Not entirely OT -- sewing project woes

I make beautiful quilts, but I'm hopeless with a garment. So when the
LQS scheduled sewing classes, I signed up. Having a project isn't
required, but recommended. So with the next class coming up on Tuesday
the 11th and being zippers, I leafed through my very small collection of
patterns and found a jumper -- labeled EASY and requiring a zipper. Hot
diggity, I thinks. I find some lightweight denim in my attic that's
perfect, cut out the pieces, and set to work, figuring it wouldn't take
long to get it to the point where the zipper goes in, and there I would
stop until class.

Ha. Ha ha.

THE PATTERN LIED!!! Easy??? Easy my arthritic left big toe! It's got
DARTS, and it's got GATHERS, and it's got TABS, and it's got BUTTONHOLES
IN THE TABS, and it's got a BODICE LINING THAT ALSO HAS DARTS and you
gotta TURN THINGS INSIDE OUT and oh my stars and garters it took me 6
hours just to get the bodice partly done.

*whimper*

I can hear Kate Dicey the Garment Goddess laughing at me.

What, I hear you ask, did I not read the instructions before starting?
Sure I did. Didn't make any difference. I can't understand them anyway.

At this rate, I might have it ready for the zipper a week after the
class is over. Something in my brain just refuses to understand
garments. It probably dates back to traumatic experiences in Home Ec in
7th grade.

*cry*

--

the black rose
Research Associate in the Field of Child Development and Human
Relations
http://community.webshots.com/user/blackrosequilts
2005 BOMs: http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/blackrosequilts/my_photos

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Rose, thank you so much. Your jumper adventure made me just howl. What a
hoot! Yes, Kate Dicey will roll. You're a mighty good sport to share with
us. I enjoyed your post just heaps, Polly

"the black rose" wrote in message
...
I make beautiful quilts, but I'm hopeless with a garment. So when the LQS
scheduled sewing classes, I signed up. Having a project isn't required,
but recommended. So with the next class coming up on Tuesday the 11th and
being zippers, I leafed through my very small collection of patterns and
found a jumper -- labeled EASY and requiring a zipper. Hot diggity, I
thinks. I find some lightweight denim in my attic that's perfect, cut out
the pieces, and set to work, figuring it wouldn't take long to get it to
the point where the zipper goes in, and there I would stop until class.

Ha. Ha ha.

THE PATTERN LIED!!! Easy??? Easy my arthritic left big toe! It's got
DARTS, and it's got GATHERS, and it's got TABS, and it's got BUTTONHOLES
IN THE TABS, and it's got a BODICE LINING THAT ALSO HAS DARTS and you
gotta TURN THINGS INSIDE OUT and oh my stars and garters it took me 6
hours just to get the bodice partly done.

*whimper*

I can hear Kate Dicey the Garment Goddess laughing at me.

What, I hear you ask, did I not read the instructions before starting?
Sure I did. Didn't make any difference. I can't understand them anyway.

At this rate, I might have it ready for the zipper a week after the class
is over. Something in my brain just refuses to understand garments. It
probably dates back to traumatic experiences in Home Ec in 7th grade.

*cry*

--

the black rose
Research Associate in the Field of Child Development and Human
Relations
http://community.webshots.com/user/blackrosequilts
2005 BOMs: http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/blackrosequilts/my_photos

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YES, it does indeed have something to do with 7th grade Home Ec. I was
severely traumatized in that class, but not before I think the teach er
was, having me there [VBG]

Where we were supposed to make a jumper, I wanted to do a blouse. When
the class was supposed to sew in a zipper, I insisted on button holes
down the back of the blouse I sewed. And why don't machines come
left-handed, anyways? Well, you get the picture what kind of a Home Ec
student I was, yep, a rebel from waaaay back )

You're not the only one in the boat of "I make quilts, not garments".
Count me as a crew-mate.

Ginger in CA

Home Ec? Don't remind me... my teacher Mrs Hall always said I didn't
know which end of a needle to thread, and in the 4th year seniors, when
we *HAD* to make our summer uniform dress (out of the foulest pattern
imaginable) I refused, and made a stuffed elephant...

I still have the elephant!

Suzie B
--
"From the internet connection under the pier"
Southend, UK
--
Please remove NOSPAM when emailing me!
http://community.webshots.com/user/suziekga

ROFLOL! Someone else like me! I tried to make a pair of trousers (labeled
easy - the islam type that go under a long tunic with a drawstring waist).
I can do this I thought. Yes, pig's are flying everywhere because them
trousers never got finished. The legs were easy but joining them to each
other and the waist and the ...... Hurled itno a corner never to be seen
agains....

