Herstory

I'm Catholic, and one of the distinguishing characteristics of my church is liturgy. We are liturgical in our worship. This means that we incorporate signs and symbols of God and his story in our encounters with Him.

What's really cool about that is the history of how we have done that. Every age has represented their knowledge of God's story using what they had. I like that.

Irene and I took this picture, and I thought it would just be a documentation of some sewing, but I see so much more. Check out what's in the background.

There are two of the stations from the Stations of the Cross and one stained glass window. The Stations of the Cross evolved from people being unable to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, so they made representations and walked from one to another, remembering the events of Christ's passion and death. They can be quite ornate or quite plain. Stained glass windows were used as teaching devices, giving the important parts of stories for people to remember and retell.

And on the column, you see Irene holding up our idea for our symbolic representation. It's a swag and jabot, modified from OOP McCall's 8078.


I've made it as curtains numerous times, so when Irene talked about fabric for the columns, I pictured this right away. The white one is made from cotton and is stapled to a square dowel.

The real ones will be made of silk, so I made a silk one with Julie's idea of a sleeve to simplify the hardware. We use colors to signify the changing of the liturgical time, so we will make red ones for Advent, violet for Lent, white for Easter, and green for ordinary time.

If someone doesn't know the liturgical calendar well, as soon as they see that the colors have changed, they know something's up. It creates an awareness that the year has a pattern that repeats each year. I remember when my knowledge of the liturgical year was weak, and the different colors always caught my attention. It's just one more way to engage ourselves in the events of Christ's life.

When I look at that picture and see the carvings, stained glass, and the fabric, I know I am in there. I'm not a sculptor; I'm not a stained glass maker; I don't build cathedrals, paint masterpieces on ceilings, or see visions. But fabric? That I do.

I took the swag pattern and drew my best guess for a small swag. I have lots of cottons scraps, so I cut it out and tried the pleats on top. It took about 7 tries to get it right, but each one took about ten minutes, so it wasn't so hard. I was aiming for a smaller swag, but each fix made it bigger, so bigger it got!

Then I made a jabot to match the width I'd ended up with. Now I just need to make a sample for the two large ones that will go on the front columns, then order the fabric. We will get a team of sewers, pressers and hangers to help us, so I think this will take only one day to make and hang.

And I vowed I'd never sew for church. I guess that if the project's right, I will!

Look Away. I'm Hideous.

This is what I see as the problems:
My upper torso seems to be behind the center line of my hips and ears. I think my hip, shoulder, and ear are supposed to line up. The long vertical line on the right bisects my shoulder point. It does not bisect my hips or ear. The long vertical line on the left bisects my hip but is way in front of my shoulder point.

I seem to have a lot of depth between my front and back. I think my posture creates that. I need more length up and over my shoulder. Plus, I think I have a broad back.

1.) The back is tight under the arms in back. I'm considering adding a back seam allowance and adding some fabric in the center back area. The neck gaps a bit in back, so I could tuck out a teeny bit from the neck edge.

2.) There's a green arrow pointing to the lower front hem. It's higher than the back. I think the front needs a bit of length in the upper chest, where that short angled line is. That would level the front hem.

One and two together should fix the drag lines.

3.) I think I'll need to raise the bust dart a bit and I'll shortened it a bit more.

4.) That just leaves the shoulder. Sigh. That's a lot of space between the sleeve edge and my actual shoulder. Should I cut it off the bodice, tapering to the under arm seam, then add the same amount to the sleeve? I'm starting to envision a sasquach sleeve.

I'm pretty sure I'll make another muslin. It's a basic pattern, so if I get it right, it would be a good TNT to compare other patterns to.

Muslin Number Three

Here's what I did to the original size 22:

• added 5/8" to the front shoulder seam
• added 5/8" to the back shoulder seam at neck edge
• added 1 1/8" to the back shoulder seam at arm edge, tapered from neck edge
• added 1 1/8" to sleeve width behind the center dot
  
• moved the bust dart back 1"
• moved the v-neck up 2"
• shortened hem by 2 1/4"

My conclusions? My posture is ghastly! Mom, I am so sorry. When you kept saying, "Stand up straight. Tuck your bottom under," you were right.

I have analyzed these pictures to death. I will now try to draw some lines on them in my image editor. I'll post the elaborated ones soon, but would love some suggestions.

Saved by the muslin

I couldn't get myself motivated to tackle my pants fitting problems, so I thought I'd whip off a quick and easy project in a fabric I have that coordinates in another fabric I'm saving for pants. I thought that would get me motivated to work on pants. So, I'm working on McCall's 2208, the tunic top shown buttoned in solid blue.

