no good, very bad…
[ doesn't she look a bit maniacal with those super long shears?! ]
I rarely post rants here, but I feel I must vent a bit or risk just letting it eat at me! lol. I managed to do something very stupid, something I knew better than to do: prewash a piece of fabric I had no business doing so. Sometimes I do pre-treat fabric (especially cottons), other times I don’t do anything beyond give it a good steam/wet press cloth and steam (such as with wool). I had a beautiful piece of sueded rayon, just waiting to be made into a sweet 40s dress. So I stupidly followed the care directions that came with the fabric: handwash and line dry (why, I do not know. I think I wasn’t thinking yesterday.). Only now, after washing it (in a very gentle detergent, I might add), the color is stonewashed (for lack of a better descriptive), and rather ruined. I’m a bit heartbroken, but mostly annoyed at myself. Next time I swear I’m going to listen to that little, nagging voice in the back of my head…
After the discovery this morning of the fabric mishap, I proceeded to knock over an entire glass of water on my desk/sewing table. Way to go, Casey…
Am I the only one who has fantastic spurts of bad luck and creative mess ups?
Posted on November 10th, 2009 to sewing.
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catherine_sr says:
November 10th, 2009 at 8:45 pm
I’m so sorry to hear that… I once put my favorite vintage wool dress through the washer and dryer. It shrank and now I can only wear it during my “skinny” periods. Sigh.
I don’t know a lot about fabric, but do you think the rayon can be dyed? -
Rosie says:
November 10th, 2009 at 9:25 pm
You aren’t alone. Hopefully things will get better soon though, and everything will go well for a while.
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calivintage says:
November 10th, 2009 at 10:06 pm
no, you aren’t. it happens to us all! and might i add, for every little mishap, you probably have some pretty amazing handmade pieces that you will love for years to come!
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Claire says:
November 10th, 2009 at 10:47 pm
I had the same with a washed vintage pencil skirt which I can now not fit in to.
The worst sewing accident was a friend who stepped on a pin, while in pain and trying to pull it out the glass head came off and it became embedded in her foot. It took four hours of surgery the next day to remove it. -
Mel says:
November 10th, 2009 at 10:47 pm
Aww I’m sorry! Maybe you can order more fabric? At least it was a good lesson learned, that’s for sure
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jasmine says:
November 10th, 2009 at 11:28 pm
one time i was stenciling a shirt, i forgot to heat set the ink and i washed it. basically all of the paint came off. i stencilled it again and did the exact same thing. (don’t worry the third time around, i made sure to heat set it and now i have a fully functional shirt)
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jennine says:
November 10th, 2009 at 11:29 pm
at least you read the instructions!
i’m the queen of messing up fabric, i’ve done it so many times, it could be it’s own blog.
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Magpie Jen says:
November 11th, 2009 at 12:02 am
You did exactly the right thing! Imagine if you’d spent a whole lotta time sewing the fabric into something and _then_ decided to try washing it. _That_ would be a tragedy.
Tragedy, avoided
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Gertie says:
November 11th, 2009 at 12:03 am
Aw, that sucks. I certainly have had my share of disasters in the sewing room. I handwashed a dress made out of sueded silk once and the results were terrible for me too! On the (kind of) bright side: you hadn’t sewn it into a beloved garment yet!
Also: I love that image! Wherever did you find it?
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Jill says:
November 11th, 2009 at 12:03 am
But, better to find that the fabric washed poorly now than after you had done all the work sewing it!
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Twila Jean says:
November 11th, 2009 at 12:09 am
bad luck always seems to fall that way.
Like when something bad happens in the morning, it puts you n *that* mindset, and you cant help but happen upon more bad things.Tomorrow will be better! xoxoxoxoxox
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Nem says:
November 11th, 2009 at 5:03 am
Poor thing, that is so frustrating. It happens to us all though, I can assure you. Cheer up, it’s a new day!
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Miss Penelope says:
November 11th, 2009 at 5:42 am
Casey, don’t stress! Here’s some good news for you. Your lovely sewing projects inspired me to make my first skirt. Yes, the seams maybe a bit off but thanks heaps for your blog and inspiration
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Karin says:
November 11th, 2009 at 7:18 am
Sorry to hear about your fabric. It’s such a shame when that happens. And no, you are not the only one with such series of bad luck. They happen to me too. I remember a couple of weeks ago, when I wanted to sew a simple shirt for my littlest one. Really it was very simple. But everything that could go wrong went wrong. I did some major cursing that day, not something to be proud of
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Helen says:
November 11th, 2009 at 10:52 am
oh i hate days like that! hopefully things will get better for you.
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Marmielu says:
November 11th, 2009 at 11:14 am
Hey! I just couldn’t resist here – just say “Mom” ’cause you know these things happen to me – a lot! Hope you can recoup the fabric.
XOXO
Mom -
PatternJunkie says:
November 11th, 2009 at 11:27 am
Oh, I can relate! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to rip out a seam, cursing, because I put in a sleeve backwards or sewed the wrong side of the fabric together. The worst was when I labored over this fantastic shirt — it came out beautifully, if I do say so myself. On the first trip through the wash the interfacing shrank and ruined it. I sobbed!
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Julia says:
November 11th, 2009 at 11:54 am
Dear Casey, I am so sorry about your fabric! I do think that bad luck comes in spurts (domino-effect) – the cliched when it rains, it pours thing does seem to run true, for me atleast. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve done something stupid and ended up with a bleach spot on my favorite dress or shrunk my best sweater. But I find that when things are going really bad, it only means that something really good is just around the corner. So take heart, put aside the ruined fabric and work on something else. I am sure you will think of something lovely to do with the “ruined” fabric. BTW, I’m taking the sewing plunge – just bought my first machine – all inspired coz of you and your blog. Cheers!
