It happened to me last week when I went to a fabric store. I don't get over to this store very often because it isn't that close to my home but when I do I always spend lots of money :-/ One of the reasons I spend so much in the store is that they make up sample garments in fabrics they have in stock. I am such a sucker. I always fall for something they have on display when the truth of the matter is that the pattern featured is normally made in a size 12 or 14 so chances are that it isn't going to look like the sample on me. Oh yes I have forgotten to mention that the fabric in these display garments is never cheap.
Last week I went over looking for something casual and a little cute that I could wear to work and on weekends. On the display model was a tunic made up in a lovely grey linen with little white poka dots. They teamed it with a white 3/4 sleeve top. It looked so good on the model that I had a complete brain fade and forgot my curvy pear shaped body and bought the pattern and enough fabric to make up this tunic. On my way home I slowly started to come to my senses and knew in my heart of hearts that this just wasn't going to work for me. But I really wanted it to... After preparing my linen fabric by washing it and drying it in the dryer I decided this was one pattern that I needed to make a toile of before cutting into my good fabric. Well am I glad I did! McCalls 6739 could well have been my biggest sewing disaster ever. Thank goodness I didn't cut straight into $59 of linen to learn my lesson.
The moral to this tale is "never forget your age and body shape when choosing a pattern. Just because you love the look of something doesn't mean you can wear it". Choose something similar that suits your shape.
I am now searching for a tunic pattern that will suit my body shape and my new linen fabric. Hopefully my next post will reveal I have been successful.
