Successes and Failures

I have been working on a few things over the past few weeks and I feel like almost everything that I have been trying can really be broken down in to 2 categories. Success or Failure. Now I know things are not that black and white in the real world and I know that a lot of what I have done over those weeks cannot fit into those categories but it is just the way I feel things have gone.

Take my sewing for example. I have been trying some new and ambitious things in my sewing and some have turned out great - beyond my expectation. Yet others, no matter how hard I tried have been complete and utter failures. I am ok with that, it's how you learn many times. It still would have been nice for it to work.

I tried this sandbox pant pattern so I could get pants for B that would actually fit him. I had been making some pants for him but no matter what I did with them they still looked like PJ's. I came across a review of this pattern and one of the first things she mentioned was how they looked like real pants vs. Pj's. How could I resist! Trying to make pants with a real waistband AND pockets was slightly daunting at first but the pattern was easy to follow and they turned out GREAT! So good in fact that I went out and bought more fabric and already sewed one more pair and have two more queued up. I even altered the pattern so I could add a lining for winter! I am in love with these pants and they just look so comfy I would love to find a way to make the pattern bigger so I can make some for the whole family!

Then I got brazen. I tried to make a maternity dress. You see, I needed a dress and have been having trouble finding a nice cotton one that I could wear. Not to be gross but I sweat like no tomorrow in polyester and that is all you can find in the stores right now. I figured I would do my first run in muslin so I could adjust and learn along the way without wasting too much money. I saw where I needed to make some adjustments along with where I needed to take my time and work harder. It needed work but I still thought I could do it. So I took out some inexpensive but nice brown fabric I had (I still wasn't brave enough to go out and buy the beautiful fabric I originally wanted the dress in, thank goodness!) And I sewed and sewed and sewed. I pulled out stitches and adjusted and sewed some more. The end result was at best amateurish, no it was bad, just plain bad. I couldn't even salvage it enough to wear it around the house. I realized that as much fun as I have with this I am not ready for a project so ambitious. Maybe one day but not today.

Sorry there are no pictures. I really want you to see those cute pants but we are still having some trouble with our computer. Hopefully soon I will be able to get those pictures up. Hopefully soon we will have this all fixed so I can show you all the wonderful things going on around here.