I'll start the list but I'm counting on you to help me out. These are some of my sewing related pet peeves. Please leave yours in the comments section below. Let's see how many collective pet peeves we can amass. Remember, let's keep it lighthearted and fun!!!!
1. Dull pins that snag fabric (mentioned above)
2. When you find the perfect fabric online and excitedly order it only to get an email 3 days later that they completely ran out of it and it's non-reorderable:(
3. Fabrics with warning labels "Fabric may crock"---
4. Fabrics with ODD widths---like 38". What am I supposed to do with that---make a hankerchief!!!
5. How some pattern companies make special patterns in petit and don't offer them in the rest of the sizes!!!! Darn you burda for having such cute Petit patterns!!!! LOL!!!!! Since I'm shortwaisted I still buy them anyway though (wink).
6. A pattern sale at Jo-Ann's when there aren't enough patterns for the newest seasonal campaign. Seriously-- some of the Big 4 will only send like 3 patterns for each new look.
7. Fabric so badly off grain that no manner of straightening or blocking can fix!!!
8. Improperly rated patterns. It says "Very Easy" but it actually turned out to be ADVANCED! LOL!
9. Badly drafted patterns. One peplum blouse I made had a crazy, oddly drafted upper back that was disproportionate from the rest of the pattern. Almost had me pulling out my hair!!!
10. Fabric you buy that have a permanent fold from being stored on the bolt and is nearly impossible to remove. There's a olive green rayon knit I want at Jo-Ann's but can never buy it due to those darn fold impressions!!!
11. When I need a 9" zipper and all I may have on hand is a 21"! Man, it feels like such a waste!
12. A sewing machine breakdown in the middle of a huge project!!!
13. When the guide sheet's suggested pattern placement on fabric creates unecessary waste.
14. Ordered fabric looks NOTHING like the online description or photo.
15. Accidentally making an elastic casing too small which causes elastic to curl:(
16. A badly drafted sleeve pattern that has WAY too much cap length and causes puckers not originally intended for the design.
17. Sewing with slippery fabrics without the aid of fabric stiffeners. Can you say NIGHTMARE!!!
18. Fabrics with designs that was away even when the care instructions say they're washable.
Ok, I've got lots more and will probably add more in the comments section below as I think of them. But I'm most interested in what you've got to say. What are some of your sewing related pet peeves. Please list them in the comments section! This should be fun!!!!
When your bobbin thread runs out a couple inches shy of the end of your last line of stitching, arggghhhh!
ReplyDeleteYES, ugh!
DeleteMiss Lulu, YES, YES! Has to be my all time biggest sewing pet peeve lol!
ReplyDeleteOne of my pet peeves, is when I chose a fabric from my stash, and I don't have enough for the sewing project.
ReplyDeleteWhen you lose a pin on the floor without noticing it and then impailing your toe on said pin.
ReplyDeleteand
When you love the color of the fabric before washing it and even though following washing instructions it comes out less fantastic then before.
also
Strange sizing of fusible interfacing
Mmmmmmm Sewing Pet Peeves. Let me see. I have a lot of them, but I'll list my biggest one here: WHEN MY SERGER'S LOWER LOOPER COMES UNTHREADED! Calgon, please take me away!
ReplyDeleteVictoria I think that when it's suggested that a fabric may "crock" it means that the color in the fabric will tend to rub off on your hands, sewing machine, etc. My pet peeve is bent pins.
ReplyDeleteThanks KMQ, I stand corrected, you're absolutely right:) I must've gotten the wrong definition online. That changes everything! I'm open to buying crocked fabric now:)
Delete....well on second thought .....we'll make that a strong maybe (wink)
DeleteMy biggest pet peeve is misplacing my seam ripper, scissors and my threaded hand sewing needle in my small A room. Another is when I find a pair of my sewing scissors in our OFFICE!!!! Note to self: Get a "KEEP OUT" sign.
ReplyDeleteLol, I wear my thread snips around my neck and then take them off all over the house. I always sit down to sew and have to go hunting for them, hahaha!
DeleteOMG - with all of these niggles, I'm amazed anybody sews! (You really captured them very comprehensively, V.) I have to think about what drives me crazy - though you did mention many of mine including off-grain fabric and those seriously advanced patterns which are labeled as "Very Easy!"