--
Sharon from Melbourne Australia (Queen of Down Under)
http://www.geocities.com/shazrules/craft.html (takes a while to load)
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/shazrules/my_photos (same as website but
quicker)

"the black rose" wrote in message
...
I make beautiful quilts, but I'm hopeless with a garment. So when the
LQS scheduled sewing classes, I signed up. Having a project isn't
required, but recommended. So with the next class coming up on Tuesday
the 11th and being zippers, I leafed through my very small collection of
patterns and found a jumper -- labeled EASY and requiring a zipper. Hot
diggity, I thinks. I find some lightweight denim in my attic that's
perfect, cut out the pieces, and set to work, figuring it wouldn't take
long to get it to the point where the zipper goes in, and there I would
stop until class.

Ha. Ha ha.

THE PATTERN LIED!!! Easy??? Easy my arthritic left big toe! It's got
DARTS, and it's got GATHERS, and it's got TABS, and it's got BUTTONHOLES
IN THE TABS, and it's got a BODICE LINING THAT ALSO HAS DARTS and you
gotta TURN THINGS INSIDE OUT and oh my stars and garters it took me 6
hours just to get the bodice partly done.

*whimper*

I can hear Kate Dicey the Garment Goddess laughing at me.

What, I hear you ask, did I not read the instructions before starting?
Sure I did. Didn't make any difference. I can't understand them anyway.

At this rate, I might have it ready for the zipper a week after the
class is over. Something in my brain just refuses to understand
garments. It probably dates back to traumatic experiences in Home Ec in
7th grade.

*cry*

--

the black rose
Research Associate in the Field of Child Development and Human
Relations
http://community.webshots.com/user/blackrosequilts
2005 BOMs: http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/blackrosequilts/my_photos

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Sharon Harper wrote:
ROFLOL! Someone else like me! I tried to make a pair of trousers (labeled
easy - the islam type that go under a long tunic with a drawstring waist).
I can do this I thought. Yes, pig's are flying everywhere because them
trousers never got finished. The legs were easy but joining them to each
other and the waist and the ...... Hurled itno a corner never to be seen
agains....

I once got carried away making a pair of trousers, and instead of
stitching the leg seams up singly, joined them together and made a tube
instead of 2 legs...

Suzie B
--
"From the internet connection under the (undamaged end of the) pier!"
Southend, UK
--
Please remove NOSPAM when emailing me!
http://community.webshots.com/user/suziekga

the black rose wrote:

I make beautiful quilts, but I'm hopeless with a garment. So when the
LQS scheduled sewing classes, I signed up. Having a project isn't
required, but recommended. So with the next class coming up on Tuesday
the 11th and being zippers, I leafed through my very small collection of
patterns and found a jumper -- labeled EASY and requiring a zipper. Hot
diggity, I thinks. I find some lightweight denim in my attic that's
perfect, cut out the pieces, and set to work, figuring it wouldn't take
long to get it to the point where the zipper goes in, and there I would
stop until class.

Ha. Ha ha.

THE PATTERN LIED!!! Easy??? Easy my arthritic left big toe! It's got
DARTS, and it's got GATHERS, and it's got TABS, and it's got BUTTONHOLES
IN THE TABS, and it's got a BODICE LINING THAT ALSO HAS DARTS and you
gotta TURN THINGS INSIDE OUT and oh my stars and garters it took me 6
hours just to get the bodice partly done.

*whimper*

Patterns ALWAY lie! Even *I* cannot turn out a '2 hr dress' in two hours!

I can hear Kate Dicey the Garment Goddess laughing at me.

Smiling ruefully - BTDT!

What, I hear you ask, did I not read the instructions before starting?
Sure I did. Didn't make any difference. I can't understand them anyway.

Situation normal! I usually read them through a few times and ignore them!

At this rate, I might have it ready for the zipper a week after the
class is over. Something in my brain just refuses to understand
garments. It probably dates back to traumatic experiences in Home Ec in
7th grade.

Probably! I bet you had to do more unpicking than sewing!

*cry*
Large box of cyber tissues coming through!


Tip: sew the back sections of the thing together WITHOUT the lining and
then put the zip in! Less bulk and awkwardness to get through the machine.

