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Sewing Blooper of the Week: Right side or wrong side?

skirt-close

I have been sewing for 17 years now, and yet still I think not a project goes by that I do not do something absent-minded. I almost wrote “stupid” there, but I’m trying to be gentle with myself here.

The truth is, sewing is a process that involves low levels of concentration for hours on end. Most of the time you’re coasting, until you realize too late that you were coasting at exactly the moment you should have been paying attention. Oops. Often these mistakes are very minor, but not always.

I got to thinking that it would be fun if we all shared these together. It would make everyone, from beginner to expert, feel a little better to remember that we are all human. And maybe we can even learn from each other’s errors.

My pocket fiasco

So what happened to spark this idea?

As I was making my Zinnia, I was working at a steady pace and hoping to make the whole skirt from cutting to hem in a few hours (first mistake… setting myself an arbitrary deadline).

I cut, I attached the pockets and flaps very precisely, I attached the front placket, I did the buttonholes, I went to assemble the skirt and… oops. I had attached one of the pockets to the wrong side on the left skirt front instead of the right side!

I could have sworn I’d double checked. I stared in disbelief. I cursed. I grabbed the seam ripper.

Well, the skirt was made. It looks good. So who cares how long it took?

What’s your Blooper?

Anyone else have any moments of cursing this week?

We’re going to be sharing these every week, either here or on our facebook page, so follow us there if you want to share your own sometime!

Sarai Mitnick

Founder

Sarai started Colette back in 2009. She believes the primary role of a business should be to help people. She loves good books, sewing with wool, her charming cats, working in her garden, and eating salsa.

Comments

Shannon

October 22, 2013 #

I’m making a Grainline Archer, and I was so pleased with myself yesterday after attaching the right button band so nicely… til I realized that there was one pattern piece for the front, and it says to trim the right front down by a few inches before attaching the button band. D’oh.

Fortunately, I had cut two button bands when only one was required, so I had an extra and it was a relatively easy thing to re-do. But, ugh (and curses).

Angela.

October 22, 2013 #

I was trimming the seam allowances after sewing a collar onto a shirt. Unfortunately.. not paying enough attention, I cut a hole into the shirt front! Not anyplace easily hidden or repaired, I ended up cutting a new shirt front. I was so frustrated I would have tossed the whole thing except it was for a former boyfriend… (I’ve been married 26 years now, amazing how long ago that mistake was and how vividly I remember it!)

Amanda

October 22, 2013 #

Ha! I had a pocket fiasco on Sunday myself. It was a quick and easy skirt with a gathered waistband, very simple overall. While gathering I noticed I had sewn the square patch pockets on upside down. Oops! Easy fix, mindless mistake.

Katherine

October 22, 2013 #

I recently made a blouse from a Burda pattern, with princess seams and grown-on cap sleeves. I was being super-meticulous, as I’d splurged on some Liberty Tana Lawn, and was using French seams EVERYWHERE.

Welp, I got to the part where you attach the shoulder seams. Right side went in fine, everything lined up nicely. But then the left side. . . I couldn’t figure out why nothing was lining up well, until the realization set in that I’d attached the outer left front piece UPSIDE DOWN. The fabric looked the exact same on both sides you see. . .

I should have seam ripped and redone it, because the armhole and hems were both messed up, but I just winged it, because I’d just HAD it at that point. Several hours of slow meticulous sewing and I just couldn’t make myself fix it properly. But the blouse actually is wearable in the end, miraculously. Though I do sigh every time I see it still. . .

Samina

October 22, 2013 #

Why yes – I put the bias binding on bass-ackwards on my Sorbetto just recently. I don’t know why I ever even fire up the sewing machine. The seam ripper gets more use than anything does.

Autumn

October 23, 2013 #

That was exactly how I used to feel. I hate seam ripping with such a passion though, I have fully committed to muslin-ing and mini-muslin-ing, extreme labeling, only working when I’m fresh and breaking my projects into pieces. This is also why I trace my patterns because I am so error prone it is pointless to sew unless I can always come back to the original.

