Dressmaking: 10 Rules I Should Be Following

Dressmaking is still one big learning curve for me. Whilst I really enjoy the process of sewing, it still feels sometimes like I'm a long way off reaching the level of confidence I have with knitting and crochet. But it's something I'm determined to crack, and the more I sew, the more my confidence grows. I'm in the middle of a project at the moment, which has had me thinking about the rules I should be following when I'm dressmaking. These are things I know I should be following, but sometimes forget or try to skip in order to save time. Yet every time I break one of these rules, I kick myself afterwards for not learning my lesson. Here are the dressmaking rules I hope to stick to in the future...

1. Tacking makes everything easier.
2. If you're not happy with something, unpick or redo it. 
3. More time preparation, less time sewing. 
4. One project at a time. 
5. There's no need to rush through any stage. 
6. If in doubt, recheck it. 
7. Ask for advice. 
8. Don't be afraid to challenge yourself to something new. 
9. It's easier to repair oversizing than undersizing. 
10. If you get frustrated, walk away and take a break. 

It's fair to say I've broken my fair share of these throughout my current project, and almost instantly regretted it afterwards. Luckily, it's nothing that a little unpicking hasn't sorted out, although in my haste to cut out my pattern pieces, I didn't realise that I had my fabric facing the wrong way up. It's not that noticeable to anyone else, but I'll always know`that it's the wrong way up. This is starting to sound like my current project is a bit of a failure, which it isn't actually, because I really like the look of it so far. If anything, I'm glad I made these mistakes on a smaller, easier project, because then I can take care to avoid them in the future.

Want a preview of my current project? You can view the process so far here. I'm hoping to get it finished pretty soon, and I haven't got much left to do. I'll be posting the finished results here as well (keep your eyes peeled!)

In other dressmaking news, I picked up this amazing vintage dressmaking book, which has some incredible patterns inside. It has no date on it, but from the pictures I'm guessing it's from the 40's/50's. Check out the pattern in this picture - apparently it's a "trousered unity suit", but let's face it - it's a ye olde onesie. Who knew onesies had been around for this long?

Have you got any sewing rules you like to stick to?