Hello! I’ve been quiet on here for a few months now, not because I haven’t been creating, but because I have been in a bit of a creative rut. However, the intention of this blog is to document my creative journey, the good and the bad, so let me fill you in on what I’ve been up to…
After making making a few tops and skirts that I am happy with, I wanted my next project to be a dress. I’m not very keen in the idea of always having to go through the fitting process when using a new pattern, so wanted to make a classic sheath dress that I could then use as a block and adapt into different styles.
McCalls 2401 seemed to fit the bill nicely and I’d brought some lovely needlecord that I thought would work well in the sleeveless slash neck version if I widened the hem a little (as I don’t like skirts that restrict my movement) and added some patch pockets.
Good plan so far, but I then while going through the fitting process I ended up working towards an ever moving target which went something like this:
- Two toiles of the dress, but still struggling with getting it fitting at the back, so converted what I’d done into just a bodice
- Two bodice toiles that were getting there on the fit, but then…
- Decided that I wanted this to now be a general block with sleeves, but adding them in didn’t go at all well as I’d changed the armscye too much (I couldn’t even do the zip up, my arms were so restricted!)
- Somehow I decided that the easiest thing to do would be to switch to the Sewaholic Alma pattern(?!?), but that really just got me back to square one as I had now had not only back, but bust and hip fit issues to contend with again
- Starting to despair with getting a bodice to fit, I changed direction completely and started drafting an A line skirt using the pencil skirt I’d made as a starting point
- This probably went better than I thought at the time but after adding in pockets and creating all the pattern pieces I started having doubts about whether I was really happy enough with the fit and shape to cut into my nice fabric 🙁
Argh! At this point I really started to despair with all the work that felt like it was leading nowhere except a growing collection of toiles (made from old bedding that was going to be thrown out):
I’ve realised I need a reset and the satisfaction of completing something wearable, so have ordered some black viscose and will make another Belcarra as I can go straight to cutting and should have something I’ll actually want to wear soon. Fingers crossed anyway!
Interestingly, Sunni at A Fashionable Stitch has recently written a post that touches on overfitting, I most definitely seem to have fallen into this trap!
Have you ever gotten stuck in a rut like this?
Wow Alex – you have a lot of toiles there! Sounds like you definitely need to cut out and sew your black Belcarra top to get your sew-jo back on track.
I felt a similar lack of motivation after spending so long sewing my 1960’s coat – the skirt I made after that had already been cut out and I had made two previous versions so felt confident in the fit.
I now have a long list of potential patterns to make and have the ‘fun’ of fitting to come on what-ever I make next. I also have lots of fabric stacking up which I need to cut into rather than have it stuck in my stash pile!
Glad to hear I’m not the only one! I’ll need to get another pattern or two to the well fitting stage so that I’ve got more than one option for when I need a straight forward project. Hope your next fitting process goes smoothly!