"I get one chance to do the buttonholes right," I worried. "If I mess up, the vest is ruined."
Practice was maddening. No buttonhole was the same. Bucked up and got it done.
Nerves. Too close to it. Feel like I've been through a war. All I see are the flaws. Am considering taking it to a tailor to make it follow the lines of my body more. Can't stand the thought of tearing apart the vest again. I'd have to take off the bottom cuff again!
The suede is so heavy, as the vest hangs it smooths out. Will let it hang for a few days before deciding what to do.
With sewing, I let my perfectionist freak flag fly. It's positive (often beautiful results) and negative (inner criticism).
Do you ever feel like this when you sweat over making something?
Advice?
Wear it hiking or gardening or bicycling to keep your torso warm....appreciate the sweatshops making garments to perfection in Bangalore or Maylasia
@Tucsongirl1, @Mofo1953, @K9Kohle789, @MissKathleen, @Jolanta, @Petter, @OldMetalHead, @19dacar52, @Kenny82, @RobinGray, @Marcie1974, @DavidLaDeau, @RoyMillar, @Larry68Feminist, MizJ
Update
Today I took the vest to Pins & Needles, a local tailor business. While I was wearing it, a woman pinned the front and sides. It looks like a million dollars on me! Could not have done it myself.
"I love the band you added to the bottom," she said. "Will you please do the sewing?" I pleaded. Sure.
Cost: $25. A bargain.
Good on you. You found a way.
Thank you, dear!
You are your own worst critic. I don't sew, but I do draw. And everytime time I'm done, I will show people and they talk about how good it looks, and all I see is what I could have done better. I think this is true for every artist whether it be sewing, painting, woodworking, etc. I always chalk it up to my eye being better than my talent. I think your vest looks really good and I can't imagine the talent it takes to create one of these; nor do I have the eye to spot the inconsistancies that you see.
I completely understand your perfectionism but rest assured, it looks perfect to everyone else
I felt this way with my essays at university. Which is why I would procrastinate in writing it as my inner critic would go in to overdrive and I would fall asleep when doing the research. Then I would edit and edit. And once submitted, read it over and notice all the little flaws with grammar or sentence placement I should have made. I'd mainly get Bs and A-s, so I think if I didn't wait until last minute I could have gotten all As.
I don't sew, but I have the same reaction to the things I make. Fortunately, you can change software endlessly.
Looks really good to me. I know what you mean though. We’re our own worse critics. I’m a landscape painter and find myself hard to please.
You should post some pictures of some of your paintings
@Eazyduzzit thanks, maybe I will
Not really, when I was a kid our mom would "make" most of our clothes and she was pretty bad at it, out of love we learnt not to complain even if the sweaters were too big or too small or the buttonholes didn't match, because we saw all the work she put into it and how late she stayed to finish, besides she was really proud of dressing us, the ridicule of our peers notwithstanding. Now we remember those years with humor and laugh about it with mom who is still alive at 90!
I think it looks great. Question, Is the photo of the button hole suppose to be a flaw that you are talking about? I don't see a problem with it.
I do understand about seeing flaws in projects that I do, we are all our own worst critics.
That's the top button. I posted it to show the buttonhole.
I feel relieved about how well the buttonholes turned out.
Being too close to a piece of work to appreciate it fully is pretty much what happens to every artist. In a movie about the making of "the dark side of the moon," David Gilmour lamented that he completely missed out on the amazingness and wonder of listening to "the dark side of the moon" album, that every floyd fan had held as their greatest opus...not to mention that the album "Remained in the billboard album chart for 741 weeks, from 1973 to 1988." Why? All because he only could hear it the way he experienced it...incomplete, in process, and with warts. Yet...others saw the genius. I do hate that he, of all people, missed the chance to listen to it with fresh ears in its completed form.
Do you think about how much you got right?
Yes, I like what I did correctly.
The sides bother me. I took in the sides three times. Can't stand doing it again.
I want the vest to follow the lines of my body better.
@LiterateHiker practice makes perfect. As long as you learn from your mistakes
Have you changed your original template for next time?
I'm not going to torture myself with this flawed pattern again.
Couldn't turn it right-side-out. Each time, it twisted into a knot.