Nikki Jean

October 22, 2013 #

Ugh. . When I find a pattern I like, I commit to it. I make A LOT of that article, with the hope that by the time I get to the third one they look awesome, with relative ease. Imagine my chagrin when making my FIFTH ( i know. . overkill) party dress (KwikSew 3521) and attach the bodice wrong side out. . . Didn’t realize until I’d put the zipper in. . Head hung low. .

Helena

October 22, 2013 #

I fitted a skirt, which sat great on my hips. So I installed lining and did the top-stitching. Then I realised that the skirt was supposed to go at the waist. Not only do I eed to rip the lining, the skirt also has side poxkets so I need to take in everything in the back piece, with the risk of the side seams ending up too far back. Ah, well.

VictoriaR

October 22, 2013 #

I made a corduroy jacket following the “Sew Better, Sew Faster” Craftsy class. The sleeves have 3 pieces. I mixed up one of the pieces, putting the left on the right and right on the left. It means that the nap is going the opposite way! Fortunately, it is the under part of the sleeve and you really can’t see it. I didn’t notice until I was well past and had completed a bunch of top stitching.

Rosie Wednesday

October 22, 2013 #

Oh goodness, I love that you’re sharing these! I do this constantly, too. I am taking a pattern making class, and this week we’re stitching up bodices that we’ve designed. I completely goofed up and stitched my front wrong side out, at shoulder seams and side seams with facings! Eep.

Tatiana

October 22, 2013 #

Does making a whole on your precious knit dress that you’ve spend hours working on it while serging the seams counts as a blooper os just as a total disaster? I am really scared of my serger now…

Tatiana

October 22, 2013 #

I meant a hole, ha!

Lisa

October 22, 2013 #

I think my favourite error is for one of my costumes- my friends and I did a group of the battle handmaidens from Star Wars: Episode I, and they have these fantastic half-circle sleeves that are so much fun to wear. Well, attaching the lining got a bit dicey, and I don’t really remember how I did it, but I ended up with mobius sleeves. No matter how many times I kept trying to turn it right side out, I’d always end up with half of it inside out. Apparently willing your mistake away by trying it again doesn’t work haha.

Rita

October 22, 2013 #

I have an absolutely gorgeoous Peony dress that has a 15″ inch zipper instead of a 22″ zipper. It’s a struggle getting it on over “the girls,” but I couldn’t bear the thought of re-doing the zipper once I discovered that I’d purchased the wrong zipper. It also serves as a reminder to make a list when getting supplies for a project!

dani

October 22, 2013 #

I am easing my way back into sewing by making everyone in the family flannel pants for Christmas. I remembered that I wanted to add a cargo pocket to the pair for my nephew after I sewed the legs together. I ended up sewing a few inches of bunched flannel in the pocket seam because I was so damned determined to get that pocket on. I also had to rip out the wide elastic waistband to a gathered skirt because i attached the waistband on inside out…talk about not paying attention…my new seam ripper is seeing too much action! After reading some of the other comments my blunders are peanuts in comparison…I’m so glad I’m not the only one…

Ellie

October 22, 2013 #

I learned sewing from some very meticulous friends of my mother. They taught me to line up patterns/material on seam, sides, zippers, etc. I bought a very patriotic material with eagles, holding wreaths. Imagine my chagrin when upon cutting the dress out, I removed the pattern pieces and found that all of the eagles were perfectly matched- – but upside down!

Alessa

October 22, 2013 #

I made a Macaron yesterday. It’s one of my favorite patterns and this is my fifth version, so I was definitely paying less attention than I should have. When I was trying it on after putting in the zipper, I was wondering why this version looked much less flattering than my others, and, putting my hands into the pockets, noticed that I had pressed and stitched all pleats the wrong way, to the sides instead of the middle.
I fixed it today and it looks very nice, but d’oh!

Colleen

October 22, 2013 #

I made two left sleeve cuffs on the Negroni and, then, later in the night (morning) I cut into the sleeve to make a new cuff, thinking it was scrap.

The irreversible thing I do is actually with a pair of Junipers. I used lovely soft corduroy but made one leg upside down so that the nap is shiny on one leg and not on the other. It might be okay but I only did it with the front so it really clashes with the back leg. But, they are so so so soft…….

When I first started out, I made my little girl a skirt that had a farm scene on it. I made it upside down but it’s right side from the wearer’s perspective so……

I could go on and on….

