Oh boy! It has been a long time since I’ve been ready/willing/able to write a sewing blog post! In some ways our current pandemic has given me a lot of time, but in other ways it has filled my days with anxiety and isolation. I was stuck in the States for three months with my parents, which is a wonderful situation to be stuck in, but stuck nonetheless. I poured my energy into sewing, sewing for my newborn niece and other little people out there, sewing masks for healthcare workers and neighbors and friends, sewing outfits for myself that felt wonderful to make and foolish when they were done, where will I wear this? Who will see it? As project after project piled up, the idea of documenting them, along with the many things I had made between my last post and March, felt impossible, overwhelming. Not, of course that anyone was demanding I do so. But I was confronting, as Chekhov describes them, the unmountable barriers of the human soul. I’m an actress, no, I’m a seagull, no that’s not right….
ANYway. I’m going to make this post an item dump, and lay on you a bunch of things I have made, so that I can prove to you (again, not something anyone is demanding of me, it’s fun in my head so much all of the time) that I have been making, and hopefully clear out some of this messy mishegas and free myself to write a post AFTER this about a recent dress I made and pushed myself to have my husband take photos of. So, if you want to skip this one and wait for that, I totally understand.
Oh, and I also made a new novel, by the way! It’s called Mother Land and it came out on July 14th and I hope you like it, if you read it!
We will start with my always and forever stay at home life uniform. Seamwork Mel Joggers (hahaha I will never run in these), and a knit tee, in this case, a Deer and Doe Plantain Tee. I wore a version of this a LOT.
Here with this free pattern baseball tee I found on the internets.
That black ribbon is a sign of mourning, in honor of my grandfather, who passed away in the beginning of May.
Another day, another Mel/Plantain combo. This got me through a lot of chilly days in March, April, hell, even May.
For a little variety, this Closet Core Patterns Kalle over tights.
I also tried the Paper Theory Miller pants, and I’m a big fan. These are in a linen-rayon blend and magnificent for so many things. This is a Seamwork Aberdeen shirt, a pattern I finally tried and love! I made a few for my mother, as well.
Also paired with a Plantain tee.
Another plantain tee!
A plantain tee I lengthened into a dress!
A modified plantain tee with some Seamwork Heidi shorts (which I added pockets too and later tightened up at the waistband, a common alteration for me on these shorts.
Another Plantain tee with a modified pair of Seamwork Marett trousers.
I also made this Seamwork Emmie top, into a bit more of a tunic! I wish I hadn’t gone with the ties, the fabric is too thick. Maybe I will remove them at some point.
My Passover dress for our very sad and lonely Passover was a Seamwork Tacara. Man, I made a lot of Seamwork stuff in the past four months!
I made this Deer and Doe Magnolia for a Zoom Wedding (oh, kill me, but also I’m very happy for them, but also the fact that all events are now on Zoom is just hard, right?).
I have been enjoying hot days more in these Seamwork Miller shorts and Seamwork Clarke top.
And then I made myself a bunch of pajamas:
As one does. The patterns are various Miller shorts hacks, and the tops are a clarke and a plantain.
Now, for the little people things, mostly just because small things are very cute…
These are from many patterns companies and if you are interested in any of them, please do message me.
I also made some quilts! The thing about having cats is that they do not recognize that all quilts are not their quilts.
And of course, I made masks. I have a lot of thoughts on making masks. I was really happy at first to make masks and then I read an article and talked with some friends who sew and read some more things and all of it boiled down to, women/crafters (but actually really women historically) are expected to pitch in and help with domestic tasks that are traditionally across the board devalued/ranked in the space of hobby/”women’s work” which is somehow both a requirement for women as keepers of home and hearth and not worth financial compensation/social status or respect. For example, cooking. Woman have, throughout history, been expected to bear the majority of the cooking duties in the world. From China to Colombia, from Bali to Baltimore, women, sometimes enslaved, sometimes not, have been histories food providers. And yet the professional world of cooking, the paid, validated (yes of course there are lots of food industry issues that’s a whole other thing) socially respected (sort of, again, issues, but you know) role of chef, is and was primarily male. Women have to fight for space in the culinary world while simultaneously being expected to cook for everyone all the time everywhere else. And sewing, crafting, works similarly. Designers, fashion executives, the people who arbitrate fashion, have historically been men, despite the fact that women are expected to sew and make for free. Don’t get me wrong, I love this, I chose this, I keep choosing it. But the fact that women, in crisis after crisis, have been expected to pitch in and make do and give and mend and fill gaps that shouldn’t be there, isn’t great. Even if I enjoy the process, the thought process isn’t great.
This article, also linked above, was what got me thinking, and you might enjoy it too.
I’m still making masks. I’m still giving them away for free. I’m happy to be able to help others. But I don’t think I, more than anyone else, should be expected to give my labor away for free, despite in this case being happy to do so.
Anyway. That’s me. What are you up to?
Struggle Sews a Straight Seam 