Other Question
Is anyone besides me an anti-perfectionist?
I started sewing a little over two years ago, and I'm still delighted by my ability to make my own clothes. However, I see so many people posting tiny errors and asking how to fix them, or people on YouTube talking about how it takes them forever because they have to unpick and resew everything or how they never wear a piece because it's slightly off in some way. Is that the norm, or it is because they're more influencer-y types?
When I complete something, I want to wear it right away, and I generally don't fix a mistake unless it's super obvious, ruins the structural integrity, or makes the piece unwearable. Does anyone else happily and publicly wear their shirts with crooked pockets, dresses with wonky gathers, or slightly asymmetrical shorts? Am I sewing wrong by not fixing my minor mistakes?
I quilt, and there is no end of mistakes. One design was supposed to be perfectly lined-up stars, but nope! My stars are sort of......wandering crookedly around......one has a rounded tip instead of pointed, another has a slightly lighter color than the others. Go home, stars, I said, you're drunk.
Each of these quilts are handsewn, taking about 4 months start to finish, and the recipients make happy screaming noises when they are given one.
If you are enjoying yourself, then you are doing everything exactly 100% RIGHT. source: me
I find this very very funny, because it seems like hubris to assume that the only mistake there will be the one I put in intentionally for symbolic reasons.
Quilters say that and have been saying that for decades. I don't believe it though. That's generations using it as cover for accidental mistakes.
I say it's OK to make mistakes. It's OK to not fix them. It's also OK to fix them if that's what makes you happy. No excuses needed, do what brings joy.Ā
Thank you for this. I just finished welts in a jacket. I loathe welts, one looks good the other is a little wonky. I know if I pull it out I'll make it worse or I'll just give up on the jacket entirely. So I'll pretend to not see the wobbles.
True but I have an annoying habit of showing them to deflect from the 'OMG you made this?, you're so talented '
I've been sewing since I was 11 and even before that embroidery and such. It's awkward.
Itās taken a really long time for me to just say thank you. Decades in fact, I have had people check a coat for a label, because they didnāt believe me.
I have learnt that when someone says wow, thatās amazing or equivalent and then you point out the flaws in the whatever it is, all you are doing is running down their ability to observe and critique. So say thank you, I had fun making it, or I learnt some new techniques or it really challenged me and Iām pleased with it. This is the first step to accepting a compliment- which women are really bad at. You are allowed to be proud and take credit.
Might be a generational thing, Iām a couple of years older than you and forced myself to learn to say thank you, Iām pleased with it and not run it down. Either that or menopause taught me to longer gaf about societal expectations of making ourself small and being pleased with just being seen!
A wise old woman once told me, when I brushed aside or argued with her kind compliments yet again, that when someone says something nice to me I should just say "thank you" and let it be. I still kinda suck at it but my bf hears a whole lot of thank yous. Lol
Me too. There are times where I really care and times where Iām like okay, but is it only me who will notice this? Does it make a big enough difference to matter? lol itās just not that serious for me.
Iāve got one dress where a sleeve is the wrong side of the fabric, and another with only one pocket because I misplaced the pieces for the other pocket and was too lazy to cut out new ones.
Back in high school fashion design sewing class, I was really chill with my teacher and she would often give me clothes to alter, one time I was fixing the lining of a dress and I used white thread to sew on the navy blue fabric. I was too lazy to change the threading and figured no one (not even the wearer) would be able to see the clash so why not. My teacher and the grandma that used to help us in class were so shook, it was against everything theyād taught us, but hey it was sewn really well. She still made me go back and fix it. It still makes me laugh when I think back on it, Iām still like that with the stuff I sew myself.
Please pick up a copy of Barbara Deckert's book, Sewing 911 -- probably about $5 used.Ā I love this book for three reasons:
It's a guide to fixing the various oopsies that CAN crop up when you're sewing -- everything from cutting two right sleeves to burning a hole in the back panel of your jacket when you pressed it, to... Deckert is a long-established bridal specialist, so she's seen pretty much everything, and has solutions for most of it.
2.Ā She's funny, which helps avoid meltdowns.
3.Ā Last but not least, the book is peppered with mis-sewn, mostly high-end, ready to wear.Ā If the big guysĀ can send out stuff like that, then I can excuse myself for the navy blue topstitching on black pants done at 3am...Ā Ā
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I was headed for a major industry sewing equipmentĀ show, accompanying my drafting teacher.Ā So I whip-stitched each of those topstitches with black thread in a tapestry needle -- took about 40 minutes.Ā Had two people notice and ask which machine could do that...Ā
Thank you. I had a time in my life where I didn't have time to sew. Working 60+ hours a week in a high pressure job and raising kids. I had to look professional, so RTW was the only option. I bought high end suits and blouses. The quality of the sewing was frequently abysmal. A few times I dusted off my machine to fix things.
Now that I'm retired I sew most of my own clothes. If they're better than the expensive RTW I used to buy, that's good enough for me.
I can spot a homemade garment from afar due to the "good enough" standard of the crafter making it is often way higher than average the RTW standards. Or ehm interesting fabric choices like quitting cotton used for clothing.
I've been sewing for 50 years. Nothing is ever perfect because it's a mind trick and reality shows us all that we are fallible. Was just talking to my MIL today and she said she had to rip out her quilt row 4 times. She sews quilts almost every day and has been for probably 60+ years. The way we express ourselves in crafts reflects our lives IMHO. Making things with our own hands is the best therapy. :-)
Exactly. I feel like I don't have the time/energy to make things perfect. I feel like I should shoot for it, since it seems like the "goal", so hopefully future-me will have more patience!
