Tag Archives: Clothing

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Me-Made May ’12 Finale

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Week 4 of MMM ’12 was something of an “off week.” I had field work, which required a specific wardrobe. That said, the pants I wear for field work were acquired during a clothes swap with my graduate school friends. So they are re-used. :)

As I mentioned last MMM post, I had run out of completed handmade clothes. Week 4 ended up being my most productive week. I’ve been taking a pattern making class through the University of Washington Experimental College. This particular class is taught by Pennie (of Simone & Sylvia) and we’ve been meeting in the Pike Market boutique every Wednesday evening this month. Pennie has taught the four of us how to draft and sew garments based on our own measurements. I am now the proud owner of a [close-fitting] knit shirt pattern block, a skirt block, and a [Japanese] bodice block. This class was well timed. With the pattern blocks, I quickly made two more garments for Me-Made May. We wrapped up the class on May 30, during which we drafted the bodice pattern blocks.

I was in the field again for Week 5 and I tried to wear my handmade clothes for my after-work activities, but jet lag got the best of Greg (and by extension me). I was often too tired when I got home to do anything, including change into a me-made outfit. But I did have two items worn in week 5.

The Me-Made Outfits

Goldfinch Sweater: In direct opposition to the early morning clouds and raindrops on Memorial Day, I donned my newly assembled cotton/acrylic handknit sweater. Previously blogged about here, I altered the sleeve pattern slightly–rather than knitting elbow length sleeves, I chose to pick up stitches around the armholes and knit only the lace pattern to make it a sleeveless/capsleeve sweater.

I am beginning to understand why many people prefer to knit sweaters top-down and in the round. This method allows them to try on a garment as it is being knit and adjust the circumference accordingly. I am still not 100% happy with the fit of my summer “Goldfinch” sweater, but it could be worse.

Straight [line] skirt: I wore the skirt out to a friend’s birthday dinner. The pattern was self drafted in my pattern making class.  I found the skirt fabric (mid-weight, cotton blend with some stretch) at Stitches in Capitol Hill, Seattle. I’ve been wrestling with my wardrobe recently, and I didn’t really need another straight skirt. But this was the in-class project, so I set out to find a fabric that would compliment the majority of my existing wardrobe. A neutral color was a given, and the linear texture was a happy surprise when I saw the bolt at the store. I’m tempted to try another skirt with the linear pattern horizontal…if I can justify the addition to the wardrobe.

When I put on this skirt for the first time, a skirt made specifically to my body, I realized that two RTW (ready to wear) skirts I own and often wear are perhaps just a little small. I assumed they rode up because the waist was too loose…nope, the hip area of the skirt is too snug. I will never have to another skirt (unless it is thrifted, and awesome).

Me-Made in May, but sadly not worn

Knit shirt: The knit fabric (similar to swimsuit or yoga pants) was provided by our instructor. The pattern was drafted by me (according to the instructors lesson). I plan to wear this under some of my short-sleeve cardigans or blouses in the cooler months. I just ran out of days to wear this.

Alchemy Top: Looking through my past blog posts, you’ll see that I’ve been messing with this shirt for a while. The purpose of this project was to REUSE an old garment. It started as a pair of jersey gauchos pants. I wanted to turn it into a shirt, and I am generally satisfied with how the body fits, but I am not fully satisfied with the front collar–it needs a more concave shape. I’ll come back to it in a while. I need to focus on other projects for for the immediate future.

To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is alchemy’s first Law of Equivalent Exchange. ~ Alphonse Elric, Full Metal Alchemist

In Conclusion

I feel good about how my first Me-Made May went. It forced me to finish a couple of projects that were in limbo. I enjoyed following the Flickr group and seeing the other seamstresses out there blogging their creations. Maybe next year I’ll feel more confident about sharing my photos with the Flickr or Facebook groups.

I learned that…oh. dear. lord….I need a better mirror or at least better lighting.

I learned that even in sewing my own clothes, I am still not seeing the full outfits when I choose fabrics. I think a wardrobe cull is in order before I add more me-made items to my project let.

Thanks to Zoe, for starting this years ago.

And another BIG thank you to my college classmate whose blog last year introduced me to these clothing challenges and inspired me to dive into sewing.

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Me-UNmade May

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The recap of my Me-Made May pretty much exhausts all of my hand-made garments to date, so I’ve also been furiously knitting since mid-April to finish my first sweater before the challenge ends. I bought the pattern online from Craftsy.com, Green T by Holly Priestly (also available on ravelry.com)

While I was sick, I was able to finish the body and get the side seams and shoulder seams stitched together.

I used the pattern instructions for a 32 bust, but I don’t think my gauge was correct. The sweater (assembled without sleeves) fit rather loose, although the photo doesn’t clearly show the excess ease. The structure of the sweater caused it to hang about an inch or two away from my body. It might not have been as noticable if the shirt had been longer, but I was running out of yarn and needed to bind off.

