Sewing Hiatus in order to drag myself round Italy

Did you know hotels still provide those dinky little sewing kits?

Courtesy of Hotel Notarie. Reggio Emilia

Not doing so much sewing at the moment as I’m currently dragging a suitcase across  Emilia-Romagna in Italy for three weeks. Don’t be too jealous, I’m mostly working. It is, however, really very lovely! I’ve been spending a couple of days in each town and then moving on.

I’ve gone back and forth between Ferrara, Modena, Carpi and I’m currently in Reggio Emilia. Only two more stops to go, Cesena (possibly a side trip to Rimini) and Bologna – where I will spend yet another birthday in Italy on my own (but not really complaining). I’ve  already been out here for two weeks, one more to go.

Carpi just before Notte Bianca (the biggest festival of the year)

Carpi. Sausage party

Carpi.

Interpret this as you will.

Ferrara and the view out my hotel window

Novocastello ne Monti (A lovely bit of the middle of nowhere)

Modena, home to Pavarotti, Ferraris and Balsamic vinegar

Reggio Emilia.

Emilia Romagna is where last year’s earthquake hit, about this time too. The towns in the photos had some damage but I was in Rovereto and Novi earlier this week where the most damage was done and those towns were pretty much destroyed. A lot of empty blocks where houses used to stand and entire city centres just gone. I had a chance to talk to a lot of the locals and, despite their upbeat nature, they are suffering. I can’t imagine what that kind of thing does to a community. I do know that if the Italian government were less concerned with lining their own pockets and more concerned helping their own citizens, these people could be in more permanent housing. I actually have an Italian passport and am able to vote ….ma, che casino .

I was in Genova last year when it hit, that particular part of the country wasn’t affected but I did find myself jolted awake at 4am. On sticking my head out of my room I found a bunch of other guests in the hall looking perplexed. I cannot imagine how terrifying it must have been for the people in Rovereto and surrounds.

I spent some time in L’Aquila the year after they had  their own earthquake in 2009 too. There was nothing in the town centre, everything was boarded up and it was heart-breaking. That was the one after which Berlosconi said “Hey! Your house and business has gone and we’ve got this shitty makeshift accommodation but, y’know, it’s like camping, lol”I might be misquoting him here but whatever.

Somehow this has gone off on a tangent, I didn’t realise this had actually got into my head so much.

Back to Emilia-Romagna. It’s a truly beautiful region and the food is amazing, but then, I’ve never really eaten badly in Italy. My arms are getting very strong with all the packing and hauling my bags up and down all the bloody stairs and across train platforms. And since I live a fairly monastic existence when I’m on these trips, I’m probably going to end up losing weight and having to re-do all my sewing blocks. Swings and roundabouts, eh?

Metric Pattern Cutting Review- aka success through swearing and mathematics.

I’ve not posted recently as I’ve had my head stuck in a book, Metric Pattern Cutting by Winifred Aldrich. Or, as I’ve been calling it “Metric bastarding Pattern bollocks, I’ve measured this wrong Cutting Oh look, it worked, ace! I’m a genius!

New things to learn. Very distracting

This book is somewhat of a sewist’s handbook and I wish I’d got my mitts on it sooner. If you’re thinking of getting it and know  you way round a sewing machine, then this is definitely something you should look at. From the cover, it looks pretty dry and maybe a little out-dated, but it is quite easy to follow and gives great detailed advice on how to draft made-to-measure patterns. Aldrich does not mess about with flashy illustrations or other distractions, there’s no “filler” in here, it’s a clearly written instruction manual for the sewist with (at least) basic skills.

The book provides very thorough instruction on how to take measurements and apply them basic blocks (or slopers) for just about any type of women’s clothing; close and easy-fitting blocks for bodices, jackets, coats, dresses, skirts, trousers, t-shirts and even swimwear.  These blocks are just that, “starting blocks”, once these are mastered, you’re able to make any number of variations. Aldrich actually walks you through loads of variations (around 20-30) to each of the blocks and shows you how to change necklines, openings, collars, gathering, sleeves…I could go on, but you get the idea.

Having all this information presented in such a clear way has taught me so much about garment construction and it really is nowhere near as intimidating as I thought it would be. It’s basically like learning a code which enables you to make whatever you want in a way that actually fits. Once you have this kind of knowledge, you can almost do away with using commercial pattern entirely. Alternatively, you can use lay the blocks to adapt commercial patterns so they fit properly.

You don’t need any special equipment but I found having a claculator, set square, French curves and dot and cross paper (from Wimbledon Sewing Centre) really helpful. Another thing which really helped was the talented PatternCutter206 on youtube. Her tutorials are fantastic, I found this one on adjusting armholes really useful.

It really is easier than it looks, it’s just a lot of maths and patience and adjusting things until they fit. Then a bit more patience, and some cursing and re-measuring and then realising you’ve put your top on back-to-front and that’s why it doesn’t fit. The sense of satisfaction when I finally did get it right was brilliant though. I’d post photos but there isn’t anything pretty about this kind of sewing. It’s basically me in a calico bodice, which I’ve scribbled indecipherable notes on – not as particularly inspiring visual.

