Monday, May 14, 2012

Musing on Monday

I have been spoiled.  And it's all the internet's fault. 

Remember my little trip to the fabric store last week?  I was intending to spend some money - did you wonder about that part? - but I never even got close.  When I looked at all my fabric that I had in boxes just waiting to be used I thought that I could at least update the patterns that I have.  A few pieces of the fabric are dated but most is still useable.  Not so the patterns; they are all too big (yes!) and most have shoulders like a line-backer.  Tells you how long it's been since I last sewed anything for myself.  So I ventured to look in the big books.

Holey moley!  I was blown backwards by all the young styles!  The short and skinny dresses on the young models were nothing like what I was looking for.  I couldn't even imagine them on me.  Most were so trendy that I sure couldn't use any pattern more than once...or be able to adapt it to something more suitable to my middle-aged body and lifestyle.  Did I mention these are young! styles?  A funny thing about the styles though...I remember making and wearing similar dresses back in 1973. 

So, strike one.  Then I dug a little deeper into the books and found a couple that I kind of liked.  No, I liked them a lot.  OK...head for the drawer to pull out my choice.  Whoa!  Back I reel from the big sign that says: "New Protocol for pattern selection".  Now, you give the cashier your selection(s) and she retrieves it from the drawers which are inaccessible to us customers, being turned inward.  OK.  I hunt around but can find no handy paper and pencil provided.  What am I to do?  Write it on my hand?  Yeah, that's what the young ones would do, isn't it?  Wait!  They'd probably key it into their phones.  Stupid me...no phone. 

Strike Two.  A rummage through my purse produces a notebook and a pen.  As I'm carefully transcribing number and size - all patterns seem to be multi-size now - I realize that I should check the price.  I know that some designer patterns used to be way more expensive.   Yikes!  One pattern, no specialness, will cost me almost $20. Now, with multi-size and a willingness to re-trace all the sizes, I could conceivably start my own garment factory.  I think that's the only way I could recoup the cost of this pattern.  When I consider the cost of new fabric which fortunately I'm not needing, I can see why sewing/fabric stores may be on the decline.  I am certainly not going to make more than one of anything. 

Strike Three...and I'm out of there,  thinking that my attitude is all down to the internet.  I have been knitting up a storm with free patterns, or relatively inexpensive patterns available to download whenever I want.  I can buy any number of magazines for less than $10 which have a multitude of patterns if I want to have designer patterns at my fingertips.  Why are patterns so expensive?  Once upon a time it was cheaper to sew your own clothes.  Yeah, I know...that was when I was young.  Right?

But, seriously.  Why can't the internet do the same for sewing clothes as it has for knitting them?






6 comments:

Mimi said...

Brilliant post Stephanie!
And i even managed a laugh at your antics too!
Seriously, your final question says it all... maybe you could start an internet pattern business? I wouldn't put it past you, you seem to be able to do just about everything else.

Andrea said...

How would you download a sewing pattern? I'm sure once that's figured out someone will do it! Then again, kniiting's a trend right now, so perhaps just more demand....

SueH said...

The question of how to download a pattern is bugging me? Unlike a knitting pattern, (which is just basically a set of instructions) a dressmaking pattern needs to be the size of the finished artical.

I suppose it might be feasible to do them as PDF's to be printed out on A4 sheets and then stuck together? (bit like doing a jigsaw puzzle - and it would use up a lot of paper!)

It's years since I did any dressmaking - I dare not think how much patterns cost over here in the UK!

Rudee said...

Wow! $20 is a lot of money. I don't know what the industry is thinking. SInce I don't sew, and haven't since I was a girl, I had no idea they were so expensive.

Patricia Stoltey said...

I sewed a lot of my own clothes when I was young but haven't done anything like that for many years. It might be fun to try something, but maybe not if I have to torture myself by looking at all those patterns. :D

Tanna said...

Whoa!! $20 for a pattern! WOW! It has been 29 years since I have bought a pattern or sewn a garment... Oh, my, how things have changed! I would never have imagined this. You are right about the online solution. And, yes, we are spoiled to our knitting patterns. Good luck with your sewing!! blessings ~ tanna

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