Start with a Scarf 2022: The first addition

 Ok, so it's May 1 and I'm just now posting the January addition...which I just finished sewing last week.

All I can say is...life's been busy, lol, and I was also trying to finish the required garments for the annual Stitcher's Guild SWAP competition.  I actually finished the last garment for that on Saturday, and I was going to take the pictures to post for it and suddenly realized that one of my shirts was in the laundry.

Oopsie.

So, whilst that load is running through the machines I thought I'd just go ahead and post what I have for the first installment in the the 12 months series.

For a refresher, HERE'S what Janice selected for the six different wardrobes...and here's my interpretation thereof:

A 3/4 sleeve shaped hem T shirt from Vogue 9057, an out-of-print Marcy Tilton pattern.  The cardigan is Pamela's Patterns  Cool Cardigans: Drape-front Cardigan.  I might as well admit that they are from the same fabric, so they are a dead match.  I  *might* have also made a short sleeved t from the same chunk of fabric, which could possibly show up later on...

The earrings are from Novica and I have to say that the image, which I downloaded from the site, is a bit deceptive.  The set I got is translucently *barely* pink and stupid me, I didn't look at the listed dimensions.  They are, um, rather large.  The post is stout as well, so I'm wearing them around the house a bit to get adjusted to them before committing to wearing them a whole day.  They are statement earrings, no doubt, lol.  

Janice listed black leather goods for January, so I followed suit.  I'd been looking for an excuse to get a good cross-body bag, and I finally found one (on sale!) from Wilson's Leather online.  The boots are actually from my closet...they're the boots I bought for the 2019 SWAS wardrobe and they're still in pretty good shape.  The loafers are Rockport/Cobb Hill and I may have been a little overly cautious by ordering them in the extra- wide width.  At least I can wear them with nice thick merino wool socks, lol.  I will likely order a pair in blue later in the plan and if I do I will just get the plain ol' wide width.

So, dusting off my graphic arts skills (which could easily be brushed away with the dust, lol), here's the whole set at the moment.  

 I'll actually start wearing the new stuff once the SWAP pics have been procured.

Now, off to work on the February selections.  And study what has been posted for May...

Start with a Scarf 2022: The Core

 So last night I finished the last of the T shirts for the 5-Garment Neutral Core that Janice announced back in December, lol.

I confess to being slightly intimidated by the cardigan fabric and probably that contributed to the slow start here, lol.  But to be fair...this has been a very, very busy start to 2022.

My Sweet Babboo commented last night that he's ready to Not Do Stuff for a bit, lol.

Anyway.

The neutral color for my scarf, Hydrangea by PJ Studio Associates, is navy blue, and the 5-Piece Core consists of a sweater, a long sleeved t-shirt, a textured cardigan, and two pairs of casual pants...Janice chose some navy knit pants, one heavy cotton jersey and the other knit corduroy.

So, here's my take on it:

Top Row:  Cashmere crew neck sweater by Quince.  Believe it or not, I have JUST THIS YEAR splurged on some cashmere sweaters. I had never owned one before...caught a couple of serious sales at Lands' End and then, when I was looking for a blue sweater for the core set, I found Quince. You can't beat the price.  And...wow...I really, really am a cashmere believer now.  So soft and warm, but not overly hot.  So I have ventured into new wardrobe territory already, lol.  Next up is the cable knit cardigan (Mc Call's 6844)

 And then a cotton/lycra jersey Jalie 2566, with the cobbled up long sleeves (sleeve cap from the t-shirt, sleeve length from the cardigan):

The pants are from my closet, so I didn't take specific pics of them...Sewing Workshop Helix Pants, with a pocket added, made from Telio Jockey Ponte, for which I paid about $12 a yard maybe 5 years ago?  And now sells for about $25/ yard from the same vendor.  Oy.  And a pair of slim leg dark wash jeans that I got at Talbot's at least 3 years ago.

ETA:  I forgot how to photograph these things, lol.  Here's the composite of the core set, which may be a little easier to see...