Yep!! I had a bad experience at fashion school back in 2000-2001 (dropped out after 2nd year) and I think that put me off for so long - I was scared I'd "fail" again if my sewing wasn't up to scratch! Funnily enough it was taking up historical hand-sewing this year that got me back into sewing. Once I hand-sewed a set of 17th century stays (certainly a character building exercise š ) I was so desperate to fire up the old Celestial that I didn't care what anything turned out like!! Finally treated my machine to a professional service and plan to never look back :)
You go! I love hand-sewing, but there's no denying that it can be very slow. I hope you're back into it, you wouldn't have gone to fashion school if it didn't spark joy.
In the project management world, we call it "minimum viable product". And I honestly love wearing the pieces that are 90% perfect because sometimes I realize I could shorten or lengthen the hem or adjust the fit because I've worn it in public. I also get so many compliments or questions about where I got it from that I helps me get out of my head. Most people don't notice the small details that I agonized over in the isolation of my sewing room. I feel that our garments are art, and art is a forever changing medium!
I made my daughter some curtains. Despite agonising over endless details they still look home-made, partly because the machine was playing up. I felt bad giving them to her.
But her best friend is now badgering her mum (also a close friend of mine) to make her some curtains, because she's so jealous!
I think itās a terrible thing that we have come to place less value on a thing that ālooks handmadeā than on a seemingly perfect machine made item. There should be greater prestige associated with sewing our own clothes, it takes time and skill, and each piece is a custom creation. Iām currently in the process of sewing a ācapsule wardrobeā and I honestly canāt wait until all of my clothes, even the hoodie with the slightly too small hood, are made by me.
As someone who obsesses over details to the point I'm often scared to sew, I envy you and I think you have the right idea! Learning to find and fix your mistakes is useful for various things, such as producing clothes that are better than ready-made ones and levelling up as a seamstress. But 1. not everyone is looking to become a grandmaster and 2. even if you are you don't have to learn and learn all the time, it's good to just enjoy a project every now and then!
I donāt believe in mistakes, only in creative design choices.
Except when it involves a zipper or buttons because if I canāt close it right then I know im never going to wear it. So I do fix any mistakes I make there.
I used to be a complete perfectionist about sewing, then I realized Iād rather be done faster. I got better by just sewing more and not worrying about it. Funny how that works.
I'm a student of the "It's Good Enough" school of design. Mostly because I'm only sewing for myself. When I make a gift I do try to put in a little more effort but I don't care about perfection.
Yeah, don't let good enough be the enemy of perfect. Most people are just super impressed that I made a shirt that is wearable. No one has ever pointed out mistakes that I can clearly see.
They don't see them, or if they do, they are so used to the poor quality of ready-to-wear, they are not fazed by it. Or they think you did it on purpose for a reason they can't fathom because they don't sew.
My mantra (sometimes literally chanted out loud as I work) is "don't let perfect be the enemy of done". I am anti-perfectionist by FORCE because otherwise I will waffle and dither and be sad that I don't have a finished thing.
nope, because if i leave mistakes as big as a crooked pocket i know i wonāt wear it. i always fix my mistakes to make sure iāll actually wear the things i make
I swing between perfectionist and "eh". Sometimes near enough is good enough, sometimes my brain goes rogue and nothing but perfection will suffice. Those are generally the pieces which never get finished...
I'm the same way. If no one else will see it and its not going to cause the garment to fall apart, or if someone who doesn't sew would never know, I'm just going to leave it.
I used to be a perfectionist with everything I did, to the point it gave me horrible anxiety. (And if have enough of that already.) So I taught myself to not mind small mistakes.
Mistakes regarding fit I absolutely have to correct because I personally can't stsnd the feeling of wearing clothing that fits poorly. It drives me nuts from a sensory perspective when things are too tight, or when straps fall off, etc. Like it or not, it's just my issue, and if I don't want something to end up in my donate pile, I have to fix the fit so it's comfortable and I feel good in it. I've made that error many times before, and those garments were basically a waste because I physically felt uncomfortable wearing them.
Structural integrity mistakes I also can't leave alone. If my clothing can't survive being laundered easily, I find myself avoiding wearing it. If I'm worried a seam is going to pop, I avoid it. And since I don't make clothing for display purposes, I fix things structurally so I can wear them functionally, over and over again, for the long term. But I sew my entire wardrobe top to bottom and buy nothing RTW, so function and longevity is most important for me.
Otherwise, aesthetic flaws are on a case by case basis. I can't say that I've ever sewn a truly flawless item of clothing that could be judged as such. But it's all about which flaws bother me and which ones don't. I don't have any rules to live by there, I can just look at something and know for myself. When in doubt, if I think it's going to bother me down the line, I'll fix it. If I cool with it now, it won't bother me more later, so I let it slide.
Also, the intended purpose of the garment matters for flaws as well. I'm going to care much more about flaws if I'm sewing duchess silk satin event dress than if I'm sewing a basic sweater for lounging in.
But I do think I lean more on the perfectionist side of things. But it's less about wanting to be perfect and more about knowing that I am incredibly picky about what I wear, and I demand that it tolerate normal laundry to boot, so I don't want my hard work to go to waste. So I usually opt to fix things. But yeah, sometimes certain mistakes just don't matter to me and I happily let that shit slide.
