I had planned on writing this over the weekend, but I wound up spending WAY too much time obsessively following the news and not much got done. OY. There’s a part of me that wants to write about this current batshit-crazy election season we’re in here, but a much bigger part is just overwhelmed by it all.
The important thing is this: please, if you are a U.S. citizen, REGISTER AND VOTE. Please. Vote for Hillary Clinton, the only candidate that can stop that narcissistic, xenophobic bully. I hear you if your conscience is telling you to vote third party. Lots of us want to change the system, including me, but a third party vote in this election is not going to accomplish that. What it could do, however, is get us into another war, roll back protections for LGBT people, and plunge the country back into recession. We have to keep him away from the Presidency, and Clinton can do it.
Okay, let’s set all that aside for the moment and talk about sewing, shall we? I don’t know about you, but sewing helps calm me and quiet my mind when it’s full of noise, and I could use a little quiet right about now.
No finishes here the last couple of weeks, but that’s because I’ve literally been working on about 10 things at once! Which–surprisingly–has felt stimulating rather than overwhelming. I found an out-of-print pattern to make with the fuzzy red fleece and got the notions for it the other day. I only have 2 1/2 yards of the fleece, a bit skimpy for most jackets in my size, but this one should work.
I also got a Hello Kitty fleece remnant at SCRAP the other day (I am pretending to be all grown-up about this, but my inner 6-year-old is jumping up and down with excitement). It’s a longish strip about 11″ wide, so my head is full of fleece colorblocking thoughts.
Last weekend was all about muslins. I made one for the black jumper and one for the maroon corduroy. Which forced me to confront how my body has changed due to menopause. Sigh. It’s a lot easier to ignore my new waist pudge when I’m making loose tunics and things; not so much with something a bit more fitted. The truth is that the pear shape I’ve had my whole adult life is now more of an apple, and I’m going to have to adjust my expectations and pattern choices accordingly. (So easy to write, somewhat more difficult to do.)
Because these two jumpers are more fitted, I had to grade up to a size 22 at the bust and hip (!), 24 at the waist (!!). I’m pretty happy with how that worked on the black jumper, so I cut it out in my “real” fabric last week. This is how far I got on sewing it up during Friday Night With Friends.
I didn’t have enough of the black denim for facings, so I decided to use this fun fabric, which I had to piece (of course):
The denim is fraying like CRAZY, so next step is figuring out a way to bind the seams in a non-bulky way.
As for the maroon corduroy jumper, I’m just not sure about that one. I’ve set it aside for now while I ponder my options. In order to get the look I envisioned, I might have to fit the jumper more than I’m really comfortable with. Hmmm . . . .
Anyway, first priority this week is to prep for the unpaper towel class scheduled for Saturday. Then it’s back to the black denim.
Have a great week, everybody!
STH
Stephanie said:
If it means anything there are at least 20 million Canadian voters who would be happy to vote for your side..
Happy Sewing!
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STH said:
Very sensible people, those Canadians. 🙂
Hope you’re having an amazing time and wearing the heck out of those fun new pants!
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Stephanie said:
Yes a great time, with time spent in Italian traffic for reading favourite blogs 🙂
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STH said:
BEST way to cope with traffic ever. 🙂
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Thimberlina said:
I’ve just seen some of the debate on tv before I’ve come up to bed, it all just seems so crazy. Fingers crossed for you. At least you’ve plenty of exciting distractions 😀
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STH said:
Oh, thank the heavens for sewing distractions, right? Ugh, this election. I CAN’T EVEN. It’s like if you combined all the ugliest aspects of U.S. culture into one person, and then ran him for President. Thanks for the kind thoughts and we shall persevere!
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Chic Mona said:
I look forward to seeing the finished ‘hello kitty’ jacket. Cute. Perhaps lace or silk seam tape or bias tape bound the seams on the denim jumper. Here’s a link to a tute that may help. http://closetcasefiles.com/how-to-sew-hong-kong-and-bias-bound-seams/
Cheers
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STH said:
Thanks for the link! That’s a more comprehensive post than I’ve seen before, and I’m definitely bookmarking it. For this jumper, I’m leaning toward my Vogue Sewing Book’s idea of folding each seam allowance under and stitching it down, as I had already been thinking about topstitching the princess seams to highlight them. I may go with binding for the side seams, though, since I’m adding pockets to them (I belatedly realized that NONE of the three dresses I had planned for this fall included pockets, and you know I need to do something about that!)
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Chic Mona said:
Great idea top stitching. Oh, me too,pockets are a must! Happy sewing~cheers
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JanineMarie said:
Hurray for you sewing clothing. I stopped years ago when I realized that quilts don’t have to be fitted (well, maybe to a bed sometimes, but not a body). I love that patterns and sewing clothing are back in style, though.
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STH said:
I totally hear you on the fitting thing! I make clothes until I get tired of fitting, then I quilt until I get tired of being super-precise, then I make bags until I realize I’ve got WAY too many bags already. 🙂
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Chuleenan - C Sews said:
The Hello Kitty remnant is so cute! I have a bunch of different projects going at the same time, too – not as many as you but it keeps it interesting. I think the only times I’ve focused on just one thing is when I have a deadline.
It is hard to photograph black! I wear a lot of black and it is tricky to get it to look like it does in real life. Sometimes my phone takes better photos than my digital camera. I think digital cameras can’t deal with high contrast well. If you put black next to red or a dark color, you’ll see you camera give you a more accurate rendition of the black. I found this out by accident when I photographed a black jacket in front of some red bricks.
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STH said:
Yep, I think what gets me in trouble oftentimes is trying to photograph black clothing against the cream-colored walls in my house–camera doesn’t handle that very well. Maybe I should put some hooks into one of the walls and hang fabric from them as a backdrop. It’s not like I have a shortage of fabric. 😉
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Chuleenan - C Sews said:
Yes, I had disappointing photos of a black skirt because the background was too light.
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