Looking forward, and a look back

 I was sailing along - glad to finally be able to see clearly after the mess that was my first cataract operation - when bam! After carefully avoiding Covid for 4 years my DH came down with it, and a few days later so did I. It seems a lot of folks getting it these days report that it’s little more than a cold, but apparently we got the Super Deluxe ‘All’ the Symptoms version. Not pleasant. And as that cleared up I had Round 2 of my cataract surgery to look forward to. To say I was nervous is an understatement, but my 1 week post-op checkup is tomorrow, and so far (knock wood) it seems to have been the routine procedure everyone claimed it would be initially. Whew!

And so, time to start thinking about some fun sewing/knitting projects for the cooler weather that is surely just ahead - and wouldn’t you know it - all crafting energy has fled. I have things I’d like to do, but the thought of actually starting them just exhausts me. Hopefully a temporary condition, but until then I’ve picked up some little things to feel productive.

I can’t face sewing an adult garment, but finally made a casual outfit for my vintage Vogue Jill doll.

Sweater is hand knit from a free Ravelry pattern ‘Basic Top Down Raglan Sweater for Blythe’ - a long title for a very small sweater! 

Her pants were copied from a PJ set that she came with when I bought her a few years back. She is a copy of my long since given away original Jill doll. She’s circa 1957, so in dire need of a spa day, so - not so different from her owner!

Haskell Testing

 I’ve finally gotten around to making up the Haskell shirt pattern from Cashmerette and I’m really pleased with the outcome. This is a club membership pattern and my first time completing any of their patterns — although I did cut out one of their non-club dresses ages ago and never completed it. The pattern was fine — my fabric choice was rubbish.

For testing I used a cotton shirting. I love the color and pattern, but it was an online purchase and a good bit lighter in weight than I would have liked. Fine for testing though, and it will be worn — although I will be refining the fit a bit in my next attempt.

The pattern has different front pieces for the cup sizes offered — heaven! A fba is a mandatory pattern adjustment for me, along with narrowing the shoulders, and it’s lovely not to have to do it myself. Since the Haskell has cut-on sleeves I didn’t need to narrow the shoulders either. My fit refinement though will be lowering the dart a wee bit — what can I say, gravity + age.

The pattern pieces fit together beautifully and instructions for constructing were clear (and copious!). I was a bit short on fabric, so I left off the front pockets and had to narrow hem the shirt instead of using a bias facing/binding. The inside is finished so nicely that I (somewhat) regretted not using French seaming for the side seams — maybe next time. All in all a pleasant sewing experience, and I look forward to making this again.

Linen - in real life

 I got my new ‘interim’ glasses last week, and it’s been such a pleasure to be able to see clearly for close-up work. Also pleasant is clearing up a project from pre-operation days — Zalia top by Style Arc.

It was cut out, interfaced and partially sewn previously, but I hadn’t managed to serge around the sleeves. I knew I wanted to see well for going around the exaggerated curves and the linen really need the edge finishing before any further sewing. So, it waited.

You’ll notice it looks unpressed in the photo. While I carefully pressed all seams during construction, I’m showing it as it looks straight from the washer and hung up to air dry. Mostly because that is the way it will be worn. I love the look of crisply ironed linen, but that only lasts about 10 seconds (on me anyway) and I’m trying to accustom myself to the look of rumpled linen. We’ll see how that goes —

I love the color, and love the sleeves so I’m hopeful !

Ye Olde Curiousity

 

I always like to look for vintage sewing items whenever we come across vintage/antique/junk stores in our travels.

The pictured box and its contents are totally unrelated, but piqued my curiousity and I found I just couldn’t leave them.

The box must have originally contained some type of threads — I suspect embroidery, rather than sewing — due to the Handbeitsgarne (handcraft yarn) printed inside the lid. As far as I can tell, the company was located in Saxony, from the mid-1920s until ?. 

Inside the box are a lot (!) of embroidered tapes — most are two initials, a few are single initials.

A Google image search identifies them (for the most part) as French laundry labels. No idea if this is accurate, and no idea how they came to be in a German thread box — but it’s fun to speculate.

I keep thinking that one day I’ll have a flash of inspiration and find some creative use for them, but so far they’ve only been used as labels to mark the back of various slacks. They seem too narrow to easily be sewn together to make yardage and while they could work as trim, the red thread doesn’t always work with the colors I tend to sew. Oh well — Don’t hesitate to share a comment if you have a clever idea!

Minor alterations

 My sight is improving, but I’m still limiting my sewing to very basic projects. I have been able to (finally) have a prescription exam done so that I can get a new pair of glasses to serve during the interim between operations — still don’t know when my right eye will be scheduled.

At any rate, I’ve been catching up with minor repairs and alterations. I had made a jean jacket from a lighter weight home dec fabric a while back, and it didn’t get worn very much. Probably it was a bit light for cooler weather and too warm for hotter weather. I saw a cute jean jacket in a catalog that had short sleeves and decided I’d try that. Sleeves were not really tapered, so it was easy enough to lop off the extra fabric and do a machine hem — they are hemmed to just slightly above my elbows. I like how it turned out, and hope to be able to finish up a yellow tank I was machine knitting to wear underneath at some time soon.

Hopefully it will receive more wear with its new look. Not this week though — we’re hovering around 94F (34-ish C) at the moment, and even light layers are too much.

Buttons…and a Tee

From Stockwell Ceramics in Cornwall, UK — some delightful buttons.

Some vintage style birds, approximately 18mm.

And some square (24 mm) William De Morgan tile designs. 

I was also happy to be able to complete a tee (Pamela’s Patterns) from the really nice Emma One Sock jersey — dead simple, but a nice addition to a casual wardrobe.

Forced Hiatus

 Sometimes your sewing mojo hits a wall, and sometimes the wall hits you. This Spring hasn’t been great for finished projects — I blame the erratic weather,  hot and sticky, wooly sweater cold, rainy — it’s been a roller coaster. It finally settled down a bit and I started a linen top (Zalia by Style Arc) in a lovely shade of blue. I was scheduled for my first cataract surgery, but thought I could make a good start and then finish it off after Few days of recuperation.  That was not to be. Complications arose, and it’s been 4+ weeks and my vision is not yet totally clear, although it’s very much improved from not being able to see at all for several days after the procedure.

I’ve managed a few small sewing repairs in the past few days, but still don’t feel confident with “good” sewing and I’m keeping my fingers away from serger blades and rotary cutters for a while longer. Oddly enough, wonky vision doesn’t preclude online fabric shopping — who would have thought? 😀

I’m looking forward to sewing up a simple tee in this lovely cotton jersey from Emma One Sock soon, and  there’s a few cuts of solid color linens waiting to be transformed.

It’s so hard to be patient when you’re itching to sew, but hopefully I’ll be back in the work room soon.