I remember when I first started to sew, there were many a project that didn’t quite make it past the cutting room floor. There were corduroy pants that looked like they were designed for one legged men that weighed at least 300 lbs, linen blouses with collars of uneven proportions ( now quite fashionable), and the inevitable ‘wrong side out’ pillowcase that I just knew I had gotten right the first time.
Yeah, I have certainly seen those kind of days, and after 20 years of hemming, darting, serging, pleating, zig zagging, and hand stitching, there is still the occasional ‘mess up’. Luckily for me though, it is refreshingly clear that I am not the only one. Seems sewing mishaps happen not only to the novice, but to the experts as well much to their own surprise at times.
It is with this thought in mind, we thought it only right to list some of the top sewing mishaps that have come across our help lines, facebook fans, and instore customer conversations. I am certain you will find one or two that resonate with you, and a chuckle forming at the thought of a few others. The purpose of it all? To let our fellow seamstresses know that they are not alone, to encourage our new comers to keep trying until they get it right, and to remind ourselves that with each stumbling block we turned into a stepping stone, a little more knowledge was added under our seamstress tool belt to make us the experienced ones we are today.
TOP SEWING MISHAPS
1. ” Let’s see, the time I completed a beautiful jumper for my mother (I was in college), only to discover that I’d inserted the zipper at the hem instead of the neck.” – Pat /FB Fan
2. “Taking the time to complete a shirt really well, then scorching it really bad on the final press.” –Tracy/FB Fan
3. ” Failed to prewash a jersey knit before making a fitted dress for a full figured client. Needless to say, had to make another trip to your fabric store. Thank God you had it!” – Jerry / J&O Customer
3. ” My worst was ruining a skirt by forgeting to check if my iron was clean and ended up melting sticky something all over my nicely done skirt.” -Ame / FB fan
4. ” I always sew the legs wrong on a pattern, back to front” . – Carol Ann/FB fan
5. ” Sewn sleeve to bodice of shirt.” – Carol / J&O customer
6. ” Took seven tries to get a collar on a shirt correctly.” -Lourdes / FB fan
7. ” Was serging the seam on a pretty little sundress when I caught part of the dress in the seam and cut a pretty little hole in the dress. Thank goodness your shop still had some of the fabric left.” –Betty / FB fan
8. ” Went to press a white eyelet dress that I had just finished for a customer, only to find glue marks on the back from adhesive residue left on my ironing board pad. Took FOREVER to gently rub it out.” – Ms. Bell / J&O customer
9. ” I bought four yards of a cool cotton print knit and the fabric seized up in prewash into a board. Stupidly I tried to sew it anyway and the resulting dress was like cardboard felt. So into the trash it went!” – Joanne / FB fan
1o. “In 7th grade right before I was to turn in my shirt project, I was trimming the threads and clipped a huge hole in the back of it with my pinking shears!” – Anonymous
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