Well, what a lot of nice comments about my sewing abilities. But maybe I should explain when I state 'I can't sew'.
By rights I should be able to sew very easily, my mother is a seamstress by trade but then I should also be able to crochet and knit because she can do that very well too. Can you see where I am going with this? Here lies the problem, I have always had a mum that could make dresses, knit jumpers, make alterations.....so I didn't need to try. My mum could make dresses out of curtains....no really she did once. I called it (unsurprisingly) my 'curtain dress' and it was all silky, jade green, eighties dropped waist, fifties curtainy. It doesn't sound it but it was fab.....if you don't believe me look....
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| I can't believe this is about the only two photos of the 'curtain dress'. This in a nightclub in Palma, Majorca pre party scene. It was in November on a travel agent educational visit. |
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| Wearing my curtain dress on my 18th Birthday. |
So now I am interested in trying myself I don't have much of a clue to more technical problems like inserting zips and cutting patterns. Plus I use my nan's lovely old electric converted Singer machine. It's older than me (and that's old) so it is doing well really but it has the total of one stitch type.....straight!.
Of course I have picked up a few things, mostly from my needlework classes at secondary school where it took a whole term to make a pencil skirt and so by then you couldn't of cared less if you didn't finish it. Honestly isn't life too short to pin AND tack AND press it.....No?....Oh that's where I'm going wrong. Lack of patience and the unwillingness to read instructions.
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| Mum made these bridesmaids dresses...I'm the one on the right, don't know why I'm smiling, they itched like hell. |
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I did manage to make this 'Emma Peel' of the Avengers shift dress last year. Nearly chucked it in the bin in the process out of frustration though. |
**sigh**
I suppose I will have to cut the short cuts and buy a pattern and a book. But I am scared it will all go wrong. Not that I mind failure.....I just won't try sewing again, hold my head in shame, be cast out by my family and hunted down by marauding seamstresses.....maybe.
I hear where you are coming from! My Mum was a hugely talented sewer and a teacher too - which meant she was very quick to tell me where I'd gone wrong. "Rip it out and do that bit again" she used to say. It did make me a bit wary of trying things out when I was younger.
ReplyDeleteThese photos are fab! You make a very glamorous Emma Peel
my mum was the same, we always had handmade dresses and cardigans knitted to match..rar rar skirts and vest tops too. I know i didn't need to learn as she done it all for me. Must be our age Alana - as it interests me more now than I would ever let on to her xx
ReplyDeleteFab photos!
You must be about my age - I remember that look so well, love the dress - and the hair. Know the feeling, my mum is an awesome seamstress - she made my wedding dress - genes passed me by too! Good luck!
ReplyDeleteOur mums sure are a hard act to follow aren't they? I still struggle to knit, and my mum could knit whatever she wanted. I do think once you get into sewing you'll be hooked
ReplyDeleteLOL - fantastic photos, I was thinking it would be a sound of music style curtain dress...but that looks a perfect 80s one. I am also slightly impatient sewing like you...the whole pin,tack,press....I only made rather horrid things in needlework classes!!! I do like sewing on LOs tho...requires less ironing and planning.
ReplyDeleteMy mum is the same, she made my wedding dress & co-incidentally my curtains (not out of the same fabric though :))she can knit, crochet & cannot cook. I can sew a bit but nothing like her, yet I'm now a better knitter - she asked me for help with a pattern the other week & I was so proud of myself. Neither of us have learnt to cook though. Give it a go & keep practicing. Love the Emma Peel dress too (& the hairdo)
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xx
I had a hair do just like yours except blonde.....and I had a dress just like that only black and red striped LOL
ReplyDeleteIt may seem like a pain but pressing does make things a whole lot easier. You probably didn't want to hear that!
I am so impressed that you made your Emma Peel outfit it looks fab.
My Mum made me so many things when I was younger too. I think that her teaching me to crochet is a step to far for both our patience but I so want to learn.
Ha Ha Yup I remember those clothes and hair styles. I like embroidery but no patience for making clothes i am afaid!
ReplyDeleteIm the same but with knitting. I gave up, lol. Hope you crack it soon. :)
ReplyDeleteI'ts always the way that if your mum is good at something then you tend not to be because you leave it to her. I learnt my sewing skills from an elderly neighbour who had been a couture seamstress and had no female relatives to pass her skills on to. Oh and I made a satin jacket out of a curtain once lol.
ReplyDeleteI can't sew for toffee - hate even stitching my son's Cubs badges on his uniform! Great photos though - forget about the sewing and just scrap the pictures!
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