Happy Friday the 13th/Galentine’s Day/pre-Valentine’s Day!
Today’s post was inspired by a non-cosplay sewing session yesterday. I’ve been eyeing the Oslo pattern from Seamwork since it came out a little while back. I have a mild addiction to cardigans (19 and counting), and I love the idea of having a TNT cardigan pattern that I can whip up in 2 hours or less. I had just enough of a mystery knit from a Golden D’Or sale in my stash, so I thought it’d be a fun and simple project that I could sew in the morning and wear to work later in the day. Awesome. Except… It wasn’t.
After sewing everything up, I just stared at my new cardigan. And stared. I hated it. Not the pattern, mind you. Oversized cardigans are one of my all-time favorite wardrobe pieces and I have at least 2 other cardigans similar to the Oslo in my closet. (Though I do want to tweak it a bit to fit me better. The sleeves are crazy huge).
My distaste was the combination of inappropriate fabric (this pattern definitely needs a mid- to heavy-weight knit instead of the super slinky knit I used), a pattern that still needs to be tweaked to fit me better, less than stellar workmanship (oh god, don’t look at the serging on the front collar or the [lack of] strip matching), and general apathy for the finished product. I left the cardigan alone when I went to work yesterday, but when I looked at it again this morning, I knew with a sinking feeling that I’d never wear it. Or photograph it 😛
So my question to all of you is what do you do with your rejected sewing projects? The things you finish, but never quite get around to wearing more than once or twice. Mine are currently hanging in my closet, but I know that it’s time to clear them out and make room for things that I’ll love and actually wear. Do you hang on to them for sentimental reasons? Or are you ruthless with your closet weeding? Let me know!
The Geeky Seamstress 
I think I do a combination of ruthless weeding and sentimental keeps… Meaning I ruthlessly weed out things that I don’t like and then keep them in a huge pile to fix in whatever way might help. And then proceed to never really fix them. That is my planned weekend project though, if I ever get to it!
Haha, nice! That actually is a fantastic idea. There are several mishaps in my me-made collection that could be great with a few tweaks! Finding time is always an issue, though.
If I have something that can be altered to make it more wearable, I try to make that a priority, even if it isn’t the most fun. But in general, I am pretty ruthless in weeding out things I don’t wear. If I feel bad about having wasted fabric or am still really hoping that I might come around to something, I might let it sit for a few months until the emotional attachment fades and then I get rid of it. But that stuff doesn’t stick around for long. I think it helps that I’m generally not a very sentimental person and am allergic to clutter–I like getting rid of things more than I like keeping them!
That’s such a handy skill! I’m such a hoarder.
I tend to either throw away my rejects or give them away. My friends and sister love the things that I tend to not like. This is for everything, not just sewing.
It’s always nice to regift! At least then you know the items are in a good home 🙂
I’m a merciless weeder. I did keep my first jacket with the pockets I sewed in backwards and the collar that is very very poorly attached just because it’s good to remember where I came from and because it’s still semi wearable. The saddest to me are all the knit tops I made when I was learning to sew with knits out of super cruddy fabric. Some of those lasted just a few wears before they turned into wrinkly piles of wardrobe goo. All that work turned to dust. I agree with you that better quality knits are worth the investment.
Ugh, so true! Quality knits make such a huge difference. I’m still sad that my Moneta was such a flop, and it was all because of that terrible fabric!
You love different in ‘normal ‘ clothes!
I recently had a sort out and reluctantly gave some of my me-made clothes to the charity shop. I instantly regretted it and almost went to buy them back! 😀
Oops! Should say look different!
Haha, I feel like I’d do the same, even though I’ve only worn most of them a few times!
I have a few sewing rejects. Some never get finished and end up in the scrap bin. If they do get finished and I don’t love them, one of three things happen:
1. If it is a craftsmanship issue, they end up in the scrap bin anyway.
2. If it is a fit/style issue, they go to the charity shop.
3. If I worked really hard on it and it’s special in some way, it sits in my closet until (hopefully) I feel ok parting with it.
That’s a good approach! I’ll have to give that a try.
Weed! Weed! Weed! If I don’t feel comfortable in it, I think of a way to save it. If I can’t save it and the workmanship is decent, it goes to the charity shop.
Haha, good approach! I really need to donate my blouses that just don’t work for me.
I’ve been sewing just for a bit longer than a couple of years, so I don’t have so many handmade clothes. I’m getting better lately and I realize that many of my early make are not good enough of didn’t get worn very often. They are still in my closet since I’m a sentimentalist, but one day I’ll have to decide what to do with them 😦
I definitely understand that pain!