The Sewing Place

It takes a special sort of skill...

Acorn

It takes a special sort of skill...
« on: July 06, 2017, 14:56:43 PM »
... to sew the side seam of a pair of trousers with the crotch at the top on the front, and the bottom on the back - for BOTH legs - and not to notice until after the seams have been neatened.

(In my defence, they are wide legged trousers, and the top and bottom are pretty much the same width, and the fabric has no right side.  It has nothing to do with the fact that I pinned them while sitting at my machine rather than going back to the table.  Nothing at all.)

And why does it take so much longer to undo a seam than to sew it in the first place?  Oh - that may be because I've lost my seam rippers.   -<
I might look as though I'm talking to you, but inside my head I'm sewing.

ClareInStitches

Re: It takes a special sort of skill...
« Reply #1 on: July 06, 2017, 15:04:30 PM »
Aaaaaargh! Having to unpick with all that fabric lying in your lap, too! Sending you sympathy.
C.

Samantha

Re: It takes a special sort of skill...
« Reply #2 on: July 06, 2017, 15:22:34 PM »
I made a shirt for my husband recently - put one sleeve in wrong TWICE  :S

Also I have a UFO - a chiffon-esq fabric which was going to be a blouse but I have stitched and unpicked the front two pieces so many times now that I've given up.

wrenkins

Re: It takes a special sort of skill...
« Reply #3 on: July 06, 2017, 17:49:58 PM »
I like this thread. It makes me feel better.  :loveit:
Harbouring resentment is like swallowing poison and waiting for the other person to die!

Tamnymore

Re: It takes a special sort of skill...
« Reply #4 on: July 06, 2017, 18:16:49 PM »
Yes, been there!  0_0 0_0
'One should either be a work of art, or wear a work of art.' Oscar Wilde

Acorn

Re: It takes a special sort of skill...
« Reply #5 on: July 06, 2017, 18:20:45 PM »
I have unsewn and resewn.  I try to never leave something that needs unpicking, because the chances of picking it up again get much, much lower. 

All the pieces, apart from the waistband, are now joined together and appear to make a coherent pair of trousers.

My sewing room, however, is covered in bits of blue thread.  As am I, and graciously spreading them around the house.
I might look as though I'm talking to you, but inside my head I'm sewing.

Holly Berry

Re: It takes a special sort of skill...
« Reply #6 on: July 06, 2017, 20:01:26 PM »
Years ago when I used to sew the sides on trousers before the inside seam, I've lost count of the number of "skirts" I've made  >:)
Procrastination get behind me

Catllar

Re: It takes a special sort of skill...
« Reply #7 on: July 06, 2017, 23:30:18 PM »
Should be simple shouldn't it? But I never make a pair without a degree of head-scratching and even then it doesn't always go right..
If life gives you lemons, add to gin and tonic !

Roger

Re: It takes a special sort of skill...
« Reply #8 on: July 07, 2017, 07:11:46 AM »
There's a trick with trouser mid seams, (doing this from memory...) where you turn one leg inside out then put the other leg inside it right way round then align and sew the mid seam. (Both of the right side layers should be touching.... I feel I need to check it again now...

But I still can't get the waistband to look good... something about the long curving stitching means I cannot get it straight... maybe the asymmetrical waist band will be fashionable one day... :trousers:

And I always have to unpick at leat one sleeve because it's gone one upside down...

But it's a golden rule: you have to unpick and repin so your future self doesn't have to... 

A bit of a vintage sewing machine nut! Singers: 500a, 401g, 48k Elnas: lotus SP & grasshopper, Bernina 530-2 F+R 504, Pfaff 30, Cresta T-132

jen

Re: It takes a special sort of skill...
« Reply #9 on: July 07, 2017, 07:49:25 AM »
We've all done these and a few more. The trick is to incorporate a little mantra or two into your sewing life. You can hear me muttering things like 'here's the back crotch, the curve is deeper' , and 'wrong side of bodice right side of sleeve' and such like.

Acorn

Re: It takes a special sort of skill...
« Reply #10 on: July 07, 2017, 09:13:11 AM »
Roger - I usually use the one leg inside the other trick for sewing the midseam, but having made such a stupid mistake with the outside seams I had no faith in myself and did the rest the most obvious, but fiddlier way!   

Jen - I'm always using mantras like that for anything that needs to stay at the top of my mind for a short time.  I'm going to be forever checking which way up the legs are when I make trousers now.  Of all the ways to get it wrong, one side upside down (for BOTH legs) has to be one of the weirdest.
I might look as though I'm talking to you, but inside my head I'm sewing.

Roger

Re: It takes a special sort of skill...
« Reply #11 on: July 07, 2017, 13:34:17 PM »
I reread your original post and understood what you meant...  Oh dear! have a cuppa  :drink: some days are just like that
A bit of a vintage sewing machine nut! Singers: 500a, 401g, 48k Elnas: lotus SP & grasshopper, Bernina 530-2 F+R 504, Pfaff 30, Cresta T-132