Last week, I posted a knit top made from a thrifted elephant print. I really love the pattern, and I’m a sucker for a puffed sleeve (courtesy of Anne-with-an-E), so I made another one.
The fabric I used is a sweater knit, purchased this summer at Walmart; one of their five-for-five deals (5 yards for 5 bucks!):
It is truly impressive, a lightweight knit with a nice feel to it, which is holding its shape very well as I sit here wearing it. The exciting part is that there is a lot of yardage left over, so I can make some other Fall basics in other styles, which I know will get more than their share of wear.
Last time, I felt the top was a bit too big, so I cut the pattern down to the next smaller size. The exception was the sleeve. I find the sleeves on McCall’s patterns to be tight on my formerly athletic arms, so I graded into smaller seam allowances. This knit is less stretchy than the elephant print, making this all the more necessary.
I cropped the sleeves to 3/4 length. I prefer a shortened sleeve, as I know they’ll be pushed up anyway, and in cold weather I’m just going to be adding layers as it is.
Sometimes, it’s nice to have a quick, simple project like this; a sort of palate cleanser, if you will… Now back to the challenging stuff!
It’s been here forever
This soul of mine
And all of the me’s that I’ve been
Too many lifetimes
Have brought me to this
Where are my wings to fly?
I watched a great wave
Crash over my head
I felt a great beast on my back
The sword of my enemy
Tore through my chest
So many battles I’ve lost
Who is the stranger
Inside of my face
Looking at you through my eyes?
Can somebody tell me
Where I have gone?
It is time to be born yet again
I’ve watched my rebirth
Thousands of times
Such staggering numbers to count
All I can do
Is take my new feet
And place them in someone’s new shoes
There are new paths to tread
Though I’ve walked them before
I think, though I can’t be too sure
Nothing is ever
Quite as it was
I look forward, though deep down I yearn
It’s been here forever
This heart of mine
Has felt a collective pain
The you’s that I’ve been
In spirit and flesh
Are calling me home to myself
Scraps galore! Most of them were sourced from someone else with great intentions. But will I really use them all? I doubt it.
At the beginning of September, I jumped on board with a month-long Instagram challenge called “Sew Yourself Sustainable” or #sewyourselfsustainable. It was a no-brainer. Sustainability is a huge part of my life, informing many of my choices. Having daily prompts gave me a little jump start, as I contemplated whether or not to continue doing Instagram at all. At first, it was fun. Then, it became redundant. I mean, how many ways can you really tease this topic out? As the month progressed, I began to feel uncomfortable… Is my current wardrobe actually sustainable? Can I really enjoy what I have if I’m always creating new things? Is social media driving us to needlessly create in the name of building a personal brand and grow our online influence? Am I trying to take a sustainable approach to something that’s actually quite the opposite? Is my approach really as sustainable as I want to believe? If a tree falls in the woods…? You get the picture.
I stopped doing the challenge after a little over three weeks. Since then, I’ve been really thinking about it all. Is sewing sustainable? The short answer, in my opinion, is NO. Can it be approached sustainably and in a manner that reduces overall impact? Yes. The act of sewing, itself, is an important contributor to sustainable living. The ability to make do and mend requires it. I’ve fixed many hems, darned many socks and upcycled more than my share of garments over my lifetime. My Depression Era grandmother taught me well. However, anyone who has come of age since post-War America knows all too well how much our lives are commodified, especially in this era of personal branding. We buy things. We sell things. We sell our own carefully crafted images to influence others and bring in extra household income. It gets complicated.
In order to really answer this question, we must consider: what actually constitutes a sustainable wardrobe? There are so many books, articles, documentaries on this topic, but I’m going to break it down simply, based on my own experience:
A sustainable wardrobe is acquired based on consideration of overall impact, both globally and locally. How was it produced? Who made it? Were they compensated appropriately? Where did the materials come from? What was polluted in the process? How far did it travel? Where will it end up when I’m done with it? We have to consider every small aspect, because the impact is tremendous.
A sustainable wardrobe considers need vs. want. Are there any gaps in my wardrobe? Probably not, for the vast majority of us. If not, then anything I’m adding to it comes into question. Basic jeans, when I’ve already made several pairs, are no longer basic. They’re “sew frosting.” But then, what constitutes ‘need’ varies from person to person, as well. This is where it gets even more complicated.
A sustainable wardrobe is carefully planned. There are many ways to build a capsule wardrobe, and many ways to define it. It doesn’t have to be a breton striped shirt, classic white button front, single trench coat, black cigarette trousers, and two pairs of ballet flats – one black and one in a color of choice. And it doesn’t have to be 33 pieces. I mean, who has the right to impose actual numbers on everyone else? No, thank you. Even so, sustainability requires mindfulness, a clear sense of purpose, and some core principles and standards that breed individual accountability. These are going to vary, but guiding principles are generally involved.
Okay, so that’s a start. There’s a lot to unpack. I consider myself a sustainable person, and people who know my partner and myself in real life are always amazed at how simply we live. But sewing is an art form to me. Fashion design is a form of three-dimensional, living, breathing art – a sensual form of expression. Sewing isn’t just a hobby. I’ve studied costume history extensively and been to design school. I stayed home on Friday nights in high school to sketch out ideas, and used to sneak into fancy boutiques as a teenager to inspect the insides of couture garments and sketch them in my little notebook. In the same way a painter has to paint, fabric is my medium. You can’t just paint on one or two canvases, call it a capsule art collection and be done. For some of us, what we are doing is a big part of who we are. The only way we are going to perfect our work and expand our repertoire is to do it often. Also, for many of us, we have other careers and aspirations. This is not something we want to do for others in that way, or have our livelihood depend on it. We are primarily our own muses. In the olden days, I would have been the town dress maker, but in the modern world, artisan culture is a very different thing. Oh, the dilemma.
How is sewing unsustainable (I feel the controversy brewing)?
It is part of the cycle of production and consumption. We are not in factories overseas. We are in our own little sewing corners in our own little homes. But we are still using stuff. We may not be shopping in clothing stores, but we are still filling our closets with more than we need (guilty as charged). We are using fabrics, zippers, buttons, tools, interfacing, thread, closures, clasps, etc., etc. Think of all the itty bitty plastic zipper teeth. Where will they end up when they stop being a zipper? You’re using organic fabric? Well, your interfacing and thread are synthetic. If you can afford fancy organic thread, good for you. It’s not easy to find and it’s expensive. I can only be so sustainable on my budget. I’m going to need more than a few dainty colors, all dyed in beet juice and green tea, in my thread repertoire. I buy most of my fabric second hand, and even some of my notions. I also pull the zippers and buttons off of things when they are ready to go to fashion heaven (the landfill). But you can’t repurpose jean buttons, rivets, etc. once they’re hammered on there. You have to buy brand spanking new. Even if the denim in your jean jacket is thrifted, you need several types of thread and new pretty buttons. What about the patterns? My collection is extensive. That’s a LOT of tissue paper, glossy inserts, pretty envelopes with colorful ink… depressed yet? Don’t be. I’m not. I use mostly thrifted fabrics, so it could be worse. Except…
It still relies on the excessive consumption of others. If it wasn’t for other people’s dead hoarder relatives and Marie Kondo’s magical art of tidying up, I probably wouldn’t have the glorious fabric stash that I do. I’m not shopping for everything at real fabric stores, but someone did. Someone else’s Hobby Lobby binge is my latest #ecofashion #sustainablewardrobe #memadeeveryday post on my Instagram page, God rest their souls. I’m so glad everyone is tidying up. I’m lying in wait outside the Goodwill distribution center, ready to pounce like a lion in the Serengeti. Not really, but my heart does have a tendency to start racing when I pull into the parking lot at Saver’s Thrift Store. True story. As other people’s sewing rooms clear out, mine is piling up (what the professionals refer to as “fabric transference.”) Like I said, I’m going to sew. It’s an art form to me. Even if I were doing for other people as a career, I’d still be making garments – they’d just be in someone else’s closet. I’d be relying on someone’s consumption. Regardless, maker’s gonna make. There’s something about all those patterns and fabrics sitting there that fuels this drive. Should we step back, enjoy what we have, focus on more artistic projects that take time and true artistry? Should we log out of Instagram so we aren’t constantly, shall we say, ‘inspired?’ Don’t feel judged – I’m not planning to, myself. Many people make necessary income from their pages. It’s a form of media, and people should get some compensation for their time and efforts. The economic landscape has changed, and we are all navigating our way through it all. But it’s good to put it out there and chew on it a bit.
