Oh dear
May 1, 2010
The all-night sewing marathon to complete my dress in time for the Pattern Review contest suffered a meltdown some time after 2 a.m., when it became apparent to me that I have no master switch allowing me to flip over from “sewing meticulously slowly with frequent reference to my library” to “carefree whipping up”. None. I am a one-woman slow clothes movement. Pattern Review will have to live without me for now. This blog seems to be made of at least 45% FAIL.
To be fair, I’m sure all that champagne and white Burgundy on the Eurostar back to London (“Vous souriez beaucoup, madame”) didn’t help. I like drinking arguably as much as I like sewing, but like sex and food, the two pleasures rarely combine successfully.
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I hear you I hear you! I ALWAYS think sitting down in front of the sewing machine with a glass of wine close by is going to go well, and it NEVER does. I tend to get a little sleepy and unfocussed (who would have thought?!) and end up swearing at my machine and my project! One day I’ll learn. Late night sewing reminds me too much of university project deadlines at 9am! Depressing. Hope the dress turns out as you hoped during day light hours! xxx
Oh, no, Susannah! But I am so looking forward to seeing your Bestway dress whenever you finish, regardless of if you can enter it into the PR contest. And for what it’s worth, I think my usual rate is 37%-45% fail! As long as you know when to recognize it and just stop sewing, you are in the right place.
Maybe we should set up a rival competition for those who missed the deadline because they were a) too boozy; b) too far away or c) too dunderheaded to read instructions.
This is a brilliant idea. Like the sewing Paralympics, but for those whose handicaps are self-imposed.
I’m sorry you missed your deadline, but I’m glad you don’t have that master switch. Hooray for nit-picking devotion to perfection. Especially since you’re on the ration- you have a limited number of clothes, savor the process of creating and enjoy a well-made dress. I tried to combine wine and sewing last night. Rather, I got out some drafting, had a few glasses of wine, then put the drafting away. It was for the best. Show us what you have so far!
(My dad used to tell me it takes 5,000 mistakes to make a master. This as he would eat yet another of my pre-teen cooking disasters. Always made me feel better.)
LOL, I’ve never tried drinking and “driving” a sewing machine, but I’ve found I get punch drunk enough just from being up past 1am to ruin just about anything I do after that benchmark.
Aw… you poor thing!!! I feel so badly for you… if nothing else because I can totally sympathize with those late night sewing fails. Been there, done that a number of times (more than I’d like to think about without getting depressed… rofl.). Sending you lots of sympathetic sewing thoughts!
Oh yes–I have found too that sewing (or knitting for that matter) and alcoholic beverages mixing rarely result in any good. If only I would learn not to wander into the sewing room after a G&T… haha!
♥ Casey
blog | elegantmusings.com
Oh my. I hope you are feeling better now, or are able to sleep and rest a bit after such a straining night. Is the dress still going to be finished one day? I hardly dare to ask, because I know myself: In midnight meltdowns like that I have a tendency to ruin things beyond repair, or throw things away into the garbage bin, or something even worse ! To save myself (and my enviroment) from doing that I try to stop myself from sewing marathons like that. Not good for me and definitely not good for my atelier
Luckily I called a halt to my efforts when I realized I’d rather have a well-made dress than a dress made in time for the contest. It’s still coming along nicely, but at a much slower pace. Deadlines and I just do. Not. Get. Along.