I Understand My Mistake

I went to my sewing room an hour ago with the intention of making a skirt. A simple skirt. Two side seams, a zipper, a waistband, and a rolled hem. That should go fairly quickly, thought I. I should know better; my serger does not like me to exude any confidence. It expects the most humble of approaches and absolutely no expectations.
That was my approach with the brown scarf shown below. I wanted a scarf with some body, so I bought a piece of silk duppioni. The Geek liked the blue, so she bought that for herself. It took me awhile to ask the serger roll the edges. I was worried how the serger would behave, since I haven't used the rolled hem option for awhile.
My scarf was finished easily. The Geek, who loves tools of any kind, and had never used a serger before, wanted to finish her own.
As we were pulling the threads through to change the colour from brown to blue, the lower looper thread broke. I moaned, as I hate trying to re-thread the lower looper; it takes ages to coax the thread spirits to cooperate. The Geek offered to try so I left her to it. And she got it to work, first time.
Today, when I was trying to change the thread colour for my skirt, the lower looper broke again. I have tried three times to get it to work again, but it keeps breaking.
We are now taking a break from each other. I'll ask the Geek to take a look at it later today. Unless, of course, I manage to pay proper penitence for my arrogant approach before then, and it decides to behave.
(~sigh~)

Quick and Dirty Sweater Modification

The last few months have been very busy and we are now rapidly approaching the Christmas season, so there hasn't been much time for sewing and other projects. I did feel the need tho' for this one quick one in the hopes I will be inspired to do others.

I really like this sweater. The colour is cheery and it is warm and cozy.
Unfortunately the lambswool / angora blend make the turtleneck extremely scratchy. While I was loathe to damage the sweater by changing the neck, I wasn't wearing it in its present state, so I felt I had nothing to lose.

I debated whether to cut down the center or off to the side, but the side seemed to add the most interest.Should it start to fray, I will run a line of stitching down either side of the cut. If I ever do this again, I will do the stitching first, and then I won't have to worry.I like the way it looks now, and it does not muss my hair as much when pulling it on. (Why this should matter to a woman who does not comb her hair, I cannot tell you.) And now it will be worn, rather than being a wallflower in my cupboard.

Button Bonaza

I should now have enough buttons to last me the rest of my life.

On Friday I received an order of mixed buttons from ButtonButton and Saturday I found a biscuit tin full of even more buttons at a garage sale.

The buttons from the garage sale were tied together with string according to a plan I could not fathom. However, sorting was much easier than the lovely mess from ButtonButton.

I've now pretty much sorted them all according to colour, and my little button caddy is full.

When I was a child, my mother would give me her button jar to play with when she needed to have some time to get things done. It would keep me out of trouble for hours.
Apparently not much has changed.

I'd Rather Be Furnished, Thank You

A few years ago I noticed a sign in a department store indicating Mens' Furnishings. Intriguged, I investigated further. I was somewhat disappointed to find that I was in the mens' underwear department. But that started me thinking; 'furnishings' sound much more comfortable than 'lingerie', or even worse, 'foundation garments'. Really, what would I rather do, lean against the soft upholstery, of say, my chesterfield, or the architecturally interesting, but distinctly hard and chilly edge of the limestone holding up the house?

I have some mens underwear; it is very cozy (a topic for another day-why can I wear mens' underwear and not cause a stir but a man wearing womens' underwear still raises eyebrows?) And lingerie, if you investigate its etymological roots, refers to anything made of linen. I like linen, but I would not necessarily like to have pure linen right next to my skin.

This whole little thought process started when I went looking for my backless, strapless bra to wear with my backless sundress. This bra definitely qualifies as a foundation garment, since it will stand up on its own.
I have no doubt that my garment is much more comfortable than this corset I found on Wikicommons. I look much better in my dress when I have it on, but it is not my first choice when getting dressed in the morning. Plus, I can't imagine needing someone to help me get dressed, and pulling the laces on this baby would definitely require some extra hands.
Even some of the styles worn today don't look much more appealing. While I like pretty things as much as the next girl, some of the lacy panty and bra sets I see look downright scratchy. I hate being uncomfortable-it distracts me from the other subtle nuances of life. Not that all of the mens briefs are as comfortable as boxers. If you want to know what I mean, go to Google images and search 'underwear male models'. Interesting indeed, and some of the underwear looks like it might actually be comfortable. But the rest?

How Old is Vintage?

I made this dress in the late 1980s. Clothes from the era are considered vintage in some places now so I am glad I kept it. It isn't necessarily indicative of the style of clothes back then, but I wasn't too enamoured of those styles anyway.

The pattern is New Look, tho' try as I might, I cannot find it. I certainly hope I didn't give it away, as I have always planned to make it again.
I added a jacket on this occasion as I was wearing it to work. It was one of my last days before going on educational leave and one of my co-workers was having a pool party for me to celebrate. It was also an incredibly hot day, to it was a bonus to be able to wear it.

The jacket is also New Look, and again, I can't find the pattern.

Making Room?

I found this Mexx linen dress at the MCC on Saturday. They had it priced at $5 but they were having a half-price sale so I had a pleasant surprise at the till (as if $5 wasn't pleasant enough).

I washed it and tried it on.

I think you know where I am going with this. Or rather, where I won't be going with this.

I toyed briefly with the idea of letting out the seams, but even with seven seams and at the most half a centimetre of ease per seam, I still won't be closing this dress over these girls.

If it doesn't fit one of my sisters, I may wind up with a long brown linen skirt.

I Love Garage Sales

The ad in the paper said 'moving after 52 years at the same address'. Considering what I accumulate after just a few years, I was hoping for all sorts of interesting stuff. Plus I am an incurable snoop.
The lady of the house liked to sew, and the patterns were my size; bonus! She had boxes of patterns but I managed to restrain myself and bought only a few.

I just have to find the time to take a close look at them and actually make one...
or two.