A Wear It Once Wardrobe

Kyle knew that I was going to Fabricland after I drove him to work yesterday and since we'd been talking about finances earlier, he asked how much are you spending this time? When I said I was buying denim for jeans, he asked wouldn't it be cheaper just to buy those? Sometimes I wonder - LOL.

Last fall, I tried on a pair of Not Your Daughter's Jeans in a trouser style that were absolutely wonderful. They were just under $200.00 which I think is completely ridiculous. The jeans I've been buying are around $50.00 although I try to get them on sale. Neither pair fits perfectly. Anthropologie has these Bright Button Jeans with similar outer lines to the pair I'm sewing. They're $118.00.




This pile of denim is factory ends. There are flaws to work around but nothing unmanageable. There's enough for three pairs of jeans and at least two skirts. Total cost - $32.00. Yes, it's cheaper to sew them AND with a little work, they'll fit and flatter not wrinkle and roll.




Fit and flatter includes some major work on the crotch curve. Below is the pattern piece with a shallow crotch curve. Mine is more L shaped like the ruler placed over top. After making several gentle adjustments, I took a hard look at that curve, compared the differences, and pinned a really deep - looks like it's taking a huge chunk out of the fabric - curve. When I tried that on, it was WAY better. I didn't get a picture. It was a prickly situation. Hopefully tomorrow.

I'm using an absolutely gorgeous linen to make the muslin. Think heavy, expensive tablecloth. It's gorgeous and it's also a light, yellow based, green in a bottom weight fabric. So not me. Why did I buy it?

It was about four or five years ago and the fabric was on sale 90% off. I bought two meters each of a dark blue and the yellow green. The blue piece was used in the Palmer/Pletsch pant workshop. The green piece has sat around. It wasn't a good buy. Even though it was the right weight and the right drape and one of my favourite types of fabric, it was the completely wrong color and a lot of right things does not make up for that one major wrong thing.

I knew, I've always known, and apparently I wasn't listening... on sale does not a good deal make. The lists that I'm making are great. They clearly point out which impulses to ignore. Now I must listen. The next time I am in a fabric store I must NOT be seduced by the price or the fabric - VBG.

And then there's thread. LOOK at how much white and beige thread is in my studio. Really? What for? I know that some is left over from quilting but still... this is a LOT. Normally, when I sew a muslin, I just use whatever thread is in the machine. Yesterday, I decided to start using up some of these threads or they'll get too old before they're used. From now on all muslins are stitched in light thread - LOL.

I want to use not waste what's in the studio whether that's thread or fabric. The sort of real but not quite right jeans were cut out of the fabric shown above. There wasn't enough width to cut the pieces side by side however, there was enough to cut out a skirt. That's how I'll work with the denim I bought yesterday to maximize it.

In the studio closet, there are boxes labelled Children's Fabric, Bits & Pieces of Potential, and Purse Fabrics. The daisy dotted denim muslin from the weekend was taken apart and, along with any scraps, put in the Children's box. A half meter of the jean fabric went in too. When I'm done with the linen from my current muslin, I will try over dyeing a scrap. Depending on how that goes, I'll decide how best to re-fashion the muslin and use up the rest of the fabric. It'll either become a skirt, a jacket, a children's garment, or several purses.

I've learned to view mistake purchases as an opportunity. For example, the prints I showed yesterday can become linings for skirts, jackets, or purses. Almost anything is usable for a muslin. Since I rarely buy expensive fabric (because it's on sale) even though it's not broadcloth, it was often less expensive than broadcloth. Working like this, the garbage scraps are minimal and the use of my finances is maximized. That's a win-win.

Scraps of Bali batik left over from textile art became the facing on the Vogue 8603 skirt sewn this weekend. This skirt has princess seams which makes it perfect not only for fitting but for fitting around larger pieces. It's the skirt I cut out from the left over width of denim. It's also the same skirt I sewed at the end of February.




This picture was taken on March 1st. I'm wearing the Vogue skirt with a New Look 6735 t-shirt and a purchased sweater and belt. Yesterday, when I put that skirt on, it was too big. Below, the line of the pantyhose follows my waist. You can see that...

