Oh yeah, the other project!

[temporaryreality]

 I forgot to mention yet another ongoing project that I'll add to my updates when those come around.

I've decided to learn to sew my own clothes.

I'm trying to think back to what spurred it and I think somewhere mid-lockdown I went to the big box store to see if they had some 100% cotton camisoles that I used to get from the girls' department. The XL fit me and the tops are useful summer pajama tops or for layering under shirts. They're a little short, but they mostly work for what I want.
Turns out though, that they're not longer made in 100% cotton.

• So much for that.

Also, 

• I hate shopping.

And, 

• I pretty much find I don't particularly care for the clothes I DO find when I shop

Admittedly that's mostly at thrift stores, but that's because I hate shopping and I don't like the clothes anyway, mostly (self-reinforcing circle, amirite?).

And then

• I was spending too much time online, frittering time away and doing nothing productive.
• Meanwhile despondent at the lack of beauty in the modern world.

To be honest, I wish I could build a house as part of a neighborhood, with a community in a small, similarly-built town, in a place that wasn't a blight on the land, but I'm middle-aged, unskilled, and not in any place or situation to do such a thing.

But why give up?

Oddly enough, the epiphany hit while I was online, but at least it spurred me to recognize what I was doing (simulacra of life, not living). I saw a delightful YouTube video by Elin Abrahamsson in which she makes a Medieval kirtle, and I realized that I should just do what I can.

I stopped being online in the evenings, got out my needles and thread and fabric and found some basic, beginner patterns, and I've been making clothes.

So far, I've made a linen tank top, a pair of pants styled from the traditional Japanese field-pants called monpei, and attempted a mock-up for a pair of shorts. I'm not satisfied with how the shorts turned out, so it's on hold (and anyway, the weather is turning). I also made a pair of basic leather sandals, following this tutorial.

I intend to make a linen shift and maybe eventually make a kirtle or kirtle-like dress, and turnshoes are on my to-do list too. 

I'm going to work on improving my sewing skill and technique, and to work my way into eventual wardrobe replacement. It'll be a long process (like everything I do, it seems!).

Comments

[dfr1973]

I do love me some linen, and this was even before I moved to Florida! I decided back in '09 to finally learn to sew, because I want to wear what *I* want, not what someone claims is trendy right now.

Have fun with it, and if you need, I give you permission to make however many mistakes it takes for you to get good. THAT what my one sewing "lesson," after my would-be tutor looked at my first attempt (unwearable) and my second attempt (very wearable) and declared I learned more from my mistakes than she could come up with for a lesson.

[temporaryreality]

I thought I remembered that you sew. Yay!

I'm trying to not screw up the good fabric, so mockups are a necessity. I think it helps, though, that so far I can get away with things made of rectangles (monpei, shift) or just front and back making a sandwich (tank top). I'm small-busted so that top didn't even need darts (and its twin will become the "camisole" I'd wanted), though somewhere down the line I'm sure I'll want to make something that is fitted.

It makes for pleasant evenings, a true perk.