Monday 16 May 2016

Aaaaarrrgh! or The Best-Laid Plans

I am not an absolute perfectionist. I try to apply a motto to my life of aiming for 100% but being satisfied with 70-80% in results. I have even stopped correcting other people's spelling and grammar. A bit.

When I am sewing, I  do try to do the best job possible. I will take shortcuts and cheat a little if I can get away with it, but I do like to make sure I have cut correctly. This man's top I am working on is from a piece of fabric bought on Ebay - an odd-shaped remnant, but large enough for the task. Well, large enough if I had cut everything correctly.

I pre-washed the fabric, as one should, especially with knit fabrics. I hung it on the clothesline, which caused a bit of a line mark across it, so I placed the pattern pieces carefully to avoid having this mark show.

I had just cut out the two sleeves and was marking the centre top of them with pins, only to find that I had not placed the pattern quite as carefully as I thought. Some remnants of knit fabric have overlock stitching towards the end of the roll - this one had that stitching right at the top of one sleeve.

It's ok, I thought, I'll change the shoulder shape a little. I cut the shoulder of both sleeves to match, trimming off the unsightly stitching. Then I saw it. About 7cm from the top of one sleeve were two rectangular marks resembling sticky tape stains. I haven't worked in the industry, so I don't know what causes these horrors, but horrors they are, and I do not have enough fabric left over to re-cut the sleeve.

Right now, that piece is soaking, having been scrubbed with eucalyptus oil and soap.

Please pray for me.

1 comment:

  1. The eucalyptus oil did the trick. Fabric salvaged, top being worn by happy husband.

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