getting back into sewing
In my previous post, I talked about my grievances with a specific digital hobby (coding) and how it has too many barriers and points of failure between me and my project, plus the lack of tactile input and lack of tangible output. How fitting then that I have finally found the time and energy to get back into sewing!
I initially got into sewing because of my girlfriend, who is sewing historical fashion (time period: 1750 - 1810) to wear as everyday outfits.
(The girlfriend and her clothes.)
I wanted to try and learn as well. It's always good to know how to mend your own clothes via hand or a sewing machine. But especially now, in times of fast fashion everywhere that not only is from a questionable source with human rights abuses but also pollutes the planet and falls apart easily because it is so low quality, it is very convenient to be able to make your own clothes more ethically and in a better quality. Plus, you're not reliant on being into whatever is offered at the time and don't have to follow current fashion trends or wait for whatever cycle is next to get what you want.
My first sewing project in 2021 was one pair of wine red linen hammer pants that my girlfriend helped me with; I think it was great as a starter because the loose fit was forgiving and pants are very symmetric and straight and in this case, back and front were the same as well. Since then I also made
- a wearable pin cushion you can wear on your wrist via velcro, stuffed with my dog's fur
- an apron that I hand-embroidered with a lavender and crystal motive
- a protective drawstring bag for my Nintendo Switch featuring the Animal Crossing logo on it
- several more drawstring bags to hold gifts to friends
A year ago, I got a nice jersey fabric on a fabric market and started turning it into two crop tops - one longer one with very short sleeves just like one I already owned (which I used as a base to draw the pattern) and a shorter one without sleeves. I was all done with cutting everything out and sewing back and front of one of them together, but hadn't attached the sleeves yet or done any serging (which is using a zig-zag stitch on the machine to prevent the fabric from loosening up at the cut ends). I finally got to it now.
Here's a picture from the process.
I'm still relatively new to sewing and had lots of long breaks in between, so I am not super skilled yet, however I am pretty happy with the result.
I will do the other one tomorrow :) Upcoming sewing projects I had planned for a while now include a petrol dress and a pink jacket.