After a weekend filled with too many hours spent sewing in a classroom at the back of G Street Fabrics in Falls Church, VA the only thing I was thinking on Sunday night after class was that sewing just isn't worth it!  Now, several days removed, I'm still hopeful that I will come to enjoy sewing enough to be able to make fun things.  But when it comes to basics, my advice is to just go buy it!  As I learned over the 2-day class weekend:

1. Sewing sleeves and collars are NOT FUN!
2. Your finished product never looks as good as its store bought equivalent for most things
3. I don't know how Project Runway contestants do it because sewing is very time consuming due to its requirement for precision and order (11 hours invested in one blouse! Yikes!)
4. Buying a pattern size that fits you is a big punch to the ego (your pattern size is practically 4+ steps greater than your department store size)
5. In the end, after a pattern, fabric, notions, and other materials and tools are purchased, most of the time it will cost more than something at the mall.

But I'm not going to get too negative on the act of sewing.  I still really like that it challenges my brain both creatively and mathematically.  And it's a great skill to have in your back pocket, especially during Halloween time!
From Bits and Pieces....
To a Completed Shirt

It's not the best made shirt in the world - ok, it's pretty darn ugly in my opinion - and since I bought a pattern that was too small in the first place, I wasn't even able to fit it.  So, I'm considering it a practice piece and giving it to my friend's daughter to use as an art smock.  Might as well put it to good use, protecting clothing from little kid paint splatters!