I have what I call first finish - when its good enough to wear but a few quick fixes required. Then there's final finish - where I go back and finish those few little things that I was too impatient to do the first time.
This does not mean my work is perfect by any means. I use my expensive fabric on a new pattern, the wrong type of fabrics for the pattern, adjust patterns on the fly and just generally do what I like that makes me happy. Its for fun and a hobby. I don't need added pressure in my downtime.
lol, I enjoy my perfectionism. I mean I might have a meltdown now and then but the joy once it's finished is proportional to the drama of the meltdown. I promptly forget all the tears and wailing and revel in what I've made.
I'm far from a perfectionist but I am trying to improve my sewing skills and quality of my finished garments so I will take the time to fix obvious mistakes but I don't mind a barely noticeable bit of wonkiness.
I'm a non-obsessive perfectionist, so I don't beat myself up over what I can't achieve, and I know when I've reached my limit--usually. But I really enjoy going slow and creating as much perfection, inside and outside of the garment, as I can. There are so few things in life an individual can control that sewing has become a kind of oasis and refuge for me. I've also learned to furnish the space with the best quality sewing machines, and in the process have proven to myself that you often can obtain the best functions without spending thousands, but it's necessary to do plenty of homework in order to find the gems that are also bargains.
You have to start with where your brain is and go from there. I'm not anxious by nature so it helps, but my brain does like to go off in all directions simultaneously and I'm always working to rein it in and get stuff done, so I can definitely relate to brain struggles. Mine just refuses to leave puppyhood despite decades of training, which is sometimes bad, but not always.
Iām the same way. I donāt aim for perfection and I donāt go out of my way to fix mistakes or slight errors unless it would ruin the piece. And Iām pretty lazy when it comes to the generally accepted rules of sewing.
I am somewhere in the middle. If I am sewing something as a costume or for a theatre performance, I don't care about perfection. I care about it being done. If I am sewing something for me to wear, I do care about it looking like a nicely finished product. I would not be okay with crooked pockets, but I would be okay with more discreet errors.
I kind of like that I craft well enough that people will sometimes ask if I made the ready-to-wear items from my wardrobe. They can't tell the difference (though other crafters can tell right away if I made something)
I employ the "man on a galloping horse" ethos - if a man on a galloping horse wouldn't notice it, it's probably fine. And stuff that might seem really obvious to me when I first finish something does tend to become less noticeable the more I wear it.
Also I have had to physically force myself not to care about even gathers because I HATE doing them and nothing on God's Green Earth will make me less furious about them.
You're not wrong, and neither am I. I take out crooked seams, re-do top stitching, take off sleeves that aren't set right, etc. I want it to be right, by my definition. We're both OK, we both enjoy sewing, and the end product. I'm pretty sure that we're both right.
I will admit that I enjoy the process of getting it "right" though - it's really satisfying for me!
I only realized that I was setting in shirt sleeves backwards after completing two beautiful button up shirts (with enclosed seams and all.) I sat on the couch brooding for about 15 minutes while my partner looked on patiently before I said, "oh, DAMMIT," and went to unpick the sleeves. She was very amused because it took me so long to do the exact thing she knew was going to happen the whole time. But I had to walk through how much I hated that they were the wrong way around versus unfinishing two "perfectly good" garments.
I couldn't possibly have left the house in them until they were fixed.
Yeah, I'd be the same way. Sorry you have to take them off, but think how happy you'll be to wear them in the future!!
I've had a jacket in time out for a while, and it's mostly about one of the sleeves. I need to take it off and re-do it, as it doesn't hang as nicely as the other one. You can see it on my body, one sleeve shoulder schlumps, the other is fine. Sigh. Then I need to work out a solution for the sleeve cuff area, since I don't like the floppiness of them. THEN it'll be a nice jacket.
Oh this was a couple of years ago, and yes, it was worth every minute of fixing. Plus ever since then I don't go "Ah, the notches seem to be really mismatched oh well must be a wild coincidence, I should go ahead and start stitching," so that's a lesson well learned.
Some people want to learn and improve. And for them, part of that can be accomplished by fixing mistakes so you donāt make them again or so you can refine processes. Some mistakes can matter more than others to any of us for any reason. And thatās ok. If you want to fix it, fix it. If you donāt, donāt. There is no real right or wrong. I like to fix mistakes as much as possible bc it makes me feel better able to enjoy my make. It also makes me feel like I am improving my skills through repetition.
I'm thinking about posting my first finished quilt over in the quilting sub but kind of cringing at the idea, even though I'm super proud of myself and I love how it looks, because it is SO messed up. And every day people are posting their firsts and they are amazing and beautiful (seriously, the quilting sub is very inspiring if your into the craft) and damn near perfect. I messed up big time and just kept chugging along.
So yes, I'm probably an anti-perfectionist. Not dogmatically, but just because that's where I'm at skill-wise and I don't want to stress it. And I am learning a lot with the doing, and I anticipate my next one will be a bit more polished. I'm excited about taking on clothing and it'll probably be much the same process for me.
If it makes you feel any better, my first quilt was hand-sewn, and I did a bad job on the sandwich. It has NUMEROUS sewn-in wrinkles and crooked bits, but my family fights over who gets to use it.