So there's a Core Wardrobe, lol.  Next up:  A pink knit twinset, plus some accessories.  Dug through my patterns this afternoon to try and make up my mind what I shall do; I may go a little wide of the recommendations but hey, it's about breaking out of the patterns I've had for a while, lol.

And I thought I'd throw this in, too, just for grins...I'm five garments in for the SWAP wardrobe, which is slightly different. I may or may not use the pants I picked for the Start With A Scarf...we'll see how much sewing I can get done before the SWAP deadline, which is in about 6 weeks.

It's the Blue Cardigan, plus 4 Jalie 2566 T's.  I had two yards of the blue jersey, so I did the same thing I did with the red merino wool...and got a long and a short sleeve T.  I will say...I have really liked wearing the merino wool T's as well. They are not as soft as the cashmere, but they have worn well so far.  It's kinda nice to know that 2 yards of 60" knit will yield a long and a short sleeved T shirt if I cut it right.

I have some garments in mind for this wardrobe...a pair of striped ponte pants, a pair of linen pants and a linen skirt, along with at least a couple more tops.  And maybe a dress. 

In six weeks. LOL.

The Cardi is Done!

 And I wore it to work today, lol

McCall's 6844, from a really intimidating cabled sweater knit.  I totally picked this pattern because...no closures, no details...it HAD to be simple, because the fabric wasn't.  It's really interesting...the cables are supported from the back with elastic threads (ignore the total color washout). 

It was a bit tricky...and the center back neckline, where the collar seams stack, was, of course, on top of one of the cables (I had to put one down the center back to look right) and was waaayyy too bulky for my serger; as a result it's a bit stretched and not at all pretty.  But it's in the back, under the collar roll, so I'mma gonna pretend it's fine.  I hand hemmed the sleeves and lower edge because I knew trying to topstitch it would be a disaster.   

It is very soft and comfy to wear, but also very warm so I'm not sure how much I'm going to get to wear it this season.  It *does* snag VERY EASILY

I'm also wearing one of the two merino wool tees I made back in February, too...the short sleeved one.  I'm thinking I'm going to use the t's in the SWAP wardrobe...there's nothing that says it HAS to work with any specific thing, so it really doesn't matter if it doesn't work with The Scarf, just as long as they work with the rest of the SWAP designated pieces. So I'm gonna do a few pieces outside the Start with a Scarf wardrobe for the SWAP.  

I need to sew faster.

Something that has been brewing....

 Well, I need a picture for Facebook so...

 Here's one that has absolutely nothing to do with my topic, just so I don't have some random thing pop up  (Moonrise over the mountain last week)

Making the 'Random' in the title carry its weight today....

Today is International Women's Day....and March happens to be Endometriosis Awareness Month. So I'm departing from my normal sewing update and actually getting a bit bold because I honestly believe that the number one women's reproductive health issue is...endometriosis.

Now, I will say up front that this is not an issue I have experienced first hand, but someone close to me has been dealing with some of the symptoms so, to learn what I could to encourage her,  I joined a Facebook education group, Nancy's Nook,  and have been following the stories and learning a lot.

The information is incredible and the suffering of so many women is heart rending.

I know that over the years I had heard that endometriosis happens when menstrual tissue 'backflows' through the fallopian tubes and becomes trapped in the abdomen.   However, that has been shown to be false...endometrial tissue has been found to be present at birth in some females, lying dormant until puberty, when it begins to cause pain.  And, while this tissue is similar to that found in the uterus, it  has been proven to not be the same. 

“Endometriosis is a systemic, inflammatory disease characterized by the presence of endometrial-like tissue found in extrauterine sites.” (Kennedy S. et al., 2005; Klemm et al., 2018; Saunders et al., 2021)...“Endometriosis is a common, benign, inflammatory, generally gynecologic disease that includes the presence and growth of dysfunctional endometrial-like glands and stroma often with reactive fibrosis and muscular metaplasia outside the uterus." (Lagana et al. 2019) From Endo Girls Blog 

Did you know that it is estimated that approximately 10% of all women of childbearing age suffer from endometriosis?

