While sorting cloth I found the white fleece I was looking for. It had been made in to a pair of sweat pants that were too big.
Added to a little leftover pink fleece I have a whole new sweatshirt...probably for a P.J. top.
I suppose there is a little Alabama Chanin influence along with the usual suspects.
And the house is a little cleaner....
Home today working on projects, mostly sewing.
I've been using the facing patterns that I made for my favorite tank top as guidelines for necklines and armholes for more free-form cutting like the top below that is based on a square.
First time round this was too wide for the weight of the fabric. Much better now.
This is the favorite tank top pattern made to dress length. I'm trying to make my wardrobe more cohesive and this shade of red matches a skirt perfectly...so it's a tunic length now.
This jacket was started during Jude's Boro class. I finally made a decision regarding fabric for sleeves. Just a little more lining to go and then I will sew up the side seams.
I think it might be time to make jeans....
1. A rain coat.
The outer layer is Merchant and Mills Oilcoth. It's not field tested yet so no opinion on how it will be in the rain but it's a lovely fabric to work with. The back and front are lined for a little warmth and to finish the edges. Facings are not my favorite thing to sew and a lining is more comfortable to wear. The hem, sleeves and buttons still need to be finished. The pattern is from Unique (I can't find a good link anymore).
2. A cozy place to sit.
3. Vegetarian Shepard's Pie.
I use this recipe as a base a lot but for this batch replaced the spices with a homemade spicy catsup.
Look and See, it's the title of a movie. Simply, a movie about Wendell Berry, but really more about what he believes and values.
One of Berry's essays I read recently from The Future of Nature, Writing on a Human Ecology from Orion Magazine included:
"The principles of neighborhood and subsistence will be disparaged by the globalists as "protectionism"--and that is exactly what it is. It is a protectionism that is just and sound, because it protects local producers and is the best assurance of adequate supplies to local consumers. And the idea that local needs should be met first and only surpluses exported does not imply any prejudice against charity toward people in other places or trade with them. The principal of neighborhood at home always implies the principle of charity abroad. And the principle of subsistence is in fact the best guarantee of giveable or marketable surpluses."
Local can be defined as where you are standing but is also dependent on what you are referring to. If we are talking about the universe, Earth is local. A community can be global.
"Think global, act local." It's become a little overused but is useful as a lens.
....
I so overestimated my ability to finish my sweater; still working on the yoke.
It will be finished when it is finished but it will be soon. I was remembering recently that this was reclaimed yarn. The first time I used this yarn for a sweater, the sweater didn't fit so I pulled it all apart.
I did finish a tunic I put together using scraps left over from another project. It is made up of six different pieces of fabric.
Very much designed using ideas from India Flint's class, "conscious clothing."
Choosing local can be as simple as choosing to do the labor or reusing materials...
Salad: butter lettuce, peaches, sherry vinegar, olive oil with lemon and herbs, scamorza cheese.
Shawl. The edge is secured and ready for the dye pot.
Shirt/stitch. It has a few extra seams so that I could use scrap fabric. It's a self drafted pattern inspired by several sources (Spirit Cloth, School of Nomad Arts, Conscious clothing, dosanyc).
Summer.
It's the season (noun) and it seasons (verb) everything.
Food:
From the garden: potatoes, zucchini, garlic scape.
Local: Cheese
From California: Olive oil
Color:
Confession: I don't sort laundry well. Something red bled just a little bit on to my white shirt. So I dyed the shirt in onion skins. First time I wore it to work one co-worker said, "What happened, did you spill coffee on your shirt?" Another co-worker said, "Love your shirt! What did you dye it with?"
To make it look less like spilled coffee I decided to add a bit more color. I've been transplanting indigo. A few of the plants were a bit spindly so I pinched them back and used the leaves to make a few prints.
It will probably be next week before I wear it to work again (giving it time to cure and might do a bit of stitching). I wonder what reaction I'll get...?