ReplyDeleteIt's not quite a sewing niggle but the phrase 'I'll just sit here and watch' is like ice through my veins. When I still need to attach the other sleeve to the dress I'll be wearing in two hours the last thing I need is someone sitting on my pattern pieces and looking over my shoulder.
ReplyDeleteMaybe I was a bit stressed.
Amen. I feel the same way. "Just go away and leave me to my sewing" is what I am thinking but I never say that. I just smile and put up with it.
DeleteWhen work and running errands cuts into my sewing time.
ReplyDeleteWhen I'm in the sewing groove but I can't stay up late to work on a project because I need to go to sleep so I can get up in the morning.
When I want to start a project but need to go to the fabric store first.
1) OMG the bobbin thread is theeeeee worst! WHY? Why!!!?!?!!?!!?!!?!!?!! LOL!
ReplyDelete2) When I want to sew but know that I am tired. And I know that if I sew tired I'm going to screw up royally.
3) When I have 3 or 4 patterns out at once (cardinal sin, I know) and "lose" pattern pieces. Right now I am missing 6 pattern pieces of a skirt I cut this weekend (the 4 pieces for the skirt and the waistband. I have no clue where they are :/
Somehow, my husband and son are the only ones that get impaled by pins.
When the fabric store cuts fabric crookedly, and you end up with too little one side, so you can't make your garment. We have a really bad shop her, and even though short measures are against the law, they still make this little "mistake".
ReplyDeleteFinding a flaw in the fabric after you have cut it, even though you checked it all pre shrinking and post shrinking, in good light and held up to the light.
The fact that machine needles don't have some kind of colour coding to show whether they are ballpoint or regular universal needles. I absolutely cannot tell the difference by looking and it drives me nuts when I have to swap needles. Schmetz are OK because they give you a case that holds the needles properly, but Singer - ah my Singer needles mingle promiscuously.
ReplyDeleteWhen my scissors get blunt.
ReplyDeleteGetting overly enthusiastic when ironing my finished garment and melting it ! I have done this at least three times - when will I ever learn ! Doing perfect practice button holes and stuffing up the real ones.
ReplyDeleteSince my steam generator failed about a year ago (ok , that's pet peeve right there since it was #2) and I can only afford a regular iron this year.....it has that darn auto shut off. I'll be selling a sewing machine or two later this year and can't wait to get back to a steam generator.
ReplyDeleteI bought 4 'matching' buttons a few weeks ago. When I got home and looked at them, one is a slightly lighter colour than the other. Grrrr
ReplyDeleteOh, man, once you mentioned JoAnn's, I could think of a book of pet peeves, hahaha! It is the WORST when they have a pattern sale and then don't have the latest line of those patterns in the drawers yet. And yes, the off-grain fabric is such a pain and I have only ever had that happen from JoAnn's! Once I bought a fat quarter bundle of "made for JoAnn's" fabrics and they were cut so badly offgrain, I was losing up to two inches on each one and couldn't even make the quilt pattern I bought them for! OH, and how they are SO anal about giving you the right amount that they will cut off the last inch of fabric and toss it, rather than giving you the extra inch!!! Heaven forbid they give ya a little extra, right??
ReplyDeleteBut, alas, I will continue to plan my life around the JoAnn's ad LOL.
Number 8 gets me everytime.Might I also add the entire beginning phase of sewing LMBO!
ReplyDeleteOne of my biggest pet peeves is when I have finished a garment and it looks real good except for one little seam that is annoying me and I go to correct it and make a big mistake and have to redo the seam altogether because I could not leave well enough alone...and I might add the garment is needed that moment.
ReplyDeleteAh so its not just me. That is a pet peeve of mine also.
DeleteMy biggest pet peeve is sizing information. You cut the size you need based on the measurements indicated, and you wind up with a tent!! My measurements based on most patterns would be a size 12. I always wind up using a size 8! Why can't the sizes be accurate???!!
ReplyDeleteMy pet peeve is friends who don't sew asking for sewing help "because it will only take a few minutes".
ReplyDeletewhen I can't find a bit of the garment I'm making (usually a sleeve) then I realise I have managed to sit on it and crease it up, then I have to iron it again :(
ReplyDeleteI hate when the tricky part of the pattern is glossed over with a few words and bad illustrations....
ReplyDeleteAlso when I can't find my damn seam ripper...
DeleteWhen the pattern layout, done to spec, requires yards more than it says.
ReplyDelete