Back to the One Meter Skirt.

 I had originally purchased two one meter pieces of fabric to be used to make a chemise dress. After I decided that silhouette was not for me, these fabrics went to the stash. My stash is much too large and so I made a 1 meter skirt. This is from Butterick 4461.  I made View A in size 14 and I added  about 3 inches to the length. Let's say this another way, when I laid out the pattern on the fabric, I took as much extra length as I had fabric. The heavier twill and more somber color lends itself to a longer skirt. The summer breezy cottons shown on the pattern envelope are better suited to the knee length design.



 I lined the skirt with a grey lining fabric, also from my stash. Here it is on my dressmaker's dummy with the blouse from the last post. It a very simple slightly A-line skirt with no waistband and two front and back darts for shaping. The zip is at the center back.

 Front View - It is so plain that there isn't much to talk about.
I would call this piece a wardrobe basic. One of those items that gets worn a lot with everything.

Here it is fresh out of the closet and tossed on the floor next to my other one meter project, a camp shirt.

Photos!

Remember these blouses? I quickly tossed them on the floor, took a photo and moved on to more sewing. My sewing room has seen a lot of thread this spring. I finally had some time today and a clean room, so I took some more photos. Here are some closer views of the blouse on the right.

The back of the collar is secured with two buttons with self fabric loops. This version of the blouse has an open neckline and you don't really need to use these buttons to put the blouse on, but they are a very nice visual detail. The other version of the blouse with the higher jewel neckline has these also and there you most definitely would need to open the collar to get the blouse on or off.

Here is a full view of the back. There is a side seam zipper on the left.

This is the front detail. There are a bunch of fiddly little pleats going left and right. Choosing a stable fabric, cutting accurately and marking carefully are critical for this pattern detail.

This is the finished blouse. It's all over tiny print makes it nearly a neutral olive green grey texture. I happen to like this print best of all the three I've made from this pattern this spring.

One Meter of Olive Twill

....makes one casual straight skirt using Buterrick 4461. There is nothing special about this project. It is a quick stash buster. However, this olive color goes well with the last two tee shirts that I've made and the three blouses from Simplicity 1278.



...AND I don't have photos of this or the next project that I made, a little striped shirt. I guess that is tomorrow's project.

A Reason to Buy? No, The Reason I Sew.

Today's blog is really about why I sew and it's a couple of links because I'm in the middle of a larger project and these people are far more eloquent than me.

The first link is from Peter Lappin from Male Pattern Boldness. This is one of my most inspirational blogs. He reminds me that drive, ambition, and an eye for excellence is all one needs to master a skill. Here is his most recent post about clothing quality. The "crapification" of underwear.

The second link is a podcast from the website "Adam Ruins Everything". He interviews a young woman who has worked in the fast fashion industry and now teaches at the University of Georgia. Why Fast Fashion Fails Us

Two More Blouses

I seem to be on a sewing kick at the moment, well at least, I'm working through some of my stash. These two blouses came from some Liberty of London cotton that I picked up over a year ago. I had Simplicity 1278 in mind when I purchased this fabric, I just need the confidence to make up the reissued vintage pattern. I made this blouse previously in an inexpensive viscose lawn and the pattern needed quite a bit of alteration before it fit correctly. Here are the two new blouses. I photographed them on the floor. They aren't the type of garment that looks particularly attractive on the hanger or on the floor for that matter. I need to get my mojo back for taking pictures. Trust me they look much better when worn. The blouse on the left is a turquoise and beige print with short sleeves and the second blouse is a tiny allover floral print in olive green and beige with a tiny orange flower center. Both blouses will go with an upcoming project that is now in the works.

Two Tees

  

This was a fast sew, two tee shirts from Butterick 6084. I've used this pattern since 2006, so I'm pretty sure it is no longer sold. It's a fitted tee with an oval boat neck and 3/4 sleeves. One tee is made from an heather cotton knit in a color I would call oatmeal. The other tee is a white and beige stripe knit of the same weight. I bought both of these pieces of knit at a sewing shop in Wurztburg, Germany.  Cut, sewn and into the closet in about a week, I like that time frame.

I did look this pattern number up. It has now been reassigned to a little girl's dress pattern. This is the pattern I have and it is one of my tried and true patterns. I haven't found a tee shirt that I like better, but, honestly, I haven't looked very hard either.