Linda Avan

October 22, 2013 #

I made a 50’s style dress for my 10 year old daughter, lined, full circle skirt etc and was gutted to see I’d put the invisible zip in back to front …… ripped it out and put back in again, back to front again ! Grrrr

Kristin

October 22, 2013 #

I’m just excited that I am not the only one to mess stuff up! I was making my Gertie coat from Butterick (too lazy to go find the number) and stitched the entire bodice inside out.

Did I learn from this mistake? Sadly, no. I have to check everything at least 3 times to make sure I have right sides together before I sew any seam. But, I did learn to check again after sewing it before I get too far along in my backwardsness….

Catherine

October 22, 2013 #

I’ve sewn the darts on the outside before instead of the inside and i always forget to add width to the hips when i cut my patterns, usually on the first piece i forget, so i cut extra on the second piece to make up for it. And collars, sometimes i pin these to the wrong side as well, but lucky i always double check those ones!

fenna

October 22, 2013 #

oh man, hilarious reading through all the comments! I have numerous bloopers! One of them, I was sewing with a borrowed serger, and it chopped a hole in the front of a tiny t-shirt for a newborn baby gift. I couldn’t bear fighting the serger any longer, so I just appliqued some random placed stars on the shoulder/front. And, a Jalie pattern I had been working on, I thought would go quick because it was my 2nd. Well, I had sewn the security panel onto the wrong (or should I say right) side of the top….a looooong fight with my seam-ripper as I had used an overlock stitch on my sewing machine that was super hard to rip! I could go on… :p

Maren

October 22, 2013 #

I didn’t pay attention to the suggested cut-out chart when I made the Laurel dress and ended up piecing together the sleeves. Sadly, it was some Liberty fabric I’d been saving for several years. (The dress turned out okay, though.)

Ami

October 22, 2013 #

This is such a timely article. I’m teaching myself to sew and had just completed a skirt for my daughter on Monday night with three gathered layers. I was well pleased with myself until I noticed that the middle layer was hanging a bit low. On investigation a good four inches had completely missed the gathering stitch and was just hanging there. Argh! I thought I could just fold it up and stitch it in but with grim resolve spent an hour last night ripping it all apart so that I could hopefully reconstruct it a bit neater next time.

Patricia

October 22, 2013 #

I’m a relatively new sewist, and recently made my first totally lined dress from a pretty white linen with light blue flowers. I was very proud of what I’d done (after several fitting adjustments) when I realized that I had cut the fabric so that all th flowers were upside down! Luckily everything went the wrong way, so at least the error is consistent. Lol. I don’t think it’s very noticeable but I know…

It seems that for everything I sew, each time I look at it there’s always that little bit of a niggling thought: oh that one has the little hole in the hem that I had to patch up…or that one has that stubborn wrinkle in the side seam…or that one has the shoulder that isn’t quite flat… Etc etc.

Diane @ Vintage Zest

October 22, 2013 #

This week, no moments of cursing, but only because I have yet to sew anything. Every other time that I sew… well, just ask my man. He used to wonder why I would name our sewing group “Stitch Once, Rip Twice.” That’s basically what happens to me nearly every time I sew something!

The worst time was when I was late to a baby shower and tried to make a plush taggie in the shape of a letter D for the present. On my first attempt, I pinned all of the tags sticking out the incorrect way. The second attempt, I sandwiched the plush cotton stuff on the inside, meaning that it was on the outside when I turned it inside out. On the third attempt, the right sides were together when I sewed it. After all of the ripping I did, the final product ended up all lopsided. See! (http://www.vintagezest.com/2013/03/sewing-rewind-gifts-edition.html) It was a nightmare!

