This summer I’ve spent some time with the sewing machine again, and I’ve got my sewing motivation back. Although it’s been my intention for a while to delve into my fabric stash and make use of it, I’ve had an extra incentive this summer.
As the summer heatwave set in I realised I was short of summer clothes, particularly anything with short sleeves. It’s been two years since I signed up for the No New Clothes Sew Seamless Pledge. I wrote about it in No new clothes: The Seamless Pledge in August 2016 after not having bought anything new since November 2015. Then I committed to not buying any new clothes for a further year. I’ve only bought a dress and a T-shirt since, as new. After refraining from adding to my wardrobe, it has revealed a definite ‘wardrobe gap’. I’ve been creatively mending until clothes have finally fallen apart, bought the occasional charity shop item, and now it seems timely to take to the sewing machine again.
Fabric Stash Overload
I’ve used some of my copious yarn stash but hadn’t touched the fabric stash. That’s despite the fact that one of the aims of joining the pledge, alongside the very important aim of not fuelling the fast fashion industry, was to focus my attention on making most of my own wardrobe from yarn and fabric that I already own.
Sometimes despite a heartfelt aim, life can get in the way. In the past few months I have had a several distractions that have kept me busy and preoccupied, but it seems I’m not alone. Since I’ve appeared in my newly made clothes, they’ve sparked some comments like ‘Ooh, where did you get that dress?’. During the ensuing conversation, several friends and acquaintances have said they would love to get back to sewing or would dearly like to start. But they don’t have time. I’ve said the same myself, but it occurred to me that perhaps starting is the stumbling block, and not having time is more perception than reality.
Sewing Motivation and Sewist’s Block
I mentioned My Little Black Book of Sewing Fashion Sewing: Hints, tips and resources for sewing a stylish wardrobe in my post about the No New Clothes pledge. It has some useful tips for motivating yourself in sewing your wardrobe which I have revisited. Along with the advice to try sewing in small bites of time, the chapter on motivation covers many tactics for getting past your ‘blocks’ to sewing – call it ‘sewist’s block’ rather than ‘writer’s block’. I would like to linger on some aspects that have definitely proved to have been my stumbling block lately, but also sound like they are relevant to my ‘wishing to sew’ friends. I would proffer three pieces of advice that are really quite basic:
Clear Up and Set Out Your Sewing Area
You might think this is too basic to even mention, but I would beg to differ. I’m lucky to have a spare room in which to sew: not everyone has this luxury. This spare room, awaiting renovation, is for now a multi-purpose room so ‘cr*p’ of one sort or another often invades the sewing space which I have to clear away. Clearing this space and getting my materials out gets my head in gear. If you have no space in which to leave out a sewing machine and materials, organising a space in your house where you can get these out and put them away again easily might unblock your inertia. If you get your fabrics into a neat pile and handle those fabrics, and you’ll soon want to use them.
Get Out Your Sewing Machine
This also might seem too obvious. More than one person lately has said to me that they would like to start sewing, that they have a sewing machine but have forgotten how to thread it up. I sympathise, as even as a seasoned sewer (but not a constant one) I have to dust off the cover and kind of have to say ‘hello’ to my sewing machine again in order to start. Perhaps someone you know might just come round, remind you and get you going again. I’ve offered my services in this capacity lately myself. Failing that, there are numerous u-tube tutorials on line, and as most modern foot treadle sewing machines are of similar design, you’re likely to be able to translate this to your machine.
No Bells and Whistles Needed
If you have no sewing machine, simply buying one may well be a reason for inertia. My trusty little sewing machine is over 35 years old, but it serves me well. You don’t need a computerised one with all the bells and whistles to succeed. I’ve seen second-hand sewing machines on eBay for less than £40.00 (around $51), so it need not be an expansive buy. Another option could be an old-fashioned hand-crank machine which would look attractive left out permanently in a living room (also frequently to be found on eBay and sometimes in second-hand shops). You would just have to bear in mind that it won’t do stretch stitching, zig-zag and other finishing stitches.
You might even ask yourself whether you need one at all. After all, when I was a student someone said to me that their sister, during her student years, had hand sewn all her own clothes. It undoubtedly takes more time, but think of it like this – as long as you have space to cut out pattern pieces and put up an ironing board, the sewing part is something you can do sitting on the sofa in front of the TV! Sew a seam, break to press the seam, pin/baste, and you can come back to the sofa and sew. You’re likely to find yourself sewing little and often, which can be productive.
Start With Something Simple
This was my trick recently. I pulled out a small piece of cotton print that I’d bought as a remnant from a fabric shop some time ago, and using a pattern I already had, ran up this simple top just to get on a roll again.
We see the advice of starting simple for nearly any activity you can think of, and we might sigh with frustration as we want to get on and make something really impressive. Really though, ‘warm-ups’ are a good thing. If making any garment seems beyond you, if in doubt, start with a cushion cover. You don’t even need to have large quantities of material to hand. I designed this pleated neckline top to make use of another small remnant that my neighbour gave me.
I could add a fourth –
Make a Test Garment In Cheap or Waste Fabric First
The correct term would be toile or muslin. What, buy extra material for this? You don’t have to spend much at all though. I’ve bought bed sheets from charity shops and cut them up for toiles. If you’re doubtful that you would put in the time, Tilly and the Buttons goes through the When, why and how to make a toile or muslin. If you’re apprehensive about cutting into newly bought fabric, think of the gay abandon with which you could cut up and old bed sheet. Then the confidence you would have cutting out your final intended fabric.
Of the two dresses hanging on the line in the first photo, the pinkish dress is the test garment. I had a large amount of fabric that my mother once bought. As I didn’t think I’m much of a pink wearer, I thought I would cut it up as a toile.
I drafted up the pattern myself. For more on this see Is it worth making your own sewing patterns?. It was well worth making the test garment as I had some problems with the collar and had to add an insert to get it right, then had to experiment with the cap sleeves. You don’t need to add the finish touches as I have done. Initially, I didn’t intend to wear it, but then changed my mind, finished it, and wore it anyway.
Why Make Your Own Clothes?
Further posts are coming up on why making your own clothes could help you to avoid much of the environmental and social damage that the fast industry creates.
Also, it would be timely to announce that I am one of the Ambassadors for Zero Waste Week 2018. It runs from 3rd to 7th September and I’ll be tweeting and blogging about this throughout September. During the month I’ll be looking at the plastic content of clothes, fabric waste and the problems that these issues create. Naturally, I believe there’s much we can do about it by either crafting our own, or through buying choices.