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Vintage Reissued

This is Simplicity 1278. It is a 1950's vintage reissued pattern. I made it up in size 16. This is view C. This particular pattern does not have any side dart shaping the "B" bust cup comes from some waistline darts and the pleating detail at the neckline. This was not going to work for me. I added a "D" sized bust dart at the side seam. With this FBA, I did a prefit muslin for the top and found I also needed about 3/4" width added to the upper arm sleeve. After the adjustments were made and tried it out on some viscose lawn in a blue and brown leafy print.

I was happy with the pattern and wore this blouse several time this winter. It looks nice with skirts or pants and the neckline detail means I don't need any jewelry or anything fussy at all. Sweet and simple. The sleeves in this photo look like they are two different length. I assure you, they are equal length 3/4 sleeves. Perfect for me!

A trial of upcycling shirts

I constantly have an endless supply of worn shirts and lately they have been arriving in my sewing room at an alarming rate. I blame the "non-iron" shirt trend. These shirts wear at the collar and cuffs within a few washes. If I get one year's wear from these items, I'm lucky. I really think the non-iron resins allow manufacturers to use cheaper fabric. Combine cheaper fabric with stiffer interfacing and everything wears at the edges. You can see this in the second photo of the cuff.

I chose one of these shirts which I thought  had better fabric than the others. I ripped it apart and removed all the seams except for the front buttons and button hole placket. I re-cut the shirt using one of my simple camp shirt patterns. There is little room for give in this area as I need some room in the bust and the shirts don't have anything extra in this area. I didn't have enough fabric for a new collar and inner front facing, if I used the old sleeves for new sleeves. I chose some quilting cotton in a 1930's reprint fabric for these new pieces.

Here's the front of the new shirt after darts and a collar are complete.

 

Instead of using the print fabric on just the collar, I used some as trim on the sleeve. Rather than looking like I "ran" out of fabric for the shirt,  I thought it gave a much more planned look to the project. I used a small band of folded fabric in the seam line of a stitched cuff for the short sleeve.

Here's the finished upcycled shirt. I think it was reasonably successful. The button closure is "backwards" as I started with a men's shirt and I wished to save this feature. The non-iron fabric does not take a crisp press easily so the shirt looks unpressed and "home sewn". Oh, well. I was not after something that would be presentable to the office, but rather something for Saturday at home. I can wash the car in that shirt. Let's see how the fabric holds up now that all the old interfacing has been removed. If it holds up to Saturday chores, I've got 5 or 6 more shirts to remake for casual wear. Now, off to convince my husband to buy more colorful business attire!

From 1952 The Sheath Dress

This is a reproduction from the Vogue Book for Better Sewing (c1952). It is the Late Day Sheath Dress. I've made it up twice; once in a printed linen and the second time in black linen. Both dresses fit well but I took a little width from the neckline between the green linen and the black linen. This drew the straps together a bit more and made the dress easier to wear.

A Blast from the Past

This piece of writing was originally published on October 26, 2007. My son was eleven at the time and I was free to write about myself and him. The blog is now defunct, out of his teenage request to not have Mum ruin his life, at least online. I'm reposting again for the holiday season.

He Does What?!

I’m about to make a confession, a confession about a secret desire. No one, not my parents or my best friends, not even my husband knows. I have an unbelievable decades-old crush on Rod Stewart. Right about now, my mother is saying "WHO?" my sisters are saying, "EEEWWW!" and my husband is saying, "WHY?" This is why no one knows and now every one knows.

I’ve had a longstanding thing about Mr. Stewart that began with the first time I heard "Maggie May." That voice! THAT HAIR! (You may have already noted the follicle similarity between Mr. Stewart and my own online avatar.)

Mom and Dad kept a tight control over the stereo and LP expenditures in our house while I was growing up. Basically, the choices boiled down to their way or the highway. While I lived with the Partridge Family, Neil Sedaka, Barry Manilow and Billy Joel, I loved the Rolling Stones, Fleetwood Mac, and Queen, and I lusted after Rod Stewart. I dared not bring any of these bad boys of rock and roll anywhere near my mother’s Ethan Allen living room, but I never stopped drinking in every song played on the radio.

I stopped dead when Rod was played over the airwaves. I was capable of no sane thought or action. His British accented growl could make "sardines and toast" sound like something naughty. I would continue to pour milk into over flowing glasses. I would mow over Mom’s flowers. I would walk into telephone poles. I was incapable of any coordinated movement when that whiskey soaked gravelly voice flowed from the radio right into my soul.