Did you know that the AVERAGE time from when a woman first seeks medical help for her condition to a confirmed diagnosis is 7 - 10 YEARS??  And even once a diagnosis is confirmed, it can be even longer...as in years longer... before they finally can get treatment?

Did you know that endometriosis is a progressive disease that worsens over time?

Did you know that women are routinely told they are imagining the pain, or are just having bad cramps, or have a low pain tolerance, or have anxiety that is causing their debilitating pain?  I read story after story of women who were dismissed with a prescription for birth control pills, or told they needed an IUD or told to 'get pregnant' to reduce their symptoms (spoiler...birth control or other hormone treatments can suppress the symptoms but  do not stop the progression of the disease).

Did you know that there are three surgical options...ablation, excision, and hysterectomy...that are available (not to all women, I might add.  Many doctors only offer hysterectomy and possibly ablation) BUT only one -- excision -- actually removes the disease?  

Did you know that endometrial excision is a highly specialized skill and there are a very limited number of physicians who are actually competent to perform the surgery?  Often women wait MONTHS for consultations/ appointments/ surgeries, traveling hundreds of miles to the nearest trained physician.  Insurance coverage is a whole 'nuther deal...going outside of the coverage area for treatment often means denial of insurance benefits, putting an enormous financial strain on women and their families to obtain the only truly effective treatment.

Did you know that there is a whole class of drugs that chemically induce menopause that are used as treatment for endometriosis, despite being ineffective against the disease and often causing permanent damage?  I am not typing the names of the drugs here because I don't want to trigger search engines but you can click through to the articles and find them.

Did you know that hysterectomy is often advised for endometriosis, even though the uterus is only involved if there is adenomyosis (endometrial tissue in the muscle tissue of the uterus)?  Removing healthy reproductive organs will not treat endometriosis, which manufactures its own estrogen.

Did you know that endometriosis lesions can literally occur just about anywhere in the body?  It is rare outside the abdominal cavity, but it does happen.

There's more...lots more...information out there, with the result that most of the women who suffer and do the research know more about endo than their gynecologists do, but are marginally treated, offered only ineffective...but costly, both in dollars and physical toll...treatments.  Some are seen as pain-pill seekers and as such are not even given strong pain meds to counter the agony.  It's not uncommon for them to be sent home with the pronouncement 'call me when you're ready to do something' when they refuse the treatment they know to be worthless or even dangerous.

I  am telling you, the stories are heartbreaking.  If you have symptoms of endometriosis, please, please educate yourself on what your options are; don't settle for something that doesn't really help and may actually hurt you. If you love someone who has symptoms of endometriosis, BELIEVE HER.  Nancy's Nook facebook group is a great place to go for information, and they have a list of vetted doctors who specialize in excision.  Not in every state, alas, but at least there is a list.

And all of us need to advocate for research in search of real treatments, honesty from the drug industry, awareness in our physicians, and support from the insurance industry to alleviate the suffering of one in ten women globally.  It is completely unacceptable that here, in the 21st century, women are still being told they are mentally ill  because they try to get help for debilitating pain.

A Blast from the Past

 Something like 3 years ago, I happened to land on a shared photo album from a fellow home sewing enthusiast...and she had a most awesome jacket posted.  I asked her for the pattern; turns out it was a long out of print Vogue Oscar de la Renta pattern.  Ah, well, perhaps I might stumble onto it one day...

Well, as we were driving back from Florida I got a message from that lovely lady, who had found a factory-folded copy of that pattern in my size.

Y'all, I ordered it right there from the car.

It came this week.

 This one's from the glory days...

SEPARATE PIECES FOR THE LINING AND THE INTERFACING.

Who DOES that anymore?

Of course, due to its vintage status, I don't expect it to have the bust point marked, or the finished garment dimensions anywhere to be found.  I haven't unfolded the tissue yet to verify it, but I can use a tape measure to determine what alterations I need.

Unless it's buried on the tissue paper somewhere, there's no copyright date to be seen; I really don't know how old it is.   The model doesn't have Big Hair, so that rules out the late 80's - early 90's, lol.  But...the price on it is $6.50, which I would put early 80's.  