One pair of pants + one skirt =
Won't be wearing this to work, it's wool (the skirt wool gauze) and I would cry if bleach got on it. Well, maybe...it could always be mended and/or over-dyed.
Cost, about 15 dollars. I live close to a really fabulous thrift store which is a great resource for work jeans. Sometimes other things can't be resisted!
The top part was cut using the facing pattern for my favorite tank top. For the skirt, I cut out the lining and the zipper, cut it in to 2 pieces and then put it all together.
Another photo with bad lighting that needed a little help. Lola is very happy when I am home. Especially if there are leftovers...
About 2 cups of risotto + 1 egg + 1/4 cup cheese + about 1/3 cup zucchini butter.
I keep forgetting things like this stay together better when the mix is chilled before baking/frying.
Oh well, still tasty.
Mama and baby were there right by the bus stop one day this week. I couldn't quite get the lighting right and didn't want to stay and make them too uncomfortable. Made it a good photo to play with.
I have a long weekend and am doing a lot of sorting. One plan is to make lots of shirts like this one with any appropriate fabric I gather.
This is a blend of inspirations from Jude (Boro class; not available right now I think, but lots of ideas in the category) and India Flint (School of Nomad Arts). The sleeves and top of the bodice are rectangles. It was too short so a "skirt" was added. I left a slit on one side which is perfect for being able to reach into a pants pocket easily. The fabric is raw silk that was dyed in home-grown indigo.
So comfortable to wear. One issue is that the sleeves bunch up under a sweater. This might work better for a jacket (trying that soon) or when a sweater isn't needed. If it was looser a t-shirt might work under it for another layer.
Must play more!
Another Jude inspired idea. Found while sorting. I think I will make it into a bag.
I am planning on posting the next couple days as I spend some time sorting and making. A little bit of accountability...
"I thought about lines-the lines we draw, the lines we write, the lines we cross, the lines we cross out. An actor's lines, deadlines, headlines, borderlines-lines drawn in the sand; lines we never forget, the lines we leave behind. A circle is a line touching." Terry Tempest Williams, The Hour of Land
The take it outside basket.
Knitting, sewing, reading.
I am reading Mary Oliver's Upstream, and listening to Terry Tempest Williams. It's a kind of conversation to move back and forth between the two. A pairing.
After spending about a hour stitching the sleeves on to a shirt by hand, I spent less than 5 minutes cutting them off.
(I loved the way the pink seam showed through though.)
That's how it goes sometimes.
Question: If you aim high is more accomplished? I suppose it depends on how you feel when the due date comes around...
Assignment #4 is ambitious and maybe slightly out of reach.
I want to start and finish 4 sweaters.
Mostly this is an effort to clean up the stash. The green yarn above is from sweater number three that I made. It was too small so I unraveled it. The pattern I am using is a yoked cardigan from Amy Herzog's Ultimate Sweater Book. I am loving this book. There are several patterns in this book I want to make plus advice on making patterns your own/making your own pattern.
The second sweater I want to make is with the intent of learning to steek and using stranded knitting for a sweater. I've only tried stranded knitting with socks. I bought yarn for this but the recommended yarn still falls in a price range for something that would be wearable without being too precious. Another goal is to make a collection of sweaters that I will wear to work and not consider too "precious." This is the sweater. It is knit on large needles so it should be a relatively fast project.
The third sweater will be knit on large needles as well. The yarn was gifted to me by a friend who found it at Goodwill. It's mostly wool so my intent is to knit and then dye. Not sure about pattern yet. I just might design my own....
Sweater number four will probably be the same pattern as the green one if I like how it fits. This is partly so that my assignment can be more easily accomplished as well cardigans are what work best with my wardrobe. The primary yarn for this sweater was found at a local thrift store and is almost enough for a sweater by itself (for less than $15.00!). I had a skein of yarn that will go along nicely and bought a couple more skeins to round out the difference.
The other sweater I am in love with is Kate Davies two-shade Strathendrick but will have to wait until next year...it's probably a year long project all by itself!