I'd like to start off by saying that I've been sewing for 14 years, and my first thought when I saw this prompt was "But I don't have any pro tips!" So, while I have one very specific piece of wisdom to share, I'm also going to say this: Don't undervalue your work! If you've sewn something, that's awesome! If you messed up while sewing, you learned something, and that's awesome too! And if you did all three of those things, then you have more skills than you did before you started that project! After sewing my calash, I brainstormed a list of at least five things I would change if (when) I sew another one, and so my next calash will be even better! The one I just finished is good, but the next one will be great.
Okay, I'll get to my main piece of advice now:
Invest in the nice fabrics. I spent
so many years not being confident in my abilities, and telling myself, “If I save money on fabric now, I can buy
the nice stuff in a few years when I’m better.” That’s bad advice. What
actually happened was I ended up with a bunch of well-constructed and
researched garments that I can’t wear because they’re made of polyester and
fake silk. Sure, if you’re making a mock-up you can use the poly-taffeta from
the $2 sale at JoAnn’s, but for your final project it’s worth it to spring for
the nice silk. Fifteen dollars a yard may seem like a lot, but it’ll end up in
a project that can be worn for the rest of your time reenacting, altered to fix
small mistakes as you learn better, and, if worse comes to worst, you can
refashion it into something else entirely, just like they did in the 18th
(or 17th, or 19th, etc.) century!
 |
| It's beautiful! It's researched! It's well-fitted! It's... polyester?? |
For me, I realized that I had to go big or go home on my 21st birthday. I had spent months working on a zone-front gown that I put so much research and time into, but I made it out of modern materials. The gown was beautiful, and I was so proud of it, but I wore it on my birthday and I will probably never wear it again. Even though I loved wearing it on my birthday, that day was also tinged with a bit of embarrassment at having a gown that was noticeably out of place among the rest of the linen and silk in Colonial Williamsburg. So, I started investing in nicer fabrics, and now I can wear my creations forever.
And yeah, don't break the bank if you're uncertain about something. Cotton muslin is cheap, it's even cheaper when you have a coupon, and it's great for making multiple mock-ups. But linen doesn't have to be expensive - I get most of mine from Dharma Trading Company or Fabrics-Store.com (wait for their sales, that's even better!). Silk can be found at Silk Baron, and I wait for sales in Colonial Williamsburg to buy their printed cottons. Finally, my favorite place to shop for all natural fabrics (and anything else I could want!) is Burnley and Trowbridge. I trust their products, they go to lots of events so you can buy in person if you don't want to wait for shipping/like to touch things before you buy them, and they are some of the nicest people with the cutest dachshunds you'll ever meet!
Have faith in your abilities! It’s
better to learn with linen and silk than it is to learn on polyester anyway!
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