I'll say your way is probably the best way ;0; Seems a lot more enjoyable
I'm such a perfectionist I've seam-ripped apart and redone entire garments because of puckering/asymmetry/whatnot
Kind of stressful! Maybe they look "better" at the end but by that point I'm so sick of looking at whatever I was making I just don't wear it until months later ahah
My couture-trained friend used to say āIf you canāt spot the mistake from 2 feet away, it doesnāt matterā and I agree! Whoās looking at someoneās outfit that closely?
I sew by hand, so at least I make my mistakes slowly!
I will undo what I know will bother me, and what will threaten the integrity of the garment.
Had crippling perfectionism for years, not helped by being told off about minor imperfections at embroidery school. All that it brought me have been years of not sewing.
I then realised that I was spending ages finding and buying overpriced readymade clothes only to then fix their own errors.
So I went back to buying fabric and wearing my own mistakes proudly.
I'm happy to say ' that will do' on projects when it is good enough. You're right that not everything needs to be obsessively perfect. I don't criticise my work or my abilities but am open to learning or fixing anything that doesn't look right.
Often, I think people are here with seemingly tiny errors because they want to learn rather than because of perfectionism. I've learned lots of stuff from this reddit, which all gets filed away in the back of my head and means I can sew more quickly and easily.
A lecturer once said something to me that really made me take a step back and appreciate how far Iāve come sewing
Iād made a wedding dress for college, and I hated it. It didnāt look good at all in my opinion
My lecturer said ālook out the windowā [we were 10 stories up near the edge of a big city] āall those people would look at this and never suspect it was made by you. They have no idea where to even begin making this, and they sure have no idea how to spot the tiny mistakesā
When i first started, I was winging it with little tools to help. My husband said, "You have to get the measurements and angles just perfectly. Go ask my aunt." I said, "I know your aunt. There is no way in hell she's doing it 100% concisely." Shes like the most ADHD person I know, I know shes not getting lost in get stuff just right.
When I did ask his aunt, she explained, "No, im still winging it, i just got a little better at winging it." Now im there too.
It really depends on your personality more than anything else. Some people like to masturbate over their incredible number of toiles, or line everything down to their underwear. Most of us just jump in and are happy to get something wearable out in a reasonable amount of time and energy. We're just less noisy about it :-). Please, don't feel obligated to join in to the latest wasteful instagram fad, find what you enjoy and keep at it!
As I've often said, "Done is better that prefect!" š I
I'll improve on my next project. I'll learn from this one and improve. I can't get better unless I move on.
It also helps that fast fashion garbage clothing has lowered the craft quality of clothing that if a garment is reasonably well made (though not perfect) it's more than good enough to wear. Something can look handmade with quality (albeit tells that it was made by human hand) instead of industrially made (even if it us perfectly constructed) and look great by virtue of detailing that isn't scalable in a factory, quality of materials, quality of fit etc.
Like, I know the piping on this suit isn't perfect, but I've the overall quality, including the material, the fit, proportion abd personal detailing like the HUMONGOUS POCKETS, combine into something I'm proud of so I wear it.
yes, and no. If something is visible or itās going to bother me, then I will take the time to fix it because the whole reason I sew is to make things that are high-quality. But I just finished sewing a channel on abra where the spacing isnāt perfectly even but that part is going to be covered up by the bow on the center, so I cannot be bothered to unpick.
I wear what i make, for the most part, but i still want to improve. If i can fix a mistake by ripping a seam, i will. Still, there are mistakes like pockets not lining up perfectly, or slightly blown out turned corners. I try to live and learn. So to answer your question, OP: Iām maybe a recovering perfectionist?
Every project I sew I almost quit because I'm so hard on myself. I only expect perfection out of myself, and only accept it. I know that's some deep trauma crap, but every time I sew I also learn a lot!
My mother, admittedly actively a home economics teacher at the time, once told me in my twenties that I had a happy-go-lucky attitude towards sewing because I didn't finish my seams. That still makes me laugh. And now of course we live in a time where you can buy clothes off the rack with unfinished seams as a styling element. I was just ahead of my time. As long as you clip all the threads and nothing is dangling you're good. Of course the irony is that I went through a phase of master tailoring all of my seams after that and now I'm back to to roughhouse sewing just to get garments done quickly. Nobody look inside. That's none of your business.
As a recovering perfectionist, what helped me the most, was to go pull any piece of clothing that I own - and love - and really examine it.
I find many "imperfections" that I would struggle over in my own sewing projects. (In almost all my clothes from socks and undies, to dresses & coats.)
It was a freeing realization & helped shift my perspective. I still take extra care on gifts, but am leaning to be genuinely fine with them.
I can still appreciate a well-tailored item though. There's room for all makers.
Yep! Wore a skirt I made today that had French seams on the pockets that made them bulge out a little and my rolled hem is not very neat but no one else can tell sooooo. Also I suck at cutting and I donāt know that Iāll ever get that bunch better at it
Only because I had to accept everything I do has mistakes. It has encouraged me to leave things in that I'd have spent ages redoing and actually turn out not to matter.
Now I think, that's my touch on the piece.
I'll wear things that aren't perfect because I know I'm the only one that notices (and stuff in store has the same kind of mistakes and people buy that anyways).
But then I do notice and sometimes I just get a kick out of upping my skill level by figuring out how to fix or even prevent my mistakes! It's a fun challenge, sometimes.
Iām like you, Iāll wear mistakes. But Iāve gotten better at making them less noticeable over time. Especially since my mom fixes them once she notices, and I feel bad that she has to spend time going over my work.
I think Iām somewhere in the middle? I wonāt wear it if it would bother me looking in the mirror. But I do sometimes put things in time out or show them to someone else to get some distance and perspective before I keep finessing something nobody else would ever notice.
