The Sewing Place
The Emporia => In the wardrobe => Topic started by: Efemera on January 23, 2021, 09:45:20 AM
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Is this something you should be showcasing for a pattern?...in my opinion definitely not!
It’s advertised as the backpack of your dreams sewn by some amazingly talented person.
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I'm sure that many of us can relate to wonky stitching, especially around zips and piping, but there are lots of places in that bag where a seam ripper should have been used. I certainly wouldn't want to advertise sewing like that.
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No I wouldn’t put that up as an example. I agree that standards are important especially if you’re putting yourself and your work out there.
A friend sent me a link to a pattern she wanted to make. I messaged back saying she needed to check the measurements cos if they thought that fitted the model they were sorely mistaken. She hadn’t noticed but I just told her to have a good look and she could work it out. She hasn’t been sewing many years. Anyway, she made it and fitted lovely.
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A local sewing shop was selling classes. Lovely location, beautiful set up, lovely owner. Her fabric stock was small but top quality. Dotted around were mannequins showcasing the fabrics & indy patterns in stock, with captions 'you could make this at class'. Trouble was, the finish was not good. I didn't say anything but it wasn't a good advert for the classes priced at around £100 for 5 hours. If I'd produced those garments I wouldn't put them out for scrutiny!
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Hello-
In a number of the sewing mags, the level of stitching has also been subpar the last few years.
Something tells me this is being done by choice - not giving the home sewist the attitude of 'I could
never stitch that well' or 'my sewing looks just awful'. Understandable, but a poor excuse for
bringing the level of standards down.
William David
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That is pretty awful. Using the premise that you would always put your best work 'out there', this is not a piece of work to aspire to...
Jessie
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Actually, I think a bit of a relaxed attitude towards your hobby (and therefore the qualtity of your sewing) is healthy. It makes you go ahead and sew! And wear the stuff! And enjoy! I tend to look more than I should at the things I did wrong in a garment... which, on the other hand, makes me improve. As I have improved over the last years, I shudder sometimes when even looking at cheap RTW... no, I certainly don't want it to look like that... A acquaintance of mine cut patterns and sewed like there is no tomorrow - no structure, no rules, wonky seam lines, seamallowances of different widths, slapdash sewing. But she liked and wore the stuff she sewed. She never got better and the stuff not always looked good, but that was just not the goal! So, I guess, for a hobby sewist, wonky seams once in a while are okay...
As a professional - :rolleyes:. If I were to sell a pattern, I would make sure to make an excellent sample. If it were a garment, I would see that the garment fits the model. A bag: Nice fabric, good topstitching. Because selling something is showtime. But then, that's me. If the person(s) selling there patterns are fine with their sample, and the pattern sells, maybe they got good value for their money (time)? They'll get some customers, they'll frighten some away.
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The whole point here is in the title - Standards. Standards should be firstly for yourself. Whether you are a beginner or an experienced sewer, if you are happy to produce poorly made items you will never improve. I wouldn't be happy with such work even if I was the only person who would ever see it. I have my own standards and have to live up to them for my own sake. That's me though - standards for others will be their standards - not mine!
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I wouldn't be happy with such work even if I was the only person who would ever see it. I have my own standards and have to live up to them for my own sake.
Eloquently expressed, @Greybird. After every sewing project is complete, I look at my work and note where I feel I need to improve. And as I'm hand stitching leather, which is unforgiving, there is a lot to improve! I aspire to produce work as good as the artisans I watch on YouTube.
I would opine that it's not that people don't want to improve, it more a case of being unwilling to put in the effort required to improve.
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@Mr Twingo having seen some of your work I'd say there isn't much improvement needed - if any! Where most of us can unpick something and do it again - a one time chance is a level up in itself!
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Obviously the first thing is to enjoy what you do. I’ve had students who expect perfection immediately. Or say 'it doesn’t look like yours'. Yeah, but I’ve been sewing some 50 years. If I can’t sew a straight line etc by now I ought to give it up. But I always wanted to know if they were enjoying what they were doing. If yes, then great, now work on the skills.
I think we should all strive to do our best and improve in any walk of life. If we don’t, we will have to put up with shoddy workmanship everywhere and in everything. And quite honestly I see that in many areas. Is that because we don’t push kids enough?
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I confronted this issue last night, while looking for a Blazer pattern for Theo - who wants to be Bert from Mary Poppins 1.
I elected for PDF so that a)I didn't have to wait for it b) no tracing. The selection wasn't great, but I found a beautiful Burda one, only to find that it started at a 7. Several others I found were awful. Not going to name names here but they are all well known names. Only one was free, the others were asking quite a lot of money for what were, pretty shoddy looking garments - imho.
Please, if you are asking people to pay money for something, at least make it well.
Jessie
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@Mr Twingo having seen some of your work I'd say there isn't much improvement needed - if any! Where most of us can unpick something and do it again - a one time chance is a level up in itself!
What you don't see are the scores that came before I had something worth posting about.
I certainly wouldn't say my wallets and purses are of a quality I would want to sell, but they are adequate as gifts.
(Currently working on 14 purses and 8 wallets for this year's cohort of Year 6 pupils, 7 months before they leave.)
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@Mr Twingo , you must be a lovely teacher, they are lucky children.
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@Mr Twingo , you must be a lovely teacher, they are lucky children.
It's the other way round – the children are lovely, and I am a lucky teacher.
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Is there a big market for this type of bag pattern? We have at least half a dozen similar backpacks in the loft, some acquired with those pesky supermarket points and none more expensive than the price of the notions I’d need to sew one up. This is a tangent, but unless you have just got the most spectacular fabric you can’t wait to see as a backpack, why bother?