After a great deal of thought (lie), I’ve decided that I should try using this space to record my thoughts and progress on sewing. We’ll see how this goes? It doesn’t make sense to me that four years have passed since the last time I thought about this. Almost everything is different, but I’m still here sewing. (Here is not Hawaii though, I suppose.)
This week I’m working on a Grainline Reed skirt. I really desperately wanted to finish that yesterday, but that turned out to be unrealistic. And then I wanted to finish it today, but I ended up staying an extra hour after teaching my class today so that my students could get a little closer to finishing their projects. So I finished hand-sewing the waistband facing down, and that feels good. I just have buttonholes and the hem left for tomorrow. I’ve unfortunately decided I don’t really love the fabric I used. It’s a stretch twill I bought years ago at Treadle Yard Goods, and it has this sort of sheen from whatever makes it stretchy, and it just looks… I don’t know, like boring business casual nonsense from Anne Klein? That’s probably not fair, but I really don’t like stretch wovens, and I’m glad I don’t buy them anymore.
After I finish the Reed skirt, I’m going to make a short-sleeved Patina from this very old plaid shirting that I bought at SR Harris at least ten years ago. It’s honestly horrifying, there’s this silvery thread that makes it look like something a Disney Channel star wore to a daytime awards show in 2002. I think it’ll be fine if I just use the wrong side as the right side; the silvery nonsense isn’t really visible. I’ve made two long-sleeved Patinas already, and thanks to a ton of help from my coworkers, they fit really well, so I’m psyched to see if the pattern will work with short sleeves and strange plaid.
I’ve obviously got many other projects going, but I’m trying very hard to reorient my brain to actually also finish projects too. I’m going to finish quilting a quilt for my niece as soon as the Reed skirt is done, and then I’ve got several baby quilts and friend quilts to make. I’m making an apron for a friend who’s been going through it lately, so maybe I’ll splurge on some good quality linen? Oh and I bought some absolutely amazing cat knit fabric to make a tank top for my partner (because our cat’s name is Tank, it’s a Tank tank, DO YOU GET IT), and the practice tank I made for him is maybe the best I’ve ever done at sewing knits, so I’m excited to make the real version.
Writing here might actually be a good idea. I thought I had a good sense of where I’m at in terms of projects, but rereading all that makes me think I could stand to be more realistic about how much one person can get done. We’ll see what I’ve accomplished by next week I suppose.