Slow Sewing

One of my goals for this year is to do more slow sewing. To me this means making things to try out new techniques and ideas without being driven by the end product, taking more time to plan and work through projects, and enjoying the process as much as possible. Light apparel is not my strength and I haven’t made any lingerie or swimwear for years, so when I saw some of the students at my work making bra-cup petticoats I thought I would give it a go.

The pattern was lots of fun. It is manipulated form a petticoat block which is adapted from a dress block. I made the stock size 12 as that is pretty close to my size and I think I will use the block a lot in the future. For my first try I made a classic petticoat using stretch lace, double knit nylon tricot, and scalloped elastic. This was the first time I had used my A10 binding attachment for my plain sewer and It took me as long to set it up and feed the binding into it as it did to sew the rest of the petticoat! It worked well though, and I would have used it to make the straps but being double knit they were pretty bulky. I am pleased with the finished result, although I wish I’d had enough lace to finish the hem. I haven’t decided what to do with it yet, cover-seaming seems heavy handed on such a light garment.

Classic bra cup petticoat

For my second petticoat I thought I would make it is something I was more likely to wear. Given my aversion to synthetic fabrics I chose Viscose/Lycra, cutting the lace panels out of the same fabric, but bagging them out with the fold along the top edge. I used the binder to make the straps for this one. Although I like the fabric more, I think the design works better with the lace as the panelling is a bit pointless without it. If I were to make this again I would eliminate the side seams (which for my figure are virtually straight anyway) and shift the suppression to a centre back seam.

Viscose Spandex petticoat

 

So a lovely afternoon slow sewing. In contrast today I cut, fused and sewed four pairs of trousers for an order. A bit of a flashback to my old life in fashion where I was constantly trying to make things faster and more efficiently, but still very satisfying in its own way. 

Fine Crochet

My mother gave me some beautiful crochet pillowcase trims last year that have inspired me to try some fine crochet work. These trims came from my Nana, (I’m not sure if she was the one who made them), and have been sewn on to and unpicked from numerous pillowcases over the years. I have sewn them on to some plain white pillowcases I bought and they are surprisingly robust. I just turn the pillowcases inside out and they go through the washing machine fine.

I have been playing with some circular crochet motifs using a roll of ‘Gimp’ thread left over from when I used to have an industrial buttonholer. I have been trying different size hooks and making up the patterns as I go along.

This is a crochet necklace I made a while ago using embroidery thread and simple circular double crochet. I love wearing it as it is so light and comfortable.

Once I get a bit better at fine crochet I will try making some of my own pillowcase trims that I can give to other members of the family and hopefully continue this tradition.