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"Ooh! I love this robe - did you make it yourself?"First, I'd like to thank everyone for all the kind comments about my flower-power tunic. :)
I have worn it out in public twice now, and, it might be my imagination, but I think that people are actually more friendly than usual to me when I wear it.
Of course, there are several possible reasons for this. My preferred option is that seeing that silly frenzy of pink flowers puts people in a happy mood. ;)
Alternative explanations include:
1. Wearing it puts me in an exceptionally happy mood, and people are responding positively to my mood (not my outfit).
2. They are delighted to have something so ridiculous break the monotony of their day and are thinking to themselves, "Wait until I tell my friends about THIS!"
3. They are suspicious of my sanity and humoring me in the hopes that I don't go off the deep end right in front of them...
I guess we'll never know for sure. ;)
In any event, this leads me to a thought and some questions. I am sometimes asked, mainly by people who know that I sew, if I have made something that I am wearing. This generally makes me feel good - even though my sewing skills pale when compared to those of many of the bloggers that I read, I still feel happy that I can sew well enough to produce wearable garments.
But I know that a question like this can be taken in one of two ways. It can, for example, indicate that an outfit looks amateurish.
So, my questions - do you get this question? If so, from whom? Friends and family only, or also acquaintances and even strangers? Can people reliably distinguish the clothes that you make from the clothes that you buy? How does it make you feel when you get this question? Happy? Proud? Concerned? Disappointed? Annoyed?
11 comments:
The folks I'm around most of the time all know I sew, so I get this question quite a bit...whether I made the garment in question or not. Mostly I take it as a compliment. I only get annoyed with folks who assume that because I sew for myself I'd just LOVE to make something for them as well...or, worse than that, do their alterations for them.
NO.
My friends and family will ask. Usually they ask when they like a ready to wear top...go figure. I'm not offended when they ask. I'm still learning how to sew.
I get the question only from people who know that I sew. I have to say I have never been asked by a stranger at all.
I feel embarrassed when people ask me at work, I suppose because it feels like a compliment and they catch me off guard. I do like it though, because it shows me that people can't tell enough on their own - they know I don't buy clothes.
Usually I'm asked this by the few girls at work who know I sew - I know it's meant as a compliment and at times I do have to laugh because if anyone else is around and hears the question they seem completely amazed LOL
I get it mostly from people that know I sew. I take it as a compliment.
I've been in Joann's having fabric cut and gotten the usual what are you making small talk that they do which invariably leads to did you make whatever it is that I'm wearing. Since I make almost everything I wear the answer is yes. I always get a compliment but what I find stange is the reaction they have. That I made something that I'll wear and looks good. C'mon, your a craft, err fabric, err craft store. I'm buying fabric what else am going to do with it!!!
I get asked this from family and other people who know I sew and I take it as a compliment, especially when they follow up the question with a compliment. I think most people expect me to sew most everything I wear. Unfortunately, I am struggling to fill my closet with my own sewing and designs.
Linda T
I don't think people can tell one way or another.
I sometimes get compliments on something I'm wearing, and when I mention that I made it, people say, "You did?!" as though they are very surprised.
I think people who don't sew do not look that closely for things like puckers or crooked top stitching or patterns that don't exactly match up at the seams. I've gotten a lot more citical of such things since I've been learning to sew.
I recently noticed someone at work wearing a top with wide stripes that were way out of alignment at the shoulder seams. I know that she doesn't make her own clothes, so I assume it was purchased as RTW. I wanted to ask but didn't, because I couldn't without being either insincere or rude.
I'm not sure about this (must do some research) but I think most mass-market RTW garments are made in sweat shop kinds of places. Surely there are screw-ups from time to time, such as sleeves that go in backwards or stripes that don't match at the seams. And they might not want to disrupt the flow by ripping out and re-doing. I guess some of those imperfect items end up in places like outlet stores.
Those who know me, know that I'm wearing clothes that I make. Strangers are usually surprised. I'm proud of what I make, or I wouldn't wear it! It is a compliment that people can't distinguish RTW from my own sewing.
I don't have a lot of sewn wardrobe (though I do get asked about every knit I wear since I'm a knitter). But once I did get asked about a skirt I was wearing (while out shopping) and I took it as a compliment, then later realized she just asked if I made it, never actually complimented it and I question that every time I grab that skirt. But it is a comfortable skirt so I still wear it.
My good friends all know I sew, and they'll usually frame it in the context of, "I like your _________! Did you make that/you made that, didn't you?" So I take that as a compliment. They're usually more surprised when I answer that I got it at Goodwill, or even more surprised if I answer that I got it at a "normal" store!
When acquaintances ask, they usually ask where I got something. And then they look all shocked when I say that I made it. That's a nice feeling too.
People who really know me know that I make a good majority of my clothes, so they rarely ask. If I do get asked, I take as a compliment.
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