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Maria says:
November 11th, 2009 at 12:37 pm
no you’re not the only one. if you never messed up you wouldn’t be human
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lsaspacey says:
November 11th, 2009 at 1:06 pm
I’ve done it too, though sometimes you can get a surprise and the texture changes into something wonderful. However, why don’t you take a picture and shows us what it looks like now. Maybe it’s not so bad as you think it is?
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Sarah says:
November 11th, 2009 at 1:09 pm
You are not the only one. Last night I pulled my ironing board out and hit the cat. after I was done with the iron I went to unplug it and instead of getting on my hands and knees like I always do I just pulled the cord and unplugged the power strip it was connected to. Thereby unplugging both my husband’s computers and losing the music he had made that day… way to go clumsy! I felt terrible.
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Corinna says:
November 11th, 2009 at 2:16 pm
ooh that’s bad! but be glad you didn’t spend hours and hours sewing the fabric into something beautiful and then washing it to realize you wasted your time, because your new item has changed its colour!
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jen says:
November 11th, 2009 at 3:41 pm
casey, sorry, that blows in a big way!
yea, and the most annoying part is knowing you should have followed your instincts – i’ve been there. ugh. well, like Corinna said, at least you didn’t make the dress then wash it after!
would you be able to replace the fabric? it’s not ideal but maybe if you found a replacement or even another fabric you like better, than you can just chalk this up to a lesson learned and forget about it.
which reminds me, i better not wash that wool i was thinking of washing for my next project! better not take any chances.
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Krisztina says:
November 11th, 2009 at 3:44 pm
Gah! That’s heartbreaking. Head into the kitchen, turn on the radio/iPod and bake something absolutely amazing.
Then you can sit and munch while you web surf for even BETTER fabric!
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Christina Thompson says:
November 11th, 2009 at 4:47 pm
I hate it when things like that happen. Random question, What is your favorite kind of tea? Just wondering. lol
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violetville says:
November 11th, 2009 at 4:52 pm
i cannot tell you how many gorgeous things i’ve ruined by trying to clean/repair them! it’s mostly depressing because you’re actually just trying to help. but i always feel like, better i screw it up than sell it and then have someone else suffer with it!
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Kelley Anne says:
November 11th, 2009 at 6:05 pm
Oh Casey, it happens to everyone, you shouldn’t be so hard on yourself. I have streaks where everything I do seems to go wrong (like managing to drop one of my pearl earrings down the bathtub drain from across the room yesterday). You’ll find more fabric and the frustration and heartbreak will fade.
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Andi B. Goode says:
November 12th, 2009 at 12:22 am
Oh, it happens to everyone. I’m sorry to hear about the fabric, Casey. That’s a pity. My mum shrunk one of my dresses (but it’s…crud. I think it’s crepe and apparently you can stretch it out again when it’s damp?) and it still fits but not as well as it used to. Hehe.
-Andi x -
Alyssa says:
November 12th, 2009 at 9:13 am
My dad used to shrink ALL of my clothes. I would get mad and tell him if I wanted tiny clothes I would have bought them that way. And yes, it does happen to everyone. So shrug it off and something good will come your way soon!
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Olga says:
November 12th, 2009 at 5:00 pm
So sorry this happened to you. I know how you feel — I’ve had a similar experience in washing an already-made and worn-once dress and having some other garment transfer color on it in the wash. I ended up washing it in “color-safe” bleach, so now the dress looks “old”, but at least is back to a uniform color.
Thank you so much for posting about this, as I have been contemplating hand-washing some rayon and silk charmeuse, and seeing your post has made me decide not to. -
Peldyn says:
November 12th, 2009 at 6:22 pm
Oh, I really am sorry about the fabric! I have ruined quite a few items in my life time, but the worst was not me but my nephew who somehow managed to spill a bottle of bleach into a basket of my sweaters and cardigans. Almost all of them were ruined. I am still trying to replace my sweater wardrobe.
Hopefully you will be able to use the fabric for something else and will find more of the same to purchase to make your sweet dress. *fingers crossed*
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jolene says:
November 13th, 2009 at 12:02 am
Lol my scrapbooks are filled with mispelled words! poor kids and future generations are going to know that i can not spell hehe
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ambika says:
November 13th, 2009 at 3:47 pm
I’m *so* sorry about the fabric! I hate when that kind of thing happens–and believe me, it has for me, too. My mishaps tend to be after the fabric is cut, tho, since I don’t trust myself with anything beyond cotton or wool.
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Maegan says:
November 18th, 2009 at 7:57 pm
Because of some mishaps, when I scrapbook (even if not at my own home), there is NO FOOD OR BEVERAGES allowed at the scrap table!! Lol…Paper and photos are SO easy to ruin that way! Not a big deal if it’s a digital image, you can just reprint. But I totally destroyed a beautiful set of papers that was no longer being printed. Ugh. I tried to save a few pieces that weren’t totally destroyed, I cut out some squares and small bits here and there…paper punched a few designs and was able to use them as embellishments, but I had to go out and find something else that perfectly matched my photos…like the ruined ones did.
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Missmeiow says:
November 19th, 2009 at 1:41 pm
I recently ruined a 1940s reproduction sweater by attempting to iron it…why? I do not know. It didn’t really even need an iron. You would have thought I’d have least turned it inside out first or put a cloth over it, but no I just steamed ahead (excuse the pun) and made two extremely noticable iron marks right on the front of it. Basically, even though I had a cool iron, I melted the yarn. What an idiot. I won’t do that again, never ever!
Thank you ever so much for taking time to share your comment! Although I try to answer questions, I am not always able to respond to each comment individually. But please know that I appreciate from the bottom of my heart every comment I receive!