In which I commit acts of sewing
August 04, 2019
This hot and humid summer (and my increasingly close approach to menopause) has finally broken my longstanding resistance to wearing sleeveless tops for something other than running. I finally have reached the age where I DNGAF* about the condition of my upper arms and just want to be as comfortable as possible in a house with no AC and an office with substandard AC.**
So I looked around for sleeveless tops for a grown-up. My office-mates don't need to see my bra straps. I don't want to wear some weirdo blend that pills when you look at it crooked. And I want to look like a woman in my late 40s, not like one in her 70s.
Once those limits were applied, the racks were empty.
Which is when I realized I have a sewing machine, a desire for a project that doesn't take weeks to finish, and some meager sewing skills. I poked around a bit, heard high praise about Grainline Studios, and picked up the Willow pattern. When Scott and I went to NYC a few weeks ago, I bought fabric and thread at Mood. And when I had a few hours, I committed some sewing.
Top number one:
Apologies in advance for the bathroom mirror pixs. I worked with what I had.
The fabric is a cotton/linen blend.*** It's cool and comfy and only touches my body where it absolutely has to. Thumbs mostly up.
Top number two:
Yes, the cotton fabric has moths on it. How could I not buy this?
My supervisors were sleeping on the job.
The artsy shot.
The obligatory bathroom shot.
On the whole, I am pleased with how they turned out. As long as you don't look too closely at the bias binding, these home sewn garments look like actual clothes, which is progress. Also: I discovered that bias binding is super fiddly but worth it.
These little experiment went well enough that I'm pondering committing more sewing. Any patterns/designers you'd recommend?
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*Do Not Give a Fuck
** We're not great with air conditioning in this part of the Northeast. We can efficiently heat the bejeezus out of anything enclosed, mind. But cooling is not in our wheelhouse
*** While cutting the fabric for top number one, I discovered my eldest child had used my fabric scissors to cut granite or something so there was a pause while I waited for new scissors to arrive.
Very cute! Well done!
Posted by: Heidi | August 04, 2019 at 04:20 PM
I feel lucky to have seen the moth top (mothtop?) on what I believe (?) was its debut outing. Can confirm it is super cute! I hope, however, that you do not feel an overwhelming urge to circle open flames when wearing it.
Posted by: TJ | August 04, 2019 at 06:23 PM
Fabulous tops & way to go! Last nite I ordered 2 patterns - a dress & a skirt. Seems I need to add your top to the list.
Posted by: Martha | August 04, 2019 at 07:27 PM
Reaching the DNGAF stage of life is so liberating!
Posted by: Kathy B | August 05, 2019 at 08:47 AM
Good job! (oh, and that's a perk of getting "older" - which is all in the mind anyway) - NGAF about what others think. It's becoming very liberating for me!
Posted by: Linda | August 05, 2019 at 02:45 PM
I love both! You have inspired me to dust off my sewing machine.
Posted by: Heidi Gillenwater | August 07, 2019 at 06:02 AM
I was just *admiring* my own bingo wings this morning. DNGAF is a good motto.
Posted by: kmkat | August 13, 2019 at 03:19 PM