Gail Ann Thompson

October 22, 2013 #

I began making a kilt on Saturday…..devoting Saturday to the math.
Pleated all of Sunday and much of Monday only to realize my math was wrong and I’d shorted myself by a third!!!
Partly, I didn’t allow for ‘turn of the cloth’, partly, I just figured wrong.
Sewing daily since 1964.

susan

October 22, 2013 #

I have no graphics/pictures showing when I read your blog. I have had this problem for the past 2 days. I can not adjust my computer…it is a work computer…any advice

Lessles

October 22, 2013 #

What a fab article, we’re all human after all! Let me make you all feel a little better. I had spent many weeks, probs a month making a Vogue – Claire Schaeffer jacket. My sewing dungeon became strictly AO because of the constant stream of expletives. I had the thing all together but just couldn’t turn a blind eye to the back princess seam, it didn’t look right and turning my head to look at it made it worse. So out came the quickunpick ! I ripped straight through the cashmere wool fabric and ruined a month of hard yakka. That’s when I stepped away from the sharp things and went for a long walk. The next day, and 10 deep breaths as well as a cursory pleading with the sewing gods – I tackled that thing again. Saved the seam by moving it and the cursed jacket is done. except now its 37c here in Sydders and no weather for cashmere wool!

Jen

October 22, 2013 #

I made a huge mistake a couple of nights ago, which proves that sewing late at night is bound to be disastrous. I’m making a Merida dress for my younger daughter’s Halloween costume and I wanted to put some celtic embroidery at the hemline. I decided to embroider each piece separately because I thought doing it after the dress was put together would make it too heavy and cause drag on the hoop and mess up the embroidery. The first one went fine and the embroidery looks beautiful. The second one was also going quite well but the bobbin ran out toward the end. I took off the hoop, inserted a fresh bobbin, reattached the hoop and started the machine up. I was pretty sure I’d double-checked to make certain that the rest of the piece wasn’t tucked under the hoop but apparently it wasn’t. I walked away to go change the baby and when I came back the embroidery was done and it looked great. When I removed the hoop I saw that the top of the piece had been under the hoop and was now embroidered to the wrong side of the piece. There was no way I could remove the hoop without ripping out the entire motif or cutting the fabric. I cut the fabric and luckily I had enough yardage left that I was able to cut a new one. I’ve decided to do the rest of the embroidery after the dress is put together.

Laura

October 22, 2013 #

I was happily sewing up the muslin (thankfully not the final garment) of my Clover trousers, thinking woo hoo this is going SO well…only to find I hadn’t flattened out the trousers to sew the side seams after sewing the crotch seam and that I had ended up with a strange single-leg trouser-bag type…thing. It took ages to figure out what I’d done. That added to the fact I need to adjust the crotch means they are still sitting on the pending pile!

MacKenzie Clark

October 22, 2013 #

Just last night I was steaming away with the iron and had half my interfacing fused before I realized I was fusing it to my press cloth instead of my fabric!

I love reading this chain! so many of these mistakes sound familiar. I do feel encouraged though that, after about 6 months of regular sewing, I find myself making many fewer mistakes than I used to!

nancy

October 22, 2013 #

As a new sewist, I had no idea what “nap” was. I decided to sew a long flowing robe with panne velvet. I rejoiced in the fact that I found a better way to lay out the fabric than the pattern instructions indicated. Instructions explained “nap”, but I guess I was taking a nap as I skipped over the issue. I saved a lot of fabric, thinking I might make a vest later! When I sewed it up, it became painfully clear that the nap ran up the front, and down the back. AHA! So that’s what “nap” was. I wore the robe anyway, but vowed to make sure anyone who saw me would only see me from the front, or the back, but not both.

And you cannot call yourself a sewist until you’ve sewn at least one sleeve into your neckline.

Loubelle

October 22, 2013 #

I’ve just made my very first item for myself after many years making dresses for my girls. I was using a lovely old sheet to make a pair of pj bottoms. I thought I’d ignore the pattern layout guide so I could incorporate the lovely hem on the sheet as a nice fancy edge for my legs. Going great guns, feeling very smug until I realised I’d cut 2 right legs! Doh. Next time I will follow the pattern on untried items.

Elle

October 22, 2013 #

I am literally sewing up my second zinnia today, or I should say my third. The first was finished really quick with no seam ripping or mistakes, because I was paying attention. My second… Well the first mistake was trying to watch a British tv series called bake off whilst sewing. The second mistake was forgetting the stabiliser on the waist band and realising half way through attaching it. The third mistake? Well it turns out the fabric was “the wrong way round” but as this was not obvious I thought the wrong way was the right way.

My current second is now finished except for buttons – but I have ordered some special ones so I am going to take my time to finish correctly. I must say that triple stitch for the gathering works like a charm. :)

meredith

October 25, 2013 #

I firmly believe there is no wrong side (or direction) of fabric — only the one you like best, and the other one!