Six dollars and fifty cents.

I paid a fair amount more than that, especially throwing in shipping.  But what I paid is comparable to the current list price on designer patterns.

Not sure when I'm going to work this into the sewing queue; I have done nothing to the blue cardi since I cut it out...although I did put blue thread on the serger, lol.

But I am looking at it a lot. :-)

Starting The Cardigan

 I just realized the other day that, while I have chatted in online groups about The Cardigan, I haven't actually posted about it here...

So, back in January I posted about doing the 'Start with a Scarf' wardrobe building exercise this year. But Janice didn't start the wardrobes in January...she actually picked the scarves and posted a 5-garment core group back in December.

So by January I was already 5 garments behind, lol.  Add to that the garments she posted for January and the garments she posted for February and I am really playing catch up.

I did some poking around on retail sites to see if I could purchase any of the beginning stuff that wasn't already in my closet; I found a good deal on a cashmere crewneck sweater but came up empty on everything else.  I had blue jersey knit in the stash for the knit shirts but could NOT find a blue cardigan.

So I ordered some blue cable knit from Emma One Sock and, armed with knowledge from folks who had blogged about sewing that rather contrary fabric, began the debate about what pattern I should use.

I finally settled on McCall's 6844 ...mostly because it didn't need any closures, lol.  Also no skinny little bands to deal with.  And I have made MULTIPLES of that cardi in the past...although I've always been using a nice stable double knit.  This floppy sweater knit would be a whole 'nuther deal.

I knew that the cutting would make or break it, so I  actually played around with a layout after I cleared all the procrastination other projects out of the way (I actually had to make a handful of masks for the family vacation to see the mouse last week).  But, home from vacay, nothing in the way, it was time to start.

Normally, this cardi would take about four hours, start to finish, but I spent all day today (around laundry and a couple of other things) working on cutting it out.  

First, spread the fabric evenly, being careful not to stretch anything; use a ruler to make sure the cables are dead straight, and lay the front piece so that the front seamline (where the collar/ front band joins) is abutted right up against a cable.  This puts a cable pretty much on the center of the shoulder and running down the mid front, although I do have a bit of the cable in the side seams.

Mark the notches with lime green thread tailors tacks.

Flip the front and repeat.  For the back, I put the fold line on a cable, then flipped it so the fold line was still on the same cable to cut one back piece w/o folding the fabric.  Marked the notches; cut all 4 of the collar/ band pieces with the outer edge seam on the edge of a cable; that put the jacket body seam in the middle of a cable, which may prove to be too bulky.  If it is, I will trim it off and just have a slightly narrower front band, but I did a little practice serging on scraps and it really didn't seem to have too much trouble sewing on the grainline, even over the cabled bits, so we'll see.  I cut the sleeves with a cable running down the middle, from the shoulder point to the wrist.

It is a pain to do a single layer cut out, but given the crucial necessity of everything being balanced and straight I didn't see any way around it.

This is a busy week; hoping to get to sewing on the weekend.

It is going to take me a bit to get caught up; the March wardrobe additions will drop next week, lol.  If I want to use this for the Stitcher's Guild SWAP contest, I need to get a move on... I need to sew a minimum of 9 coordinating garments by the end of April, if I use the 'one purchased, one previously sewn' options.

But in all honesty, I think the worst of this is behind me.  If it stretches too badly under the double needle I may have to hand hem it but that won't be too onerous.  

The next thing up is about 4 knit t shirts; those should go pretty fast. Then a woven shirt that might take a minute...and then whatever comes down for March...

Here we go.

In which she made nothing she wore....

 

So, this is what I wore to work on Monday.  The day after we got home from vacation; the red fuzzy blanket is mercifully covering the pile of laundry waiting to get a trip through the machines.  The white jeans and black sweater tunic are from Lands' End, I think the white shirt came from a local department store and I honestly don't remember where I got the scarf. The SAS loafers are something like 12 years old.

Why am I sharing this when I made none of it?

