From time to time, I see someone who’s new to sewing or quilting ask if they should attempt something they have been told is beyond their current skillset. Sometimes, I think the answer should be No, as in, I’ve made two pillowcases and an ok pair of pajama bottoms. Should I try to make my own wedding dress, complete with 10 foot train? Ummm … No. But when should the answer be yes?

For me, the answer should be yes any time the person has an acceptable chance of turning out a project of at least mediocre value, when there is no emotional value in the project. For example, I think that a mostly unskilled sewist should avoid making that wedding dress, with no alternative in mind should the dress turn out unwearable. But when the project in question is a tailored blazer after the sewing has made several dress shirts, for me, the answer is a resounding Yes. Why the difference in answers? I should think the reasoning is quite clear, but just in case it isn’t, let me explain.

Making a wedding dress is stressful enough for an accomplished seamstress who won’t be wearing the dress, let alone for the bride herself. If the bride is a new sewist, the stress level is even higher. I have seen some new seamstresses make their own wedding dresses, but I’ve also seen many more end up throwing the dress in a corner and heading off to David’s Bridal to buy something off the rack. Once, I knew a bride who commissioned a dress to be made, paid $2,000, for it, and then hated it. It wasn’t the fault of the seamstress who made it; it was the fault of the bride, I think, because she didn’t take into consideration that her inspiration piece (a blouse) may not translate well into a ball gown. I never got to see the dress, but a mutual friend did tell me that it was very unflattering to the bride. Apparently, there were photos, but the bride was too embarrassed to show them to me.

But when it comes to clothing items with little or no sentimental value, such as a blazer, I encourage new sewists to take on the challenge. I have a really difficult time understanding why people are so quick to discourage someone when it comes to a challenging endeavor, particularly when the endeavor is part of a hobby. It’s not like there’s a “make or break” point in constructing a blazer that could destroy a sewist’s career.

I do suppose there is a point to be made that a challenging garment could destroy a person’s confidence and/or possibly deter them from resuming their previous journey in sewing. But I also think that telling someone who’s new to sewing that they can’t do something is detrimental to a person who has otherwise been quite adept at picking up the hobby. There are people who are just born to do certain things, whether it’s play the violin, paint masterpieces, or make a tailored blazer. Who am I to tell those people that what they’re attempting to do is “too hard?” Too hard for whom, exactly? The person who’s discouraging others to take on a challenge, I think.

When my daughter was in fifth grade, she asked me to make her a dress to be worn to her “graduation” from elementary school. At that point, I’d made a few pairs of shorts with elastic in the waist, a pillow or two, and some quilts. I was not, in any way, shape, form, or fashion, a garment sewist. But she asked, and of course, I said yes. She picked out a dress with a bolero jacket WITH SET IN SLEEVES. My mom talked me through doing the sleeves in a manner other than the way the pattern instructed (I sewed on the flat, not in the round), and it turned out beautifully. I still get compliments on that dress, many years later. If I’d taken in to account that I’d never done set in sleeves, or ruffles, or anything else that dress had, I might have backed out. But I didn’t know I wasn’t supposed to be able to do those things – I just did them.

I was always quite intimidated by zippers, however. I’ve always heard how difficult they were, and how much of a pain zippers could be to insert in to a garment, so I avoided them for 15 years or more. Then, I found a make up bag I wanted to make for myself with a zipper. I installed the zipper in one go, and I was thrilled with the results. I really should have tried zippers long before, but I let others get in to my head about what I should or shouldn’t be able to do, based on my experience level.

While I do believe there is a fair bit of good in message boards and social media when it comes to things like sewing and quilting, I also believe there is a fair bit of negativity, and if you allow others to spread their negativity to you, it can and will destroy your confidence to try new things and step outside your comfort zone. We cannot allow others to tell us where we are in our sewing journey; we need to make that determination ourselves, and even as we ask for advice from others, take it with a grain of salt when it comes to a project we really want to tackle. Go in to the project with eyes wide open, of course, but also with the innocent enthusiasm of a three year old on a dance floor – knowing that you can dance, even as others around you laugh and point. Because you know … one day, you might be the best dancer of all, but you’ll never know until you try to bust a move. 😉