This is not my favourite outfit

January 21, 2018

Megan Nielsen Flint shorts + Banksia blouse

Written by Meg

When you sew a lot it’s bound to happen that you make something you don’t love as much as you thought you would. As much as I hate to say it, that’s really the story of this post. Don’t get me wrong, I like this blouse and these shorts and I wear them all the time, but I don’t love them, they’re not my favourite and they don’t make me as excited as other garments in my wardrobe. They’re just… fine.

It’s ok, we’ll get through it.

The problem with the shorts is really a combo of three reasons (me? overanalyse you say?). First, I made them from a tan colour tencel that I bought at a Morrison fabric clearance. It feels beautiful in the hand, and I fully expected to adore these shorts, but the problem with tencel is that it’s a bit clinky and light and a lot of the time it feels like these shorts aren’t sitting just *quite* as well as my other pairs. The second reason is that I made a poor sizing choice. I measure a size S in the waist and a size M in the hip for the Flint pants and shorts, and as a result i always blend from a S waist to a M in the hips. This time i guess i forgot, or I don’t know what happened, but I cut a straight size S. It’s not a nightmare, there is still enough ease that they are wearable, but i just feel like i want them to be a tad looser. Does that make sense? And thirdly, I think i just don’t like the colour tan. I’m sorry, I know it’s a neutral, but we’re just not making friends and I think i need to accept it. I’m just going to keep all my adoration for grey :)

The blouse is a Banksia blouse that we made during testing. It made it’s way into my wardrobe one day when i had run out of clean shirts. Am I always this amazing at not getting laundry done? Why yes, yes i am :) I wear it a lot actually, because well it’s a shirt and I need to put clothing on my body, but I guess i’m just not loving the print for this blouse? I’ve used this fabric before in a pair of Tania culottes and I really liked it there.

And because i’m really stupid I decided to put them both together in this post, because when you have two garments you aren’t particularly in love with it’s super important to wear them together and create an outfit that you definitely don’t really like. It just makes sense!

So my friends there you have it, two totally fine garments that I wear all the time, but I’m just not jumping for joy about.

Have you made anything lately that you just feel a bit meh and luke warm about? The good news is that you’ve got good company!

About Author

Meg

Meg is the Founder and Creative Director of Megan Nielsen Patterns, and is constantly dreaming up ideas for new sewing patterns and ways to make your sewing journey more enjoyable! She gets really excited about design details and is always trying to add way too many variations to our patterns.

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Dalia

5 years ago

Honestly, the “That’ll do” feeling is why I started sewing and for a time that worked. Then I became a mom, and now a lot of my outfits are me-made and just “That’ll do” at the same time, because practical, washable and stain-resistant doesn’t always translate into “OMG, gorgeous”, though I try my best to make my Momiform interesting.

For what it’s worth, I think that outfit looks put together and cute. Also tan is good on you… I get actually tanned and discovered over the summer my tan shorts read “naked” from the distance. \(°o°)/

PsychicSewerKathleen

5 years ago

It’s annoying when you buy something and it’s MEH but when you make it and it’s MEH, that’s annoying :) I’ve certainly made many thing that are MEH but conversely I’ve made things that I expected to be MEH about and surprise! I love it and wear it all the time :) I can’t wait to get to some of your patterns this year! They are definitely on my list and have been in that stash of patterns of mine for too long already!

Chris Griffin

5 years ago

These posts make me feel way better about my own sewing mistakes! I underestimated how much a sleeve would pull on a shoulder seam and now I have to go in and remake the shoulders. Whoops!
I think you look cute, but I also get that wearability makes a huge difference :)

Linda (ACraftyScrivener)

5 years ago

I am not a fan of tan, either. Or camel or beige or…. plenty of other neutrals!

katactivity

5 years ago

Well, I think that both of them are good but *definitely* not together!
Imagine how good the top would look with navy shorts or the shorts with a red top.
I like red and tan or khaki together, but I *love* grey and it’s my go to neutral. Also with red. Red goes with everything with the exception of green because then you look like a Christmas tree. .

Zoe

5 years ago

I hear you on the tencel, AND on the tan! I made similar shorts from a lovely tencel and also … meh! They just don’t work :( I love tan on other people, but my neutrals are navy and grey too. Although a proper khaki/olive can make all the difference, can you dye them?! I think katactivity is spot on – that top with dark bottoms (navy pencil skirt? Narrow fit to balance the blowsiness). It’s frustrating to spend so much time on something you just don’t love >_<

Amy G

5 years ago

I think this looks cute in these photos, but I get it that not everything that looks fine to strangers is stuff that we actually like to wear.
I’ve definitely made a few things like this, but I’ve found that sometimes they still get a lot of wear, because I’m not afraid of ruining them. Things that I love sometimes get worn less because I want to make them last longer. Kind of backwards but sometimes that’s how it plays out!

Melody Srygley

5 years ago

I think that the blouse would look great with dark or white shorts. I can’t feel the shorts :) but they LOOK great on. I’d just pair with a light shirt.

Khaki is a difficult color. We THINK it goes with everything, but it doesn’t. What? Explorers on safari wear it with everything. Men in general wear khaki with everything. But they wear anything and everything together and don’t give it a second thought. Khaki is a difficult color. More difficult than it looks.

Leanne

5 years ago

I get it! I made a T-shirt dress a few years back that I thought I’d love. I didn’t. Don’t know why, I just didn’t feel comfortable in it. I hacked off the bottom of it and had a T-shirt that I wore a lot.
I think sometimes it’s a pattern that just doesn’t suit the body type, or it’s a print that looks great on the bolt, but doesn’t look as great made into a garment.

Tricia

5 years ago

I appreciate your candor and honesty with this. I like the shirt and think it looks nice but yes I totally get the meh moment. It is really a bummer when you cut fabric you like, invest time you don’t have an abundance of, and the end result is oh… I guess that is why I am always working on my patience when I sew.

Emily Gutman

5 years ago

I appreciate you posting this! I’ve made a few things lately that are just fine, but not awesome. It’s easy to get down on yourself after making a few duds, glad to know I’m not the only one this happens to!

Mary Kay

5 years ago

One of the hardest lessons I learned when I started creating a “professional” wardrobe many years ago was that it was OK to make sewing mistakes. Sometimes you just have to give yourself permission to give a garment away–before you even wear it out of the house! Somebody else will use it :-)

5 years ago

*sigh* Yes….there was the skirt that I took an extreme amount of trouble to line, etc., and then found that it wouldn’t even have fit around Scarlett O’Hara’s waist, much less mine-I don’t know what I was thinking. Then there was the top I made in a wild print that I loved in the store….then I put it on, and wondered if I’d forgotten my glasses that day in the store. I think we’ve all had projects that we’ve ended up hiding in the backs of our closets! :-)

Susan

4 years ago

Just found this post March 2019 and love. Thank you.

This is not my favourite outfit

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