Because at some point on that day I clicked on my Facebook memories, and came across a rant from several years ago that was a reaction to an article I'd read online on 'How not to dress like an old person'.  I don't think that was the title, but that was the gist of the article.

One of the things that the article claimed makes one look old is 'never wearing white pants in the winter'.

Well, on Monday, I just so happened to wear white pants so I snapped a pic to prove that I surely do not look old, lol.

Seriously...and this was the point of my rant...why would 'never' doing something fashion wise make me look old?  Two days later I wore doubleknit pants with a striped t-shirt and a knit cardigan (all made by moi, btw)....did my white pants on Monday negate the fuddiduddiness of the home sewn knits?

Now, there are some things that I agree will make me look less than my best...wearing clothes that don't fit, or that are faded, pilled or otherwise worn looking, or reveal the bumps and bulges a little too literally...but to say that 'never' doing something will result in me looking better or worse on any given day is just a little far fetched.

I wore the white pants because it made me happy.  Also because, well, laundry, lol.

Which I need to hasten off to begin. Planning to start construction on the planned wardrobe this weekend...crossing my fingers it happens! 

Not the Cardi...

 So,   I bought some merino wool jersey right at the end of the year, because I wanted to see if the whole 'wool jersey t shirt' thing that I've seen promoted on social media is worth the hype...only I didn't want to spend 90 bucks on a shirt.  A T SHIRT.  

So I got a yard and seven - eigths of some nice merlot jersey from one of my favorite dealers, er, online fabric stores, because I wanted a long sleeved T and knew I'd need at least two body lengths worth of fabric, but it was pricey and I shaved a few pennies off the expense by keeping it under two yards.

Pulled out my Jalie 2566 pattern with the long sleeve I'd cobbled up between the cardigan sleeve and the short t shirt sleeve and laid it out to cut it out today, and, yes, I needed two body lengths (the long sleeve is pretty much the same length as the body pieces).  Just can't get a front, a back and a pair of sleeves out of the width of the fabric.

But I had a whole lotta fabric leftover.  I had, oh, maybe a quarter yard extra in length but with only the sleeves cut out of the second 'body length' there was a BUNCH of fabric there that probably couldn't be used for anything.

Or could it?

I finagled around and discovered that, while I couldn't get a front, back, and two sleeves off of the first body length, I COULD get a front, back and ONE sleeve, by folding in the lengthwise edges each just wide enough to cut a body front on one fold and a body back on the other, with enough single layer in the middle for one sleeve.

So, I did that twice (being careful to flip the sleeve the second time), and I could get both short sleeves and two neckbands off the bit leftover.

And this was all the fabric I had left:

So...getting two t shirts out of my pricey fabric...which was still a little less than one T shirt at retail...makes me very happy.   Having mere scraps leftover makes me exceedingly happy. Planning to sew them tomorrow so I can wear at least one of them during our cold spell next week.

I had hoped that this would work for the SWAP wardrobe but it's got just a little too much brown in it to work with the deep pinky-red in the Hydrangea Scarf.  Rats.  But...it should be quick sewing.

I think I've made up my mind on the cardi pattern.  No buttonholes or facings.... more news on that next week.

The Hoover Trunk, Part 5 : Accessories

 I *think* I have sifted all the accessories out of the bin and photographed them...maybe...

Anyway, first up, SCARVES:

I am pretty sure all of these are silk.  And they all have abraision damage/ tiny holes and/or stains.  But...what era?  The teens?  The twenties?  The fifties?  Who knows?

The first one is black w/ gold threads around the border

Then we have this red, blue and gold scarf that I love.  Such rich color!

Cream, rust, orange jacquard...the sides are reverse images.  Not sure which one is supposed to be the 'right' side

It's pretty grungy...I wonder if a cleaning would damage it or refresh it.

There were actually two of these long skinny ties; I just didn't photograph the second one.  They are woven to that width; not a tube and not hemmed.  I'm guessing an ascot type of tie?  Wrapped around the neck a couple of times and then knotted?  They're both about 4 feet long...I took this pic and then packed it up before I figured out I should make use of  tape measure, lol.

