Toss or Save?

Peace Y’all!

I’m just checking in. I have been sewing but I’m not ready to share just yet. I thought I’d pop in and stand on my soapbox for a little while. On my new favorite obsession….. Patterns……

I be reading folks blogs and I have come across a phenomenon that quite frankly stumps me. Folks throw away their patterns after they finish 1 garment. Really? When I was 1st starting out, like in 1984, my mother used to insist that I don’t take scissor to paper and cut out fabric. She gave me some tracing paper and a wheel. She said to keep the patterns as is because then I could sew the same for others. But if I cut them, I would ruin the patterns and they would be useless. Okay, Mommie can be crazy, and I’m over her foolishness… I mean she doesn’t even sew!..... I now cut patterns, but I save everything. You just never know when you will need a pattern for something.

I’m going to sneak and share with you my probable next post….. I love Shelly O… FLOTUS…. Michelle Obama. I adore her style. I have adopted lots from her already. And yes she and I have drastic body differences… she’s tall, thin, and boobless – I’m short, thick and boobilicious…. There are some things I can imitate. The cardigans, sheaths, etc. She has a blouse that I instantly fell in love with and decided to make. But since a lot of her clothes are 1-of-a-kind designer, it’s not like I’m a find them in Macy’s or Ashley Stewart. So what do I do? Bootleg it! I found a pattern very similar to the garment in question and made said outfit.

Now could I have done it sans a pattern? You know I can, but there could have been a plethora of mistakes which would strip me of my gold o correct. Why not make a garment that has shown and proven to fit? And that is exactly what I did. And I am excited about the result.

Now I couldn’t have done this if I was in the throwing patterns away camp. I have a fellow sewist friend who has patterns from the early 70’s. She bought them new back then and sewed them up. If I show her a picture of something in a magazine, she can sort through her boxes and find a pattern that matches. Then all she has to do is update it in some way and she’s good. Yes she has boxes and boxes of patterns; but she doesn’t buy them the way I do. She might acquire 2 new ones in a year, where I am stalking every sale at Hancocks. But I will get to the place where I will be like her and have a cool stash waiting on me too. If I want a new dress I can take the bodice from one dress and match it with the sleeves of something else and the bottom of a third garment. It’s wonderful to have that ability.

So the moral of this story is…. Don’t throw away your patterns!!!!!



Peace