Yesterday I started hand stitching this. Only the zipper and thread were new.
First time I've put a zipper in and actually enjoyed the process.
I filled it up with first aide supplies and tossed in my work bag.
If it goes well there will be more.
Directions here (because sometimes those recommendations
can be helpful).
Yesterday, off work a little early, I took a walk along the bay...
I love how the pier on the left catches water.
The light is changing, the wildfire smoke is gone in the air and it is cooler.
It was so good to walk.
Early in the morning, which is now dark for so much longer, I am stitching by hand.
I love the quietness.
I am going very slow and really paying attention.
Linen fabric is easy to stitch through, the thimble not really necessary but I've been practicing at times.
I really enjoyed hearing everyone's thoughts and experiences with thimbles. Thank you all for sharing.
Last Friday I noticed the first of the Autumn crocus.
This one a little darker purple than usual.
On Saturday I learned to use a thimble while sewing:
I took a class with Sarah Woodyard hosted by Tatter. I wasn't sure how useful the class would be for me but thought it would be worth trying. It was not only interesting, but I really did learn a lot and feel more confident about sewing clothing by hand.
The thimble I have belonged to one of my great grandmothers. It came with a sewing kit my grandmother gave to me.
I like it.
Yesterday I picked my first fig.
This is the third or fourth fig tree I've planted, the first to make it through a cold winter and then fruit... Just two figs this year but now I have hope. The right tree, in the right space.
And then there is this:
The shoulder seams and about 12 inches are stitched. Just enough to know I will be happy with the fit. I am not sure if I am going to leave it at this length (about knee level) or add fabric along the bottom to make it longer. I am going to start adding some applique over the top of the worst of the holes. There will be time to decide and time to play with over dyeing some of the yellow.
I do want some of this yellow to remain, it is such a sweet color. Color from the garden.
While reading Grace's blog post this morning, where she shares her local Master Gardener's demonstration Garden, I started thinking about my garden and what it provides. Here... two examples, food and color. Today I am hoping to make salve with rose petals from the garden; and so another use.
And this...listening this morning to Ross Gay, On Being:
"For one, it’s just fun to be in a garden, for me, dreaming about what could happen: that kind of mystical space, actually, of trying to figure out what this thing that I do here could be in five years, that kind of strange dreaming space that it is.
There’s also something really moving about putting a seed in the ground and it turning into something really different, and a lot of something really different and, potentially, on and on and on, a lot of something very different."
I went to check out the garden he talks about in the interview, the Bloomington Community Orchard.
Community gardens, people coming together to create shared spaces...there is hope.
Thinking about this today.
Three yards or so of hemp/cotton knit soaking in Buddleia. It's been there overnight.
This is the second soaking, the first in soy milk.
I will wring it out and hang it to dry today.
And then, perhaps, a dip in my almost exhausted indigo vat? Or maybe iron water? I have some made but have yet to try it. Or maybe a bit of both for comparison? Or maybe a stencil with the iron?
I want to make a dress with this but it will need some mending or strategic cutting. I was using it on my bed as a sheet.
Knit is not a great choice for kneading kittens.
And, shared before but coming to me often right now:
Crepuscular midnight stands by the road,
Where the stars have spilled from it's purse.
You can not go over the road past the fence
Without trampling on the universe.
Boris Pasternak, "The Steppe"
Maybe I will be able to lay this out while they are sleeping.
The "April Skirt" by Specks & Keepings.
It's been a long time since I've bought a skirt pattern but this one really appealed.
I do have one small problem; when my computer crashed last week I lost the directions.
Pretty sure I can figure it out...
Not the best picture but it tells a story.
Last night I decided I really wanted to wear this dress today but the facing needed some repair (really wasn't the best fabric choice for facing). I also have wanted pockets on this.
So...with some help from my trusty assistants, I folded the dress in half so that the side seams were in the middle, placed the facing pattern just below the arm hole on the seam line, cut out a new arm hole and neckline, flipped the pattern piece upside down and over to the other side, cut the rest of the neckline and the second arm hole. I had to cut a little more out of the neckline to get it over my head and to smooth things out.
I then sewed the shoulder seams (french seams) and finished the neckline and arm holes with a rolled hem, which is the most common way I finish necklines, armholes and hems. This is the proper way to do a rolled hem. I skip the ironing and just roll the hem, finger press, and stitch once.
I'll use the fabric I cut off to make a pocket later, but for today it's ready to go!
P.S.
The side seams are now center seams.
The inside seams: one french seam, the other bound with rayon cut on the bias (leftover from another project). Would have been better if the rayon had been just a tad bit wider as I didn't get it all tucked in. It will fray some but not as bad as the linen! I really like French seams. For anyone interested is a comparison of different ways to finish inside seams.
The more I play with patterns, the more it becomes that the pattern, the piece of clothing, is fluid for me.
I started this project with the idea that it would be a dress but after I had everything stitched together and I tried it on I realized it just didn't work for me.
I looked at it for awhile and realized two things were bothering me, the sleeve length and the length of the dress itself.
Sleeve length is an easy one for me. I know what works. There is a length that is flattering and a length that isn't. And there is a length that just irritates me...like a scratchy label or a rock in your shoe. The solution was easy. Cut off a few inches so that it hit the sweet spot.
The length of the dress puzzled me. It was the same length at the tank top style dresses and the rayon dress that I've made which I love. What was different? Answer: solid color. Way too much solid color. So I cut off about 15 inches from the bottom and made it tunic length.
New plan: skirt with leftover fabric from the shirt plus other pieces of fabric to coordinate.
The square on the upper right hand corner is the color of the shirt I've been making. To follow up on the shirt:
I've got binding attached to one side seam of the shirt and am happy with the results. It should keep linen's tendency to fray to a minimum as well as strengthening the seam.
To back up a little, the pattern for my shirt is self drafted and essentially the robe pattern that Jude shared in her Contemporary Boro class.
A little more complicated version with directions by Cal Patch can be found at A Verb for Keeping Warm. I say complicated in that it is more fitted. Mine is four squares with a neckline. I also cut an angle on the sleeve squares just to see... The squares work for me because it is loose fitting.
For anyone interested in sewing clothes, Cal Patch's book is great even if you don't want to draft your own patterns. Knowing how patterns are drafted helps with understanding fit. The directions she gives for assembling clothes can be applied to any pattern.
I have more to say about the shirt...later. :)