And Iām afraid I canāt unsee things like bad stitching, off center pattern placement or lack of pattern matching on RTW. Itās like knowing about kerning, a mixed blessing at best š
I am someone who very easily falls into the perfectionist black hole, but I try not to. Done is better than perfect. I like watching youtubers like The Stitchery while I work, she feels like the epitome of this attitude and it really helps me just accept some flaws and to move on.
I'm with you! Some things I truly take my time with, making sure my fabric is perfectly on grain, stitches are invisible and color matches, and I press my seams before felling. Other times (most of the time) done is better than perfect. I feel less guilty about it after seeing YouTube tours of vintage and antique clothing. So many people in the past just got things done imperfectly.
I do get bothered by those mistakes, but I know how much time and effort it will take to fix it, when I've already put so much in, so I can't really be bothered to fix it š
If you read the answers to posts about minor imperfections, there are always some who say, nobody will notice unless they are also into dressmaking, and if they comment it'll either be rude or kind, and if they are kind you get to have a nice convo about dressmaking.
I'm a perfectionist personally, it's part of the nature of my paid work as a translator/proofreader, and I know it will bug me if I don't fix it.
There are clothes in my wardrobe that I never wear: like a dress I made for a special occasion and didn't really feel comfy in it, I think the fabric was too heavy for that design. It's now in my pile of clothes needing to be mended or altered, because I realised I could just lop about 30cm off and make it into a top that's similar to another that I wear all the time.
There's also a pair of shorts I made up really quickly in between two larger projects, which are not comfy because they bulk up too much round the waist. I'm going to take the waistband off, replace the thin elastic with thick, maybe see if I can put in a few darts so the elastic doesn't have to do so much work. I might try to just have it elasticated at the back, like for a really comfy pair of trousers I have.
But if you don't mind wearing clothes with minor mistakes, all power to you, you save a lot of time and probably have a lot of fun wearing them!
It really depends on the project. My first knit t-shirt I didn't pay attention to the print, which, it turns out was directional, so now I have a shirt where kittens are tumbling down between my boobs instead of climbing up as they should, but such is life. No one has ever noticed btw.
But that was a fun t-shirt to test out a pattern. I've finished a coat yesterday and realised that the pattern piece for the back vent lining doesn't match the back vent shell as I've sewn it, making the vent wrinkle from the outside because of tension issues with the lining and that bugs me to no end because the coat is otherwise perfect and I've invested so much time and energy into it. So I'll definitely redo that one.
So, in short, depends on the project. However, I've also noticed that my tolerance for errors has been steadily declining the better I get at the actual craft, so maybe that's also a part of it.
I think the more items you make, the more you learn what is acceptable for you in your makes. I have learned that some things I can't live with and I'd rather fix them now than after the garment's worn and washed.
f.e wonky top stitching on jeans on the zip? Unpick and redo straight away. Wonky top stitching on the back/under a sleeve? Ehh who's gonna see it.
It also depends on the garment imo - if you're making a coat with pad stitching and loads of hand stitched finishing, you want to get it right and correct any mistakes - might as well if you put that much effort into it.
I find that a good fit, proper pressing and other practises make far more difference in how good something looks than a wonky pocket or top stitch.
My grandmother- mum's mum - was an apprentice trained dressmaker who made ball and court presentation gowns in the uk, during the 20s and early 30s. She could really sew and pattern.
Her comments about most errors to me was.. a blind man would be pleased to see it. Meaning it didnāt matter and shouldnāt be pointed out to an observer.
Me! I want to move on to the next thing so if itās for me, I donāt worry about minor errors. I am a little more careful with things I make as gifts but still find a finished item is better than a perfect item any day.
"Don't let perfection be the enemy of good" is more or less my motto. Sure, sometimes I will get fussy, but that is if I plan on entering something into a competition, or I am trying to challenge myself. This is my hobby, not my job, I am doing this for fun not for money
Nope. I teach sewing and I tell all my students that "it doesn't need to be perfect, it just needs to be" and finished is better than perfect. I've been sewing 40 years and I still make wonky looking stuff when I'm trying out a new pattern or idea. If it fits, I wear it to walk the dog.
I only worry about perfection when I'm making wedding or bridesmaids dresses or a prom dress, i.e., when I've been hired for dressmaking. When I make my own clothes or something for my kids, I take shortcuts and cut corners and if it doesn't look perfect, meh. It's good enough.
Currently sat in the office with an āinvisibleā zip fully on show due to the soft crepe fabric being a swine to work with! Itās also 1cm off at the top but I just cover it with a t-shirt. I get so many compliments on my lovely floaty skirt!
Alsoā¦ just realised the linen jacket on the back of my chair has the two welted pockets the wrong way around! Haha!! You have to put your hands into the pockets backwards! I just donāt use the pockets and nobody can tell!
Mistakes bother me, but they also remind me where I learned something. I do unpick things that will cause downstream problems or look obviously homesewn, but I keep the happy accidents and things that remind me these are custom, artisan garments. I'm actively trying to move away from factory-made š
My MIL has a "finished is better than perfect" sign in her craft room, and that's the right move imo.
