Join me in my adventures as I write romance novels and sew vintage and contemporary fashion.

Saturday, April 6, 2013

Revisions: Sewing and Writing

The Writing/Sewing
It's revision time. Revisions are my favorite part of writing and my least favorite part of sewing. I think that's because in sewing, there's a chance of getting it right the first time. That rarely happens in writing.

As I think about it, though, people who design patterns go through the same process as writers--they come up with an idea, attempt to execute it, analyze, tweak--or in some cases throw the entire project out and start over--then analyze, tweak again, etc, until it's right. I guess the pattern drafters and designers take care of that first draft and it's up to us to revise to fit our personal situation.

One thing I've learned about writing is to not get too carried away with details in the first draft because there is an excellent chance that I'll have to toss all those details out when I change or cut scenes. I have yet to learn that lesson in sewing. When I made the 80s summer dress this week, I was so happy with the muslin that I decided to do some of the finishing work before trying on the final draft. I neglected to think about soft drapy rayon challis being a wee bit different than crisp ironed muslin. So I confidently under stitched facings and tacked them down as I went. I even sewed the back neck facing to the organza underlining. Thank goodness I didn't put in the twelve buttonholes.

When I tried on the dress and realized that I had to take in the sides a good half inch and that the neckline was awkwardly high (I still don't know how that happened) I really wished I'd saved those finishing details for later, like I do when I write. I also really wish I'd taken photos, but it was 10 pm and I was in the Ack! Must fix immediately! phase of my process. I got out the quick unpick--I just learned that term from Sewaholic and love it--and started unpicking.the stitching on the facings. One thing led to another and I finished fixing the sides and the neckline around 11 pm. Then I thought about photos. Maybe that's the writer coming out in me. I rarely let anyone see my struggles on paper. I fix them and then let people read my words.

So that's where I am--revising the book and redoing the finishing details that I shouldn't have done in the first place on my dress. I'll post photos soon.






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