The Moment You Finish a Sewing Project and Realize Something Is Wrong

After making a gathered skirt this week, I ran into one of the most annoying mistakes when garment sewing! 

Well, maybe it’s just my little pet peeve. But don’t you hate when you finish a sewing project and realize that something is wrong?

I’m not talking about one little button that’s slightly askew. I’m talking about having to deconstruct and re-sew.

I’m not complaining about the little errors I make along the way. They don’t bother me, and I’m not perfect. 

It’s expected to unpick stitches that aren’t straight or redo a zipper. Or maybe I didn’t follow the directions.

The point is, those mistakes are caught in the process. I hate the ones that pop up at the very end.

Well, let me tell you about what happened when I made this gathered skirt. 

First, I flat measured the waistband, as I was going to sew a size smaller this time. This was due to the weight changes I mentioned in another blog post. 

Then I cut the fabric precisely. Check.

I cut the lining, using less than the fabric used for the skirt, to decrease the bulk when gathering. Nice.

Then I constructed the skirt, lining, pockets, waistband, and all. I stitched in the ditch around the waistband and attached the back zipper.

I was done. Now it was time to try on the skirt.

When I put it on, the front center skirt seam and waistband center were off by like 2 to 3 inches! What?!

How did that happen? I transferred my markings, pinned, and took my time.

I followed the directions and was careful. While I thought I had lined up the centers and distributed the gatherings well, that wasn’t the case. 

I sighed. It was one of those days.

You know what I’m talking about. Just when you thought you nailed a garment, you get the surprise ending.

It’s the result that makes you want to cry. Not tears of joy either.

I thought about letting it go, and I could live with it. Who would notice? I would.

And it bothered me so much to the point I had to fix it. Not only were the center seams off, but the pockets were too.

They were slightly in the front and weren’t side inseam ones. No, I definitely couldn’t live with that.

So I seam ripped the waistband and skirt front to fix this.

Annoying, yes, but I got it done in about an hour.

In the grand scheme of things, it was a little mistake. Meaning, I could fix it without recutting or deconstructing many pieces.

But when I made my workwear jacket, that was a whole other story. I had initially cut the pattern pieces way before sewing it.

I put them away in my UFO pile for many months. Then I came back to this pattern, forgetting that I cut a medium.

Well, I began sewing the jacket. When I attached the sleeves, I realized it was too big for me.

It’s an oversized jacket, yes, but something seemed off.

Well, when I compared the pattern pieces to the garment, they were the wrong size. I needed size small and was sewing a medium.

In this case, I wasn’t finished with the jacket, but almost there. If I hadn’t realized the sizing mistake, I would have been done and really upset.

I was already upset, but that would have pushed me over the edge to the point of just giving the jacket away.

Anyway, that’s my little rant for the day. After investing all that time making something, I just want it to be done and ready to wear.

By the way, my skirt turned out amazingly. My jacket came out great too.

Don’t think I’m not grateful for that!

Have you discovered a big mistake after finishing a garment too?

Read More

• I’ll tell you about other mistakes I’ve made that led to sewing stress.

• How long does it take to get good at sewing? I’ll tell you what I think. 

• Here’s why I don’t feel bad about my unused fabric stash. 

Originally published: August 21, 2026