Turn an Oops Into a ‘WOW!’

Nobody’s Perfect

No matter how well you sew, how long you’ve been sewing or how much you pay attention, there will always be a time when you make a mistake.

Lately, I’ve been busy a work, making a brand spanking new summer wardrobe. I am using some old tried and true patterns that I have relied upon for many, many years as well as some brand new patterns I purchased not too long ago.

I purchased new fabric for a few pieces, but I always keep a chest full of fabric.

To say the very least, my fabric stash always includes some great material that I’ve been hanging on to for a while, just waiting for it to tell me what it wants to be.

Of course, with a fabric stash as large as mine, there are plenty of choices when it comes to making just about anything.

One of the new patterns I purchased – Butterick 5815 – literally jumped out at me one day. Then there was a piece of teal knit fabric that I had for a few months.

It was just sitting around waiting for the perfect pattern to show up. It was an ideal marriage of that pattern with this particular piece of material.

It just happened that I had slightly less fabric than recommended by the pattern maker. According to the pattern instructions, both the front and back pattern pieces were to be cut on the fold.

My Most Recent Sewing Mistake

A common shortcut for saving fabric when making a blouse or dress that calls for both front and back to be cut on the fold is to place the back pattern piece on the selvedge and add seam allowance.

When I’m working on a new wardrobe, my standard modus operandi is to cut several garments then and seal them in plastic zipper bags along with thread, and all the required notions – buttons, zippers, snaps, hooks and eyes, elastic, hem tape, etc.

Although this is not an excuse, I had been cutting patterns for about two and a half hours when I got to this particular item. I can’t say if it was because I was getting tired or if I was simply not giving this ‘easy’ pattern my full attention but I got it wrong.

I pinned the pattern back on the fold and the front to the selvedge. Before I noticed my error, I had cut the front into two separate pieces with the added the seam allowance.

When I realized my mistake, I was absolutely beside myself. At first, I considered tossing the whole thing into the trash bin but then something told me to just set it aside for a little while. I’m so glad I did that! Rather than toss my project out, I decided to get really creative instead.

Turning Lemons into Lemonade

My original intent was to serge the tunic with black thread and use perfect match thread to finish off the hem, sleeves and neckline. However, with my faux pas staring me in the face, I decided to stretch out a bit.

I used black thread on the serger for the side seams and the seams inside the sleeves. For the two piece front, however, I decided to use four different colors of thread – light blue navy blue, mauve and bright fuchsia. But it didn’t stop there.

In order for the front seam to lie flat, I decided to use a fifth color – cranberry red – to make the front seam lie flat. Rather than a simple straight stitch, I used a blind hem to add a little extra oomph to the detail.

The pattern called for open sleeves, the most interesting feature that drew me to the pattern in the first place, so I added my colorful serged edges to the neckline, sleeve openings and bottom hem with the cranberry red added for extra pizzazz.

With just a little bit of consideration, I was able to save this great piece of fabric and turn what could have been a sewing room disaster into a triumph.

Once I decided to go this route, the most difficult task was to decide what colors would work best. As it turns out, rather than a nice, albeit attractive tunic, I now have one that is not only a sewing room triumph but attention grabbing as well.

To top off my new tunic, I used a bit of excess fabric to make a tie belt to cinch it at the waist. The sash is also trimmed along the edges with the same colors as the front seam and outer stitches on the tunic and can double as a head wrap on those inevitable bad hair days.

Conclusion

There isn’t a home sewer on the planet who doesn’t make a mistake from time to time.

Some sewing mistakes are bigger than others, but the mistakes that cannot be salvaged are very few and far between.

It’s been a while since I had such a big oops in my sewing room. The last one was a pattern from a brand that I had never used before. That particular time, I did follow the instructions.

However, the sizing was slightly off. As a result, the finished product was too tight to pass as a jacket as originally intended. I had put a lot of work into this project.

However, I made one very big mistake by skipping a vital step – one that you should always take when working with a pattern brand that you are not familiar with. I failed to measure the pattern pieces and compare them to my own body measurements.

Had I done that, the jacket would have turned out perfectly. Instead, to save the garment, I cut the sleeves off and wear it as a sleeveless blouse instead of the jacket it was intended to be. I wear it with confidence, knowing that nobody is the wiser.

My comfortable khaki top works quite well with slacks of any color as well as with the matching skirt that I had originally intended to be the bottom half of a suit.

Another memorable sewing mistake occurred several years ago.

I was working on a gauze skirt with a separate elastic waistband. In my haste, I attached the waistband with the seam on the right side – outside of the garment.

Rather than rip it off and reattach it, I simply used a fork to fray the seam allowance. The end result was a fringed waistband. It worked beautifully!

That was quite a while ago. I don’t think I got any pictures of that one, but take my word for it, the skirt came out great.

The biggest lessons to learn from my mistakes are: First of all – pay strict attention to what you’re doing even when you think you can do it with one hand tied behind your back.

Next, you make an investment of money, time and energy in any sewing project. Don’t let it all go to waste because you did something wrong.

Never assume that you cannot save a garment that you think you really messed up because of a silly mistake. Set it aside, let your creative juices churn a bit and then turn it into something dazzling.