Using the Fit for Real People method of using my high bust measurement and adding inches for my bust and hips, I should use the size 22 because my high bust is 44 and the size 22 bust is 44. To accommodate my bust and hip measurements, I'd have to add 4 inches to the pattern's 44 bust to get my 48. I'd have to add 4 inches to the patterns 46 hip to get my 50.

I measured the pattern and found that the actual hip and bust measurements were close to mine, so it must include a lot of wearing ease. I decided to make a muslin of the 22, but added two inches to the back, one inch on each side, using a dart to keep the shoulder seam the original size. I didn't need to do that, though. I was confused and sewed a seam down the center back when it was supposed to be cut on the fold. I ended up only adding 6/8 inch to the width compared to the pattern because of my mistake.


I was surprised at how well it fit. I did not need to add width to the back, but the armscyes are very tight. I decided to just go up one size. The pattern only has 18, 20, and 22, but I just traced the ungraded half, made dotted lines along the 22 on the graded side and slide it over one size and traced new lines along the 22. That left me with a 24.

I couldn't stop myself. I also shortened it 2 1/4 inches, lowered the bust point and the entire dart, lowered the underarm seam a half inch, and took off about 1/2 inch of the sleeve cap. I almost made it up in my fabric. Am I glad I forced myself to make another muslin.

UGH!
Mostly, though it's too big now and the sleeves are still tight. The shoulder point is way past my shoulder point now. I think I need to make a wider armscye, which is so unusual! Maybe that's because this is a "Woman Style" so it's not just graded up and up with enormous armscyes? I don't know.

So I went back to my muslin in the 22 and cut the shoulder seam, to estimate how much width I'd need to add. I also cut the sleeve to see how much. I was looking at The Singer Reference Library book "The Perfect Fit," and it looks like the broad back alteration is what I need. It adds fabric to the armscye only at the side, not the top or the underarm. I think I need that in the back and the front.

They passed the test last night

My husband retired from the Air Force about three years ago. For the last two years of his career, he lived in another state, while we lived here, where we knew we would retire. For the first year, I slept alone. For the second year, I slept with my new, post-robbery, pit bull.

I wanted "a cuddly pit bull." That's what I got. He's the sweetest, nicest dog. When Mark returned, Mark started pulling the covers off of me. Blaise kept them pinned beneath him. I'd complain, but Mark says, "You throw them off." How come I never threw them off when he lived in Pennsylvania?

We have tried numerous solutions, including a heating pad and blankets stored on the floor for middle of the night reinforcements.

When we cleaned out some closets this year, a cream fleece was rejected by all three guys, so I put it in the pile for the Salvation Army, but it occurred to me that it might might a warm PJ top. I decided to get some fleece and make warm PJ pants to go with it. I used Butterick 3314.


I liked how they turned out, except yet again, I realized after I was done that I had chosen a hideous print. I had just been telling Mark how I was really trying to wear solid colors, since my taste in prints can't be trusted. I'm like some kind of pastel flower queen. It's a tough habit to break.

The scraps that were left over were too good to let languish in a scrap pile, so I went to work. I cut out a self-drawn neck gator and a pair of slippers. I still have enough for mittens, but I'm getting bored and want to move on. My hands don't get cold when I sleep either, so my motivation has waned.

I slept in them all last night. I woke up with no covers and I wasn't cold. I wasn't toasty warm, but I wasn't cold either. I pulled the back-up blanket up off the floor and smiled myself back to sleep. I was also a bit delighted to find that my neck gator hadn't choked me to death. I was a little worried.


I really enjoyed making the slippers. I have really wide, short feet. I used Butterick 4184 (OOP) but I put my foot over the traced sole pattern and altered it to be much more duck-like, like my feet. I didn't want to use up too much of my fabric scraps, so I used scraps from other projects as much as possible. I used some white fleece scraps for the inside, that grippery stuff for the bottoms of the soles, and for the inside sole, I used terry cloth. I used short scraps of elastic to make an elastic ring around the ankle, which is only sewn to the inside layer. I also used up a bunch of bobbins that had short bits of thread on them. I was on a thrift roll!



I find the slippers to be very warm to sleep in, but not comfortable to walk around in. The seam allowances slip under my feet and there is some ease, so I think I'm going to trip. But, if there's a fire, that grippy stuff will get me down the stairs safely, so I'm glad it's there!

Refashioning

I enjoy refashioning for a number of reasons. First, I just enjoy the thrill of a good bargain. Second, I enjoy the lack of pressure when fooling around with a Salvation Army purchase. If I ruin it, I haven't just spent a ton of money on it. Third, I like limiting my carbon foot print. That's tied up a lot with my faith. I think God put the world's resources on the earth for all of us, so I try not to use more than my share. The less I buy and the less I strive for material success, the more I look at God's gifts to me with thankfulness. I haven't purchased a piece of clothing for myself, other than stuff like bras, socks, and underwear, in a store in, I don't know, seven or eight years. Oh wait, there were two brides maid's dresses. That almost killed me both times, since not only did I buy the $200 polyester dresses, but I took them apart, altered them, and put in Bemberg linings. I could have had silk dresses for way less money and less work. (Lately I've been thinking of ways to refashion them.)

