2018 Sewing Misses

I sewed a bunch in 2018. I set a goal at the beginning of the year to sew as much of my wardrobe as possible and make as many things for my kids as they asked for. The great news is that I was able to do just that, and I had way more successful projects than failures, but as with every thing, I definitely had some FAILS.

I decided to share those fails with you when a fellow sewing Instagrammer, Tiahna Conrad, inspired me with the lessons she learned from her fails on her blog (You can find that post here.) I really agree with Tiahna that you learn a lot about yourself and your personal style by doing this, and the goal is to learn from your mistakes so that you make less of them!

Let’s get in to my top 5! These are ordered by date (not by how much of a failure they were) with the most recent one being the first.

(1) The Shhhout Apen. You can find this pattern on Makerist here. I purchased this pattern when I was pregnant in 2017 for 2 Euros during a sale. I thought it would make the most perfect nursing top and planned to wear it postpartum. I made a size 36, View B.

It took me forever to make, though, and I didn’t finish it until last month (when my baby was around 10 months haha!). I think it took me forever because the instructions, even when translated left a lot to be desired. Then, when I did make it, the notches didn’t line up in the front for where you attach the cross over into the side seam. I had to rip off the front and figure out how to line it up to where the hemline was even. Once finished, there is too much fabric hanging in my middle section. I could have worn this when I was 40 weeks pregnant.

I really like the fabric that I used and probably would have still worn it, but it just has way too much drape in the neckline and the cross over at the top constantly falls under my bust, which is not a pretty look. I think it looks ok for standing still for photos, but once I moved, it fell under my bust.

I am undecided what to do with the shirt now. Should I gift it to someone? Should I rip off the front again and take in some of the excess front? I really like the back and sleeves. The fabric is a super soft rib with great recovery. I bet it would work if the neckline was finished with a band to keep it from falling under my bust.

(2) Petite Stitchery Symphony Athletic top. I blogged about it here.

I think I have worn it one time since I made it, which is so sad, because again, I love the fabric I used. I haven’t worn it because the neckline is way too high and chokes me. I planned to wear it as an over layer for a fitted tank to the gym, but that just hasn’t happened because a lot of my gym tanks aren’t more fitted than this top. AND I would never work out with an open back and long sleeves. SO? I am not sure what to do with this one.

(3) The Striped Swallow Summer Dawn in Woven. I blogged about this one here when I initially made it. I LOVE the print on the fabric, but I absolutely cannot stand the way the fabric feels. After wearing it for a few hours, it just had a weird texture and just was not comfortable close to my skin. THIS WAS NOT A PROBLEM WITH THE PATTERN. Sorry to yell at you, but I just wanted to make sure it was clear that this one was on the list due to poor fabric choice. I need to remember not to be swayed by a pretty print when it doesn’t feel good next to my skin.

I also learned from this dress that I am not a big fan of wrap dresses. One gust of wind, and I am exposed. This isn’t a pattern problem because I have yet to meet a wrap dress that didn’t make me feel that way. Have you? Is there some style of wrap dresses that feels more secure?

I really loved the pattern. The sleeves were beautiful and the lines were so good. I loved how the tie worked and it was so professionally put together. I think this is the one dress that made me sad to put on this list, but I never wore it for more than a few hours so I had to fess up.

(4) The Bella Sunshine Amelia Dress. This one I haven’t blogged about. I made it to wear on a trip to visit my inlaws in February that was scheduled exactly a month postpartum. We had to attend a church service as part of the trip, and I needed a dress that I could easily breastfeed in and that was hopefully flattering on my postpartum body.

The bodice is fully lined and crosses over in the front and looks really pretty in the back as well. I made the size that I measured at the time.

The part that I did not like about the dress was the middle black band. It was really uncomfortable to wear and the bottom of the band flared out at the bottom and made me look pregnant again, but I wasn’t and really didn’t want that look. It was easy to nurse in so I was happy about that, but once I got home, I never wore it again. I later gifted it to my mom.

(5) The One Puddle Lane Miss Maggie. Right after Hannah was born I was desperate for more nursing tops. I needed a quick sewing project because my time was limited with 5 kids (with one of them being a nursing newborn). What I didn’t realize when I bought this pattern was that it has a seam line in the middle of the front where the modesty panel and cowl are connected to the skirt. Since they were connected, I couldn’t pull the cowl down to nurse. I know I could have hacked that modesty layer to move up, but I had a nursing newborn and wanted something quick.

I really was hoping that the cowl was not too deep and immodest. Well, I was wrong, and to make matters worse, my fabric had really bad recovery and seemed to grow as the day went on. Haha! So, without a cami, this top was a no-go. Even with a cami, it just looked awkward. I wore it around the house a few times, and never really felt comfortable in it.

The pattern has a center seam in the back that gives the back a nice shape. I think the pattern was really well written and would probably work fine if I used a fabric with great recovery and included the modesty panel as the pattern was written.

So there are my fails. What did I learn? Sewing for a postpartum body can be tricky because you want your clothes to fit, but then again, if they fit, they won’t fit for very long. If fabric does not feel good next to your skin, don’t buy it. I am not a fan of wrap dresses, and I don’t like too deep of cowls. I also don’t like wide bands around my waist with a skirt that has dense gathers. I also learned A LOT about color. I will address that more in my sewing successes post that I am working on. That one is taking a bit longer because I have sooo much more to talk about!

Thank you for reading my post today. Be on the lookout for my next end of year post where I feature my all star patterns from 2018.

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