I’ve neglected my blog over summer, and everything else for that matter. No knitting, no sewing, minimal gardening. Well actually, getting out into the garden, and doing little jobs like sowing seeds, deadheading plants, was my saving grace. It enabled me to keep in touch with the present and for a short time forget what was going on around me.
But everything’s slowly getting better. The long and the short of it was my elderly parents took turns this summer having catastrophic health conditions that required surgery, hospital stays and long debilitating post op recovery at home.
I did manage to enrol onto my sewing class again at the beginning of September and that has helped me regroup and refocus my attentions to creating something.
I also enrolled with an online sewing class at the beginning of summer, and I have spent some of my precious free time watching the classes and found them very helpful. Over the past few weeks, I have been working on a simple straight skirt based on the A line skirt workshop, using and practicing techniques from the online class, including pattern alteration, fitting, inserting an invisible zip and a Hong Kong seam finish around the waistband. I’m especially please that the fit, after many attempts, finally seems to be working for me, and I love the Hong Kong finish around the inside of the waistband. That’s definitely a technique I will adopt on future projects.
This mock up was made from a grey suiting material which is probably over 20 years old which, for some reason, I have in abundance! It was very stable and well behaved, and after deconstructing it to check that I’d made the correct alterations to my paper pattern, I think I will sew it back up with the correct thread and stitch length, to wear. The Hong Kong binding was just a piece of home made bias binding from scrap viscose.
On reflection, I still think there is a tweek to made around the darts and waistband, but overall I’m very happy, it’s been over a year long dressmaking journey so far, and something is finally clicking into place. Plus I have some nicer, more expensive material to make up another long skirt for winter, but this next one will be lined too! Another technique from my online workshop that I haven’t tried yet.
Another project on the go is a knit fabric top to wear with my skirt. I have a couple of delicious French terry fabrics and have chosen my pattern. I have two fabulous fabric stores near me. One does do more expensive fabrics with a wide range of viscose, wool and cotton based fabrics which are beautiful to make up. The other does have beautiful fabrics too, but also has cheaper fabrics that are more manmade based, but it does have an amazing haberdashery and many a bargain to be had.
But first I’ll make a mock up with a cheaper stretch fabric to practice the pattern and see how it fits on the recommended size – a knit lottery I know as they all behave differently! I’ve chosen the Toaster top from Sew House Seven, which has a curvy option in bigger sizes. Looking deceptively simple, but we will see 🤣
handmadeknits 