I feel so blessed by all God has given me that clothes from a store just seem unnecessary. By not buying clothes I get a fun hobby and a faith in action. It's a win/win.

I bought this dress for maybe four or five dollars. I loved it in the store and had a plan to refashion it. It was going to be quite a transformation, but after a few months, I couldn't remember my plan. I could not, for the life of me, remember what I saw in this dress. I'm standing there with my arms up to show the low armscyes. Man, I hate that. Plus sizes cut low armscyes to make up for bad fit. I just hate it. I'm fat. Do I need my armpits to show, too?

Notice how big it is? That's because it was dry clean only, and I planned to wash it. It's 100% rayon, but it didn't shrink one bit. I feel bad for whoever was dry cleaning it!


It had this bizarre double tail thing in the back. It looked weird left hanging, and it looked cute but was uncomfortable sitting when tied. I lost interest in my forgotten plan and made it into a skirt. I used my TNT skirt pattern, Simplicity 8001 (OOP).

I hung onto the scraps. If I find a nice cream colored sweater at the Salvation Army, I might try sewing a collar onto it to go with this. I haven't sewed much with sweaters, but I've been wanting to try. Seems like a project that might pay off.

A Summer of Sewing in One Post

I sew, but I'm no fashionista. I'm boring. I just like to sew.

I wear flowy skirts and knit tops like other people wear jean shorts and a t-shirt. If it's hot, that's what I wear. I hate the heat. I really hate it. I've lived in some hot places that are worse than New York because the heat goes on for so much longer. But if it's so hot and humid that you are covered in sweat all day, it's uncomfortable. It's no comfort on those days that it will end sooner than it will in other parts of the country.

I teach summer faith formation at my church. It's a one week program that's all day. Last year, the weather was very, very hot. This year, I wanted to be prepared. I wanted a skirt for every day, including the set up and clean up days. That meant seven. A little part of me said, "Hmm. This might be over-kill." But the other part of me always answered, "Don't you remember how hot last year was?"

So this summer, I decided to be proactive. I bought knit tops and altered them all under the arms. (Why are the arm holes so big!?!) Then I took them to JoAnn's, bought fabric to go with each, and started the skirt marathon. They couldn't have been easier. I used OOP Simplicity 8001:
It has four seams, a hem, and an elastic waist. I used Gail Grigg Hazen's idea from Fantastic Fit for Every Body and created a separate waist casing piece so I could more easily accommodate my dropped waist.

There was a problem, though. As the marathon wore on, I was wearing older skirts and my summer slips were all disintegrating. Really, they were disintegrating.

When I first started wearing summer skirts, I bought many types of slips, but none was perfect. Eventually, I realized the exact features I needed and did the only thing a sewer can do. I drew the pattern by hand and special ordered the fabric. This was before the internet! This was back in the day when we wrote to mail order places in the back of Threads. I ordered silk/cotton batiste from Thai Silks.

One year at summer faith formation, someone was complimenting me for being so dressed up. I explained that to me, I was more comfortable than I would be in shorts. I said that the secret was in my slip. I then proceeded to hoist up my skirt and model my slip.
If I'm really hot, when I stand up, fabric sticks to my legs. I hate that. With a split slip and a skirt, I can ignore the sticking fabric and walk away without pulling my wedgy out. Yes, I demonstrated that to the girls, too.

So the skirt marathon was toodling along when the slips started to disintegrate. I had been drying my slips in the dryer. Yup. Half silk. I knew it was a bad idea, but they lasted over seven years that way. But when they gave up, they all just went "poof" one week. They were in shreds.

I had no lingerie elastic, and JoAnn's only has that pre-cut stuff, so I needed to order lingerie elastic. I could not find a good source that had fabric, too. The problem was that even though I wanted 20 yards, it was only 36 cents a yard (that's $7.20). Yet shipping would be $7.85. Any sewer worth her salt would order $25 worth of fabric to cushion the blow of that shipping cost. I'm not a fool. I finally found that Wazoodle had elastic and PUL, which I wanted, so I ordered.

It was too late. I went through faith formation in the most beautiful skirts, wearing shredded slips underneath. By Friday, I was so hot and tired, I wore a too short slip that was comfortable. I decided that if you could see through my skirt, I was too tired to care.

But I did finish my six slips later. I'm very pleased. Having enough basic summer skirt outfits is like having enough bras and underware. It's not the biggest deal in the word, but it's nice, in a content kind of way.