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Thursday 4 July 2013

What was your very first make?

At the Birmingham blogger meet-up a few weeks ago, a few of us got talking about the first item of clothing that we every made. Mine was my crescent skirt.





I love this skirt and I still wear it all the time. I followed Tasia's sewalong to make this skirt, which was extremely helpful for me as a total beginner because she went through the whole process step by step complete with handy photos. I don't think I would have ended up with a skirt anywhere near as wearable as this if I had gone through the process alone.

However, looking back, there are a few things that I would do differently now. For example, I was completely clueless when it can to bias binding - I didn't really know what I was doing and so before binding the hems with it, I cut it in half! At the time I was really pleased with my neat and tidy bound hems, but after going through the washing machine many many times, this has resulted in a whole lot of fraying. At some point soon I will have to redo this properly. I don't tend to use bias binding for the lining hem these days - I fold the hem over twice and stitch instead. Also my zip insertion and stitching in the ditch are both a bit of a mess - but hey, nobody looks that closely right?! I'm a bit of a perfectionist but even I realise that these are only small points and I am still really proud of my skirt. Looking back at the first few items of clothing that I made makes me realise how much I have learnt over the two years I have been sewing - and am still learning. Each item that I have made acts in some way like a marker of my progress, and teaches me new things for the next one.  


So what I want to know is - what was your first ever make? Was it a simple project or did you dive in at the deep end with a challenge? Was it a success...and if so do you still wear it?

K xx

7 comments:

  1. This is such an excellent first make and I love that you regularly wear it proudly! My fist make was a little tea dress, but I think I wore it about twice...it was wonky and not brilliantly executed...hehe!

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  2. I made a woven t shirt. I had no idea about sizing or ease and it came out huge! I wore it maybe twice.

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  3. My first make was the 'classic' dirndl skirt. So easy and yet wearable! I have this pattern and am excited to sew it now! I thought it might be difficult with the interesting yoke detail, but if it was the first thing you sewed, that is very encouraging!

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  4. Glad to see this discussion continuing.

    My first make was a purple princess seamed dress that fit horrendously and was worn once. My second make is still in circulation today as I learnt quickly from my previous mistakes!

    I love your skirt. A little hem tlc and it'll last through many more washes!

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  5. That is an excellent first make. I've made a few bias binding mistakes too, that I've only discovered were mistakes after the first wash of the garment - heartbreaking.

    My very first make, last August, was Tilly's Picnic blanket skirt. The cotton I used for it was much too lightweight, it hangs all wrong, I ironed the gathers flat! But I'm still so proud of those buttonholes. I do still wear it occasionally though, in fact I'm wearing it in my latest post, showing off my Sorbetto:

    http://strangenotions.pigeondesign.net/getting-back-the-sewing-mojo-a-little-sorbetto-for-sunny-day/

    Oh, and I can't get my hand in one of the pockets. Oops.

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  6. My first make was a Colette Ginger skirt made from lilac fabric (Ithink it's gabardine) that came from my Granny. The zip isn't great, and the waistband is a bit bulky - I didn't realise that because the fabric was thicker, I should have used a lighter fabric for the waistband facing. But I love that skirt and still wear it, and I'm glad you're still wearing your Crescent!

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  7. This looks amazing for a first project! Mine was a sheath dress which I only wore once... :) Charlie

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