Which mistakes can you live with?
We all make mistakes. (Obviously.)
And fortunately in knitting, (almost) every mistake is fixable.
(Apart from things like lighting your sweater on fire.)
But that doesn’t mean all mistakes need to be fixed.
I’m not advocating sloppiness,
because there’s no need for that.
But pure perfection is boring,
and usually unattainable.
Wafian has a spot where the boarder is garter instead of i-cord
– when I got distracted for a row.
Eirwen has a couple loose stitches near the beginning
– where the magic loop pulled a yarn over too large.
Izar has a couple stripes completely out of order
– where I forgot what I was doing for a bit.
Tumbling Deco was supposed to have a smooth boarder (like Mrs. Peacock)
– but I didn’t have the blocking wires.
When it comes to mistakes in my knitting my thinking is…
: if it’s structural, fix it.
(an incorrect stitch count, an off-center repeat, funky shaping, extra rows)
: if it’s cosmetic, it can stay – or get fixed – usually depending on my mood.
(a misordered stripe sequence, a different blocking method, an incorrect stitch that your eye glosses over)
So, which mistakes can you live with?
The Self-Made Wardrobe Week 5
The Self-Made Wardrobe is a project where I only wear garments I’ve made, for one year.
You can read more about the project here.
It was a mostly straight forward week, some sewing and some knitting, when I wasn’t melting. It would seem that August decided to throw us a swelter-y farewell party, which made for some really gross knitting weather.
And wrote some reminders to myself about what I like wearing and what I don’t.
But in much more exciting news, I spent yesterday conducting my first experiment at sewing jeans.
I took a rub off of a pair of jeans I have that fit pretty well (not perfect) but well enough, worked up a basic pattern, and sewed up a pair of long shorts.
I don’t have photos, I was too much in the head-space of figuring things out to remember to grab the camera. Next time I’ll try to remember the camera.
They didn’t have pockets, or belt loops, or bottom hems, or even a button when it came down to it.
Mostly I just wanted to check the fit and see if I could figure out the steps for putting them together.
I think I figured out a sewing order that I like:
Back legs to yokes. Front legs to back along the side seam. Back legs together. Fly. Front crotch. Inseam. Waistband.
Next time I’m going to try sewing the front of the crotch seam together, then inserting the fly, then top-stitching the front crotch seam.
The fit is sort of ok. I can get them on, walk around, and sit down in them, but really, no one needs to see that much panty-line detail.
Plus the fly is a little bit funky. Totally functional. But funky.
I think though, if I add a bit of ease, back pockets, and switch up the order I sew the fly/front crotch in, the next pair will be wearable.
Overall it could have gone worse. (A lot worse.)
I need to make a trip to the garment district to pick up metal zippers, some more pattern paper, some hardware, and top stitching thread.
But I’m a little bit thrilled about the prospect of wearing jeans again!
8 clothing related reminders from Month One of The Self-Made Wardrobe. Because reinventing the wheel every time sucks.
It’s the beginning of Day 32 of The Self-Made Wardrobe Project.
Yesterday was the end of Month 1, today is the beginning of Month 2, and I’m beginning to maybe believe that this project might not be as crazy as it feels.
At the very least I know I can come up with something to wear every day – freezing when the weather finally gets cold is a whole other thing though.
Since I’ve been doing this for over a month, I’ve learned some things, about what I like, and what I don’t.
So I’d like to write myself some clothing related reminders.
They’re not rules. Or even guidelines.
They’re just reminders.
Things I’ve learned, and would rather not have to re-learn.
Because reinventing the wheel every time sucks.
(Of course, these work for me and my wardrobe. You can have whatever wardrobe reminders/guidelines/rules work for you and your wardrobe.)
I want a reminder that…
: crew-neck T-shirts never fit in any dimension. If you love it, buy an XL and cut it down.
: you don’t have big feet. You’re a 7 or a 7.5. I don’t know where this big footed idea came from.
: go for fuller skirts – not pencil skirts. You like walking, and don’t work in an office, so not having pencil skirts is really ok.
: you prefer cardigans to pullovers. So knit some damn cardigans already.
: blouses aren’t really your thing. If there’s one you love – excellent! Otherwise don’t beat yourself up over sticking to tank tops – just make some interesting over-shirts.
: you don’t really like dresses. Don’t get sucked up into blogland’s need for all the cute flirty dresses. You prefer separates – and that’s ok.
: go for the dropped waist or at your hips. You don’t really like things at your natural waist.
: buy black fabric. And grey fabric. And blue fabric. And other solid fabrics. I know the prints are more fun to buy. But the solids make the prints more fun to wear & style.
And let me repeat that last one.
: buy the solid fabrics.
These reminders are things I’ve found work – for me.
Sometimes I go against them (most of the time I go against the fabric reminder – but this project is changing that).
But when I remember to remember these things about myself, how I wear my clothing, and how I interact with my wardrobe – things go a little more smoothly.
And who doesn’t like things to go a little more smoothly.