Jacqui

October 22, 2013 #

Im a newbie to sewing. Decided to make my husband some pyjama pants with elastic and waistband tie. My first pants attempt.
First issue was fabric sales lady at Spotlight bossed me around so much and made me feel like an idiot and ended up selling me the fabric I needed in two un even pieces. I had to sew them together so now there is a flat fell seam half way up the right leg! (horizontal ha ha)
Second, I didn’t read ahead properly in the instructions. When I Made the waistband casing, fed through and closed off my elastic I was ready to feed the tie through the beautiful button holes I had made OOOPPS! The button holes were not within the casing, they sat just below it, so there was no where for them to go. I hadn’t created the casing down far enough. I was fed up so he now just has elastic banded PJ’s with a decorative button to cover up the button holes.

Kaci

October 22, 2013 #

I was sewing a Renfrew recently and was paying extra-special-close attention to matching stripes. I was setting in a sleeve and found there was waaaay too much sleeve cap-ness, which is super weird in a stretchy fabric. It was the first sleeve, so I trimmed some from each cap and Set. In. That. Sleeve. When I grabbed the second sleeve to set it in, I realized that I’d actually set the wrist into the cap and because I’d been all cutty with scissors, I’d ruined the entire shirt. :-/

My son now has a cute stripey shirt and if I get the urge to trim a seam to sew it together, I take a break and make sure I’m suppose to be sewing those seams to each other!

Laura

October 22, 2013 #

I just quit sewing for the evening in frustration after carefully sewing in a sleeve on to discover that the bobbin ran out about an inch into the stitching. Argh.

francesca

October 23, 2013 #

Oh, that happens to me all the time! You’ve removed all the carefully placed pins and sewn a whole seam and then – aaargh!

Burke

October 22, 2013 #

How about applying bias binding to a neckline to finish it, trying it on, pulling up the zip and realizing that one end is about 1/2″ longer than the other. Yeah. At least I have long hair and a cardigan covers it.

Molly

October 22, 2013 #

Working at a hospital, I wear a lot of scrubs. Many of these are purposefully made with the right side pocket on the right side and the left side on the wrong side (or is it vice versa? I can’t recall…), in both shirts and pants so that each garment can be worn inside out and still have a pocket. Apparently we hospital staff can’t be trusted to dress ourselves properly in the mornings. Anyway, your sewing blooper wasn’t a blooper: you were just making a scrub inspired skirt.

Sarai

October 23, 2013 #

Awesome, good to know! Maybe I should have just made more pockets.

Nyssa

October 22, 2013 #

I’ve sewn a skirt shut more than once.

More recently, I was cutting and applying interfacing to some facings, and made them identical, instead of mirrored. It’s on the inside, so I’ve left it, but dammit I was annoyed!

Miranda

October 22, 2013 #

I made bathrobe for my grandson with terrycloth lining and a robot cotton print on the outside. I hadn’t paid attention to the details of the print, and upon completion I noticed that the robots were upside down!

But you know, the robots were kind of goofy anyway; it seemed OK that they were upside-down, because robots malfunction and do things like that. Nobody noticed :-)

Sarai

October 23, 2013 #

Haha! This is my number one sewing area, forgetting about print direction.

lore

October 22, 2013 #

I’ve done the chopping the hole in the garment with the overlocker MANY TIMES. And yesterday I understitched the neckline all the way around on the proper side instead of the lining. My lining was the same fabric but d’oh !

Natacha

October 23, 2013 #

This summer I sew my first ever man shirt using a great pattern. I was finishing it, had managed the cuffs, the collar, everything and had just been done with doing the button holes with my Bernina. I take the seam ripper being careful to pin one end of the button hole so as not to rip the shirt itself. I do not know what happened but it did not work and I heard that terrible ripping sound. For 20 seconds I was just so stunned I could not stop looking as that one inch of fabric ripped. In total desperation, I took a piece of the same fabric and glued it on the wrong side of the fabric so that the button hole would hold. And it does and the ripping is almost invisible…

Seattlerain

October 23, 2013 #

I’m going to steal a page from your book, Natacha, and fix my hole the same way! Luckily my fabric is black so my zig-zags to seal my hole will hopefully disappear.

