Last summer I bought this serger on craigslist...
The woman I bought it from tried to give me instructions on how to thread it when I picked it up from her in a parking lot, in the rain, so needless to say I didn't retain much of what she told me. She had lost the manual for it and when I got it home I saw this...
Oh geez. So I took a class and the next day, I made this!...
But the real goal was pants for Joe because 1.) He is very particular about fit and style and 2.) He has the physique of a stick figure and it's hard to find pants that stay up AND look and feel the way he wants.
So I went to Mood when I was in NY last summer and bought some heavy jersy knit fabric, washed it, ironed it and then left it in the closet to "cure" for half a year. Then we discovered a hole in the knee of one of his three pairs of pants on Friday and the conversation went like this...
Me: Just wear them.
Joe: But nobody else has holes in their pants!
Me: Well, wear them today and I will put a patch on them when you get home.
Joe: BUT NOBODY ELSE HAS PANTS WITH PATCHES!
Me: Okay, well... I'll see if I can find that fabric I bought for making pants and I'll work on them this weekend.
PROMISE KEPT!
And here's why I recommend that sewers avert their eyes...
I don't really know what the heck I'm doing. But I'm inspired by Elizabeth Zimmerman's book, "Knitting Without Tears" and if I were to describe my approach to sewing, it would be "Sewing Without Tears": So what if they don't look perfect, I'm not trying to make them look like they came from the store. I did consider doing a mock-up first, seeing as I had no pattern (not that I would know how to use one anyway.) But I thought that seemed tedious so I just went for it.
And here was the result... Note the "I hate these ridiculous new pants" expression.
But, BUT... After some tweaking and a waistband, the response was, "These feel good, can I wear them today?"
Chris: Well, they look home-made, but they're pretty good for a first try!
Um, thanks.
a) love that skirt;
ReplyDeleteb) love your EZ attitude;
c) love Joe's expression;
d) love that he's going to love them.
ps ~ ask me about the Japanese kids' clothes pattern book I have.
HAaaaaahahahaha! Oh, Chris's comment kills me. I think I would get the same from my husband. But Joe's critique is the only one that matters.
ReplyDeleteHe reminds me of me at that age, I was so finicky with clothes and shoes, I had all these weird calesthenics I would do in the store to test out everything.
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