In a quest to be a little more domestic and to have something to show for my newfound freedom on preschool/MDO days, I decided I should attempt to make the girls’ Halloween costumes this year. Please note the special emphasis on the word attempt, because that may be as far as I get with this. Sometimes I’m overly optimistic and wildly idealistic.
Anyway, in case you’re anything like me and a novice in the world of sewing, I’d like to draw your attention to some blatantly false advertising that’s going on out there in places like JoAnn’s and Hobby Lobby. A few weekends ago I stopped in one of the above-mentioned stores and began perusing the catalogs for something that would work for our costumes. Immediately, I knew I should restrict my browsing to the Simplicity catalog because sometimes a name says a lot. From there, I was quickly drawn to the poodle skirts in the 50’s section and even more allured when I saw that it was in the “easy to sew” section. I was further encouraged by my mom, a capable quilter herself, who assured me that a poodle skirt was among the simplest of things to sew… “It’s just one big circle,” she said. And, so, being a naive, first-time fabric shopper, I hauled my ten pounds of pink felt up to the cutting counter, had the saleslady cut it, bought my poodle dog appliques and some sequins, and headed home thinking this would be a fun fall project. Simplicity, right?
Well, yesterday afternoon I decided to get all my supplies out and start this endeavor. I was again comforted when I saw “Easy to Sew” in red letters on the front of the pattern package. However, I then opened it up and realized I had been severely misled by some clever marketing and those little red letters. Here are a few of the words and phrases I encountered on the “General Directions” page:
selvage, grain line, interfacing, fusible trim, notches, stay-stitching, baste, nap…
Are you serious? I know you can baste meat and a nap usually has something to do with sleep. But, as for the rest of these words, I don’t have a clue what they mean… in OR out of context. I might as well be reading the Chinese directions. Since I am usually a visual learner I thought I might find some hope in the diagram. But, alas, it, too, is laden with symbols I don’t understand.
Further complicating matters, it appears the skirt consists of THREE pieces that must somehow be adhered to one another to form the “one big circle” my mom had referenced. I’m sure it comes as no surprise to anyone that I don’t own a sewing machine. I did recently acquire a travel sewing kit, though, which may come in handy for this adhering part… if I should get that far into the project.
All this to say, I have a newfound respect for those of you who can sew. It’s very much like the respect I have for mechanics. I don’t know their terminology, I don’t understand what exactly they do or how they do it, but I’m grateful for them and the things they can accomplish with their skills. Because they are indeed skills.
I would also like to add that there’s a wide chasm of difference between artsy and crafty. I am proof that you can be one and not the other. I’m not even sure I’m artsy, but I am positive I am nowhere near crafty. Such labels are earned, and I have a long, long, long way to go.
We’ll see if my mom’s intervention and/or assistance has any positive impact on the outcome of the project. Meanwhile, I’m going to begin looking for back-up costumes in the very likely event that I botch this 🙂
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