Still, my hole punctures in the faux leather are there for everyone to see. sigh.

Juliette

October 23, 2013 #

Last summer, I was making a Lily dress and I pressed one of my pocket flaps (made in a synthetic satin) with an iron that was too hot. The fabric melted right away and the sole of my iron was all dirty. Luckily, I had some of the satin left and could make proper pocket flaps for my dress!

SarahSic

October 23, 2013 #

A less experienced sewer friend asked me to install the zipper on her daughter’s princess Halloween costume because I have more sewing experience. I was chatting away while sewing and installed it backwards so she has to zip it up on the inside of the dress. Due to timing I wasn’t able to resew it. My boneheaded mistake is now out there in the world for everyone to see. Blargh.

Sofie

October 23, 2013 #

I made some pj’s last week and I put the top back on inside out. I didn’t bother changing it because it is just pj’s. It is very easy to make a mistake and if you are busy or distracted by life it is so easy to do silly things.

Sarah

October 23, 2013 #

When I made the Licorice Dress I made the sleeves out of a sheer black fabric with french seams. I then attached one sleeve inside out and didn’t catch it till the whole dress was finished!! No way I could go back. Luckily, because it is so sheer and the French seams finish so nicely, no one can tell except me. Still!

Krista

October 23, 2013 #

How much time do you have, lol? I’ll share just a few: melting and/or burning fabric with over zealous pressing, cheerfully and confidently adjusting the length of a garment and making it too short, applying iron-on interfacing to the ‘wrong’ side of the facing….

Hannah

October 23, 2013 #

This sort of thing often happens to me, at least it wasn’t too late and you could fix it. I always have to take a deep breath before I cut my fabric, just in case I have got something wrong. There is no going back once you’ve cut something, luckily you can unpick the sewing mistakes!!

SuSu, of course

October 23, 2013 #

Not a garment blooper but still…every stuffed bear goes together differently. The pattern I was using had a small neck opening in the body and you sewed in the head and both stuffed fron legs at the same time. Very tediously demanding work given the size of the opening. I got it together, turned him right side out and..Son of a Bear! He was looking sharply to the right! I was off 90 degrees. He still sits on my daughter’s guest room bed. We commiserate when I visit.

Seattlerain

October 23, 2013 #

I was finishing my long awaited Rooibos last night. The fabric was precious to me as it had been marinating in the stash- very little remnants left and I’m not sure if I can source more. I finally did something fashion forward. I paired it with fabric that looks like faux leather at the collar and waistline. I didn’t have to add a zip, as the fabric had enough give to put it over my head and shimmy it on. My muslin is the same as I can wiggle it on! I wanted to be proper and put a zipper in but in the process I punched a hole where the bodice and waist intersect. I ended up taking the zipper out, but had to sew my seam .5 inch deeper to cover the hole, which is still peeking through. Argh. I’ll find some creative way to stabilize it and hope it won’t grow.

But this leads me to ask myself if I should just stop adding zips because I’m finding my waist is the biggest feature on my garments so I can pretty much consistently put my dresses on over my head. Or I should stop being lazy and learn how to NOT mess up my zippers! Next Rooibos I’ll do a pattern adjustment and do a back zipper. My zippers at the sides have not been working out because of all the bulk of my pieces intersecting, no matter how much I trim the seam and such.

Lori

October 23, 2013 #

Wow – I get scissor happy with every project. The last cute little top I was making, similar to the Sorbetto, was no exception. I was making the shoulders narrower (tiny shoulders) and cut off about a half inch. Then, I took the cut off piece to use as a pattern on the other side but instead flipped the blouse around all weird and cut the same amount off the part that had just been trimmed. This would have been fine because I love a cutaway shoulder and it shows off my tan, but the top was adjusted to a double DD bust and then I had a huge gap in the front armhole. I finished the edge with self bias binding and gather the gap to the binding, and it looks fabulous.

