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I’ve been at a bit of a stand-still for completing new items, but I’m working away on a crochet cardigan, knitsweater vest, and the quilt. I did find a great pair of cords this week for £1…the best part is they already fit perfectly and I didn’t have to re-fashion/re-size them in anyway! (You can see them in the photo with a stenciled shirt I made a few weeks ago. I used contact paper, since I can’t find freezer paper in the UK. Since everyone raves about it though, I’ll have to stock up on my trip to the US this summer!) Excuse the wrinkles, please.
I do have an extremely large pair of grey cords and a pair of cargoes actually sitting in my stash waiting for the day when I’m diligent enough to give reworking them a try. A tiny projects was the order of the week: a huge tourist shirt that said ”Wild and Wooly Scotland” that I just couldn’t pass up at the charity shop. At first, I thought I would embellish it by adding yarn trailing from the sheep, onto a crochet hook, and then decided against detracting from the image. I also planned on making puff sleeves, but after tailoring the body and trying it on, I quite liked the infinished feel of the sleeves – it reminded me of a vaccation shirt from childhood. They ended up getting hemmed, but at the fantasticly loose angle which, for me, harks back to summer beaches. I also decided to forego hemming the bottom. The sleeves and bottom may be changed at a later date, but for now, I felt the need to break free from up-tight t-shirts, to make myself break the rules. Also, I might be able to find some ribbon to match, and could add that if I decide to refashion it later on!
For quite some time, I’ve been thinking I must be crocheting slower than I ever have before, since the cardigan doesn’t seem to be growning as quickly as I expect it to. Last night, however, it dawned on me that I haven’t worked with DK weight yarn yet for a garment, having only used Aran weight or hugely chunky yarn…a comforting thought.
I just found this excellent article/blog post at True Stitches about a t-shirt’s ecological footprint. Its better researched and written than my work, so check it out!
These discarded pieces of clothing – perhaps even after years of love in some cases- are my current inspiration. In fact, I cleared through my wardrobe today, searching for items to mend and to assess everything. Interestingly, even after only a few weeks of thinking in a wardrobe refashion frame of mind, I got excited when I withdrew 3-4 garments from the closet. Usually, items like this get donated, or turn into wrag, for these said garments have not been seriously worn (perhaps as pajamas or around the house in a pinch) in serveral months if at all. However, I surged with excitement when realising they were now simply pieces of fabric full of potential for me to refashion! This is hopefully where their lifecycles will take further steps towards completion.
I can no longer concentrate on my morning’s editing, and have the desire to work on all my projects at once…Which is, of course, impossible. I currently have a charity shop wool sweater in the machine for felting. I’ve never actually felted anything before, and this sweater has been sitting in my yarn stash for at least 6 months waiting for its debut. I checked it after one cycle and it didn’t shrink as much as I thought it would, but it certainly started to felt. I popped it in for another cycle, a bit uneasy about the rediculous amount of energy the process is using. Its tossing and turning in a 60C cycle, where I usually wash everything in 30C…(although if I had it my way, I’d get rid of the British machine in favour of an American one, so I could wash it COLD at 50F!).
Aside from the felting, I’m also dividing most of my time between a stash busting cardigan, and a patchwork quilt. The cardigan is Crochetme’s Sweet Sweater, a schema that I’ve used multpile times and adore. If you crochet and haven’t heard of the magazine or used the ‘pattern’ before, it allows you to make a sweater in Any size, using Any stitch and yarn!.
What’s been taking up alot of my time (though my progress wouldn’t show it), is a green patchwork quilt for my partner. We’re into green. The only thing, is that its missing some squares, so it may be a while before its complete, especially since I’m on row 4 of 13. Cheating and using a machine (I know there are quilting purists out there who do beauitful work by hand) will only expediate the process so much, until I find the coveted fabric! This will be the first time I attempt a patchwork as an adult- having only created for dolls or helped my mom, as a child. Like so many other things at the moment it will be a learning experience. I am thoroughly enjoying learning- especially since the coming year will probably only yield analytical learning, when I begin to write up my research. But for now, learning (in various incarnations) is everything.
For my birthday recently, I purchased two simplicity patterns. I figured simple top (#4177) and trousers (#4023) patterns would start me off on the right foot. In the past week and a half (how’s that for productivity/slacking in my other duties!), I’ve made three shirts I’m pretty happy with. If nothing else, I have three new tops proudly crafted from charity shop duvets/sheets (except for the tiny fruit sleeves, which were from my stash), and have learned a bit more about edging and hemming rounded necks. In terms of the pattern, I modified the short sleeves a bit, since the cotton fabric (although recommended)made a stiffer, awkward looking sleeve. To fix this, I gathered it on the outer edge and made a sort of puff/cap-sleeve. On the second shirt, I even got brave enough to stitch in a few lines of “decorative” stitching with my basic sewing machine.
I’m starting this blog today to keep my webpage clutter-free from my clothing re-fashioning endeavours. I have not officially taken the wardrobe refashion pledge because I would be too busy to post as a good refashionista should….Still, I’ve pledged to myself that for the next two months, any “new” clothing I want or need will come from a charity shop, or a sewing pattern. Who knows if anyone will stumble across this blog, or even find it interesting, but I’m looking forward to using it as my own marker of progress, and to reinforce my pledge. My goal over the Spring and Summer, is to crochet, sew, and refashion (and maybe knit here or there), all new items of clothing for my Fall wardrobe! Here’s to recycling what’s already out there, and using what I have!
