Just Sew the Damn Clothes!

Can we have a little chat?

I've noticed something over the years and, if I'm honest, I've been guilty of it too. As sewists, we're really good at saving things. We save that beautiful linen because we're waiting until we're "good enough". We buy the pattern we absolutely love, then convince ourselves it's probably a bit too advanced. Or we spend hours making a gorgeous dress, only to decide it's too nice to wear to the shops.

There's always a reason to wait, isn't there? Maybe we'll feel more confident in a few months, lose those few kilos we've been meaning to lose, get better at sewing, or finally have somewhere "nice enough" to wear it.

But meanwhile, life is happening.

And most of it isn't happening at a fabulous restaurant or some special event. It's happening while we're going to work, meeting a friend for coffee, ducking into the supermarket, going to Bunnings, heading out for lunch or just doing all the normal everyday stuff we do. Those are the days I want to wear my clothes.

Now, I'm not suggesting you grab the most expensive fabric in your stash and hope for the best. If I'm sewing a new pattern, I'll almost always make a toile first. That's just sensible sewing. I want to check the fit, work through the construction and see if there's anything I'd like to change before I cut into my "good" fabric.

And sometimes you get lucky and that toile becomes what you'll hear sewists call a "wearable toile". Basically, you like the fabric, you like the fit and, yay, you've accidentally made yourself another outfit! Other times it looks exactly like what it is... a practice run. That's okay too. It did its job. But I think there's another benefit to making that toile that we don't talk about as much. You've actually done it now. You've sewn the neckline, put in the zip, worked out that tricky bit in the instructions or made whatever fitting changes you needed to make. You have what I think of as lived confidence. You're not just telling yourself you can do it. You know you can because you already have.

And that's when you cut the good fabric. That beautiful linen you've been stroking every time you walk past it? Cut it. That ridiculously fabulous print you bought three years ago and haven't been able to bring yourself to touch? It's time. Because owning beautiful fabric isn't actually the goal here. Making clothes we love is.

And once you've made them, for goodness sake, wear them! I think this is the other funny thing we do. We finally work up the courage to cut the fabric, spend hours sewing it into something we love... and then hang it in the wardrobe because it's "too nice" for everyday. Nooooooo. Wear the linen shirt to the supermarket. Wear your favourite dress to lunch even if it's just the local café. Wear the fabulous pants to Bunnings. Wear the bold print on a completely ordinary Tuesday just because you bloody love it. Your handmade clothes aren't museum pieces. They're supposed to be worn and washed and worn again. They'll soften. They'll probably get a mark on them eventually. You might spill your coffee down the front (hopefully not on the first outing, lol). And one day, after you've worn the absolute life out of something, it might finally be ready for retirement.

I'd much rather look at an old handmade shirt and think, "I loved wearing that", than find a beautiful piece of fabric sitting untouched in my stash ten years from now because I was saving it for something special. I think sometimes we get so caught up in the making that we forget why we started sewing clothes in the first place. It wasn't to own the biggest fabric stash or collect hundreds of patterns we'll sew "one day". We sew because we want clothes that fit our bodies, feel like us and make us feel bloody good when we put them on.

So do the toile. Make the adjustments. Get that lived confidence and then cut into the fabric you've been saving.

Sew the damn clothes. And, more importantly, wear the damn things.

Kate xx