Sharon

October 23, 2013 #

I remember my grade 9 home ec teacher that hated the sewing semester of the subject. Her first mistake was letting inexperience fourteen year olds choose their own pattern. No pull on shorts or pillowcases in this class. The big mistake I remember is the fully lined, two piece sleeve, collared blazer one girl chose. So difficult the teacher helped all the way through, and put one sleeve on upside down. Maybe she was hoping the student would ask more questions it she always had to have one hand up in the air.

lin

October 23, 2013 #

I’ve got a go-to pants pattern that I use over and over. When I first developed it I made it in a 3% stretch chino. Came out great.

Second pair? I blithely cut out in a non-stretch bottom weight in an easy serge 3/8 seam allowance. Sewed the darts, fly front, pockets, inseams. By then I was getting suspicious so I basted the side seams and sure enough waaaaaay too small and nowhere near enough fabric in those narrow seams to let out. I actually finished the pants and then promptly gave to my local Goodwill.

Now I have stretch and non-stretch version and ALWAYS use 5/8 seam allowance just in case.

Su

October 23, 2013 #

I’m making Vogue 1312 Lyn Mizono dress rated as easy and it should be. The bodice is lined. The outside and lining have been made separately and then are attached at the neckline and partial armhole right sides together. I missed the very important step of turning the lining around to the inside and then proceeded to stitch the front and back together at the shoulder seams. After trying for a few minutes, I realized there is absolutely no way of turning the lining to the inside… pull out stitch ripper, and re re-do the seams after pulling the lining to the inside.

violet winfield

October 23, 2013 #

Hemming black knit yoga pants with bias tape . . . on the wrong side! Unpicked . . . and did it again!! I didn’t realize I had turned the pants inside out . . . dislike sewing anything black!!!

Jill

October 24, 2013 #

My first time sewing an invisible zipper seemed so daunting – but the video on your website was SO helpful. It didn’t have any problems when I did it on my muslin, but on my actual skirt I sewed the zipper backwards not once, but TWICE! I was so mad at myself I pulled out my computer and sat it right next to sewing machine on the table so I couldn’t mess up again. My boyfriend was afraid to come into the room as he could hear my swearing lol. The skirt looks amazing by the way :)

Joanne

October 24, 2013 #

I have been sewing for years and when I was younger and getting ready for a dance, I wanted a new dress. Bought the fabric and long zipper meant for the side of the dress. Of course Iwas in too big a hurry, still chasing young children, and not giving full attention to my garment . I installed the zipper upside down and backwards!!

As the dance was coming up that night I found a piece of pearl cotton (red), tied it to the zipper pull and closed the zipper by pulling down, which naturally hung below my skirt hem. With the sound of far away music in my head, I just stuck the red cotton cord in my panties, went to the dance and had a wonderful time. This was one of my nuttiest sewing experiences ever.

Julia

October 24, 2013 #

I’m so bad with french seams! I check half a dozen times and still frequently manage to do them do them so they are the wrong way round!

Sally

October 24, 2013 #

When I was in high school I decided to make a pair of five pocket pants out of wide wale corduroy. I had never worked with corduroy before. I looked at the pattern layout and thought I could conserve fabric by turning some of the pattern pieces. You know where this is going… I couldn’t understand why the back of the pants was a different color than the front (the wale was going opposite directions!) Luckily I had extra fabric so I could re-cut the pieces so they were all going the same direction.

meredith

October 25, 2013 #

I set sleeves inside out with an alarming frequency… usually I notice it just as I’m preening about how even the stitching is or how well the shoulders fit.

Izy

October 29, 2013 #

The first time I tried to sew an invisible zipper with lining to a dress I messed up. I think I did this wrong twice. I was zoned out & when I realized I did this to myself again.. Eventually poured myself a drink and came to it the following day.

Irene

October 30, 2013 #

Oh too funny! I just posted the exact same thing right before this went up! Must be in the air…
(http://www.themakeden.com/2013/10/spin-us-a-yarn-tell-us-your-sewing-blooper-story-to-win.html)
Here’s my Sewing Blooper: The first time I sewed a patch pocket on I felt wildly excited about how straight the topstitching was -until I realized that I’d stitched all four sides shut – without leaving an opening for my hand! NOT AWESOME. Fortunately, the stitch ripper was enough to save me that time…

Susan

March 11, 2014 #

I made my son two shirts. Got them both done except to sew the buttons on. Then I realized I put the button holes on the wrong side. Anyone know how I can fix them? Or do I just sew the buttons on and don’t say anything?