It started off innocently enough. Blossom and I thought we'd go window shopping in our little remote town to see if we could find a few nice summer skirts, longish t-shirts/blouses, 1-piece bathers, and perhaps some cute shoes thrown in for good measure.
Ha! Apart from some blouses for me (that I bought out of necessity and not because they were the sort of thing I was looking for) we came home empty handed and full of woe.
Not being the kind of women to stay down in the dumps too long we discussed option 2 - we'd make our own!
Rummaging through the big plastic tubs that held all the clothes we'd cut up previously to be remade one day, we discovered some extra fabric we'd bought years ago and never used.
A plan was formed to remake those old things into usable house (and beach) clothes NOW, and use the other fabric for fresh projects...the time had come to push aside all the lovely quilting and hand stitching that I adore, and do something practical for my 14yo and myself.
Now, before we go further in this dialogue I should warn you that I do not like sewing clothes. Not at all. Not in the least! I do not own an overlocker and I use that excuse to...well...excuse myself from making our attire.
So, without further ado, I shall share last night's endeavours.
Blossom desired a skirt, a pretty white skirt that swished gently around her legs. I pulled the SKIRTS book off the shelf where it had been quietly gathering dust since it's acquisition a few months back (when I felt all inspired to actually set myself afloat on the ship of home-made summer clothing...of course, that idea lasted just a week in my mind and then never made it to reality, until yesterday!), and tried valiantly to follow an idea for a tiered peasant skirt.
The idea was good, the pattern was nice, (and easy) but alas the fabric had different ideas on it's eventual display. Still, not to be beaten by the twisted and embellished cotton we'd chosen to use, I persevered and made the skirt anyway. It was hideous. Atrocious. Sad!
I admitted defeat - even though Blossom comforted my waning confidence with, "It's okay Mum, I'll still wear it."
I'm a mother, I would not willingly choose to humiliate my daughter with that skirt, so I responded hopefully, "No. I'll work something out, leave it to me." She sighed softly, the relief in her eyes evident.
Unpicking the seams, and laying out the fabric again, I remembered something.
Back to the plastic fabric tubs I found our oldest pattern, the one that I'm sure my own grandmother could have made back in 1970, the one that we'd rescued from the op-shop reject pile.
Surprise, surprise...
I think it worked.
Before she models it, I've washed it and hung it in the sun to see if it's going to shrink. No, I didn't wash the fabric first. You're starting to understand why I don't make our clothes aren't you?
If this works out, by an act of significant grace from God, I'll get Blossom to model it and you can pat me on the back. That encouragement may push me to try another skirt. ;-)
Happy sewing!
Jenny
(now hinting to dh that an overlocker may be a wise Christmas purchase....)
Ha! Apart from some blouses for me (that I bought out of necessity and not because they were the sort of thing I was looking for) we came home empty handed and full of woe.
Not being the kind of women to stay down in the dumps too long we discussed option 2 - we'd make our own!
Rummaging through the big plastic tubs that held all the clothes we'd cut up previously to be remade one day, we discovered some extra fabric we'd bought years ago and never used.
A plan was formed to remake those old things into usable house (and beach) clothes NOW, and use the other fabric for fresh projects...the time had come to push aside all the lovely quilting and hand stitching that I adore, and do something practical for my 14yo and myself.
Now, before we go further in this dialogue I should warn you that I do not like sewing clothes. Not at all. Not in the least! I do not own an overlocker and I use that excuse to...well...excuse myself from making our attire.
So, without further ado, I shall share last night's endeavours.
Blossom desired a skirt, a pretty white skirt that swished gently around her legs. I pulled the SKIRTS book off the shelf where it had been quietly gathering dust since it's acquisition a few months back (when I felt all inspired to actually set myself afloat on the ship of home-made summer clothing...of course, that idea lasted just a week in my mind and then never made it to reality, until yesterday!), and tried valiantly to follow an idea for a tiered peasant skirt.
The idea was good, the pattern was nice, (and easy) but alas the fabric had different ideas on it's eventual display. Still, not to be beaten by the twisted and embellished cotton we'd chosen to use, I persevered and made the skirt anyway. It was hideous. Atrocious. Sad!
I admitted defeat - even though Blossom comforted my waning confidence with, "It's okay Mum, I'll still wear it."I'm a mother, I would not willingly choose to humiliate my daughter with that skirt, so I responded hopefully, "No. I'll work something out, leave it to me." She sighed softly, the relief in her eyes evident.
Unpicking the seams, and laying out the fabric again, I remembered something.
Back to the plastic fabric tubs I found our oldest pattern, the one that I'm sure my own grandmother could have made back in 1970, the one that we'd rescued from the op-shop reject pile.
Surprise, surprise...
I think it worked.
Before she models it, I've washed it and hung it in the sun to see if it's going to shrink. No, I didn't wash the fabric first. You're starting to understand why I don't make our clothes aren't you?If this works out, by an act of significant grace from God, I'll get Blossom to model it and you can pat me on the back. That encouragement may push me to try another skirt. ;-)
Happy sewing!
Jenny
(now hinting to dh that an overlocker may be a wise Christmas purchase....)
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