Merry meet all,
Imbolc is almost here! I have had a huge creativity streak lately. I usually feel exceptionally creative when Imbolc rolls around. Imbolc is the first of the three spring Sabbats. I am very relieved. That brings us all closer to spring, for those who live in the Northern hemipshere.
I sewed myself a blue skirt the other day. The project took two days to complete. The challenge was sewing the yoke to the skirt.
My new homemade blue skirt
I have a new sewing project in mind. I bought a few meters of beige cotton knit fabric that I originally intended to use for the nightgown. It was too heavy for a nightgown. I still have the fabric. Then inspiration struck! I now intend to sew myself a Renaissance outfit. I have a sewing pattern for it, but the pattern is not in the right size. I’m ordering the pattern in the right size. Once I have the pattern, then I can sew the garment. The pattern is shown in the photo below:
I decided against sewing a dress from the beige knit fabric. They require such precision and a million fittings. A peasant blouse is so easy to sew. For once, I think I will choose sewing something easy instead of complex.
The garment will consist of a beige cotton knit peasant blouse and a skirt, a bodice and an overskirt. I have a long brown cotton skirt that I made from the original pattern. That would look good with the pattern. I already have fabric and brown thread for the bodice. I found the brown velveteen fabric in my fabric stash. I bought a meter of brown cotton for the lining and I found interfacing in my stash. I just need several d-rings ( my skills at inserting eyelets leaves much to be desired). I want to add the peplum to the bodice as well as embroidered trim. I bought plenty of brown ribbon to lace up the bodice. I am glad that this project is not costing me a lot of money. I already own most of the supplies I need. I do have to buy dark blue bias tape for the bodice. I love Fabricville, but I love the trims and ribbons on Etsy. I noticed that in the largest photo on the front of the sewing pattern shows the model wearing a bias tape that is a darker color, so I want to do the same. The dark blue color brings out the pink color of the bodice. The variety and quality is much better on Etsy.
I bought a few meters of beautiful cream white organdy lace on Etsy. I have yet to decide how I will use it with the blouse and skirt. I am sure I can figure it out. I do believe that the outit will look amazing! I’m relieved that I thought of ways to use up the fabric that just sat in my stash. I have so much beige fabric that I could sew the overskirt and skirt from the same fabric. Or I could make the overskirt brown too. It could go either way. I’m happy to get the pattern in my size because figuring out how to grade the original pattern would have been such a headache. I am not that skilled! The pattern was hard to find in the sizes I wanted. I may sew the lace to the overskirt and to the sleeve hems! That would look romantic and a great way to use up the lace.
The lace organdy fabric
The beige and browns are earthy colors. I have all of the remaining winter and spring to work on it. Maybe I will try learning a new skill such as machine embroidery! I have to practice before I would consider doing machine embroidery on the brown velvet. Sewing a trim to fabric is easier. That would look great though. Winter is a season to turn inward and be reflective and spring is the wild, untamed transition of new life and birth. I still see earthy browns and beiges as pertaining to spring. The mud is softer and tiny buds emerge from the soil. I ordered a nice brown embroidered trim from Etsy. I can’t wait for it to arrive.
I sewed a mock up of the bodice pattern. I am glad I did as I could determine how much fabric I really needed to make the bodice. The brown velveteen fabric is lovely. I cut out the material last night very carefully. Now sewing the bodice will be much easier. I sewed the overskirt too. I wore the long brown skirt, the overskirt and the beige peasant blouse to the Imbolc Ritual. I had no time to sew the bodice. But now I have lots of time.
I was fortunate to have lots of elastic for the sewing project. I made an elastic casing at the neckline, sleeves and the bodice hem. I sewed an elastic casing for the overskirt. I chose it that way because the ribbon was lost in the casing. I find elastic easier to work with. The fabric for the overskirt was very slippery. I sewed in a zigzag stitch for the hem of the overskirt. I also changed the length of the hem for the brown skirt. I still tripped in it. I felt so feminine when I wore it and I recieved lots of compliments.