Quick, to the internets! How do I deal with a sweater I knit too big?

Well, most people (blogs, knitting resources) suggest you just take it apart and start over. There were also a few blogs that offered tips on cutting and re-sewing the side seams with a sewing machine. I didn’t feel confident about being able to accurately cut the sweater, and it would have wasted a lot of yarn (and money).

The thought of dismantling something I had spent 2 weeks creating made me a little sick to my stomach (or maybe that was the yet-to-be-diagnosed ear infection). But one of the reasons I have taken up knitting and sewing is to create wardrobe pieces that I love and will regularly wear because they fit me. I knew I wouldn’t wear this sweater in its current state. I’d try to pull it off, but in the end it wouldn’t be as flattering as a smaller size.

I was frustrated. I have always been a perfectionist, sometimes to mentally unhealthy extremes. There were high school art projects that weren’t “perfect” in my eyes and I took those as evidence of my failures. Those thoughts passed through briefly as I was trying on the too-loose sweater, but I am getting better at repelling them. Sewing and knitting are teaching me patience and helping me accept mistakes as learning opportunities. I can always rip out a seam, or unravel a couple rows. Or I can accept a puckered seam as a minor mistake that won’t be noticeable to passers-by. “Imperfection” and uniqueness are part of the appeal of handmade goods.

So, after two days of deliberation I tore out the stitches, rewound the balls of yarn, and started anew.  This time following the smaller pattern size because my gauge was still off.

Now the body of the sweater fits more snuggly. The front cowl does not drape as much as it the pattern suggests it should, but I like boatneck collars just as much. And the tighter fit allows me to layer this under jackets. After a couple experiments with the sleeves (I don’t have enough yarn to make 2 elbow-length sleeves), I think I will keep this sweater sleeveless, perhaps with just the lace trim added to the armhole edges.

I LOVE the color. I chose it because it resembles the coloring of some yellow birds I’ve seen recently on my birding trips with Greg (Common yellow-throat, American Goldfinch, and Yellow-rumped warbler).

One of our backyard visitors–American Goldfinch, male

Used Patagonia Clothing for the win!

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Depsite my deep appreciation of Patagonia’s environmental efforts, I confess that I do not buy as much from them as I would like. I aim to “put my money where my mouth is” but at the end of the week (even on payday), most of Patagonia’s clothing and gear is just a bit out of my comfort-price range.

But I think I may have found a solution, via Patagonia.

Did you know you can pick up used Patagonia Clothing through Patagonia’s website? I didn’t. As far as I can tell, it is not widely promoted. I only noticed a link at the bottom of the left margin when I was browsing through their spring clothing collection.

I saw casual/travel clothing and technical hiking clothing as well. I’ll be returning to look more closely at the options and available sizes. I am hopeful that at some point a pair of snow pants might be available.

Also: Patagonia has updated some of their Footprint Chronicles, which share the production histories of various materials and products.

Me-Made May ’12 begins today!

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‘I, Meris, sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May ’12. I endeavour to wear at least two different handmade* garments or accessories each week for the duration of May 2012.’

*Ideally these will be handmade by ME, but in a pinch I do have a couple items (a pair of earrings, a scarf) that were handmade gifts from friends. Handmade can also include refashioned, and upcycled items.

I watched a couple bloggers do this last year when I had no handmade garments on hand. I still don’t have a large number (hence my 2-items per week handicap), but I wanted to dive in this year to give myself a push. To meet my challenge, I will need to finish my three “in-progress” projects before month’s end, and possibly start a couple more. I am also hoping to use this as a means to explore my wardrobe from different perspectives and find more uses for clothes that hide in the back of my closet.

I plan to post weekly updates, with photos of the outfits.

Visit “So, Zo…what do you know?” for more details on this year’s challenge, the Facebook and Flickr pages, and the history of past challenges.

Knitting in a rocking chair in the Sea-Tac Airport food court.

Knitting in the public sphere

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I made an interesting discovery this weekend: knitting in public places invokes social interaction.

I am an introvert, and when I travel my preference is to do my own thing in my cramped little space, be it reading, writing, sleeping, or knitting. In most cases, airplane neighbors are more than willing to accommodate these wishes and will ignore me until one of us needs to use the lavatory.

But when you bring my knitting project on board, a curious thing happens. Airplane neighbors, who otherwise would have likely ignored me, begin asking me about my knitting…

“what are you making?”

“you can knit? that is amazing!”

“my daughter knits and crochets too.”

…and the conversations diverged from there.

Knitting in a rocking chair in the Sea-Tac Airport food court.

On the flight to San Francisco, I chatted with a Bainbridge Island high school teacher (and mother of 3). She and her husband were on their way to Hawaii. We talked about the state of education, colleges, and Washington vs. Oregon (they used to live in Eugene).

