Perhaps There's A Reason

Jane Fonda was on Oprah last week. At 72, she looks amazing with (paraphrasing her words) just enough cosmetic surgery to feel as if her face matches her inner energy and not enough to look desperate or ridiculously young. She seemed vibrant, happy, and settled within herself. She's written a book and returned to her career starring in movies and making exercise DVDs. It was an interesting interview.

There is so much to learn from men and women who are older than ourselves, both about what to do and about what not to do. Listening can prevent us from getting bogged down in our current reality, forgetting that time changes everything, and that we still have much growing up to do. As long as we're alive, we're not fully formed.

Later in the interview there were some pictures of Jane dancing in these jeans with a much nicer top. Ripped jeans at 72? That's definitely not how my grandmother dressed. I loved the outfit. It was sexy, confident, feminine, comfortable, appealing. It suited Jane. That made me wonder what I would dress like at her age which is quite the question considering that I'm still trying to figure out what I will dress like at this age. I made some discoveries over the weekend.


First, Butterick 4859 has been reinstated in the Self Imposed Sewing Club. It was removed following the curved seam issues with the Vogue 2983 skirt because I thought its curved seam wrapped around to the front. It doesn't. There's a side seam which I finally noticed on Saturday night when I was flipping through the patterns. YES YES. I'd replaced the Butterick skirt with Vogue 7937, the image at left in the center square of the header. I'm still going to sew that since both are so clearly my style. That's one of the discoveries.

Awareness number one was that I'm very comfortable with the types of lower garments that suit me. I look better in skirts than pants and better in trouser style than straight, skinny, or tapered pants. Pencil skirts in all lengths are comfortable but best longer or an inch above the knee. A-line skirts are not at all flattering and bias cut makes me look fat. I like short skirts with flippy attitude and skirts that skim the hips, taper in at the knee and flare to the hem like Burda 8213 above. It's my absolute favourite skirt style. I don't have nearly this kind of confidence with upper garments.




I knit this sweater a year ago and have only worn it three times even though it incorporates several of my favourite things - little buttons, shaping through the side, and a wide band of ribbing. It's even in fuchsia, one of my favourite colors, only the neckline makes me uncomfortable. It's too wide.

On Saturday, I walked around in the silk dupioni top and realized - awareness number two - that I would NOT be wearing it to the Christmas party. I'm uncomfortable with so much of my shoulders showing and I don't want to be uncomfortable. I want to have fun and dance all night. That lead me to awareness number three.

Perhaps there's a reason why the patterns in the Self Imposed Sewing Club have remained unsewn for years. Perhaps, on some intuitive level, I am attracted to these patterns but recognize that they either don't suit my figure type or don't suit my fashion personality. If so, WHY - why am I attracted to them just as I loved Jane's outfit and yet when I put similar garments on my body, I'm uncomfortable. What makes me uncomfortable? What makes me comfortable?

I discussed that question with my friend on Sunday afternoon. We talked about the fine line between being unshakably entrenched in a rut and having so much confidence in your fashion personality that you're drawn to the same style lines over and over. AND... if those are your lines... how do you perk it up and make things less predictable, less boring. It's - as always - all in the details. Another awareness.

Yesterday, I took a camera into the change room to get pictures of this grey ribbed sweater. It's the one I described last week. If it were a size larger, I'd have bought it. It's not. After trying it on Tuesday, I dreamed about it for the rest of the week, figuring out how to recreate the ribbed look with a twin needle and the purple sweater knit in my stash. I have the whole sweater planned out in my mind and can hardly wait to sew it and wear it. I'm far more excited about this top than I am about the silk dupioni one. Why? Here's what I know for sure...

... I'm hugely drawn to knits and never wear woven blouses - ever
... I prefer plain fabrics with details to prints
... up to a point, low necklines are more comfortable than wide necklines
... ribbing is my favourite texture

... focal points and details are fun
... different details equal different looks

Last Tuesday night, one of the women at knit night was wearing a cream, ribbed t-shirt with rows of tiny buttons up the forearm and down from the neck. LOVED it. That's exactly me. Awareness number five (or whatever number we're at) was that I would make greater progress by focusing in on what is both comfortably me and slightly outside the box of what I'm currently wearing. This sweater qualifies. The neckline shape and the rhinestone buckle are new. I'm going to sew it only I need a buckle. We don't have any in town. Can anyone suggest an online source?

During our conversation, my friend suggested that one way to figure out which upper garments would perk up my party would be to try on more clothing in different styles. She's right. I rarely shop and rarely try things on. In essence, that's what's been happening with the Self Imposed Sewing Club. I've been sewing different styles from my norm, trying them on, and discovering if they suit me or not. My odds aren't great so far. I've sewn more No than Yes clothing. That's okay. I'm learning. HOWEVER... trying garments on at a store would be a much faster route.




I tried two other sweaters and a skirt. The skirt was a no go. The sweater above had a lace overlay and beautiful, little buttons. The lace was very soft although not stretchy. You can see a detail of it below.




The sweater was lovely if you overlook the fact that I couldn't button it over my bust and it was too short and made me look incredibly bottom heavy. Even so, I loved the knit and lace combo. Wider and longer would have been perfect and that's the wonderful thing about sewing. I can easily sew my purple sweater knit into the ribbed sweater, this lace version, or even the frilly one below.

This sweater had a low V-neck ending at bust level with a single closure. It was a wonderful length sitting right at the curve of the derriere and flattering the shape of the body with its softness and the frill. The front opening emphasized the waist making it look smaller - fabulous with a belt. The only negative...




... was the color. I have so much black and grey in my wardrobe right now that I decided I would rather spend the money on more yardage of the sweater knit and sew my own version. Fabricland still has it in several other colors, on sale 70% off. The turquoise is calling my name - VBG. Maybe later today. Right now, I need to go clean house.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - the challenge and the ability to copy, customize, and improve RTW