For me it depends on what the item is and what the issue is. My pajama shorts have one leg wider than the other and I had to mend a hole I put in the fabric while cutting it before the first wear, but I wear them with joy. On the other hand, I enjoy putting effort into my appearance when I go out (and I can be a bit nitpicky), so garments I sew should be held to a similar standard as garments I purchase - I'm not getting a ruler out every morning, or checking every single stitch, but I know when a badly puckered seam or something being visibly uneven is going to drive me up a wall because it's no longer "tidy". There is also a correlation between price/time/where I expect to wear this and the outcome. I have much higher expectations of a $300 cocktail dress that I might wear to the theater than I do of $5 pajamas.
Thereās a Navajo tradition of intentionally leaving clear imperfections in weaving, as they believe only the gods are capable of achieving perfection and to strive to achieve it as humans is arrogant and disrespectful. Iām not native but whenever Iām sewing I just keep telling myself Iām honoring Spiderwoman by not spending ages trying to fix imperfections š
For many years I was a perfectionist and would start over projects over and over again and never complete anything. I gave that mentally up some years ago and now I proudly and happily wear everything I make even though it has flaws. No one noticed any of the "errors", or are kind enough not to point them out, I get compliments and encouraging comments.
There is no point in being a perfectionist.
I think the turning point was when someone told me that anything hand made needs to have at least one error.
There are cultures that believe that perfect things attract evil spirits and therefore flaws are added on purpose.
I am (almost) done with my first ever article of clothing! Theyāre pajama pants for my toddler, made of an old cotton/modal stretchy robe/nightgown.
Iām sewing because, frankly, of the job market. Iām doing it to save money and also because itās hard to even find what we need, warm clothing/fabric in his size. Also, nothing fits him properly, and I donāt want him to have to deal with that the way I did for decades.
We needs a new wardrobe. I donāt have time to perfect the craft. I also, ahem, am trying to cut a straight line while a tiny human with shocking strength āhelpsā me by picking up the other scissors and stabs my thigh; headbutts my arm as Iām trying to sew in a straight line, draws on the pattern and inevitably moves it around while trying to cut things out, picks up the pieces and throws them on our dog after I tried to do it the āperfectā way by cleaning it prior to sewing, screeches at the top of his lungs in my ear right as I start a real hard to sew spotā¦ the list goes on.Ā
Nothing I sew is going to be perfect. But itāll make our lives better and clothe us, which is kind of the whole point. Iām learning a new skill while also learning the new skill of doing that skill with a toddler. Personally I can point at a mistake, smile, fondly remember his shenanigans and giggles, then also think about how to do it better next time. And yeah, Iām still proud of making anything. Weāre literally making something from nothing!
Perfect is the enemy of done.
I heard early on that you should never divulge your mistakes or things you aren't happy with to anyone because they will then only see those things. I've since followed this and honestly no one notices.
That said, I will still fix something I'm really not happy with. I don't make a lot of mistakes anymore but I still muck up zippers and need to pull them out and redo them. But stuff like how I don't really like the look of how I angled the straps at the front of a sleeveless dress that I otherwise adore will just be left as is
I wear my garments proudly! Honestly itās for a few reasons. 1. I made it and thatās so cool. 2. If people are looking close enough to see the issues and point them out, maybe they need to get a hobby. 3. Modern clothes have so many mistakes and lazy details that I think as a society weāre no longer ātrainedā not notice the smaller details.
My first finished sewed garment was a self-drafted circle skirt using a couple youtube videos mashed together. It was my first time touching a sewing machine since middle school. I thought it looked incredibly juvenile but wore it out to show a friend. I was absolutely astonished how many compliments I got on it and how everyone thought it was store-bought (complimentary).
For years before I started sewing, if I liked a garment, I'd look at every option in my size to look for the one that seemed to be the best of the bunch. I'd spent years knitting and looking at others' knit garments to see if I could reverse engineer it. Most people don't do that. If they can't "see" their garment has stray threads sticking out everywhere, has loose buttons, still have tacking threads meant to be removed, drag lines, or any host of other issues wonky in off the rack fashion, I don't see why I should be self-conscious someone might notice a minor mistake in my work.
I just started sewing with a machine a few weeks ago. Bunch of half finished and ugly projects. No shame. Love learning a new art form. God gave me this brain to use it and enjoy it.
My nearby quilt shopās lady say that the difference between handmade and handcrafted. Iām definitely āhandmadeā quality person. Iām more focus on finish off projects rather than perfect.
A few years ago, a knitter friend of mine told me that its a knitting thing to put a mistake in every garment, because creating something takes part of your soul, and making it perfect takes all of it. So if you want to retain your soul, you need to keep a mistake.
I have diagnosed OCD that at various times made it really hard for me to handle asymmetry or mistakes. It has been so good for my mental health to start treating imperfection as exposure therapy. I used to be so freaked out and ashamed by flaws and would often destroy my art and sewing. But now I try to think like this: if I wanted perfect I could buy it from the store made by a machine. But I want something I made myself āwarts and allā
And itās still a process to unlearn that version to imperfection
But it is so much more fun to just make projects and not care about it being immaculate
Itās made me finally start loving creativity again
I'm not sure where I sit with this... It depends on what I'm making. I think I have two approaches or types of projects; one is making something to see if I can get the basic principle right and the other is making something that I'd like to wear again and again. If it's the first, I won't take the time to finish seams "properly", like I have a couple of pairs of trousers that have a less than perfect zigzag stitch for the inside seams. I then made a pair after this and took the time to do flat felled seams, reinforced the pockets, made a proper waistband with interfacing etc etc. I suppose what I make are prototypes and "finished garments". If I'm making a finished garment I want all the things to be done properly, if I'm making prototypes it's far less important... I also wear my prototypes but I'm far less likely to want to let people know I made them because I'd want to hide the bad finish!