Sewing the bodice was more work than I anticipated. I am glad I made the mockup. I knew how much material to add to the pattern. I cut out the brown bodice fabric, first checking that I was cutting on the grain. The outer material of the bodice is brown velveteen. The lining is a brown broadcloth cotton. I set them aside. When I was ready to work on it, I moved on to the next step – adding the interfacing. That was a royal headache. I even cut out a second front bodice section. I had trouble deciding if I wanted the main bodice section to have the dart sewn in, or if I would add that to the extra material in the bodice. I decided to go with sewing the darts in the main bodice front section. The interfacing was a royal headache. Once I had the right sections interfaced – and that was a headache in itself, I set it all aside again. When I was again ready to sew again, I pulled it out. I set up my sewing machine and all my tools. I had to stitch carefully. I did not want to mess up the bodice. It is harder to correct when working with velveteen. I stitched the front and back corset sections together. I trimmed the interfacing to help conceal it. I sewed the lining to the bodice. I sewed it all carefully and slowly. I feel I have more control over it all that way.
Sewing the bias tape to conceal the raw edges was also a headache. The bias tape wanted to roll out. I also had to seam rip the bias tape and bodice fabric to reduce the bulk. It looked better when that was done. I snipped all the stray threads. There were many times during the course of sewing the bodice that I wanted to scream from the hilltops. I matched the seams of the front center bodice sections together. The front center sections of the bodice met evenly once the bulky seams were trimmed. I am very handy with a seam ripper. Then the next step that I dreaded was installing the grommets. That almost gave me a stomach ache. Okay I had originally purchased d rings to use for the lacing, but I decided to master a new skill and try my hand at setting in the grommets. I had survived interfacing, sewing the bodice sections together, and endured sewing on the bias tape – I could survive this.
I bought black grommets in a little kit. I practiced hammering in the grommets on spare fabric. When I was confident I could do it on the bodice, I gathered an awl, a screwdriver, a seam ripper, scissors and the kit. I marked where I wanted the grommets to be set in. This is why it is good to not skip the step of adding the interfacing. The fabric is strengthened by the interfacing. It also means it is harder to poke an awl through the fabric. I poked twice with the awl, then the screwdriver to enlarge the hole I created. I twisted the screwdriver in the hole a few times. I used a seam ripper to help tear the hole a little larger – but not too much. I want the grommets to crimp or ‘eat’ the fabric, but not make too big of a hole. Then I set in the larger grommet piece. I had to set ten pieces in. Okay once the grommet piece was snug in the hole- pushed in from the right side of the fabric, then I set the other piece from the wrong side. I pushed them together (not hard), to make them meet. I set the fabric down on the cutting board, face down and I positioned the tiny hammer tool on the grommet, and hammered the grommet into the fabric. I was amazed that I did it right. I did it right nine more times. I also had to make sure the grommets were truly across from each other on the bodice sections. I hammered in the grommets so hard that the impressions of the grommets are left in the wood. The grommets stuck to the wood. I tugged firmly and gently and they released from the wood. The grommets were done right. I wanted to add a lovely brown and gold trim to the bodice. I pinned the trim onto the bodice and sewed slowly and carefully. I used that for the casing for the boning. I set in the grommets where the boning was supposed to go. I am not changing that. It is fine. It was so much work. It was all so much work.
The reason why I have written so much here about the colors and textures of the fabric is because there are no guarantees at first when sewing. I want the fabrics, colors and textures to harmonize, synergize. It all has to blend and look great, not just hand sewn. I want it all to look store bought. That is how the pattern should look in the end. That means it depends on me to do my very best sewing. There is no room for error. The result is something I can be proud of. So I like to work out the details as I am sewing or before I even start sewing. I put a lot of thought into my sewing projects. Okay, okay, I am obsessive with my sewing projects. I have no idea what comes over me. I should get just as obsessive about my other creative projects, but that’s just me. Imagine what I could accomplish! ha ha. Perhaps I can wear the brown corset with my new blue skirt!
In other news, I have renewed the contract with Baynam Books Press for The Cult of the Spider People. The edits are done and now I look forward to seeing the new version! The editor/ publisher Crystal Baynam is changing the front cover of my book. The Bone Chillers #1 will be removed. Ah well. The new version is much better edited.
I ordered a sample of an aesthetic scrapbook sample in the mail. It is not what I thought. The blue book is so tiny. The stickers look great. I will use it in my brown hand bound poetry journal.
I look foward to receiving the sewing pattern in the mail. Once I do, I shall post all about it here and I will post more about Imbolc too! Let me know more about your own creative endeavours in the comments! I look forward to it.
The Grand Reveal
Blessings, Spiderwitch