Next up, we have this interesting little printed leather bag:

I didn't realize it was leather until I actually picked it up.  

It has a little snapped case at the top...for coins, I suppose, but it could also be for a housekey.  The bag is lined, but the case is not and you can see that it's actually leather.

I don't know if the metal snap/ grommets would be useful in dating it.  I think it's adorable.

Finally, I have a couple of things that I think are more modern...I am pretty sure these gloves are from the 1960's or early 70's based on the print on the bag...and the fact that they came in a plastic bag at all:

They are nylon knit and I held my breath when I put it on...but I have small hands and it worked.  And I cracked up that shiny nylon knit was marketed as 'leather look'

The last thing I'm going to include on this batch is a sunbonnet...but I suspect that this sunbonnet was made for the Bicentennial in 1976.  I took a picture showing the black braided elastic that cinches the back but it didn't focus well; I tried to take it too close up.  But this fabric doesn't have that vintagey feel to it the obviously older cotton fabrics have...and a truly older one would not use elastic at the back neck. But even if it was made for the bicentennial, it would be about 46 years old, so that's something, lol.

There is another sunbonnet in the bin but it matches a shirtwaist and I do think it's old...at least, contemporary with most of the rest of the garments in the trunk.  I haven't photographed them yet so that'll be a later post.

And I thought the Hoover Trunk would be good for two posts, lol.  I obviously did not know what I was getting myself into.

Cleaning out the queue...

 So, as I was hunting around for the pattern I'm considering for the cable sweater knit fabric, I ran across a bundle of stripey gauze and suddenly remembered the gauze pants I'd started last summer and got half done.

And realized that they might come in handy for a Florida trip next month, so I pulled them out and finished them up.

It's a New Look pattern; I don't have the number handy but it's one of my faves for pull on pants (ETA: 6203 -- I bought it for the top, which I've never made, but the pants have been great.  I added the drawstring and the pockets)

Back when the weather was warm and I was frantically trying to figure out how to add 6" of girth to a bridesmaid's dress,  I ended up at JoAnn's for some blue satin.  Now, JA's is not handy to my house so every time I go in I do a slow walk around the place, just to see if there's anything worth taking home.  And I found this crinkled stripe cotton gauze.

Now, back in 2019 I got to go to Israel and spent some time in the Judean desert.  And I happened to have an ANCIENT (like, I think I made them in 2003?) pair of Tencel crinkle gauze drawstring pants.  Let me tell you, the were PERFECT for wearing in the heat.  So when I saw the stripey gauze at JA's I had to nab it, even though I knew I wouldn't have time to sew it up.

I cut it out a couple of weeks after the wedding and worked on them kinda hit and miss...we had a vacation in there, then it was fall and the Christmas production sewing kicked in and I stuck the pants in a bin and forgot about them.

So it just took me a couple of non-dedicated hours to get them out of the sewing room and into the closet.  They are every bit as light and airy as the old Tencel pants.  I really don't expect it to be terribly hot in Orlando in February but if it is...I'm ready, lol.

I also found a maxi dress that had stretched out and was too long; I'd cut it down but it still needed a hem.  Black thread in the machine...ok, I put in the double needle and sewed that down, too.  But it's a tank style so I won't wear it until Summer.

Part of me is wondering if I'm procrastinating...but it does feel good to finish some things.

I have a piece of merino wool for a T shirt; I may make that up this week, too, so I can wear it while it's still winter.  But after that...it's time to face the CARDIGAN.

Finishing up the alteration of recent acquisitions....

 I had a few things that had arrived of late (some later than others, lol) that needed some altering so I decided to knock that out before I hit the new wardrobe sewing.

One was a pair of fleece-lined yoga pants from Land's End, for walking on chilly days.  They were about 2" too long; I tried wearing them cuffed up but the fabric fought folding so about 1/8 of a mile out I started walking on them and spent the rest of the walk hitching them up.  Annoying.  So I whacked off a bit and then hand basted them up before I double-needled 'em to hold that fold.  No pics...they're black pants so nothing would show up anyway.

And I had two more T shirts.  One I picked up during the family road trip to Indiana last summer; one of our favorite eating places is Das  Dutchman Essenhaus in Middlebury, Indiana.  If you go....go for breakfast, order off the menu, and get the beef biscuits and gravy.  SO GOOD.

Anyway, I wanted one of their 50th anniversary shirts but there wasn't a one to be had in my size.  But...hey, no problemo, I sew.  I got a 3XL.

 It's a little big, lol.  I took the picture last summer but didn't get around to getting the shirt apart for resizing until last week.  Cut it out last night and...doggone it if I didn't have the same 'too low   armsceye' issue with it that I had with the merino top.

Well, I knew how to fix it, lol.   I didn't have  enough cut off of the sleeve to fill in the gaps, so I cut the bottom to length and used that for a fill in.  Oddly enough, the front armsceye was considerably lower than the back armsceye...what's up with that?  But no one will notice it.

 

And I have my 50th anniversary commemorative t shirt...

Finally, I have a T shirt that I ordered online a couple of weeks ago...purely for whimsy...

Tron '82...Can you believe it's been 40 years since Kevin Flynn defeated the MCP?

Me neither. 

The ONLY size available was 3XL.  Fortunately, this shirt didn't need any gap filling on the underarm...I just took it apart, re cut it, and sewed it back up.  I left it the original length; I can wear leggings with it if I want.

If I dare, lol...Anyway,  I have a Tron shirt to wear to the Magic Kingdom on our long-planned whole family trip  in a few weeks; the Lord willin' and the Covid don't rise...

Moral of this story:   So what if the t shirt you love isn't available in your size?  If you can sew, you can make it work!

The Year's First Remake

 So, back before Christmas, I bought some socks from a bee-themed online sock maker; I like giving nice socks at Christmas (their merino wool socks will change your life, no joke there).  They've branched out into other garments as well, and I've been intrigued with the whole 'merino wool t shirt' thing I've seen.  So I thought I'd get one to see if the hype is true.  

The long-sleeved t I ordered wasn't 100% merino wool...it's blended with viscose...but it didn't cost $90 like some others, either, although I still thought it was a ridiculous amount of money for a t shirt.  But, given that merino jersey sells for about $30/yard, what you gonna do?

Well...when it got here and I put it on, I thought, maybe they'd better stick to socks....the fabric was nice and light and lofty, the color was good, the thumb holes are kewl, but...

Holy saggy bosomed batwtings, Batman, that looks awful.  Maybe I ordered a size too big?  My bust measurement put me right at the bottom of the XL range but I didn't want a snug fit, so that's what I got...

I think the armseyes are just cut Too Low.  It fits well at the hips.

But, you know, I really didn't want to mess with a return and I can't find fabric like that anywhere and I kinda specialize in recutting t shirts these days so... let's give it a go.

Unpick the seams, remove the sleeves, and open the sleeve seam to just above that coverstitched cuff that I did NOT want to remove.

Stack the sleeves, being very careful to keep right sides together:

Now, lay the selected t shirt pattern sleeve pattern over the cap, matching, as much as is possible,  the underarm seam lines.

 Whack off the excess sleeve cap.  This should take care of the extra long sleeves.

Now, fold the t-shirt body in half and, since I happened to grab the back first, lay the back over the fold, matching the fold line on the pattern and the intersection of the armsceye and shoulder seam.

Uh-oh.  The armsceye dips too low.  Um, what if I use the sleeve cap pieces I cut off to fill in the gap?

Let's cut the sides down, first.  

I morphed from the narrowest bit of the pattern out to the existing sideseam at the hem; I didn't want to narrow the hip area.  Just the top/shoulders.  Repeat for the front

Then, I cut the extra sleeve head bits in two and put one half on each underarm to fill in the gap and re-cut the armsceye.

I will not lie; I put a couple on backwards and had to redo them.  I don't have any intermediate pics, but here's the finished underarm, after adding the sleeve and closing the underarm seam:

Not dead perfect...it was not an exact process...but way better, doncha think?

