Skirt lemonade
Jun. 12th, 2003 07:14 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
magidOne of my favorite older black skirts died yesterday, ripping where the fabric had gotten incredibly thin. I hadn't realized just how worn out it had gotten. It's a cool fabric, a black-on-black little pattern in the weave. The orker who is incredibly fabric-knowledgeable suggested I throw it away, but I decided that this might just be the impetus to make something.
Amazingly, rather than toss it on the ever-growing pile of things that had been my clothes until they wore out (ie, another project for "someday"), I actually did something with (part of) the skirt last night. [Am I particularly hard on clothes? Why do some things last forever and other things just give up the ghost? (I don't include T-shirts in this, either.)]
I still don't have a sewing machine, but I thought that making something small and relatively uncomplicated by hand would be doable, and perhaps give me the impetus to get one (Er, right after getting sandals. And a new skirt.).
So I pulled out my sewing box (discovering yet again that I'm some kind of cloth ribbon addict, stockpiling found ribbons for some as-yet-unknown purpose), chose a needle (guessing at size) and black thread, got my scissors handy. Amazingly, I was able to thread the needle every time I needed it without any difficulties.
It felt extremely strange to just cut into the skirt, but I managed that, choosing a piece that seemed strong, and was along two edges. Since the fabric has a rather open weave, the orker had suggested I needed to do French seams (folded down twice, so no open edges), so I had twice as much work on each cut edge, hence the attempt to minimize extra effort.
I pinned and sewed each cut side twice, then folded the hemmed piece in half, and sewed around three sides, twice again, for strength. Two different stitches, but I'm not sure what the names are.
I turned it right-side-out, and now have a bag big enough to put my hand in. The stitching isn't incredibly even, and there's no closure or handle(s), but it still feels like an accomplishment: the first sewing I remember doing since junior high (if I discount buttons restored to original locations, and an evening with a serger making a scarf, which was edging one piece of fabric, rather than joining multiple pieces together).
Amazingly, rather than toss it on the ever-growing pile of things that had been my clothes until they wore out (ie, another project for "someday"), I actually did something with (part of) the skirt last night. [Am I particularly hard on clothes? Why do some things last forever and other things just give up the ghost? (I don't include T-shirts in this, either.)]
I still don't have a sewing machine, but I thought that making something small and relatively uncomplicated by hand would be doable, and perhaps give me the impetus to get one (Er, right after getting sandals. And a new skirt.).
So I pulled out my sewing box (discovering yet again that I'm some kind of cloth ribbon addict, stockpiling found ribbons for some as-yet-unknown purpose), chose a needle (guessing at size) and black thread, got my scissors handy. Amazingly, I was able to thread the needle every time I needed it without any difficulties.
It felt extremely strange to just cut into the skirt, but I managed that, choosing a piece that seemed strong, and was along two edges. Since the fabric has a rather open weave, the orker had suggested I needed to do French seams (folded down twice, so no open edges), so I had twice as much work on each cut edge, hence the attempt to minimize extra effort.
I pinned and sewed each cut side twice, then folded the hemmed piece in half, and sewed around three sides, twice again, for strength. Two different stitches, but I'm not sure what the names are.
I turned it right-side-out, and now have a bag big enough to put my hand in. The stitching isn't incredibly even, and there's no closure or handle(s), but it still feels like an accomplishment: the first sewing I remember doing since junior high (if I discount buttons restored to original locations, and an evening with a serger making a scarf, which was edging one piece of fabric, rather than joining multiple pieces together).