No one noticed that I had an uncontrolled desire for this man. It was covered by a teenage awkwardness that began at the age of nine and ended at thirty-five. I had glasses, a bad haircut, chronic sinus drip, and a passion for reading which pretty much sealed up my social life and ensured that my parents left me very much alone. I was, however, skinny, real skinny, model skinny, but this was only a temporary tease for my adolescent ego. I knew, by looking at family photos, that I was headed to become an apple dumpling with cellulite.

Despite all the outward negatives, I did have one vivid imagination. In my mind, some day, some how…I would get to see Rod Stewart in concert and he might even look out to my section of the stadium and…and…

As I grew older, these fantasies grew older. They involved alcohol, cigarettes, velvet, and a tawdry lifestyle that I could never bring myself to attain. But in my mind, I would still gladly give my body, cellulite and all, if only….

Now fast forward to the present, I don’t think of Rod Stewart much any more, but every now and then, his songs are played on "oldies" radio. Such sin, Rod Stewart played on oldies radio. A quiet blush still crosses my face with "Tonight’s the Night" and I still love the name Maggie. Losing ten pounds will always result is a riotous round of "Do you Think I’m Sexy" shouted into my hairbrush as I gyrate about the bedroom dodging shoes and piles of laundry. But it has all ended today, in the post. It was a crushing blow.

My son’s "Model Railroader Magazine" arrived today. "Hey Mom, do you know Rod Stewart?" I’m thinking I’ve got to sing more quietly in the shower. "Hey, MOM! Did you hear me? Do you know Rod Stewart?"

"I know of him, Matt." I said, truthfully.

"Guess what! He’s a model railroader, just like me!"

"HE DOES WHAT?!",  I screamed. My fantasy life crumbled as I stood in the driveway staring at a feature article about my favorite sex symbol’s hobby. For God sakes, he even takes his paints and glue on tour with him. The champagne, the smoky lounges, the bear skin rug, the entire fantasy is now lying at my feet like so much spilled rail bed ballast. It’s all replaced by an image of an English eccentric in a railroad cap painting age and tarnish over miniature plastic buildings.

"I’m proud to be a railway modeler. It means more to me to be on the cover of Model Railroader than to be on the cover of a music magazine" - Rod Stewart, Model Railroader, December 2007

Rod, sweetheart, you are in my heart and in my soul, but why did you have to end it this way?

Tie Your Shoestrings Well

I will be the very first to admit that I’ve stolen the title of this blog from Werner Herzog. Mr. Herzog was interviewed on Science Friday and this is part of his answer to the despondency over the American election results. He said in part, “Tie your shoestrings well. Keep on walking.”

I think this an idea that can be applied much farther than consolation to those who are grieving their political losses. For those who have lost, they must find a way forward, listen to the lessons learned and hear the anger expressed through the voting process.

It also speaks to the winners who now carry an enormous responsibility for everyone. Take care that all are carried forward, not just the rich but the poor, the hungry, and the sick. They also must find their way forward and heal the anger that elected them and the anger spawned by their victory.

Outside the political arena, we all need to tie our shoes well. Those that grieve the loss of a loved one, struggle to face each day. They wake each morning and wonder how are they going to get through the waking hours when raw grief rides their backs like a hidden leopard ready to pounce and tear them limb from limb on the subway, at work, walking alone down the street. They wait out the day, in fear, being hunted by grief, until the sleep finally pulls them down to numbing oblivion for a few short hours. Each day, they tie their shoes well and keep walking among us, who are unconscious of their pain.

Those who are sick wade through the physical and psychological pain of illness. It is a long and lonely road full of bureaucracy and sacrifice. They must face new procedures, inadequate treatment plans, and expenses that no one should worry about while ill.  Each day they tie their shoes well and keep walking.

Parents work hard each day to provide food, shelter,  and clothing for their children. Some in the face of joblessness and homelessness. Parenting is tough even when those things are satisfied. I don’t know any parent who hasn’t knelt down at the end of a tough day and asked for the strength to carry on. Sometime the next day, they tie their shoestrings well and walk on.

We each have our own burdens, our own life stories, our own weakness, strengths and passions. Our shoes are very different one from another. That is why another famous proverb comes to mind about not judging each other until we have walked a mile in their shoes. I think I’ll keep this old proverb in mind as well as the new. These are my shoes, well worn and well tied. I’ll keep walking one foot in front of the other this day and the next but I’ll also mind those beside me who’s shoes may be broken or who are barefoot or who have stumbled and fallen.