So, instead, here’s a lovely but completely unrelated picture of Beachy Head.

Vintage Pattern Modification

I decided to dig out an long-forgotten vintage sewing pattern and get stuck into some sewing for summer. This one’s an old favourite, Style 1524 and look at the price! $1.60!

This is yet another pattern I have “liberated” from my mum’s stash in Australia. Many, many years ago I discovered a glittery version of view 3 in mum’s wardrobe. It was brown, gold and red striped lamé and I loved it to pieces. It was my What Should I Wear, Oh That’s Perfect Top. The original pattern is super-easy to put together, just three pieces for the bodice, two for the arms. No fussy fastenings or zips, which is good since I have an intense hatred of zips.

As much as I like the original, I’ve decided to modify it a bit. I’m omitting the sleeves so it’s just a simple drawstring tank. And taking it it. And maybe putting bust darts in, possibly scooping the neckline out a bit too. Why I can’t just follow a pattern without messing with it, is anybody’s guess. Do other sewists do this too? Am I just indulging some kind of masochistic urge to punish myself?

To make my life more difficult, I’ve decided to use the thinnest, slippery-est fabric I own. It’s working out OK so far and for once I’ve actually made a muslin so I don’t have the horror of trying to unpick stitches from this fragile fabric.

Paisley silky loveliness (Wimbledon Sewing Centre)

I haven’t had much time to sew lately as we’ve had the landlord dropping by to fix various bits and pieces in the flat. This involves a lot of moving of books and furniture and cats so the place has been more chaotic than usual. I’m hoping to get this done by the middle of next week because May is fast approaching and I’m off to Italy for three weeks for work. When I get back work will really pick up speed so I have a feeling I’ll have a lot less time to sew.

Fabric dye DIY.

The sun finally came out so I decided to spend some time in the garden messing about with turmeric and indulging in my newest DIY crush – dyeing fabric.

I’d dabbled in a bit of tie-dyeing many, many years ago and I like the look of ombre (or dip dye) but after reading this post about Shibori, I was convinced this was the one. It has a subtlety that really appeals to me, especially the Arashi technique. I also keen to try out organic dyes, using plants and spices so I dug out some white fabric, salt and a load of turmeric.  And it was a lot easier than I expected.

First, I tied my fabric. I was experimenting a bit so I tried (or rather, I made up) a couple of dye resist techniques. I messily pleated and then pegged one piece.The other pieces are wrapped round pieces of wood then scrunched down and finally tied round with string. I left one piece untied.

Next I soaked the fabric in salt and hot water for about half an hour so the dye would take. Most of the info on the internet suggests using salt for berry-based dyes and vinegar for plant-based dyes.

While the fabric soaked, I prepped the dye by mixing about three tablespoons of turmeric in 500 ml of just boiled water and stirred for 5 minutes. I poured this into a large tub and added about 3 litres of hot water until the tub was full.

By the time I’d done that 30 minutes had passed so I took the fabric out of the salt water fixative, rinsed it and put it in the dye bath. Do not untie it yet!

I was pretty excited to see the results and, as I’m the sort of person who reads the last pages of books, I was surprised I managed to stop myself from taking the fabric out too soon. But I did. After 90 minutes, I took it out, untied and rinsed in cold water until it ran clear. I’ll have to update this after I’ve washed it properly but the colour took really well. It’s a brilliant yellow, just what I needed after such a long grey winter. Not so sure about the patterns the dye made but it’s all a learning process.

The piece above was the piece I pegged together, I’ll probably use it as part of my colour-blocking revolution.

This is a work-in-progress Drape Drape Top (Book 1 No. 13) which I modified a bit so it’s not so loose. This was wrapped around a thin piece of wood and tied with string in an attempt at Arashi, however, it resisted the dye a little too well in the middle. Not entirely convinced but I’ll have to see what it looks like on. I can always re-dye it anyway and add a bit more colour in the middle.

It was a fun way to be out in the garden and hang out with the cats for a bit. They kind of lose their kitty minds at the first sign of spring so there was a lot of chasing of bees and trying to attack bits of string. Not so many mind games and not so much bullying so was nice for a change.

Stash-busting T-shirt.

I mentioned in an earlier post that I was keen to work through some of my fabric stash and I started with this t-shirt.

This is a really simple top to put together, I basically used this dress I made last month as a template and modified it to create the sleeves. I didn’t have a plan in mind for how the pieces would fit together, in fact, at one stage I was unsure I’d even have enough fabric. After a lot of moving pieces around, changing my mind and shooing cats out of the way it eventually worked out.

I bound the neck and armholes with self-made binding, it’s always a little time-consuming  but quite easy and worth it for a better finish. Bit of an explanation on how I do it over here. I’d love to know what other people do to bind jersey as I’m sure there must be an easier way.

The neckline at the back deliberately sits a bit lower. I could probably wear it back to front but this view is a bit busy. I wanted the stripes to line up so they’d alternate but I’m not so keen on it now. A bit of it had to end up on the diagonal because it was all I had left.