On the flight home, I was seated next to a young man from Puerto Rico who had been going to school, working, living, and exploring his way across the United States for a few months. Jose decided to travel to Seattle at the last minute, picking up a ticket for a mere $70 less than 12 hours before the flight. He’ll be working 25 hours a week on a farm, somewhere east of Seattle and exploring Puget Sound on the weekends. Our conversation began with his excited enthusiasm at my knitting; learning to knit was on his short-term goals list. We parted ways with me listing off as many Seattle and Western Washington sites and activities I could think of.

Through it all, I managed to knit at a steady pace.

Although a part of me desperately wanted solitude on the plane rides, it was fun just chatting with people and learning snippets of their stories.

This weekend has shown that I am more approachable when I am intensely focused on not dropping a stitch, as opposed to when I am casually reading a magazine. Is it because these activities, at their core, were often done in groups? Think about your favorite Jane Austen (or period film), with all those ladies knitting or doing needlepoint together.  From my own perspective, when I see someone knitting or crocheting, I find that I can identify with them.

Do you find that being crafty in public draws more comment and social interaction from complete strangers? Do you actively engage others you see crafting in public?

Credit score be damned, I just canceled my GAP and LOFT credit cards

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Long overdue, some might say. Silly, others might say.

No regrets, I say.

I am no longer using them, and I don’t want to risk the cards getting stolen and used by someone else.

When I implemented my Sustainable-Me challenge in 2011, I had to give up shopping at two of my favorite stores (GAP and LOFT) because of questionable labor and manufacturing practices. I had to stop looking at their emails and their websites because the cute clothes were too tempting. (I vaguely recall buying SOMETHING last winter, because I intentionally did not use my GAP credit card. Oh right…bras…because I haven’t yet found an environmentally responsible alternative that fits as well as the GAP bras.)

If I really need a pair of GAP jeans (or Levi’s) I can swing over to a used clothing, thrift, or consignment store and probably find a decent, barely worn pair. I know this because I have donated many pants that didn’t fit. Bought because of some credit card reward, but I never got them hemmed. We (collectively as a society) discard a lot clothes…but that is a blog post for another day.

The cancellation process was amazingly easy. Both phone-call card systems are automated. I just had to select the “cancel card” option (in GAP’s case, I “told” the computer I wanted to cancel my account) and both merchants gave me an automated reminder of the card’s benefits, which I ignored. If this had been a human customer service rep, I would have been given the same reminder, and most likely they would have tried a couple of times to change my mind. The computer? It accepted my single “no” and promptly canceled my account. No stress on my part.

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Friday Follow: The Good Closet

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Taking a page from Twitter’s Friday Follow (#ff), every fourth Friday I will share with you a blog I am following. Featured blogs will eventually be listed in the right-hand column.

I first stumbled onto Elizabeth Cline’s writing through her column on the Etsy.com blog. Her “History of a Cheap Dress” explored the explosion of apparel options over time. Consumers (in this case, explicitly women) went from making their own clothing to having access to mass-produced goods. We are now able to stuff our closets with clothing, but Elizabeth Cline asks “at what cost?”

Explosion of Fashion (From Etsy Blog, Illustration by Lena Corwin)

Overall, Elizabeth Cline’s column for Etsy, her Tumbler blog (The Good Closet), and upcoming book seek to explore “the global impact of fast fashion [and] how to dress ethically (and fashionably) on a budget.” (She also writes about ”cheap chic fabrics” and the cultural and economic forces that put us into blue jeans). I like that her blog focuses on the environmental and the social/labor issues behind the fashion industry. I do wish that her blog posts had a few more “citations” so I could delve deeper into some topics, but maybe her book will have a list of additional references and resources to help us be more conscious consumers.

The blue jeans and t-shirts article reminded me of an article we read in an anthropology class, about the history of fabric. Most of the academic details are gone, but I remember that England had a trade deficit because luxurious and color fabrics from the East were imported, overpowering the local textile market. Black was pushed as a “fashionable” and “good” color in England because the English were very good at dying wool black. The powers-that-be portrayed the luxurious and colorful silks and velvets as decadent, sinful, and just plain undesirable.

Being an archaeologist, I really appreciate her exploration of material culture and the behind-the-scene forces. I’ve seen those old Sears & Roebuck catalogs, full of all kinds of pre-made goods that you can buy from a distance. When people were making all of their possessions, they had a greater investment in the items. They were more likely to try to repair the item and if they moved, they were more likely to take their most valued possessions with them…leaving less for us archaeologists to find. But think about your last move. How much stuff did you donate or throw away? How much of that was clothing? How much (and what) did you really take with you to your new home?

If you are looking for a short and interesting read this weekend, take a moment to read Elizabeth Cline’s thoughts at http://thegoodcloset.tumblr.com/ and her Etsy Blog posts.

Featured image: Fur Clothing 1903. By H. Kirstein, Leipzig [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons