I’ve been feeling a little disillusioned with the sewing blog world lately. When I first got into it not that long ago, I expected to find all sorts of inspiration and ideas. Exciting indie patterns! New shapes! Unique details!
But I haven’t actually found a lot of that. What I’ve found is a lot of, “oh look, here’s that pattern that everybody’s been making, and I made another version of it.” And, “here’s another indie pattern that’s identical to those patterns put out by the Big 4 pattern companies every single year (but this one doesn’t go up to plus sizes like Big 4 patterns do).” And, “here’s yet another post about an outfit I made that would make STH look like a flowered blob.”
I’m not seeing a lot of new and interesting ideas and techniques, and I’m not seeing much in the way of styles that I know will look good on me. Even among plus-size sewing bloggers, there isn’t much that I’ve seen that I would feel good wearing; almost all of the plus-size folks that I follow are busty, and so have completely different shapes and fitting issues than I do. I’m happy that they’re out there, and sharing ideas and info on how to sew for busty women, but that info doesn’t help me. I’m short, with not much boob or butt, rounded shoulders, wide hips, and I carry my weight in the abdomen. I also have a vein problem in my legs that causes them to swell, so my skirts have to be long and my shoes comfy.
So I haven’t felt full of ideas on what to sew for myself. I would like to sew, but what? Then I came across this post on the intersection between your style and what looks good on you, and I thought I might put down some ideas about that and see if that spurs some creativity.
Likes (and things that look good/feel good on me)
Bright, bold colors, especially with black
Trouser skirts (oh Kelly skirt, why do you not come in fat lady sizes???)
Interesting, unique details (“art teacher style” FTW)
Extra interest at shoulder or boob level (to balance the hips/abdomen)
Slim pants
Trim, yet comfy, clothing (waist definition a plus)
Short skirts with tights (love, but can’t wear them–SOB)
Lightweight layers (I’m always cold)
Cotton and other natural fibers (can’t wear linen or wool next to my skin, though)
Dislikes (and things that don’t look good/feel good on me)
Pastels or washed-out colors
Gathered skirts (OH HELL NO)
Fussy, cutesy, girly stuff (no bows at the neckline or peter pan collars for me)
Wide-legged or flared pants
Tight, clingy clothing and hard leather shoes (I AM LUMPY, OKAY)
Baggy, oversized, or shapeless clothing (makes me look like a blob)
Polyester and other synthetics (except for fleece, MY ONE TRUE LOVE)
Knee-length dresses or skirts (a.k.a., all the dresses that exist right now)
Anything prim, proper, and conservative (NOPE)
Silly fads that look lousy on me (seriously, I’m WAY too old for that nonsense)
Hmmm . . . looking over these lists, what I’m thinking is that I need to get over my cheapness and look at Vogue patterns more often. (If you want unusual, you use Vogue.) And maybe I should try working more applique and embroidery into the clothing I make, rather than saving those techniques for other projects, because an embellished brightly-colored tunic over a camisole and my black knit pants would be right up my alley. In other words, maybe I have all the inspiration I need right here . . . .
STH