... it's drooping down too far. In this next picture, I've pinned a half inch tuck at each side seam and the waist comes closer to being back in position. I'm learning some interesting things about weight loss - about what adjustments and measurements change that you weren't expecting.

I wasn't expecting my tipped waist to become less tipped however as there is less and less "fluff" on my high hip, the angle is changing. With this current pant muslin, I'm not sure I'll need to tip the waist at all. Enough tip is already built in.

I've also noticed that my t-shirts are getting too long, especially in the back. I've been cutting them 23" finished with a 1 1/2" extension at the back for my high hips. I am about to try 22" with a 1" extension.

When we sew, two dimensional fabric is stretched around a three dimension form. That pulls the fabric in some way so it makes sense that when there is less form vertically and horizontally to be stretched around, the exact amount of fabric needed, and the pull extended, shifts. Intriguing and a little frustrating because it seems as if I'm sewing a wear it once wardrobe. Before I can wear this skirt again, I need to take in the side seam which means taking down the hem at the sides. I thought I was safe sewing the hem across. Apparently not. Oh well!

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - yesterday, as I walked into Fabricland, I heard someone say "I want to talk to that woman" and call my name. I turned around and it wasn't someone I recognized however, as soon as she said her name, I knew who she was - one of the women on Stitcher's Guild who I've talked to online and never met in person. She recognized me. Imagine. She was visiting Kamloops. What are the odds of us being in the same place at the same time. What fun.

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Personal Growth

Lois K wrote - I am interested in knowing how you select the scripture (or other passage) for your personal growth section each day.

What I write in this section is about what I am learning. I don't edit it toward whoever I think might be reading it. The content depends entirely on what's going on in my life. Throughout the day, a specific scripture might come to mind as it did yesterday. If so, that's what I share.

Otherwise, it might be a quote or a passage from a book that I'm reading or a thought gleaned from a book or a conversation or it may be scripture from the section of the bible that I'm reading at that time. If that's the case, how that works is that I continue reading from where I stopped the time before until I get to a verse that impacts me and then I think and pray about why did that verse stop me and what is here for me to learn.

Janice wrote - I too have a heavy burden to carry that I can't share with anyone - I just can't.

Not knowing the burden, it would be completely inappropriate of me to advise you in any way. I'm sending a GREAT BIG HUG and praying for God's guidance so you'll know the correct path to take. Remember to take care of yourself.

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Over the past year and a half, it has felt like one thing after another has piled up in my life. Much of it has been change that I didn't ask for. Change is always hard. It requires work. Change that we didn't initiate takes a LOT of work.

What I wrote yesterday was about my feelings of overwhelming not only for myself but for my friends. I value friendship and I need my friends in my life. I am aware of not driving them away with what might be interpreted as constant whining and complaining. When what you're talking about is a series of "camel straws", the conversation can sound that way.

Since I don't see my situation changing in the near future - hopefully in a few years - there are some things I do to help myself. Prayer is a big one. Talking to God is both a source of inspiration and comfort. Time alone to reflect is another. That might be through walking or through journal writing. Writing "it" down and then shredding the pages has been hugely cathartic. I do a lot of self-help type reading and work daily at improving myself. I set goals that will take me in a positive direction. For example, one goals was to learn to listen. Right now, a goal is to drink more water. Both improve my health. I've become aware of and focused on holistic health and on attaining/maintaining emotional, physical, spiritual, relational, and financial balance. I work toward that.

I have only ever talked to a counsellor once in my life and that was prior to another family member visiting her. I have talked to my current pastor a few times and he is an amazing and non-judgemental listener. There are very few professionals I feel comfortable talking to because even with counsellors, who I talk to about what is very important - along the lines of I'm not going to an overweight dietician for nutritional advice. There's something wrong with that picture.

When I really need to talk, I pray that God will lead me to the right person and that he will show me the correct path. As I get older, I'm hopefully also getting wiser. I believe that I am because I see that I'm learning how to let things go, how to not make too big a deal out of what isn't, how to hold my tongue, and when to push forward. I'm (still) learning more and more how to - as the hymn goes - trust in Jesus. I'm not all the way there however, it's a learning that makes life easier.

There's a lot of stuff going on in my life and even so, it's an amazing life. I am so blessed and very thankful. God is good even when...