Close to this time last year, overrun with an obsession to sew, my enthusiasm for creative projects while a resident at the artists’ community in Portland took up with pins and needles, spools of thread and vintage fabric. Not much to say for how or why I found the hobby so suddenly fascinating, though perhaps you share my interest and can relate. Working with textiles by candlelight through to the wee hours, scouting for fashion-victims, dreaming up your next big DIY-fashion design grandiose – it’s all so much part of our cultural heritage there should be a holiday just for sewing.
I made this pullover with a patterned polyester, favoring the vibrant solid color of the material on its reverse side. As the cost of material is so absurd, working within the means of what you have on hand is one challenge. It leads to impulsive combinations, sometimes scrapping together all different bits and pieces.
When I first began working with a machine, a friend suggested that I experiment with felt. Sewing felt is good to practice with, given to stretch, it’s forgiving, and also holds together nicely. So, there’s this little blanket..
Two or three things I began making this year, no one has gotten to wear. Not being an expert at something that there’s so much to learn about, often proves with frustration. I had trouble pinning something down at times, especially when I had a couple different things going simultaneously.
Went for the reverse side of the fabric in this instance, also. There is the stripe through the midriff showing the variation in contrast of either side. Unfinished, I had fabric enough for two. The shape needs to be corrected, tapered from the underarm. With the waist of a dress small, oversized length-wise, draped low, over a bathing suit, etc
Appreciate the sewing craze? Here’s the video from a Vintage Singer Sewing Ad that you might really like the humor of! Sew?