When I planned to get through my fabric stash, I originally envisaged lots of colour and lots of colour-blocking but it just didn’t quite work out that way this time. There’s still a lot of fabric to get through so I’ll get round to colour-filled, colour-blocking soon (as opposed to colour blocks of grey). Still, I stuck to my rules and made sure I used remnants of previous projects. The striped fabric comes from this top and the black from the reversible dress.

Something I’ve started doing more is using Pinterest to set up mood boards for projects. It’s so much easier than book-marking and makes it easier to determine what direction I want to go in for each garment.

London Sewing Supplies – fabric stores, notions, repairs.

I thought I’d share a couple of my favourite London sewing-related retailers, starting with my South London favourite.

Fabric Stores

There is a very special place in my heart for The Wimbledon Sewing Centre.  Don’t be fooled, it’s not actually in Wimbledon, it’s right near Tooting Bec Station.

It’s a proper old school fabric and haberdasher’s with knowledgeable staff.  They stock pretty much everything; patterns, notions, fabric, wool, embroider’s thread, beads, machine supplies, fabric dye and paint, cake decorating and scrap-booking supplies. The first floor has more elaborate evening, bridal and curtain fabric.

I can’t really comment on the scrap-booking or cake-decorating stock but for everything else, it’s never really let me down. There’s a extensive range of fabrics at reasonable prices- Jersey is around £6 a metre, polyester £3, corduroy £ 7, printed cotton £3. They stock all the big pattern brands, Vogue, Simplicity, Style, Butterick etc and they usually have a discount on one pattern brand or another. If you do buy a pattern, ask to start a pattern club card, your fifth pattern is free.

They’re home to the London Sewing Museum too. All these years and I’ve never been! They also run courses, but I’ve never joined so can’t vouch for them.  All in all, it’s a great store but my only criticism is that the service can be a little patchy. Not rude or terrible but nothing happens quickly in the store so be prepared to wait for someone to come and cut your fabric or find you a pattern. And if you’re in there around closing time, you’ll be hustled out the door. Maybe that’s part of its charm?

The Rummage Room may have disappeared but the wacky front displays remain and they are a thing of kitschy beauty.

Pheasants (Wimbledon Sewing Centre)

Check out some of my favourite WSC purchases in the second row, pretty pleased with that lot. This leopard print and abstract animal print both from WSC as well as the blue and red fabric pictured above for this dress. More fabric over here in case you haven;t had enough!

300 Balham High Road, London. SW17 7AA.

Nearest tube station Tooting Bec. Bus 155 (and others)

Closed on Sundays

Right next door to Wimsew for repairs and machines. Never used them so can’t comment.

Diy couture does a fantastic round-up of London fabric stores but this doesn’t cover South London. Yet.

The Great British Sewing Bee.

The Great British Sewing Bee starts this Tuesday and, I’m quite looking forward to it, especially after reading this blog post from Tilly and the Buttons, who makes beautiful stuff and is one of the contestants. And here’s a link to the other contestants. I hope the program encourages people to look at sewing in a new light but what I’m really curious about is who will watch it.

Sewists? (Not sewers for obvious reasons) People who watched The Great British Bake Off? Actually, I’m unsure about the comparisons that keep being made between this program and the Great British Bake Off in all the promotional reviews. Apart from being “traditionally women’s crafts”, how are baking and sewing similar? I’m not saying one is better than the other but just wondering why there is this constant comparison in all the reviews. I realise it’s a spin-off but the two don’t necessarily go hand-in-hand.

Baking or cooking is more likely to be something that we do, or at least are the recipient of, every day. As much as I’d like to sew daily, it just doesn’t happen. We don’t see other people sew the way we see people cook. Also, you can casually pitch in and help when someone is cooking, chopping veg or whatever. People don’t usually offer to thread my machine for me or iron on interfacing, and, to be honest, I’m quite happy about that. We have a room dedicated to cooking, I sew wherever there is enough floor space.

So, to get to my main point, does this lack of exposure to sewing mean people will be less likely to watch a program about sewing? Who’s their target audience? Me? I’ll watch it but, like most TV, I’ll probably be watching it while I sew.

I really hope it’ll help demystify the whole sewing process for someone who’s never touched a sewing machine and if it encourages people to pick up a bit of fabric and get started, that’s a great thing. Even if it doesn’t encourage people to sew,  perhaps it’ll make us re-think our relationship with fashion. By seeing the effort and time involved in making a garment, perhaps we’ll be less likely to treat clothes as disposable and less likely to buy things that fall apart after two washes. More importantly, it might make us think about the people who actually make our high street clothes. I’m not talking about the high street store “collections” by whomever, I’m talking about the people sat behind the sewing machines. In an ideal world, finding ethically-made clothing would be easy and, while most retailers have upped their game in this respect, they don’t label their clothing in an way that makes it obvious for the consumer. We have labels all over our food, granted that’s a health as well as conscience issue, but perhaps we should label our clothing in a similar way. Or maybe we should be more savvy as consumers and learn how to read labels properly. I wouldn’t buy battery farm eggs, why would I buy a t-shirt made in appalling conditions?

Gone a bit off topic in that last paragraph. Still, I’ll be watching this Tuesday, sewing and/or tweeting (@smittenness) and looking forward to seeing what happens.