Mistakes are how we grow in sewing, much like how we grow in everything in our lives. Yesterday as I was going sew-rogue I made many, many mistakes.
Since I wasn't using a pattern and I was trying to make a pull-over dress that wouldn't need a zipper or buttons, I ended up using more fabric than was needed. I literally sewed the side seams a total of somewhere between 6-8 times (see the photo to the right) alternately trying it on to see if the dress still looked like a balloon on me. But no biggie - it's better to have more fabric to work with than less.
Another mistake I made was in sewing pleats. I had created this large pleat on the back bottom of the dress, and I was sewing that piece to the top fabric. Well, always check to make sure that you have caught all of the fabric, otherwise you'll turn it over and see that you missed a whole half of a pleat like I did!
I cannot measure and cut for the life of me. My grandfather who was a carpenter used to say, "Measure twice, cut once". Maybe one day, grandpa, maybe one day. It's more like measure no less than 5 times, and re-cut and modify as you go! You'll see in these photos that one side of the shoulder met-up perfectly, but the other side was wildly off. But not to fear - this is the beauty of sewing. You can modify as you go. I sewed these bad boys up, compared them and re-cut them to ensure they were the same (or close enough to it).
Mistakes are how I learn, and I don't like to sweep them under the rug or get frustrated by them. Well, let's be real, I do get frustrated by them, but I don't let them get me down. Every time I make a mistake I learn something new and I file it under my sewist knowledge. This is the practice in patience that sewing teaches. You mess up, take a breather, and get back to it because only by making the mistakes will you learn how not to do them, or how to manage them when you do make them.