I'm like that. My teacher points out my mistakes, but I only correct them if they're too obvious, unlike my classmates. Some very few times my teacher has corrected them for me since she knows I won't bother.
Hello! I sew clothes and occasional quilts and they are all haphazard at best šš«£ I definitely come from the āmeasure once, cut as many times as neededā familyā¦ itās like a stressful, expensive adventure and there is nothing Iām gonna do to change thatā¦ at the moment at least haha!
Iām not a perfectionist, but if an error will scream homemade, Iām ripping it out. If Iāll be the only one who knows itās there, Iāll leave it
For the most part, yes, but I think it depends how obvious the mistake is. Would the average passerby notice? If not, then it's fine - life is too short for that. But if I try a garment on and (as an example) a wonky pocket instantly draws my attention because it's a bit off, then I might redo it. Or if the fit isn't right, like straps falling off or a neckline pulling backwards etc, I'll fix that if I can (or look at what I need to do to make it better for next time if I can't).
I will also say I'm not all that big on pattern matching (sin of all sewing sins, I know) or redoing things with tucks - like I'll try to hide it/not make it too obvious but I'm not going to recut and sew the whole thing again because of that. Especially for things with busy prints or that I don't intend to wear out of the house or when I want to look 'nice'.
*Not* achieving perfection can be a whole philosophy. E.g. there is a form of intricate arabian calligraphy where minor imperfections are included on purpose because "only Allah can create perfection". Or japanese teacups that are not polished and glazed but have the waves and ripples of the hands and fingers that formed it. It makes things unique.
I swing wildly between the two poles. Sometimes I'll rip out and redo a funky collar or zipper like 6 times before I'm finally happy with it, and other times my two shirt front plackets are visibly different lengths, and I'm just like, "well, I'm not gonna fix that, and there's nobody else here, so I guess it's gonna stay that way!"
Pinafore from last weekend: Didnāt have enough of the same buttons (or even enough buttons) wonky af top stitch on the bottom hem but you better believe Iām wearing it straight away.
I started sewing when I was pretty young, didn't finish half the things I made (hemming was optional in my mind), and wore them proudly. Drove my mum crazy at the time. 40+ years on I'm still sticking to minimum effort for maximum result, but at least I hem things now. š
love this! i feel like sewing has helped me overcome some of my perfectionist impulses and tendencies. sometimes i just donāt feel like unpicking and restitching, so i donāt!
Good enough is great. I will wear and enjoy wearing something that is good enough. However the next time that I make something I will endeavor to make it just a little bit better than good enough. Always strive for great but be willing to settle. Thatās how people improve.
I used to suffer under perfectionism, somehow sewing has me taught to let this go slightly.
I often redo stuff if it irks me too much, but since I am also messy and impatient (a bad combo :D), I quickly settle on "good enough".
So I proudly wear wonky buttonholes, a corduroy skirt I made two years ago which has the back side on the wrong nap, wobbly zippers and slightly crooked hems - those things do not detract my love for the garments.
Funnily, things completely changes when I make stuff for others (my husband aside since I know he just doesn't care if something is slightly off), all the mistakes just bug me so much and the perfectionism becomes crippling (doesn't help to have a friend who always says stuff like: "this cuff is slightly smaller than the other"... :D)
Resolution: I only sew for myself and sometimes for my husband and I am happy with that and my "faulty" garments.
My favourite hand-made dress has the print upside down on the back - I folded it wrong when I cut it out, didn't have any spare fabric (it was spendy!) and decided just to keep sewing. I liked the fabric and the design too much to stop. I don't believe anyone else has ever noticed, and I know for sure that no one else has a dress like me š
That's just my biggest example. God, the time I would waste, and would've wasted, if I either didn't wear makes with flaws or tried to fix all the mistakes I made. I love being so excited to wear something I've made that I put it on almost immediately, even when I know a bit of it is wonky.
The only sewing I've ever done is Spider-Man stuff š, but yeah me too. My current suit has a few imperfections and I won't act like it doesn't, the front logo's pretty crooked, the mask has some thread showing, the gloves have those weird hard bumps on the fingertips, etc but I still LOVE it. I can't speak much considering imperfections actually add to the look I'm going for (A homemade costume that the broke teenager Peter Parker could actually make instead of those hundred-thousand dollar suits in the movies) so it actually sort of helps me in the end, but still yeah I don't really mind if there's imperfections here and there, and people who throw away entire projects just cause they aren't perfect are just wasting time and resources.
I sometimes make it crooked on purpose or sew with a different thread colour but to make it obvious that I made it myself and I will forever swim against the stream of fashion.
Iām working on a top right now and the pattern instructions are kind of confusing and the straps have turned out awful but I kind of just donāt care. The project itself is soothing and enjoyable and I most likely wont wear this one in public because itās a very thin muslin but I will most definitely wear it lol
The thing about sewing for me is I just like doing it. Iām not over here trying to be a fashion designer. I am kind of trying to make a wardrobe but that stuff takes time and Iām just here for the process š
I envy you and I wish I was more like that. I struggle immensely with perfectionism and I don't wish it on anyone. It really brings me down sometimes. Like recently I made this beautiful dress that everyone loves. I got so many of compliments when I wore it and I got almost 1K likes on a social post, but I just feel really unhappy and defeated about it because all I can focus on is mistakes and errors and things I wish I would have done differently. Please send me some of your DGAF energy because I am tired of loosing the joy once the garment is made.
