Trying to sort, tidy, sew mostly getting distracted.

 In a effort to be able to sew again without having to dig my way into my sewing room I started to organize. Then distraction hit. I attacked the pile of sweaters reclaimed form various places mostly by my mother June Cable. I dissembled them and organized them into colour groups in bins. 

Made a video of me cutting a sweater apart.

(you may need to ask to follow me on IG to see video)

 Then saw the bag of leather bits I got from Erin Templeton (leather bag wizard and vintage clothing finder extraordinaire). I wondered how my machine would handle the leather. My zigzag machine had a little issue so I got the straight stich one set up, it had been sitting on the cutting table not put away from Michelle Leone Huisman project (I sewed her butterfly together). The straight stich machine was fine with the leather.

So I made a simple glass case.

 After that I put the straight stich machine away and had a freed up cutting table. Knew I had a swim suit pattern, reworked the bottoms and came up with a prototype undies pattern. Hauled out the factory waste merino and sewed up a pair. 

New Undies. Sample pair complete.

These days it is not just slow fashion but it is also a limited clientele, actually mostly me. I am thinking about maybe, possibly, in the future, one day taking my stuff to a shop again. Until then it will be by request (prepare to wait for me to get it together). Right now the floor is covered in paper from pattern making and fabric form cutting out. So better get back to the tidying up because heaven knows distraction will hit before I know it, actually it already has (thus the blog post).

Working on something new...

...stay tuned.

Work Jeans

Make Do And Mend

I am brutal on clothing. I can mend blue jeans when they have had a lot of love. As the patches amass they go from being all the same to one of a kind works of art. On this rare occasion I washed all six at the same time. They just looked so fun on the laundry line I had to take a picture.

Patching.

I have been having some fun patching old jeans. Denim on denim.

My work jeans.

A pair of my brother's old jeans.

A sorcerer's apprentice does not just learn to turn lead to gold...

...but also soccer jerseys to cycling jerseys. Of five no two jerseys could be quite the same so it is a constant learning curve and some times those curves are mind bending. I had a leap of faith and tackled the really tricky one and came out the other side relatively unscathed and a little wiser. Here's fingers crossed that it is all good once the man puts them on.

#3 The mind bending yellow and #4 the mildly troublesome red. 

Denim on the mend

Mia's loved jeans...first patches were done 1996...newest 2012

Alterations and mends are always a question of is the garment well made enough to withstand the deconstruction that is required? When it comes to a pair of loved jeans the answer is almost always YES!!! The exception to the rule is if they are stretch denim there is no hope, they simply have come to the end of their life. But should you come to me with a worn pair of non stretch jeans I will wholeheartedly embark on the resurrection of your pair of faded blue best friend. In the past I have done subtle repairs as well as bold colourful patches to knees, thighs, and butts of some well loved jeans for others as well as myself. My dear friend Mia struts her patched and re-patched jeans with pride on the set of a recent film project, Ollie and Emma.