In which I fail repeatedly...

Hiya! Get ready for some bad pictures and worse sewing!

If you follow me on Twitter or Instagram, you might have already seen these recent failed projects, but I thought I’d blog them as well to keep myself honest! I’d hate to have anyone think my sewing always worked! ;) Keeping it real, here. 

First up: Tank with Two Fronts

This was actually an attempt to save a previous fail! I’d made a horrible frumpy pussy-bow tee from this heavy jersey, so I thought I’d recut it as a mission maxi tank. Unfortunately I got a bit gung-ho and cut two fronts! The end result is that the straps fall off CONSTANTLY! The arm bindings seems a little tighter than the neck-binding, which isn’t helping anything. Lots of helpful Sewcialists suggested putting a band accross the shoulders to keep it all in place, which is a great idea. I may just be lazy though and wear it with a cardigan - because cardigans fix all manner of sewing sins, ammiright?

Part Two: Self-drafted Bodice

Remember how I had so much fun rotating darts to make a floral sundress this summer? Well, I pull out my sloper again, and this monstrosity is what emerged from my attempts at drafting!

Yikes! Not even my husband can think of anything kind to say about this one, and bless him, he tries hard with everything I make! I don’t really know what went so wrong with this one… I think the non-stretch woven was less forgiving than before, and the attempt at the v-neckline was misguided… but seriously, how did it all go SO wrong?

Failure, Part Three: I could hide anything under there!

"No problem!" I thought. "I’ll just use the skirt pieces alone instead of putting them in a dress!" 

It’s a Picnic Blanket skirt from Tilly’s tutorial…  It’s also the frumpiest skirt I’ve ever made! This gathering is doing my figure NO favours - you should have seen it before I ironed all the gathering flatter! Yikes! 

I *might* still use the button placket to practice buttons (since Leila and Clare #sewingdared me to sew something with buttons yesterday!) And of course, I could always cut the skirt down to an A-line… but really, I think this fabric is just unlucky, and need to learn it’s lesson in the UFO pile for a while!

But don’t worry, there’s a happy ending…

Part 4: TNT patterns to the rescue!

After messing up three projects in a row, I got some timely encouragement from Twitter, and turned to a  TNT pattern instead……and 30 min later, I had another pair of Maria of Denmark Laura Lounge pants finished! If you haven’t tried this pattern, I really recommend it! It’s cheap, fast and easy, and results in a very comfy yoga-pant-esque pair of pjs! 

How do you bounce back from failed sewing projects? And can gathered skirts ever look good on a pear-shape, or should I give up now and save my fabric?