You know how sometimes you should just go back to bed and pull the cover over your head and hide? Yeah? well that was my week.
I managed to ruin an entire pot of quinoa (yes it’s water and a grain and yes it was really ruined). This was on top of a few cooking disasters earlier in the week.
Then I was merrily finishing off a dress when I realised I had upside down sleeves
So I packed up my machine, had a nap and then a cup of tea to contemplate what had happened.
I purchased my normal amount of fabric for a dress. This is Japanese Lawn from Spotlight which I use a lot, so I know exactly how much I need. But I normally don’t have sleeves and this is a directional print. Am sure when I was cutting it out I only just had room for the sleeves and had assumed that I had cut them so they were the right way round. Clearly I hadn’t.
So I can either try and put the sleeves in back to front, they are shaped so this may lead to some fit issues? Or cut the armholes and neck to be the same as my current sleeveless versions of this pattern and not have the higher neck and sleeves.
Either way am not rushing into anything because I really don’t want this to be a disaster dress, it’s too pretty a fabric for that.
So tell me, did you have a disaster weekend too or was it just me?
Ingrid
I hear ya. I was making a pair of shorts last night only to have to rip the zipper out, not once, but three times. When I start making mistakes like that, I know it’s time for bed…
Susan Goodwin
Sometimes a good sleep makes the world of difference. 3 zip insertions would have me calling for emergency chocolate and multiple cups of tea. I hope the shorts finally work out for you?
Helen
Does it really bug you? If not, you could just leave it. Non sewists will never notice, believe me! I have a dress with the back of the skirt upside down (granted it’s a small and busy print) and no one has ever noticed!
Susan Goodwin
Unfortunately it’s quite noticeable in real life so it is a bit annoying. Am investigating if I can flip them round and re cut the sleeves. It may work just depends on how much length I lose to re cut?
I have one dress which has inserted ruffles. It wasn’t till it was finished that I realised I hemmed it to the front and not the back. No one has ever noticed though!
Amanda
Oh noes! Curse you directional print!
I totally had a red hot mess on Saturday night after sewing past nanna curfew (read: 9:30pm). I spent an hour unpicking on Sunday morning. Thankfully it was salvageable. Unlike the time I sliced a serger slash into a finished frock. It pays to walk away most of the time!
Susan Goodwin
It seems many of us had a bad weekend. Oops I’ve never slashed something with the server apart from a toile that didn’t matter if it had a nick in it.
Am glad your disaster was able to be saved.
Kristy
I hate weeks like that – it makes you want to hibernate for the rest of winter!
Susan Goodwin
I can actually handle the sewing one ok as I know what went wrong, but some of the cooking issues in the last few weeks have me utterly baffled as to what I actually did to ruin them that bad?
Dottie Doodle
I think having a nap and a cup of tea is very good advice! I had two disasters this week. Both skirts, both looked fine in the mirror, but when I took pics for my blog I realised I hated them! Very unflattering / not my style or colour. One is already unpicked to be remade. Love your dress. I would buy some more fabric to redo the sleeves…
Susan Goodwin
Oh no! 2 disaster skirts would be too much to handle. Isn’t it odd how we can love something but the act of taking blog photos makes us look at them anew? I hope the remake works.
I like your idea of getting a bit more to make the sleeves, might check with the store and see if they still have some?
Emma
I saw a bit of this fabric left on the roll at spotlight berkenhead on sunday arvo if that helps?!
Susan Goodwin
ohhh I may be over that way sometime this week, will keep this in mind. Thank you!
Mary
When I opened your post and saw your top, I never saw the directional print issue on the sleeve. Then I read your post and looked again. This time I saw it as design interest not as a mistake.
As I kept looking, it finally began to look like a mistake. Was that because we’ve always been told that one must never, ever violate the rule of lining up directional prints? Shrug.
I’d keep it as is and just never point it out. I’d be interested to see if anyone notices. I’d also know that every time I wore it, it would be a reminder (in a funny way that would make me smile) that no matter how long I’ve been sewing, “mistakes” can happen.
Why are problems like this so hard to see at times until the final sewing is done?
Susan Goodwin
Thank you for your kind words, it’s funny because I never normally bother about lining up my prints or print matching in any way. But the sleeves do look upside down in real life.
I don’t have time till the weekend to fix it so I have the dress hanging up and if by the end of the week they don’t look upside down I may just keep them?
Melanie
I would just leave it as it…I didn’t even notice (says the girl with upside down birds on her Mandy Boat Tee)!
Susan Goodwin
I’d forgotten about your upside down birds! Maybe we can start an upside down club? I made the Mr Squiggle “upside down Miss Jane” joke the other day when I discovered what I had done. It flew right by The Englishman who had never even heard of Mr Squiggle before.
erin (oppknits)
Sigh, it’s frustrating when that happens 🙁 Hope you can buy more fabric to re-do the sleeves, they look adorable
Susan Goodwin
thank you! Thankfully I can leave it till the next weekend and then see what I can do. At least I’m not in a rush and needing to finish in a hurry.
Catherine
Oh noes! I have been having a disaster year! But it’s getting better. Bummer to see the sleeves are upside down! I probably would just keep them on and not worry about changing them. Unless the fabric is reversible and you could switch them around? Not sure that would work either!
Susan Goodwin
Sadly non reversible fabric. With all this sunshine we’ve been having am seriously considering going sleeveless and just binding them?
Amina
What pattern did you use for this dress?
Susan Goodwin
Hi Amina,
It’s a simplicity pattern 1873, I like it a lot and have made it a few times.