Frustration...

A little background info. I sew. I've been sewing since I was 10. I remember wearing an outfit that I had made all by myself (well, as "all by myself" that a 10 year old learner gets) to the first day of 5th grade. That was 15 years ago. I sewed a lot during high school. And I didn't just sew. I was pretty good. I made 5 prom dresses and, not to toot my own horn or anything, they were beautiful. I was an excellent seamstress.

Today, however, I came to the sad realization that I know find sewing far more frustrating than fulfilling. I can't remember the last time I finished a project of any significance. The last article of clothing that I made for myself was a cute black jumper. That was almost 4 years ago, and it is the last sewing project that I have been happy with.

What brought this all up? Well, if you look at my project list you'll see "My Graduation Dress" listed there. This "graduation dress" is a dress I started for my college graduation in April 2006. This is the pattern I was using.

I've been working on the one shown in the bottom right corner (plus sleeves of course). The twisted bodice is adorable and it has a high waist and A-line skirt. I'm making it out of this beautiful maroon and gold silky, border print fabric. It looks a little like sari fabric.

When I started the project I carefully took my body measurements and cut the fabric out using the pattern siz that matched my measurements. Lo and behold, the day before my graduation I have the bodice done and the skirt ready to sew on and finish. I try the bodice on for fit and it doesn't. It super doesn't fit. Its about 4 inches too big all around (despite the fact that measured so carefully and cut out the "correct" size). I don't have the time to finish it before graduation, so I choose something else to wear and set it aside for later.

Fast forward to today. One of my best friends from high school is getting married in 2 weeks and I think that dress would be nice to wear to her wedding. It is sitting in my project drawer in the exact same state it was left more than 2 years ago. I had Brian help me take the extra width out of the side seams and I try to get going on this dress again. I manage to get the bodice properly fit and now I have to get the skirt top to match the bodice. I work on it and get the skirt put on only to try it out and discover that the skirt hangs weird at the side seams. It folds over itself and doesn't drape nicely. I take it apart, change the line of the offending seams and try again. One side is looking better, but the other side just looks strange.

Then, looking in the mirror, I decide that not only does it look weird, but it makes me look fat. And it will probably never look as nice actually made as it looks in my head. The only way I can thing to fix the problem is to take the dress apart again. Everytime I take a seam out, I damage the delicate woven fabric. So now I'm frustrated. I can't figure out how to fix the problem without ruining my project.

I used to like sewing... I used to be good at sewing. But now... all I ever have to show for my efforts is a drawer full of half-finished projects that I don't feel like I have time for. And its frustrating...