Every garment sewer I know at least occasionally makes a piece of clothing that doesn't quite work, or doesn't work at all. What do you do with these unsuccessful garments? Over the years, I've discovered that I can learn a lot from these "misses," and sometimes I learn way more from garments that don't work than from garments that do work.
In this video, I first discuss how diverse our taste in clothing is. Many of us draw inspiration from clothing we find interesting. But looking at clothing we are not drawn to (i.e., what someone might call an unsuccessful garment) can still spark inspiration and critical thinking that helps us understand what we do like and why.
I also explore how I critique and assess garments, especially ones that don't work. I provide a list of questions to ask oneself so that you don't keep making the same mistakes over and over again. Then using 5 different garments I made that I was not happy with, I discuss how I assessed them, how I determined whether or not to re-work them, and how I honed my understanding of what I like and do not like in my garments.
I hope that sharing this video will help you see that your unsuccessful garments are wonderful teaching tools. And rather than being dismayed, frustrated, or completely discouraged by our unsuccessful efforts, we can use them to re-energize our desire to sew garments and further explore our creativity.
