me-made clothes, or rather not

The discussion on how much of the clothes that you wear for everyday that are also made by yourself  just came up. It was Lemomi Oakes (The Dreamstress) who made a blog post about it here. This is also a question that I get quite often, or when I wear something that people don't recognize the usual question is "have you made it yourself?".

Almost always the answer is "no" though. In my current wardrobe I have three things that I've made myself, two skirts and a hat. Everything else that I have done over the last years have been costumes or at least evening wear. After reading the answers over at the Dreamstress about how people seem to make so much of their own clothes, it was refreshing to also read this blog post by Trystan. Just like me she hardly makes any of her everyday clothes.

I'm going to list the main reasons why I just concentrate on costumes and fancy clothes.

1. Time - it takes time to make a nice well-fitting garment. I'm not a fast sewer, mostly because I procrastinate too much, and since this is a hobby I much rather spend it on making the fantastical creations of my dreams than something I just go to work in.

2. Fabric - I think it's very hard to find fabrics that scream "make me into something casual and normal". It doesn't help that most of the stores I have a chance to visit are just filled with home decorating fabrics, and then they have a stash of very strange patternes stretch velvets. Seriously I just can't imagine where all these stretch velvets come from, and how they crop up in every fabric stores, but always just in the sheep remnants bin. I've never seen them on a bolt, and even less seen anyone buying or using them. If I have to order fabrics online it's also rarely worth it to just order a meter or so, since you need to add shipping, so it's much more fun to buy meters and meters of fabric that can be used for costumes instead.

3. Skill - I don't trust my own skills in making modern collars, sleeves, facings and such that you need in order to make a good looking garment. I have the feeling that I would spend a lot of time trying to make something, and then I wouldn't be happy with it in the end anyway, so back to point 1.

So I will probably go on concentrating on making costumes, but who knows if I get inspiration for it I might do "normal" clothes as well, it's just that so far I've lacked the inspiration for it.

edit/

I would say something that has given me some inspiration for everyday wear though is Lauren's (American Duchess) quest to create a 1930's wardrobe for everyday wear. If I'm to do clothes for everyday use they would probably be vintage inspired, even if the 1930's aren't my particular era.