Those anxious sewing feelings

I’ve been sewing for a while now but I still get those anxious feelings at the start of every project. Will I like it? Will it turn out the way I want it to? Will the fabric suit the pattern? Will I make a mistake? Will I run out of fabric? Will I finish it? Will it fit? Will it suit me/my daughter? Will she wear it? Will I wear it? Will.i.am?

I have made lots of mistakes during my sewing journey. I’ve learnt from some of them, but I still make mistakes. There is no guarantee that every project will turn out well. Mostly, I just hope that everything comes together in the end.

And today my friends, I can tell you that is not a story of failure, it is not a story of hope. Smile peeps, this is a story of success, a love story.

Yes my friends, this vintage come modern, retro style athleisure, active wear, hoodie, jacket, shorts get up offa that thing and dance ’till you feel better, turned out even better than expected. THIS IS LOVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The anxious part

The colour

I chose the fabric, Darcy chose the colour. Arrowhead organic sweat from Maud’s Fabric Finds comes in 4 beautiful, soft muted colours. I like them all (a lot) but green would have been my last choice. I was surprised that Darcy choose green, I expected her to choose blue and in my head I was already thinking of a blue arrowhead Belinda Dress with dusty blue leggings. But green!!!!! Will I like it? Will she like it? Will it suit her? Will the fabric suit the pattern?

The pattern

Clearly this is not a Belinda Dress.

And these are not dusty blue leggings.

Darcy vitoed the idea of a Belinda Dress after the fabric arrived and I was left to come up with a more suitable outfit for an increasingly fussy 9 year old.

And this is what we decided was a more suitable outfit. Simplicity 5488, a pattern from the early 1980’s, a jacket and a pair of shorts. Although a suitable weather condition for such an outfit I can not imagine. Exposed legs and covered arms bear no logic to me, just like exposed feet in flip flops in London on a cold wet November morning. And indeed it posed the question – Will she wear it? Anyway, we rolled with it.

And despite other anxious moments, will it turn out the way I want it to? Will I make a mistake? Will I have enough fabric? The end result was BOOM, BOOM, WOW!!!

The fabric is divine, you can instantly feel the quality. Thick, soft and warm, it’s a fabric lovers dream.

Don’t get me wrong, this outfit is not perfect, I did make a mistake that I do not care to highlight. But as a whole I am ridiculously pleased with it. And Darcy asked the all important question that is the true testament to how much a child likes something, “Can I wear it to bed?”. I’ll take that as a compliment.

And since the jacket is not lined, I had to work harder to ensure the inside was beautiful like the outside. So I finished the edges of the zipper tape and the hood with NOSH organics harlequin ribbon, an unplanned detail that ended up being the icing on the cake.

Pattern alterations

Darcy is very tall for her age, but slim for her height, hence my ‘Will it fit?’ anxieties. I usually need to alter patterns to make them fit. For this size 8-10 jacket I lengthened the body and the sleeves by 4cm.

The shorts I left as they were, but they could have done with lengthening too. They also could have done with some side pockets. When you wear them you just expect them to be there, and your hand automatically searches for them.

The Pants

I also made some Mini Hudson Pants in the solid dusty green just in case bare legs in London in April is being a tad too optimistic. I lengthened the size 10 by 15cm. Yes you heard right, 15cm. I told you Darcy was tall.

The jacket and the pants are both dusty green but unfortunately not an exact match. If they were a CMYK colour I would say that the pants have 8% more yellow and the jacket has 9% more cyan 😉

In the end, all my sewing anxieties ended up unnecessary. But I know I’ll go through all of them again on my next sewing project. This is because I want the clothes I make to be loved and to last. This is not a cheap, mass produced outfit that will go out of fashion and be thrown away next year. This my friends is slow fashion.

Do you have anxieties with your sewing projects too? I bet it’s not just me, I will anxiously await your comments below.