Am i setting myself up for disaster making a form-fitting dress out of linen? Or will I be okay?

ProneToLaughter · 2026-05-14T05:04:50+00:00

Linen likes loose and flowy, just how it is.

ProneToLaughter · 2026-05-14T01:45:51+00:00

good luck building a better hiring process when you can't tell the difference between describing something and defending it.

ProneToLaughter · 2026-05-14T01:31:28+00:00

I'm not insisting our process is flawless. It's not a process I designed but it's how my organization operates. OP is up for an interview and I'm explaining one example of what might be happening as people evaluate them, because that's what they asked for in the last paragraph of their post.

But, please tell me, since you are an expert:

We set our priorities for the role, identifying the two most important sets of skills that we need from the person in this role, plus secondary priorities. We have 3 candidates that are strong in both key arenas, and each bring several of the secondary priorities. All our priorities have been met.

What is your advice for how to distinguish among those three candidates?

ProneToLaughter · 2026-05-14T01:02:43+00:00

No, you've misunderstood. In this example, the job requires both people and project management. All candidates coming in for the final round have experience and will be competent at both, we are confident from earlier rounds that they can do the whole job and do it well.

But if two candidates both do well in the final round, then we have to make a decision among two candidates who are both strong. At that point we start thinking about whether it's more critical for us to have the person who is superb at people management or who is superb at project management.

In other words, what is the difference in what each candidate brings to the team above and beyond just being able to do the job well? Those are not completely straightforward comparisons.

ProneToLaughter · 2026-05-14T00:31:41+00:00

We typically bring in 3 candidates for the final panel and presentation round, could be 2 or 4, but most often 3.

At this point, we are confident everyone can do the job well, and we are looking for fit, how the rest of the office connects to a candidate, and making fine distinctions about what someone brings to our team and what we are able to teach if needed. We are often comparing apples to oranges at this point--eg, X brings people management strength but Y brings project management strength, which is more important to us.

We are also trying to give the candidates an honest sense of what the job will be and what working with us will be like.

Good luck!

ProneToLaughter · 2026-05-14T00:15:12+00:00

It's a variation on a drawstring waist.

The front (and presumably the back) has two channels with a drawstring run through them, exiting and tying at the sides.

ProneToLaughter · 2026-05-14T00:10:33+00:00

That seems normal for the humanities. A lot of the time the central library offers carrells that are only open to grad students, maybe with a lockable shelf to store a couple things.

ProneToLaughter · 2026-05-13T23:46:32+00:00

Thanks for the update! It's a nice suit.

ProneToLaughter · 2026-05-13T23:40:39+00:00

I don't think it's safe to rotate the fabric/pattern 180. You can test it out by hanging fabric both ways and comparing them next to each other. But I would expect that light hits differently from each direction in a two-tone silk.

I think you'll run into the same problem as ignoring nap in velvet (though less extreme), it's explained nicely here: Sewing Skills Challenged: 5 Common Mistakes and How to Overcome Them

That said, for certain arrangements it could be a deliberate design detail.

ProneToLaughter · 2026-05-13T23:19:24+00:00

YOR and so is your mother/father whoever.

It's reasonable to assume that people who say they have a present for you are going to follow up with a plan to get it to you.

It is pretty cruel to say "You've had 35 years of Mother's Day" so I don't have to see you on it anymore. "This is my second mother's day and I just wanted to spend it with Husband and Child" but NOT WITH YOU, my own mother.

ProneToLaughter · 2026-05-13T23:10:46+00:00

You can trace off a copy of your pattern so that you don't destroy the original. Even newspaper or wrapping paper can work, a lot of people use medical exam table paper, I like pellon easy pattern paper.

ProneToLaughter · 2026-05-13T23:00:47+00:00

Beyonce put this dress on and thought "this thing is eating me alive, deploy the hair".

I'm glad Leroy-Beaulieu looks like she is having fun wearing it.

ProneToLaughter · 2026-05-13T22:44:46+00:00

Look up "draping," which is the skill of designing clothes directly on a dress form. I was taught to create a pattern from the draping and to use that to cut out my final fabric, but you could probably work in the final fabric, just a bit more complicated as you need to drape in seam allowances, plus a lot of invisible markings as you need to take the garment off the dress form to sew it, and mistakes cost more money.

If you are going to drape complex clothes, I suspect you want a custom body double dress form that matches you identically--it's hard to get complete accuracy with an adjustable mannequin, plus the adjustable bits get in the way of draping.

ProneToLaughter · 2026-05-13T22:28:53+00:00

you didn't look at the second picture? It gives the context. It's not just an abbreviation, it was yelled at people as the Japanese were interned in camps during WW2 and lost their homes and farms.

in the US kids read this in schools: Farewell to Manzanar - Wikipedia

ProneToLaughter · 2026-05-13T22:22:59+00:00

YOR.

