one of the other ladies put a top together and serged the sides eams, but she kept going and managed to serge the armhole openings together too - Just thinking about it gives me the laughcramps again. It was so funny (not for her)

10.  I am forever snapping off the zigzag foot and snapping on a straight stitch foot, but forgetting to change the stitch width to single width. SNAP! There goes another needle!!!
(from Andrea, another one I've done several times)


So, as one other contributor to this list said, "The hurrieder I go, the behinder I get!"


These all make me feel better.  Number 6 is my favorite. And I didn't even list them all.  Click on this link to go to the page where these come from. I'm not 100% sure it will work for you if you are not a member to Pattern Review, but I think it should.


But, anyone who's sews has stories to tell. I've certainly gotten pretty fast at picking out seams, even serged ones.



Please share if you have a mistake you feel comfortable fessing up to.
3 Comments
Ginger
4/17/2014 07:02:31 am

I'm so sorry the machine didn't work out for you. But I'm glad that you shared your experience with us. I don't like blogs that are all roses and sunshine all the time. Sometimes everything doesn't go as planed and that is ok too. If you begin the search for a new machine (again) I hope you will share your adventures with us. I like reading other's opinions. It's like shopping for a car. We don't all like the same things.
My worst sewing mistake, financially, was years ago. I bought pattern drafting software from a company that I shall not name. I don't even know if they are in business. They promised the world and delivered sub-par standards. If I have to take 80000 measurements initially then why am I spending 2 hours altering a custom pattern with wavy seams and areas that would never work when sewn together. The local "help" group was like a cult, they all thought the company was great and could do no wrong. These ladies would spend hours altering a custom pattern, then make 2-5 muslins, then give up and go shopping for clothing. They rarely made anything in a complete garment. Wish I had seen this before I wasted the money. Oh well, live and learn. Now I stick with regular patterns and alter them to fit me, much easier (and cheaper). :-)

Reply
Sarah Strong
4/17/2014 11:59:57 pm

ha, I've fused interfacing to my pressing cloth. And made holes in things when snipping threads. Another good reason to always use a scrap of muslin when beginning and ending seams. But the problems arise when there's a place you have to sew that's not right at the edge and that technique doesn't help. and some serger booboos. Usually when I break a needle it's while I'm sewing on snaps/buttons/hook and eyes. So I save my old needles to use for that job.

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Val LaBore link
4/28/2014 01:33:25 am

One mistake I make repeatedly, and apparently its quite common with historical sewers, is sewing the sleeves in backwards or to the wrong side, or made them both for the same side. Its so bad we call them Sleevils (Evil Sleeves).

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    From Andrea 

    I am a commercial pattern maker who is now "sewing over 50"!
    I love to sew and hope to encourage others to come back to sewing.
    The water is fine!!

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