I finished my skirt sewing class last night. Do I have a skirt to show you? Um, no.
I left class pretty irritated. Why do they advertise that you will walk out of class with a finished product when in BOTH classes I walked out with incomplete garments? That’s false advertising! And it’s not like it’s just because I am slow or inept. The other two women in the class weren’t done with theirs either. Now I have to try to remember her rushed instructions in the last five minutes when I actually get around to finishing the skirt.
I think I need to take a class at a different location with a different teacher. This one is pretty ditzy and couldn’t seem to manage the three students she had in class since we were all working at different paces. She’s nice enough and definitely knows how to sew but should she be a teacher? That is debatable. Especially since she was totally blaming when the sewing machine I was using jammed on me. She assumed I had done something wrong and acted annoyed that she had to fix it. Uh, hello? I was just sewing like normal, like I had been earlier. It wasn’t my fault. (Waaah!) Luckily the owner of the store was there and is a very kind and patient lady who fixed the machine. And yeah, she confirmed it wasn’t ME who injured the machine.
Take that stupid teacher lady!
I’m not sure how far I can take CGR (Chubby Girl Revolution). This sewing business requires a LOT of ironing and precision. I hate ironing. I hate measuring shit. See? I like coming up with concepts and instructing other people how to execute them. I am good at managing people but executing an entire project start to finish on my own? I lose interest. I don’t have the patience. I’m a starter, not a finisher. I’m not saying I am giving up the dream. I don’t want to! Chubby girls need cute skirts (and deserve them!). It’s just not going to happen tomorrow.
Sigh.
Sizzle Says 
As a member of chubby land who has migrated to baby fat land I always found the cutest skirts at Marshalls/ Ross/ Macy’s sale racks. I refuse to spend a lot of money on a little skirt (by little I mean knee length).
I look forward to the days of letting my legs once again see the sunlight, just as soon as I get rid of this baby chunk and return to my chubby glory?!?
I so suck at sewing. Good luck with that.
But the day might come where you can pay someone to iron your fabulous creations!
It could happen. Hey, I plan someday to pay someone to clean my bathroom. Until then, I’ll do it myself and whine about it. We gotta have dreams though! 😉
Don ‘t give up the dream! Maybe you just need a partner, someone who can do the sewing, while you manage the business.
i made my two of my own prom dresses in HS as well as two formal dresses in college – i was the sewing queen… i don’t sew from scratch very often but i’m thankful i can mend, hem, and take-in when needed… thanks, mom! :o)
Sewing. Meh. I’m horrible at it. I only passed sewing in school because I bought something and ripped the tag off and told my teacher I had got a new machine at home and wanted to test it out. See what sewing does to me? Turns me into a liar. And that’s why I refuse to go near one.
I hate precision and ironing too. YET, I took a quilting class and loved it. At one point, the hidden type-a in me came out and I was freaking out that THINGS WEREN’T MEASURING UP PERFECTLY!!! The instructor looked at me and told me I need to chill out because I wasn’t going to be able to enjoy the creative process. She was right, and type-a tam went right back into the closet where she belongs.
You can hire a seamstress while you do the designing and the business end of it! Where there’s a will…
You should make your own design and then teach the class. Let them make your skirt for you.
They make a finished product but they can’t keep it.
What’s the chubby girl revolution?
Good luck with the skirt!
My sewing machine just heaved a great big sigh and died…. right in the middle of the freaking adorable shirt I was making. Looks like my revolution is on pause too! Dang it!
I’ve never taken a sewing class… I just went thrift-ing and found some old patterns, pinned them together, and am making it up as I go along (combined with “help me!” phone calls to my crazy talented mom, of course!) It might be worth it to see if you can figure it out from a cheap-o pattern before investing more in a sewing class that isn’t meeting your needs!
I’m down with the revolution. And I seriously need cute casual skirts for the summer so I can get some sunshine on these white legs and show off my fabulous flip-flop collection.
Grr…I disdain teachers who should not be. And I feel you on the “starter” thing. The only thing I finished lately was my Drunk Club shirt and that’s only because, well, I was drunk.
Keep at it. Viva la Revoluciòn!
I used to work as a seamstress for a bridal shop…I can alter things pretty easily but making things from scratch scares me. I’m aspiring to make pillows and a slipcover this summer but I’m borderline terrified. Maybe I’ll start with a decorative hankerchief wallhanging…they’re all the rage, right?
See, you’re more of a Tim Gunn and less of a Chloe.
“Make it work.”
I always tell my students they will leave with a website and 9 x’s out of 10 they don’t. Hah! we instructors suck with all of our broken promises. Can’t wait to see some of your creations.
After I master cooking, I want to learn to sew. I hate ironing, too though. I can barely thread a needle. I have a sewing machine and have no clue how to use it (even though I’ve been shown how several times.)
Evey time I try to sew I come way too close to losing a finger, ripping out my hair and throwing the machine out the window. I am totally impressed with a partial skirt. Good luck finishing it! I bet it will be wonderful.
Yes, a new venue is a must. Sucky that you didn’t have a finished product to show off. Will you by the end of the week?
What I hated the most about sewing class was the basting! To me it was like doing an outline of a report before I actually wrote it. Not enough patience for that. I just want to get it done.
Don’t give up. Tam might be onto something. Quilting can be accomplished with only basic sewing skills, and the bonus – no zippers, buttonholes, and what ever size it ends up to be is the right size. For something. If it’s too small to keep more than your knees warm, it’s art for the wall.
Bre has good advice too. you are an intelligent woman who can read and follow a pattern. Go slow and enjoy the process.
A skirt? What’s that? I haven’t owned or wore a skirt in so many years I don’t think I remember what it’s like to feel the breeze flowing. 😉
Sewing. Well, my tale is this: When I was growing up my mother believed everything could be “hand made”. This led to her taking classes in how to make everything from jeans to swimming suits to underwear. All underwear. Sleepwear to bras to panties… yeah. Vicki Secret has nothin’ on me and my mom.
I couldn’t WAIT to have my first pair of store-bought jeans (which, of course, every other kid was wearing and in the days of the 70’s had to be ‘grungy’…who knew that would come back?) At any rate, the point is I CAN sew. I just kinda prefer not to.
…and then? You get me thinking and sometimes I get inspired and go buy a pattern and fabric and they sit next to my relatively new does-everything-but-the-dishes sewing machine and I wonder “what the HELL was I thinking”?
Good luck with the Chubby Revolution. I’d buy!
Blech, ironing…