Saturday, August 14, 2010

Sewing, buying, stapling

It will take me a bit longer to know for sure, but I think having a dedicated sewing room has slowed my sewing down. I used to be motivated to finish a frock in a day, or at least a weekend, because I had to clear everything off the dining table. Now I can leave everything in the sewing room for weeks.

It could also be winter slowing me down, because it's cold in the sewing room, and I have resisted Mr M's offers to set up a portable heater in there as too indulgent and expensive. As much as Betty is a useful dressform, I still need to try things on myself to be sure of length and fit, and I really don't enjoy doing that in the chilly house. I admit it! I sew in my undies in summer. So much easier for multiple try-ons.

I just finished another Stepfrock, this time in a blue doubleknit. This fabric is softer and has more drape than the doubleknit I used for the black one, and the result isn't as crisp, but I like it nonetheless.

I scored three boxes of vintage patterns at an auction place recently, in two auctions over two weeks. I'd say 95% are my size, so what could I do? I had to bid. There would be perhaps 140 patterns in total, and I counted 29 duds, but most are from the 40s, 50s and 60s. Yay! I haven't had much time to sit and study each one, but Moggy is coming up again for the Fifties fair in a couple of weeks, so I'll save that for an evening activity for us.

I also bought about 4.5 metres of Sanderson's 'Dandelion Clocks' fabric on eBay at a bargain price. Here it is stapled onto a canvas on my bedroom wall. I still have heaps left to make cushions.

I don't have to try on cushions, so they have a chance of being made before summer.