Near tears, I took it to Pins & Needles for help. Kami. a seamstress, tried unsuccessfully for 30 minutes. "Can I take it home for the long weekend to work on it?" she asked. "I will figure out another way to turn it."
Although Kami did it, she tore out many seams that I had to re-sew.
The vest looks amazing! Yeah I struggle with perfectionism. When I started my YouTube channel I decided to film and publish what I had to edit, with no retakes. I had to do this or I would have never stopped picking apart the flaws and this would have never actually made a video. I now have over 50 on my atheist channel.
And if anyone looks at your buttonholes,,,,,slap em!
Anytime I'm building anything, I have some defects which I have to let go.
There's always something you see that others don't.
Perfectionist!
I don't see the flaws but I understand what you might be feeling.
My recent experience over a week period is in trying to make Kodi 18 play on both my computers. It only works on one of them. It works on Windows 10 but not on Windows 7. I tried every bell and whistle and every trick in the book. New and different codecs, etc. In the end I gave up and put Kodi 17 back on the Windows 7 computer. The rendering process is the same in both Kodi versions so version 18 should have worked. None of their fixes (or mine) seemed to work so I'm going to quit while I am ahead. The most I got out of this was better colors.
I gave up using Kodi after I could no longer watch old TV episodes on it, and switched to alternatives.
@Petter Kodi is a name change after a threatened lawsuit. The software comes from X-Box technology and was first called XBMC for X-Box Movie Center. In itself it does nothing but make it possible for you to use third party software. These change a lot but work very well. You have to keep up with them.
As for TV shows that you might like, go to Fluxus Playon website and download their codec for IPTV and then put that code into your VLC Media Player. As usual, all channels do not work but most do if you know what you are doing. Another good way of watching TV shows is to buy a Roku and just set it up for the free channels. I do all of these and more. Internet searches and also You Tube will help you. In fact, you can find a great amount of good TV shows and movies free on You Tube too.
I see myself as a DIYer. I have almost every hand and power tool known to man. In reality, I'm the worst tradesman ever born. You'd think that if there are two ways to do something I'd get it right at least half the time. Wrong!
Let it hang, probably slightly damped, then iron it. If it's still no good, sew a label from an expensive, boutique brand on to the front and say it's meant to be like that.
Yup, just say that’s how you meant it to look, it’s a new trend
@Marcie1974 Yea. Say it's part of the fashion label's brand new "Home-Made-Look" range.
We are own worst critics ,I think we are all that way in some degrees when we do projects,You know what you have done wrong or thought you have and know where to look for all the little things ,But the rest of us usually do not look for that in others peoples craftmans ship unless it is something blatent as with are untrain eyes it is the beauty of the piece as a whole,so called flaws to one person is character to another ,Vest looks Beautiful,,you should be very proud to wear your vest ,I am sure you will never get a negative mark about it. I know when i have done things know where the flaws are ,but next person who sees it as an excellent job Love you work
Yep! I'm a hobby woodworker, and when working with wood there really is no such thing as perfection. A lot of times the wood does what it wants. It expands and contracts with changes in humidity. A perfectly straight board will warp and curve when you rip it to size, it can splinter when you're routing an edge on it. One you cut a piece of wood, or route a dado into it, there is no undoing it, so you have to get it right. Every piece I've made has had flaws that I can spot from 6 feet away. It doesn't matter how beautiful someone tells me it is, I will just look for the flaws.
I've seen other woodworkers proudly display work that I would have busted up for firewood. I wish I were more like them.
Oh gawd, listening to anything musical I've recorded. Every mistimed/miss-hit vocal sets my teeth on edge.
All the time. Often when someone is looking at something I built I will point out the flaws. Seldom do others see them without me pointing them out. My dad was a perfectionist and it drove everyone crazy (even himself). Why do we do this. I vowed to never be like this and have to make a conscious effort to let things just be good enough.
Remember, years ago, reading an article in the Smithsonian about a 17 century master ship builder. He got everything perfect. When the tiny camera's came around some got a crazy idea and looked inside one of this guys model ships. Yup, everything was there, furniture, flooring, and painted interiors. Must be some sort of disease.
Tried to look it up but this is a big hobby. Here is one site: [modelshipbuildingsecrets.com] Be thankful you don't have this hobby!!