6th June, 2023
When your invited out with the ladies, do you go and buy a new outfit??
Hells no, you dive into your pattern and fabric stash and create a wonderfully fantastic, very extra outfit.
For all my sewing, the creation of ‘going out’ or ‘good’ clothes doesn’t seem to happen for me…unless I have a reason. I mainly sew everyday clothes.
I find myself then in a debate, and that is an environmental one. To temper my need to create with conscious consumption. There are so many clothes in the world already, enough to clothe future generations. How do I temper this knowledge with the urge to create. The need that I have within me, to use fabric as a medium to express myself.
It’s all about fit and expression.
My ‘good’ going out clothes, of 5-10yrs ago, well they don’t fit, size or style wise.
To this (insert my internal dialogue) I look at generating a balance and acknowledge that I am a consumer. I love fabric, the new shiny, thrill of the purchase, the texture and colour and just the unbridled potential of creating.
So how do I balance my makes. I only need so many clothes…right?
The answer is, I don’t know.
I’m still working on that.
So how did I decide on what to make for this “Mums” night out.
I went for the patterns first.
It’s the beginning of winter, so I can make something a bit warmer. I narrowed down my choices, trying to pick a pattern that was a bit “more” than what I would normally make.
I then took the narrowed down patterns, that had captured my attention and looked at my fabrics.
Part inspiration, part practicality. (No point falling in love with a fabric and pattern combo if you don’t have enough of the fabric to make it happen. Right!)
Enter stage left simplicity pattern from 1971. Its extra, it’s a statement for sure, it can showcase a fabric, not to mention my attention was captured. (a key happenstance for ensuring the completion of a project)
I also had a lot of this floral polyester crepe. So win win. Now there was a bit of a problem, the 70’s pattern, it's not my size. Vintage patterns can be problematic like that. Back then you purchased the one size, or maybe 3 nested sizes. If finding clothes that fit me in the shops (right now) is hard, why on earth would a sewing pattern or a vintage sewing pattern fit straight up!.
A pattern Mash Up it was going to be.
One of my most worn ‘me made’ pieces is a McCalls 6969 pattern. I love the fit, so I basically overlaid the 70’s jumpsuit pieces, with the jumpsuit pattern that fits me, a bit of this and a bit of that, a pinch of hope and it was time to cut into the fabric.
A whole lot of basting later, and I had an idea of how this beauty would fit. I took in a large section of the centre back seam, adjusted the back darts, checked the bust darts and voila, a floral jumpsuit was born. Surprisingly the invisible zip was super simple to put in, which was nice, as I haven’t put many in.
This is a Masterpiece in thrifting. The fabric my sister picked up for me on her many op shop adventures, the pattern was from the sewing basket Kincumber when I took my birthday monies last Oct, the zip- also thrifted.
In between mum life and work life, gym life and 'wife' life, this project took me 5 days. (Honestly who am I kidding... "gym life", oh I'm rolling around laughing at this. I go once, maybe twice a week.)
Shoes to an outfit is like water with cucumber, (an addition that adds that bit extra) so whilst I had a pair of black boots, I kept my eyes open and spotted a pair of sparkle heels for $15 from my local lifeline. Those babies were hardly worn, and super comfy. A great addition to my shoe rack. A $2 bracelet (also thrifted) a couple bucks for a clutch, let's call a duck a duck, for I was sorted.
Excitement was palpable, cocktails were de-lish and I felt super-tastic. This jumpsuit made me feel special. Not only had I created a garment that fit me, and all my curves, I had jumped outside of my comfort zone. I can honestly say that this pattern was so much fun to sew, and all up, including the accessories, I was out $26.
Comments