Then finish the lining as a separate garment, sew it in round the neck,
and hand stitch it round the armholes and the zip.
--
Kate XXXXXX R.C.T.Q Madame Chef des Trolls
Lady Catherine, Wardrobe Mistress of the Chocolate Buttons
http://www.katedicey.co.uk
Click on Kate's Pages and explore!

Paul & Suzie Beckwith wrote:

Sharon Harper wrote:

ROFLOL! Someone else like me! I tried to make a pair of trousers
(labeled
easy - the islam type that go under a long tunic with a drawstring
waist).
I can do this I thought. Yes, pig's are flying everywhere because them
trousers never got finished. The legs were easy but joining them to each
other and the waist and the ...... Hurled itno a corner never to be seen
agains....

I once got carried away making a pair of trousers, and instead of
stitching the leg seams up singly, joined them together and made a tube
instead of 2 legs...

Suzie B

Jeans skirts are all the rage again, Suzie...

--
Kate XXXXXX R.C.T.Q Madame Chef des Trolls
Lady Catherine, Wardrobe Mistress of the Chocolate Buttons
http://www.katedicey.co.uk
Click on Kate's Pages and explore!

In article ,
the black rose wrote:

I make beautiful quilts, but I'm hopeless with a garment. So when the
LQS scheduled sewing classes, I signed up. Having a project isn't
required, but recommended. So with the next class coming up on Tuesday
the 11th and being zippers, I leafed through my very small collection of
patterns and found a jumper -- labeled EASY and requiring a zipper. Hot
diggity, I thinks. I find some lightweight denim in my attic that's
perfect, cut out the pieces, and set to work, figuring it wouldn't take
long to get it to the point where the zipper goes in, and there I would
stop until class.

Ha. Ha ha.

THE PATTERN LIED!!! Easy??? Easy my arthritic left big toe! It's got
DARTS, and it's got GATHERS, and it's got TABS, and it's got BUTTONHOLES
IN THE TABS, and it's got a BODICE LINING THAT ALSO HAS DARTS and you
gotta TURN THINGS INSIDE OUT and oh my stars and garters it took me 6
hours just to get the bodice partly done.

*whimper*

I can hear Kate Dicey the Garment Goddess laughing at me.

What, I hear you ask, did I not read the instructions before starting?
Sure I did. Didn't make any difference. I can't understand them anyway.

At this rate, I might have it ready for the zipper a week after the
class is over. Something in my brain just refuses to understand
garments. It probably dates back to traumatic experiences in Home Ec in
7th grade.

*cry*


{{Hugs}} I can sympathize, Rose. Junior high home ec was a nightmare for
me, too, largely because my mother sewed at home and was positive that
she didn't need to mark notches for matching, didn't need to read (even
once!) the instructions, and could get any garment out of about 2/3 --
or less! -- the fabric written on the pattern (ever had a sheath dress
cut on the bias?). All of that because her late father had once been a
tailor -- not that she'd ever apprenticed with him, you understand.

However, my home ec teacher was a patient woman, unlike many I've heard
of, and she explained most things to me and gave me *reasons* for doing
what she required. I learned to take things one step at a time and to do
all the little extras, like sewing down the facings around necks and
armholes so they wouldn't pop out all day long. G

All of that was good training for me, but I no longer make garments of
any sort. Gone are the days of making all of my two DDs' clothes and
underwear, as well as tailored suits and dresses for me to wear to work.
Yay! When DD asked me the other day if I could repair the fly zipper on
DGS's school pants, I recommended the dry cleaner's repair service. LOL!
I'll take quilting any day! VBG
--
Sandy in Henderson, near Las Vegas
my ISP is earthlink.net -- put sfoster1(at) in front
http://home.earthlink.net/~sfoster1

AKA Dame Sandy, Minister of Education

Kate Dicey wrote:
Tip: sew the back sections of the thing together WITHOUT the lining and
then put the zip in! Less bulk and awkwardness to get through the machine.

Then finish the lining as a separate garment, sew it in round the neck,
and hand stitch it round the armholes and the zip.

Too late! *cry*

I forgot to mention the SET-IN POCKETS.

And I also forgot to mention that I got so absorbed in struggling with
this thing that I burned the pork chops last night.

When this thing is done, I'm giving it to the Salvation Army.

--

the black rose
Research Associate in the Field of Child Development and Human
Relations
http://community.webshots.com/user/blackrosequilts
2005 BOMs: http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/blackrosequilts/my_photos

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