#SEWING IS A SKILL BUILT OVER TIME AND PRACTICE IF A FAT PERSON WANTS TO SEW SOMETHING THATS STRUCTURALLY SOUND

[20dollarlolita]

Improvisational sewing is an actual skill that you can learn, fyi.

Some people are really good at just looking at a thing they need to make, and then cutting and building it without drawing out what they need to make in advance. Like any skill, some people learn it more easily than other people, but everyone can get better at it if they study and practice it.

Guessing how much fabric you'll need and then just sort of messing with the concept of something until you make it is a skill that will help you in the future. You don't need to sketch out everything you make, if you train yourself how to do it. I've met a lot of people who say they can't just picture something in their mind, and then make it, but I always want to ask if they've ever tried it, or if it's just something they've been told is an innate god-given gift that they'll never possess.

Everyone visualizes concepts in their heads differently. I'm sometimes a 3 and sometimes a 4 on this scale, though, so I don't know how much that relates to visualizing sewing concepts without mapping them. I personally think I got acceptable at this for a few reasons. First, I'm content with making things that aren't perfect, if they serve the purpose that I need. Second, I have always been prone to losing things, so I rarely know where my tailor's chalk or other marking tools are, so if I want a project done fast I can't spend time looking for them. And third, I know a LOT of backup techniques for saving a project when it goes tits up.

Because improvisations sewing doesn't actually go I know what I want to make > I can think about how I want to construct it > I build it like I thought.

And it's much more of I know what I want to make > I think about how to construct it > I cut out the pieces > I cut the wrong size > I revise my design > I sew the first ten seams > I sewed something together that I didn't mean to > I reconsider how to join the seams > I pin for the hem > oops there's not enough fabric > I reconsider my design, and just awkwardly stumble across the finish line.

But, in general, that stumbling technique can get me where I need to go, almost entirely because I've done this before. When I cut the fabric wrong, I can think back to other times that I've cut it wrong, and know what did or didn't work last time. And I have failed at any given technique so many times that I've built up an arsenal of "oops, hide the mistake" techniques.

And that is why this is a skill worth practicing and learning. You will mess up every project you make at some point in the project. You will have to make a decision about if you want to work with the mistake or to take it apart and try again. But how are you going to know how to work with the mistake (or know it it's even an option) if you haven't made it before.

For example, my seam finish of cutting the front seam allowance off and then rolling the back seam allowance over that cut off section? That was because I forgot that if you put peltex in the fabric, there's no option for right sides together and pin. That was a mistake, but it looks okay. Most importantly, it's functional, and I decided from the beginning that functional in this project was much more important than looking perfect. Or, as I told my coworker, "I'm not taking this to a job interview. I'm burying this at the very bottom of my car trunk before a job interview." But does it stop me from worrying about breaking my tablet or losing its associated accessories? Yes, so it was a success.

So, if you want to try building your improvisational sewing skills, here's my advice.

1) set the stakes really low. Pick a project that need to function but doesn't need to be pretty. Work with some really cheap fabric. Pick a thing that you need badly enough to make but not so badly that you can't stand a delay on it being made.

2) Start out really simple. Pillows are really good for this. Once you can eyeball and cut a simple square pillow out of a fat quarter, you can try doing envelope pillows or pillows with a few different fabrics pieces together. Pillows are great because they're just two flat shapes sewn together and don't need any side shaping. If you want to move up from pillows, reusable shopping bags are fun, because there's a really minor amount of shaping in the bottom corners. Add pockets to your bags, so you can learn how to visualize a piece applied to another piece.

3) Set a time limit. The major draw of improvised sewing is that you're able to build simple things quickly. Tell yourself that you only have a day or a few hours to finish it. Don't use the time limit to make you stressed out, though. Just use it as an excuse to make bad decisions.

4) Any technique that looks good and is structurally sound is good, even if you just made it up. Any technique that looks mildly okay and is structurally sound is still okay.

5) Using the zigzag stitch to cover up raw edges that didn't quite meet is an acceptable thing.

6) YOU CAN BE PROUD OF HAVING MADE SOMETHING, EVEN IF YOU DON'T LOVE WHAT YOU MADE. You're allowed to be happy that you learned a new technique, even if you throw the thing you made into the trash.

Ask your artist friends if everything they ever drew is good. People who draw have full sketchbooks of just fast drawings that didn't get turned into full masterpieces. You can give yourself the same kind of practice and skill building. You can make things that don't work out perfectly. That's how we learn. This process is really similar to sketching, actually. You use the same kind of thought that you'd use to draw a picture of a soup can without looking at the can to draw it.

It honestly fascinates me that no one talks about learning this skill the same way they talk about learning other skills. It's a practice makes perfect kind of situation. You might not be good at it, but when was the last time you tried it? Did you just do it once, and not like it, and decide to never try it again? Then, of course, you're not going to be all that great at it. But it's not a complicated innate gift. It's a skill.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk. If you've tried this before, please comment below with what number you are on the reading visualization chart and if you find this to be easy or hard.

[transbastard]

Fat ppl, who are more often than not poor and unable to buy most storebought clothes in their size: I wish there were more clothes that fit me and looked good...

straightsized ppl who can afford to buy sewing machines, enough fabric to cover their bodies, thread, and who already have the knowledge, patience, mental ability, and resources to learn sewing: JUST LEARN TO SEW ITS NOT HARD! IF YOU WANT LESSONS, HERE (insert resource that does not explain how to adapt patterns properly for fat bodies and only showcases straightsized patterns) ITS NOT HARD YOU CAN DO IT! IT TAKES LIKE A COUPLE HOURS JUST MAKE SOMETHING CUTE! IF YOU CANT AFFORD A SEWING MACHINE JUST HANDSEW IT, ITS NOT THAT HARD!!!!