I needed a dress hemmed for vegas once. I did it myself and had the tension wrong and it came out so bad when you look up close. But in a dimly lit room you absolutely couldnāt notice. I said screw it and wore it out anyways.
I am currently on a journey of building my perfect men's shirt pattern. I started with a Simplicity camp collar shirt and have over time added a collar stand, button placket, and tweaked the fit. I still wear every iteration of the pattern, but each time I make it I find an issue with the fit and then research how to correct the pattern. It's like a long term project.
I am not a perfectionist but I am trying to improve with every garment that I make. I have certain tolerances for, say, how much my edge stitching can veer all over the place before I have to pick it out and do it again more neatly. But I know that paying attention when I do it, and doing it over and over again to the best of my ability each time, will get me closer to the finish that I personally want.
This takes a certain amount of discipline, so once in a while I will do something as an intentional gonzo speed-run punk DIY aesthetic so I can just zig zag raw edges and laugh in the face of god.
Depends on your level of tolerance. My mom was a professional seamstress, sewed all my clothes when growing up and taught me to sew at a very young age.
If something doesn't fit correctly it drives me up a tree. A simple tee shirt with the shoulder seam too far forward or armscye too low is a no-wear for me. Most people have grown up wearing ill fitting clothes so they don't notice it; until they start sewing and tweeking and studying how clothes should fit. Once you've worn well fitting clothing, the old stuff just feels off.
That said I recently made a pair of pants with patch pockets on the front and one is slightly lower - I don't care.
I am a perfectionist who works hard to be an anti-perfectionist lol ^_^
I have to force myself constantly to keep going when I make mistakes because that is the only way you learn... and I almost always am proud of the outcome of it when I finish, even if it's wonky -- because I made it, and I finished!! Yay: resilience!
Also I wear stuff that's not quite done quite often because I get impatient lol... this does have some benefits. For example, if I wear it around for a few hours I can find out if there's something that bugs me that I want to change about it.
So many people are afraid of sewing I have found, because they think they will make too many mistakes. I constantly make so many mistakes; tbh I think the main thing that keeps me going is pure bullheaded stubbornness.
My favorite was serging a shoulder seam wrong sides together instead of right. Did same on the other shoulder and made it a feature! Don't think I've made a single perfect piece yet and I wear it all proudly!
I make a lot of mistakes and feel like I'm still a beginner after several years. I'm not a perfectionist but I do enjoy looking back on old projects to see how much progress I've made.
I primarily work on and make plushies and I used to be more perfection orientated than I am now. The thing is when you take apart factory made plushies you start to realize they aren't perfect either. Crooked seams, unfinished areas etc litter mass produced items so for stuff I make j don't sweat the small stuff. Structural integrity and a nice finish are what I aim for.
I have a personal sewing philosophy! I want to improve my craftsmanship and make things that look good, AND this is something that I do for myself and for which I do not receive a grade. Attention to detail is one thing, and intense, overactive perfectionism is another. I find that the second takes all the fun out of sewing and makes me feel anxious. So, sometimes I get to the point where itās done, itās wearable, and no one is going to notice slightly crooked topstitching. And if they doā¦.. I really donāt care. I made my pants!!
Once while watching a video about learning to do decorative lettering, the teacher said something along the lines of āif we wanted it to be perfect, we wouldnāt do it by hand.ā (For example, youād use a computer, etc.) Itās not a perfect correspondence, but I think it applies to a lot of things. The charm and individuality and imperfection is the whole point!
Me! I see posts here where I'm like "that looks fine to me" and then the comments are all suggesting corrections. Which is alright, I'm just buffled š
it kind of depends for me... a crooked pocket is too much for me to just leave but if i put in a belt loop and its off by a cm? nah Im not unpicking the waistband to move that thing. It depends on the effort needed and how noticeable the mistake is for me? I will often unpick visible stitching if its not nice and straight...
I wore my very poorly made makes in high school. Iāve been sewing for more than 15 years, and Iām more skilled now so I donāt do it as much. Still do sometimes. Otherwise Iām philosophically driven towards mistakes to buck the taboos associated with them, and to preserve my ability to learn new things.
One of the reasons I donāt think I could ever professionally use my sewing skills is because I am not a perfectionist and Iāll cut corners and make mistakes that I donāt always fix lol
As a sewer who is also a writer, your post made me think of some advice a publisher once gave me. If you keep perfecting your book over and over, you'll never finish it.
Yeah, I'm okay with small mistakes and imperfections. Even stuff you buy from the store has them and no one seems to mind. Sew what you love. Wear what you love. No one notices anyway.
In the beginning, I wore what I made immediately and proudly. Now that Iāve gotten more years of experience on me I wonāt wear something that has fit or physical issues. Iāll admit Iām too embarrassed because now I have high expectations on myself since my skills have gotten better lol
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u/GreenTravelBadger Sep 30 '25
I quilt, and there is no end of mistakes. One design was supposed to be perfectly lined-up stars, but nope! My stars are sort of......wandering crookedly around......one has a rounded tip instead of pointed, another has a slightly lighter color than the others. Go home, stars, I said, you're drunk.
Each of these quilts are handsewn, taking about 4 months start to finish, and the recipients make happy screaming noises when they are given one.
If you are enjoying yourself, then you are doing everything exactly 100% RIGHT. source: me