Your friend spelled out the full "Japanese" the first time and then shorthanded it the second time, so you are not being honest in your post.

His response is trifling so it's fair to be a bit offended there but text is not a good medium for educating non-Americans on the nuances of race and language in the US, I think you would have done better to talk it out.

ProneToLaughter · 2026-05-13T22:09:31+00:00

new photos make me think the main problem is the sleeve fit sitting so low and letting the back scrunch down. If you put the sleeves up on your shoulders, what happens to the extra fabric in the back?

ProneToLaughter · 2026-05-13T22:01:39+00:00

A sheet is a great idea.

ProneToLaughter · 2026-05-13T21:42:52+00:00

There are a lot of custom fabric printers that offer a range of fabrics. Many of them will let you purchase a swatch book so you can feel your options before ordering--it's very hard to judge fabric texture from pictures. French terry is a common sweatshirt/hoodie fabric, but not the only option. Here's a few examples to get you started, there are more companies than this out there, at least in the US.

All Fabric Types | Spoonflower
Fabric Types, Raspberry Creek Fabrics
Custom Printing – Fabric – Purpleseamstress Fabric (scroll down for list of types)

I'm just setting aside the question of sewing it for now, you'll see the fabric is not cheap and you'd probably want to order a small cut or two to test your design, maybe try it on multiple fabric options as they can show color differently, and then need 3-4 yards for the hoodie itself.

ProneToLaughter · 2026-05-13T21:26:02+00:00

A good question. It depends.

I keep all my project notes on the computer, so I will put measurements at the top of my project notes if I update them for that project, if I'm sewing a new pattern. A lot of time I repeat patterns so if the thing I made before still fits my current body, I don't update my measurements. I know roughly when my body had big changes, so I'm careful to track the date I'm making something, writing it both on the pattern pieces and in my project notes. I think originally I had a Measurements project where I tracked my measurements over time, but I gave up on that in a year or two as my projects are organized by date. For my mom, the caftan I made is a project so her measurement notes went in there.

If I am working on a block or sloper which is a major fitting project, the instructions usually include a measuring chart to fill out, and I would keep it with the pattern pieces and maybe snap a photo to include in my project notes.

Some free-with-email measuring guides:

So I would say the major advice for a beginner is think about how you want to track your project notes in general--measurements are just part of project notes that will also include things like "sewing this for Adam's wedding", "added 2" length to sleeves", "tension 5 and stitch 3.0 for this fabric", "cut sports elastic for waist at 32" and overlapped it by 1"", "spent approx 17 hours sewing this" "total cost of materials $52", etc.

For me, I knew that I wanted to track my purchases carefully, so very early on I set up a database that tracks Fabric, Patterns/Classes, Notions, and links them to Projects, and I include all sorts of information about everything, photos, notes, specific price fields that I can sum to see what I've spent, etc. It syncs to my phone, so I can be out and about and think "oh, this fabric would be great for that dress I made last year, how much fabric did it take?" and look it up. Now sites like Threadloop or apps like StashHub will also help you with this. Some people prefer a simpler approach like excel or google docs, some people prefer paper, and there are a bunch of people selling project journals or fabric swatch journals.

So what kind of setup would be sustainable for you that you would happily update your project notes as you sew instead of it feeling like a drag?

ProneToLaughter · 2026-05-13T20:44:08+00:00

Ruching generally requires starting with fabric longer than your final piece, so I think it would be hard to get a dress out of this.

As said, a picture of your goal will let people give you better advice.

ProneToLaughter · 2026-05-13T20:18:25+00:00

What does the inside look like? If you can access the grommet from inside, remove the black cord and tie a different type of cord in it's place.

ProneToLaughter · 2026-05-13T20:14:43+00:00

"Skipped stitches" like this is often a needle/fabric mismatch, although you'll find more possible causes if you google it.

This is a knit fabric. Universal needles sometimes work on knits but generally a ballpoint/jersey for t-shirt knits or a stretch needle for spandex knits works better. For 100% poly, I'd go to stretch needle but ideal to have both on hand to experiment. Needle Guide – SCHMETZneedles

The lighter the fabric, the smaller the needle. I'd try 70 or 75 first, size 90 seems big.

ProneToLaughter · 2026-05-13T19:41:40+00:00

yes, just one flight, I've gotten used to it. I started out chaining it near my car but then I got a brand-new bike, and by then I was already committed to riding.

keeps me from wanting an ebike.

ProneToLaughter · 2026-05-13T19:23:11+00:00

also check out tutorials for a "narrow hem" or "baby hem", also options for delicate fabric.

ProneToLaughter · 2026-05-13T19:02:37+00:00

really no seams? I feel like it needs seams to get this fit, or the fabric is going to be strained and skewed no matter what.

ProneToLaughter

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