 

 

 

Crazy to remake the thing, given what I paid for it, but I will wear this.

 ETA, looking at those pics...I think I ended up with the sleeves on the wrong sides, lol.  I was careful to put the back sleeve bit of the pattern against the back sleeve bit of the sleeves BUT...the fabric was wrong sides out.  I'm not sure, but I think I laid the pattern on right side up...which would have flipped the sleeves right to left. Wouldn't matter...except the thumb hole really is on the wrong side of the wrist, lol.  Doesn't hurt it; it just looks odd if you look close. But, you know, the original sleeve was twisted when I put my thumb through the holes, so...maybe it came that way and I didn't realize it.  Yeah, that's it. LOL.

I have a couple of more alteration projects in process to finish out before I dive into the scarf wardrobe sewing.  

Gives me a bit of time to ponder exactly what I'm going to do with that gorgeous but unstable cable sweater knit that arrived last week for the core wardrobe, lol.

Start with a Scarf 2022: Here We Go!

 Well....here we go again.

My wardrobe needs a bit of refreshing; I really haven't sewn much for it since the middle of  2019, despite the continued influx of new fabric (albeit at a slower pace than years past...still, it's coming in way faster than it's being sewn).

Back in December, I started to consider attempting another year long sew-along with The Vivienne Files Six Scarves 12 Months wardrobes.

But I hadn't been wearing scarves much; a scarf and a facemask really don't work well together....especially if the facemask is made of printed cotton and not a solid.  But masks are getting less and less expected, especially for folks who are vaccinated, and I was thinking a  scarf-based wardrobe might just be the push I needed to get the scarves back into the rotation.

One of the scarves I pulled out to consider was this one that I'd spotted a year or so ago and was utterly smitten with:

(Hydrangea Scarf from PJ Studio Accessories via Wolf and Badger)

I don't remember the occasion but I snagged it at a SIGNIFICANT discount. But it, like the other scarves I've collected in the last two years, has just languished in the closet.  

Well, this year Janice posted about the 2022 scarves on Christmas Eve; typically that post goes up on Jan 1 (or shortly thereafter).  But she has completely reimagined the approach to the wardrobe building this year and, as shown in the linked post, she's starting each wardrobe off with five garments in the neutral color.

All of the scarves are from PJ Studio Accessories...and one of them is the Hydrangea scarf!  She picked a scarf I actually own!

If that's not A Sign...I don't know what is.

Now, I had originally thought I'd use black as the neutral with that scarf, with mint, rose, royal and white as the accents:

But Janice used black as the neutral for a different wardrobe; this one gets navy blue as the neutral:

Now, I have SOME navy in my wardrobe but I will definitely have to add some.  The five garments she posted as the core of the wardrobe are a long sleeved crew neck t shirt, a button-up cardigan sweater, a pullover sweater and two pairs of (rather casual) pants.  

I have navy pants...two pair and a couple of pairs of nice dark wash jeans...but the tops, well, not so much.  I did poke around online; tried to buy the sweaters she had linked but for some reason I couldn't use the discount I'd been emailed from that vendor just a day or two earlier that was supposed to be good through the week...and in a fit of pique I closed down and started looking at fabric sites.

I may be sewing in the upstairs room before I quite get it set up...

When Janice's 1/3 post was not about the scarves, I thought I had all month to come up with the five core garments, but the 1/5 post was about the first additions to the core:  A long sleeved knit shirt and a cardigan (a twinset in some wardrobes), two pairs of shoes, a bag and a pair of earrings....chosen to expand the wardrobe enough for a weekend getaway.  The pink she chose for the Hydrangea wardrobe is lovely...and, with some hunting, I think I found a pretty close matching knit to concoct my own version of the twinset.  So that's five garments to make this month

I think I will cut myself a little slack; if I'm late, I'm late.  Maybe I will be caught up by May.

I've joined the Stitcher's Guild S(ew) W(ith) A P(lan) contest again this year; hopefully I can meld the two challenges into one.

Here's to more garment sewing in 2022!