September in Review

Sewing, Alterations and Mending

It's hard to believe that the end of September is here and all that I managed to sew this month are five pairs of panties that I start sewing the previous month.  No alterations or mending projects were completed.  It was a pretty slow month in the sewing department although it was busy, my mind was working overtime on future sewing plans.  

I'm busy trying to figure out what and how to wear clothing with the scoliosis back brace.  It's been a blessing and also a pain (no pun intended).  Wearing a brace during the summer months has been less than fun.  It's been a long hot summer and wearing a bulky back brace plus body sock in the heat is not at all my idea of a fun time.  But the brace helps with the back pain and in so many ways it has been a blessing.  It also creates another problem that I need to solve.  

What to wear?  

This is basically what I wear now.  A sleeveless polyester body sock underneath the brace that causes abrasion wounds in the underarm region.  I asked if the upper part of the brace could be cut down but the answer was no.  And the family doctor suggests putting gauze bandages where the abrasion wound appear before I put the brace on.  There has to be a simpler solution.  

 

This is a RTW t-shirt with underarm flaps to be worn under a back brace that I could pick up online.  I dislike shopping online about as much as I dislike printing, taping and cutting out PDF patterns.  I've been disappointed too many times with scoliosis undergarments that I've pick up in the past.  Not going down that route again.  But it is an interesting design.  

I want control over the fabric.  The body sock I was given with the brace is made with 100% polyester and even though the label claims to "help keep skin dry" that is a big fat falsehood.  And it's pilling like crazy.  I want cotton, a rare commodity in the body sock market.  

If I want something in cotton and that is high enough in the armpits to provide protection, I'm going to have to make it myself.  The idea is still brewing in my brain, but I hope to have a sample sewn up shortly.  

National Sewing Month

Today marks the end of National Sewing Month, which this year's theme could be summed up in the words in Barbara Burman's introduction to The Point of the Needle:  Why Sewing Matters.

The most marked new theme to emerge in the intervening time is best called the new politics of stuff--when sewing for yourself is part of the desire to reduce ready-made consumption, to be a thoughtful and well-informed consumer mindful of the potential exploitation of people and the planet (15). 

Well as far as celebrating the theme of Sew Sustainable, I went as far as leaving a smaller footprint with the small output this month.  

Stash busting

Stash busted this month:  

• 2.5 metres fabric
• 7 metres elastic

Stash-busted totals for 2024:  

• 65.5 metres fabric + scrap pieces patchworked together to create new fabric yardage
• 14.4 elastic
• 5 metres of knit binding / trim
• 8.6 metres interfacing
• 6 invisible zippers
• 2 metres Knit 'N Stable tape
• 6 metres trim
• 8 sewing labels
• 25 buttons
• 5 leather spools
• 4.3 metres basting tape

Total additions this year:  

• 5 leather toggles
• 14 thread spools
• 11 sewing patterns
• 10--20 mm buttons
• 7.8 metres trim
• 15 metres fabric
• 1 second hand cover stitch machine

Happy Sewing!

  

Stash busting: OOP Simplicity 8229

I finally finished the batch of undies I started last month.  Life and a late summer cold turned this into a slow sewing project.   

Simplicity 8229 is a favourite and the go-to pattern for sewing panties around the work table.  Sadly, it is no longer available but it was mentioned over on Pattern Review that this pattern is similar.  Added bonus:  it's a free downloadable PDF pattern and since it's for panties, it won't eat up all the ink and paper at the printer.  

The fabric has been in the stash since the time when Mitchell Fabrics was open, pre-twenty seventeen.  You don't find cotton knit like this in the remaining fabric stores in the region.  It was a pleasure to sew and it's a comfortable knit to wear.  The picot elastic was found many moons ago at Marshall Fabrics but it's been years since I've been able to find picot elastic like this locally.  I'm grateful that I had the materials to make these panties and at the same time sad that it's getting harder to find these items.  

Project details

Seams:  Knit (lightening bolt) and zig-zag stitch

Seam finish:  Serged 

Fabric:  2.5 metres

Elastic:  7 metres

Pattern:  OOP Simplicity 8229

Additional Tools and Supplies:   Cutting table, fabric scissors, pins, pin cushion, tailor's chalk, Janome sewing machine, Janome serger, Janome CoverPro, threads, thread clippers and tea.  

Happy Sewing!  

September is National Sewing Month: Keep on Sewing Sustainably

 

This year's National Sewing Month theme is a continuation of last year's "Sew Sustainable" theme. 

Be Mindful of Sources

This one is a tough one in today's retail climate.  Often we make choices based on autopilot.  Or are you aware of the decisions made while searching for the perfect fabric and supplies for a project.  We all want to make "better" choices but there are so many challenges along the way.  Bolts of fabric are rarely labelled with information that might sway our decisions.  

Let's look at cotton production.  

When was the last time that you found the source listed on a bolt of cotton?  It's a rare sight.  But consider if a country's human rights or environmental record would affect your decision on whether or not to pick up a product.  What guides our decisions in the fabric aisles or are we being set up to operate on autopilot without considering questions we may have along the way.   

Use Fewer Materials

These past decades, there has been a steady decline in the RTW market of using fewer materials when constructing a garment.  It all started with less buttons appearing on a shirt and the growing trend towards pullover or pull-on pieces that eliminate the need for closures altogether.  

I'm not advocating for this, it's just an observation.  Although, I do like an easy access garment now-a-days while strapped into the back brace.  But I digress.  Instead, this point can be summed up as avoiding wastefulness.  Recently, I was able to use fewer materials with the appearance of a second hand Cover stitch machine.  When sewing knits pre-Cover stitch era, I used a lot of Knit 'n Stable to help me sew a neat and tidy hem on knit garments.  Now-a-days, there is no need to stock up on Knit 'N Stable tape and spend all that time pressing it in place.  

Recycle and Reuse

There are many opportunities in the sewing workspace to recycle.  From sourcing fabric from other places than the fabric store aisles to reusing fabric from a previously make garment that no longer fits.  I have a collection of fabric scraps and pieces that I patchwork together and use as a new-ish fabric source.  

And we all have button tins, right?  A collection of recycled buttons to be used in a new project down the road.  

Leave a Small Footprint 

The dictionary defines this phrase as "to have a significant or lasting impact on someone or something."  It can also refer to a lifestyle choice minimizing one's ecological impact on the environment and community by reducing resources and space requirements for daily living or sewing.  Simply put, embrace simplicity.   

How to do this?   

• Focus on quality over quantity.  I've recounted so many times on this blog that I fell for those trendy fabrics made from man-made fibers and they are not worth the hype.  I'm thinking of scuba knits as one example.  Natural fiber fabrics will hold up and last longer than any polyester.  
• Maximize the efficiency in your work space to reduce waste.  Could your worktable also work as your cutting table?  How about the space that your sewing machines occupy?  Smaller spaces use less energy.  Mind you, I do dream of a large sewing studio.  Ah, to dream.  But then again, with a smaller space there is no chance the fabric stash can get out of control, right?  

What other suggestions do you have to embrace simplicity at the sewing table?