Thursday, August 29, 2013

Sometimes I sew...

 
Oh the years and years of sewing I've done!
(Pictured above: Me and my cat Winnie, in 1972.)
My sewing times included a year of tailoring in high school, and a year of fashion design in college, and then decades of sewing for myself, my kids and for making home decoration.
It has been several years since I threaded up my trusty 1976 Kenmore sewing machine.
Today the machine was brought back into faithful service.
I sewed a pair of leggings for Luke.
 My daughter-in-law has liked the fitted pants on toddlers and was not liking the price of them (would you believe $38 for a pair?)
I found a do-it-yourself site and suggested to her that with my sewing machine and a double needle we could whip up some leggings ourselves for a whole lot less.
And so I did...in 30 minutes, from cut out to being put on the kid all finished.
Total cost:
$2.
So much fun!
Forgot to take a picture of him rocking a tribal pattern set of leggings.
:-(
But really...usually sewing is just hard and annoying work for me.
A seam ripper is frequently to be found in use in my hand when I am sewing.
Far too often the end results are a far cry from what I had envisioned.
Secretly...I hate sewing!
But...I do LOVE creating outfits.
If only an outfit could be whipped up as fast as I think them up.
 
What to do...
What to do...

Answer:
Take a 47 inch x 64 inch rayon beach wrap.

Slip on a pair of draw string "Made in India" pants and a shell that my mom got me for my birthday last April.

(I had looked and looked for a top to go with the pants for a year.  How fun that Mom scored a top without even knowing I was looking for such a top!)
Next:
Create almost a dozen new outfits.

1.
Slip wrap over shoulders and turn back front edge.
There.
Now I have my arms covered with a jacket look.
Easy.
What else?

2.
Tie the long ends together to make a tube.
Slip the tube on with the ties in back.

Kind of extra drape-y.

The tie up scheme.

3.
Tie over one shoulder.

Or if one want a bit more back side coverage, tie over one shoulder and at the top of the leg.

4.
Slip arms through the tied up tube, letting the knots be sleeve embellishment.
The fabric is half folded length wise.

The fold creates a waist line in the jacket back.

5.
Oh and what the heck...why not make a hat, turban style, too.
Let a bit of fringe peek out for extra detail.

6.
Drape the fabric over the back of you head while bending at the waist.
Twist the ends and proceed to wrap the twisted fabric around the head then tuck in the ends.

How the top of the head looks.

7.
The turban comes out differently each time, according to how tightly the ends are twisted and how tightly the ends are wrapped around the head.

I love how native African women use fabric to make elegant turbans.
We could learn a lot from them about head wrapping style.

Such fun!
The fabric being so light the turban is easy to wear.

8.
But what about if one needs to travel in one of the countries where women must cover up?
Or perish the thought...what if those folks come here and suddenly "their" law is the law of the land?
Here is a "modest" trial run at that style.
Oh dear.
Ugh.

9.
Naturally one can wrap the fabric as a skirt, and belt it.

Or wear it under the top.
Well that was so much fun I took another run at draping fun with a much larger piece of fabric.

10.
Can you guess how I got this look?

Fabric  was tied behind the neck, draped down the front, then swung between the legs and the ends tied in front behind the front drape.

11.
Would you believe I can't figure out how I did this drape?

I like it...

But I can't figure the drape pattern out, even with a back view to work with!
Well, that was different wasn't it?
(Bet you are laughing your head off and thinking I am totally nuts!)
Whatever!
I had a lot of fun.
Have you ever played with fabric draping to create an outfit?
Did you dare to wear them out in public?
Do share!
 

9 comments:

Dolores said...

Neat. I was going to suggest taking another scarf/wrap perhaps in a solid but then you totally changed the colour. Well done.
BTW, what was the leggings pattern you used? Was it in a knit?

Vee said...

You can feel confident to wear all of them out in public, Jill. (With one exception, but then you alluded to that in such a subtle way. I'm reading Uncovering Is..m now and it is a fascinating, disturbing read.) So you've confessed to hating sewing, yet you can do it. You seem to love to design. Perhaps you missed your calling. My daughter loves to design and never uses patterns when sewing her creations. I must have a pattern or I'm sunk. I enjoy sewing, but I don't often feel very happy with what I've made. The seam ripper is my good friend, too. Oh, one last thing, this should have been titled "Leggings for Luke" because you know how I love alliteration. ☺ Have a great weekend and I hope that Bernie is home to enjoy it.

Thoughts on Life and Millinery. said...

My dil had a very stretchy jersy knit tee shirt that she grabbed at a thrift shop for $2 that we cut up for the pants. It was a black and grey tribal pattern that was similar to the $38 pair she had seen.

The pattern was from an old "Sew for Baby" pattern book. I redrafted the pants pattern to be tight in the legs by removing 4 inched through the pattern leg tapering it up to the waist. The test sew on the tribal fabric will cause me to tweak the pattern more in the future, the tribal fabric was two way stretch and we want to use fleece fabrics for winter wear as well as thin fabrics for thermal under liners.

Rosella said...

That WAS fun and I'm not laughing at all - brilliant!! Your fashion design training shows here for sure. I love trying different ideas with scarves and your turban wraps were fabulous.

ellen b. said...

Oh my...look at all the creative happening in front of that mirror! I am totally impressed with your skills!

Lorrie said...

That was a lot of fun to read! Your photos are inspiring. It looks like you had a great time playing with fabric and design and your camera. The need to play never disappears.

Kathy said...

You are one clever and creative lady with a sense of charming humour. Loved this post! I need to go through my closet and see how many outfits I can come up with creatively.

Lovella ♥ said...

I was thinking how fun it would be to have someone like you just stand there while I dress and tell me how to switch up my outfits. I enjoyed this post.
Happy weekend!

Sara at Come Away With Me said...

You are one creative woman, no doubt about that! I would never have the chutzpah to wear any of those outfits in public, but I did enjoy the fashion show, fabrics, colors, and drape. Seeing your beautiful hair in that simple but stylish cut has got me to wondering if it's time to cut mine off. Maybe it's this heat . . . with hair halfway down my back I've got to wear it up in a makeshift bun fastened with a big clip. Can't wear hats with this do.