Just because a clothing item is #sustainable according to social media and fast fashion standards, doesn’t mean its existence is good for environmental welfare overall. As we speak, I am sitting here in a top made from thrifted polyester fabric. Dude – it’s cute. The whole thing cost about 5 bucks. Frugalista over here! And I brought new life to a very 90s piece of yardage. However, when I wash this polyester mamba jamba, guess what? Plastic microparticles will go flooding from my washing machine into our oceans, destroying microscopic ocean critters and contributing to the unfolding catastrophe that is plastic pollution. So, what are we supposed to do? Throw all this fabric in the trash? Just use it and forget about it? I don’t know. This is a much more complicated issue than many of us know how to deal with. We’re pretty far down this rabbit hole. Yeah, there are thingies for our washing machines to help prevent this. The point is: we can do our best to make our sewing hobby as sustainable as possible, but we are still going to run into the same environmental issues as the rest of the global fashion industry, and we have to be careful not to hold ourselves too aloof from the rest of the fashion world. We are still participants in the big picture, whether we think so or not. The garment we have produced may have resulted in far less impact, but that doesn’t mean that we are making NO impact at all.
Are you feeling glum? Don’t. I love fashion. Always have, always will. I’m asking all these questions because I’m looking at my own life and asking the hard questions as my own devil’s advocate. I want to explore this topic more, address more of the questions I posed early on, and look at the positive side of it all. Stay with me. We’ll get there.
My pattern collection. Well, I took the most conscious approach I could in organizing it. I repurposed plastic salad cubbies, old office supplies, a sturdy old piece of furniture. But that’s a lot of tissue paper. And buying factory farmed organic lettuce in plastic packaging? We don’t have time for that just now…
Last month, when I did my big thrifted fabric binge purchase, I found this cute little sweater knit:
I’ve used this type of fabric before. It is NOT fun to work with. It’s thin and drapey, and refuses to cooperate. The sewing machine loves to chew it up. And pattern matching on this one? It nearly brought me to tears – the angry kind that involve throwing your pattern weights across the room. But I was determined and I persevered.
Views A and B are a hard no – as in never, ever. I think designs like this are gross and unattractive. There, I said it. No apologies. I like View D. It’s very ‘Anne of Green Gables longing for puffed sleeves.’ I’m saving that one for a heartier, more forgiving fabric. For this project, I chose View C:Cutting it out was the hardest part. The fabric moved all over the place, the thin pins kept falling out, and trying to make sure the pattern on front and back would line up at the sides was complicated by these factors. It took a very long time and was beyond frustrating.
The construction was very straightforward. The challenges really came down to matching up the stripes along the side seams, dealing with the unforgiving nature of the knit, and getting the sleeves set into place so that the print on each one was in the same spot left and right and front and back in terms of how they matched up to the bodice. Visually, while there wasn’t the possibility of perfect pattern matching in these spots, having the sleeves match one another gives it a clean, professional look. This involved making sure the gathers were distributed JUST right on both sides. This normally doesn’t matter so much when working with solids or simple prints. It’s just a directional print issue. It took a second attempt along the back right sleeve to get it right, but it was worth the extra effort.
This top has a few random imperfections. Why is the right sleeve roomier than the left? Why? I have no idea. Must be at the cutting stage that I ended up cutting it a little roomier. Who knows…. I need to work more with scary fabrics like this and improve my skills. Knits are a skill set of their own, but knits like this just take practice, practice, practice. I’m sure there are all kinds of little tips and tricks out there, and I intend to learn them. Overall, I’m pleased with the result:
Sometimes, a sewing project seems deceptively simple, but there are many little nuanced issues that have to be addressed. It ends up taking just as long as seemingly more difficult projects. That’s just the way it goes. Speaking of more difficult projects, I have a blouse/dress hack on the docket for today. Can’t wait to get started.
When I found this fabric at Austin Creative Reuse I was intrigued:
According to the selvage, it’s an Alexander Henry print, which excited me all the more. Alexander Henry’s fabric designs are so amazing. I’m coveting some Frida Kahlo prints on Etsy as we speak. There was only a yard at 45 inches wide, but I really, really wanted to make it into something great. I already knew in my heart that McCalls’s 7900 View B was what I wanted to make, but it would involve some serious creativity:
Luckily, that same day, I also bought the following print:
When I saw them sitting there in the stack together, it was obvious what I would do: the bodice would be made from the face print, and the sleeves and ruffles would be made from the contrasting print. Here’s the result:
I wanted to use buttons from my stash, and the only thing I had on hand that worked were these:
They are wooden with the flowers painted on, and came in a package of coordinated buttons I purchased about 3 years ago at Joann’s. I’m glad they finally found a happy home!
The pattern was designed with different cup sizes, so I took advantage of this. I also did my usual grading from a smaller size along the width into a size bigger along the length. I always do this to accommodate my height and torso length. However, some of this torso length is also due to my cup size. It was overkill, and the blouse is a little too roomy through the upper bust and shoulders. When I make this pattern again – and I will! – I will simply use the smaller size, but the larger cup. Practice makes perfect. Overall, it turned out the way I want and I’m happy with it.
When I found this piece of fabric at the Saver’s in El Paso, I almost didn’t get it. It was clearly not the most expensive of fabrics, but there was nice amount, it was 58″ wide, and it seemed like it could make some nice, warm basics for Fall. At $2.99, I figured, why not? I have no idea what the fiber content is, but it felt a bit like sweater knit. I decided to use McCall’s 7574, a pattern I had recently purchased for $1.99 at Joann’s.
Honestly, I have no idea why I chose this pattern. I’m not really into athleisure. But I had carefully chosen a variety of different knitwear patterns, with the intention of being able to hack any knit piece I would want going forward – a noble intention. It was really the dress in View D that caught my eye, so it seemed like a great pairing. The fabric is black, but it’s one of those blacks that looks almost like a dark espresso brown in bright light. I was already styling it with western boots in my mind’s eye.
Bada bing, bada boom. I cut the thing out and started whipping it together. This one seemed pretty straightforward. Right? Right. But then…I went to try it on. Here’s the thing – no matter how many years you’ve been doing a thing, you will make rookie errors. Here’s another thing – if it doesn’t stretch, it’s not knit. This fabric was NOT knit. What was I thinking? Luckily for me, the design include a center back seam. All I had to do was install a lapped zipper.
In light of the fact that I was actually using a woven fabric for a knitwear pattern, I had to make a variety of adjustments. Here is the full list:
Install a nice, longlapped zipper along the center back seam.
Eliminate the side pockets, to improve the silhouette and get rid of the bulk (probably would have done this anyway).
Eliminate the neck band. It would not have lain properly because of the differences between the way knit vs. woven patterns are drafted. Anyone who’s sewn knit tops will get this. Instead, I overlocked the neck edge and folded it under. I whipped stitched it into place to create a neat, clean neckline.
Reshaping the shoulder seam – I had to really work at making the shoulder seam lay perfectly into place. The sleeve is divided into two parts, front and back. So, you attach the front sleeve to the front, the back sleeve to the back, then sew it all together along the shoulder. The shaping is weird, all bumpy and lumpy. It was sheer dumb luck that I got it as smooth as I did.
I now have a versatile, good-looking, very comfortable item that I’m thrilled to have in my wardrobe:
I will not make this pattern again. I just don’t see the effort being worth a repeat, even with the proper fabric. The shoulder seam alone was annoying enough to make me say, “Nope. Not again.” The mistakes were all mine, but sometimes you have to be reminded that rules are rules. You can only defy the Laws of Physics so much in sewing. It’s true, you’re really never done learning until you’re dead, and even then, who knows? Happy to move on to the next project…
The Agnes Tee from Tilly and the Buttons is becoming one of my most-loved patterns. You really can make every style of fitted knit top from this pattern, and then some. I have now made three tops and a dress. Here are the first three projects:
Left: Crew-necked version, using two backs instead of a front and back; full-length sleeve with elastic detail. Center: Scoop-necked version, with half-length elasticized sleeves. Right: Crew-necked version, with half-length elasticized sleeves, hacked into a dress.
The possibilities are endless. So, when I found this little piece of thrifted knit at Austin Creative Reuse, I decided to try another variation on this pattern:
You really can’t beat the price! I decided to make this one with the shirred neckline and the simple half-sleeve. It will work great for warmer weather, and be easy to layer under things as the weather cools down.
The only change I made was at the neckline. I chose to install the shirring at the neckline without elastic. I had tried the elastic, but didn’t like how it looked. Regular, old-fashioned gathers did the job beautifully. I know I really love something when I want to compulsively sew more variations of it. On that note, my compulsive tendencies are pulling me to the sewing machine…
All month, I’ve been part of an Instagram challenge called ‘Sew Yourself Sustainable,’ related to all the aspects of sewing and building a conscious wardrobe. These are the themes:
I’ve been posting the daily challenges mainly in my Instagram stories, and saving them in my highlights, week by week. As I worked my way through the challenges, I began to really think about my wardrobe and what sustainability means for me. Since starting my Instagram page a year ago, I find that I’m more inclined to post and wear the things I’ve made. However, I still have a nice little chunk of clothing that I purchased over the years and still love, yet never wear because of social media. NOT okay. If I have a closet full of sustainably made clothing but only wear them once or twice, then I’m living in an illusion. I think it’s a form of FOMO. My relationship with social media is the same as a little girl sitting in a meadow with a daisy, pulling petals off one by one, “I love you, I love you not, I love you, I love you not…”
Let’s face it. As someone who can make my own clothes, anything I buy is going to be special. I wouldn’t buy it otherwise. So I dedicated myself to spending a week-ish wearing outfits focused on clothing I haven’t made. The passion to create is always going to be at odds with my passion to be sustainable. This conversation will always be there. So I’ve committed myself to wearing my whole wardrobe with utter abandon and embracing all the great variations I can get from the items I’ve lovingly chosen, me-made or not! This is a no-brainer for the non-sewist, but for those of us for whom this is a passionate art form, the dilemma is real. So, I’m just going to keep posting my makes, wearing my stuff, and accept the imperfections and inconsistencies that go along with this lifestyle.
Here are the outfits from my #noididntmakethis challenge within a challenge:
Day One: Top from Earthbound Trading Co., cropped from original length, worn with me-made jeans.
Day Two: Top and necklace from the clearance rack at Cavender’s Western Wear, worn with my Lander pants.
Day Three: Another top from Earthbound Trading Co., paired with brown Levi’s I found for ten bucks on the little boy’s clearance rack at Starr Western Wear in El Paso. Ten bucks!
Day Four: I found this tunic at a random boutique in Fredericksburg, TX. Fredericksburg is a cute, little, German-themed tourist town about an hour-and-a-half east of Austin, right in the heart of Texas wine country. It is full of shops and restaurants, and is home to the National Museum of the Pacific War. I love spending occasional Saturdays there.
Day Five: This green dress is yet another great find from Earthbound Trading Co. Every time we are in Fredericksburg, this is one of the shops I pop into.
I couldn’t make it for a full seven days, because I couldn’t wait to get back to the me-made outfits. I’ve finished a few things I want to share. But here are a few other honorable mentions from the past in my closet show-and-tell:
This poncho is yet another bargain from Earthbound Trading Co. Same with the scarf. I’m really not trying to advertise for them! I can’t wait for the weather to cool down so I can get out my ponchos.
My plaid shirt obsession began with this rodeo cut men’s Wrangler shirt, picked up at Starr Western Wear in El Paso. My love for western detailing and plaid is evident in my sewing. Now that it’s Fall, this sucker will be in regular rotation. Men’s western shirts are the one thing I would actually enjoy making for someone else.
I found this top at the Saver’s Thrift Store in El Paso. I don’t shop for clothing at thrift stores, yet it seems that way from the outside. I can be walking past aisles of clothing, headed to another section, and hone in on one item. I’ve always had that kind of radar. I was on my way to the fabric section, and this $3 top jumped out at me. Sold.
The theme here? When I do buy clothing, there is usually a bohemian theme, some sort of special detail like embroidery, and it’s at a bargain price. So, I guess my style is best summed up as retro-boho with a touch of thrift store ecclecticism. My love of history and ‘time travel’ informs what I wear. I don’t believe in trying to define your style up front. I believe in going after what makes your heart sing, in accordance with your core principles, and letting your style declare itself on its own. It’s an ongoing journey that will shift with age, season, life experience, new discoveries, roles we’ve chosen. Style, like life, has a way of surprising us. Enough of that. Moving on.
Vintage coat. I’d make one, but why reinvent the wheel?
Finally! I finished my New Year’s sweater. It only took nine months to make a sweater that I whipped out last year in two days…sigh. There is no excuse other than procrastination. At least I’ll be ready when the cold weather rolls around. Anyway, I love a thick chunky knit. I also like to have a January knitting project to help me wile away the post-holiday winter blues. There’s nothing like staying inside on a cold January day with a knitting project, a warm cup of tea, and the five-hour BBC version of Pride and Prejudice.
Last year, I tried out the Lillium sweater, a kit fromWe Are Knitters. I had been in such a knitting slump, and thought a kit would help. Here’s the result from last year:
Big hair, don’t care!
I decided to make another Lillium sweater. This time I wanted it to be a neutral or cool-toned red. In the interest of my budget, I purchase eight skeins of Lion Brand Heartland Thick & Quick yarn in Redwood (113). Using a combo of coupons at Joann’s, the total came to right around $36, just under the $40 budget I set for this project.
I hacked the style of this pattern to make it look different from the other one. The top half of the front and back pieces are in reverse stockinette and the bottom half are in regular stockinette:
The front and back pieces are identicalThe front and back are attached at the shoulder seamsSleeves are attachedThe sweater in finished and it’s being blocked
It’s a simple design, but adds visual interest to a basic piece. I doubled the yarn in order to get the proper gauge on number 19 needles (which the pattern calls for). I won’t detail what I did out of respect for the pattern designer – I don’t want to give her work away for free. But I will say, the Lion Brand yarn is a nice substitution of you already have the pattern. The result seemed to come out a little longer and narrower than the first one, but I like that it looks like a completely different sweater. The sleeves needed much more adjusting than the bodice – I’m not sure why… I cast on 8 more stitches per sleeve, but otherwise followed the same instructions as before. I’m happy with the result!
Well, I wrapped up my Summer projects, and now I’m gearing up for the next round of sewing. Of course, no matter what I plan, it will inevitably change as new inspiration, new thrifted fabric scores, and random ideas come along. That’s the nature of the beast. But I already have some things cut out. These are my plans so far, in no particular order:
I’m making the top on the right, but cropping the sleeve to the length of the one on the left.
This skirt is going to be midi length, with all the facings made from a cute print I found in my mother’s scrap bag.
I’m so excited about this one. The blouse in View B is going to serve as the bodice for a retro, button-front shirt dress. I’m self-drafting the skirt, and the rust-colored cotton is going to be the contrasting collar.
I’m making my Fella a short-sleeved version of the shirt in View A, complete with pearlized snaps and classic Western detailing.
I’m making the hoodie in View C. I’m not much of an athleisure person, but the shirred sleeves and the color and Southwestern print of the fabric won me over.
This is going to be the blouse in View B. The face print will serve as the main body of the blouse, and the challis print will become the sleeves and ruffles.
This chiffon will become View A. I think this is going to be perfect with my wide-legged jeans.
I’ve already partially assembled the dress in View D, but since the fabric has no stretch, I’m adding a back zipper.
Well, we’ll see what happens. I’m constantly being side-tracked by other projects. In the meantime, I need to replace a broken zipper in the Fella’s dress pants. Not the fun sewing I want to do, but far more important. Better get it over with!
Cutting it out was the hardest part. The fabric moved all over the place, the thin pins kept falling out, and trying to make sure the pattern on front and back would line up at the sides was complicated by these factors. It took a very long time and was beyond frustrating.
Simply Melanie Rose 