When Mistakes Aren’t Always a Bad Thing

A good Monday morning to you all!  How was the weekend?  Mine could have been better, but there’s nothing I can do about it now, so on with the week.  Today I do have something of the homemade sort to show you all.  It was supposed to be a dress, but I made an unrepairable mistake and had nothing left to do but scrap the whole project, or so I thought.

Several months back I was attempting my first make of the New Look 6143 pattern.  I had decided to cut the bodice darts along the dotted line instead of trace them, and it was working well, until my fabric started to tear at the seams.  I had a trashed bodice, no extra material, and a nicely cut out skirt portion.  What I did, was improvise.  This was a new thing to me as far as sewing went.  What I should say was that it was the first time an improvised sewing project turned into a wearable one.  I have improvised many a time, but completely in ignorance and can’t remember anything good coming out of it.  So this ended up being my first improvised success, that I can remember at least – I’ve been making mistakes for years! 

I found some white paper, measured my waist and cut out a very long strip that would end up being the waistband.  I went ahead and made the pleats as the skirt portion called for, folded the newly cut out waistband, and attached it to the skirt.  Easy enough.  I had salvaged an invisible zipper from a thrifted pair of pants and hoped that I would be able to put it to some good use.  It was perfect for this skirt.  This was gonna be my third attempt at installing an invisible zipper, and at this point I had no room for mistakes; I was a little nervous.

I am happy to say that everything turned out alright and I actually love this skirt.  I have wanted a high-waisted skirt with a zipper for a while, and have even bought a few, but I rarely like the way they look on me.  I don’t feel that way with this one.  Maybe it’s the material; a polyester blend I think.  (I really need to start paying attention to my fiber content.  I never know for sure what it is, unless it’s cotton.)  I plan to use this pattern again for making skirts.  Using some interfacing on the waistband will help also.  I can’t remember now if I did or not when I made this one, but it won’t hurt to use some the next time for sure.

So mistakes don’t always have to make for failures.  This is a good thing, because I am seriously thinking about making my last 6143 into a skirt as well.  I love the material, but just can’t get over my mess up with that neckline.

How about you, any failed projects that you were able to remake into something wonderful?

*linking up with:  Craftastic Monday, Creative Mondays, Do Tell Tuesday, Tuesday’s With a Twist, Passion for Fashion.