Let’s try this again.
2020 was going to be the year I started sewing for myself. And I did. But as we all know 2020 did not end up being the year many of us anticipated, and many of my great intentions fizzled out before they ever really took hold. Yet I am happy. I sewed. I sewed more than I have in more than a decade, and that, in and of itself, is worth celebrating.
Let’s get the accounting out of the way first:
I made two dresses for myself.
I made countless Covid-19 masks.
Although I looked at a lot of fabric online, only 15 yards actually came in.
45 yards of fabric were sewn.
That all feels good. It is a small start, but a start nonetheless.
I made the first dress at a sewing retreat in March. At that time I refined the fit on my pattern and cut three dresses. The pattern was copied from a dress in my closet. When I left the retreat the second dress was complete except for hemming and I had every intention of finishing it. In fact, I had every intention of doing a lot. I had pulled fabric and patterns for 4 summer tunics and 3 more dresses.
Then Covid-19 hit. Life changed. I had no reason to go anywhere and didn’t need another dress. I lost all motivation. Although I initially resisted, eventually I began sewing masks. That kept me busy through April and May perhaps even into June. I had done something stupid and taken a fall in the garden, injuring my back. There wasn’t much else I was doing. I took no photos, well, perhaps one of bias strips.
Later in the summer I wanted to finish the second dress and I pulled it out. But I found some issues and I could not wrap my head around them. Although I had managed to assemble the dress nicely, the hem was incredibly wonky, barely and inch and half in places, 6 inches in others, The lining did not match up. I realized I had made a mistake. At the time I cut the dresses, I tried cutting double, which I never do, and this was especially problematic with the silk. It may have worked better had I layered it with paper, but I did not. At the time I just wanted to get it done, and of course I had excuses. My back hurt (pre-fall, but I have a history of back issues), I was tired, and the cutting table I was using was not the right height for me, making all of the above worse. Never again.
I suspect that never making mistakes is impossible. Learning from those mistakes however, is always a possibility.
Facing that mess of a dress made my head hurt, so I shoved it aside. In December I was determined to finish. This time it seemed easy. In retrospect, it seems my brain was not working well during the summer, when I was experiencing rapidly destabilizing atrial flutter and went into heart failure. Perhaps it is best that I did not work on the dress at that time. Lack of oxygen to my brain might have made things worse.
And so I am content. In 2019 I sewed one garment for myself. In 2020, I sewed two. I have two dresses I love which can be worn once the weather warms up. The first dress, the purple Japanese print, was my test garment. I loved the fabric, but I doubted whether I would love the dress itself, questioned whether it might in fact be a little “becky home-ecky”. In fact it pushes that boundary, but I wore it all summer and it made me happy. I suspect I will grow tired of it before the palm print linen however, which has turned out to be a nicer dress. But at the moment I remain thrilled. These are meant to be simple, casual, summer shifts. Yes I lined them. I find a simple china silk lining is often cool, and keeps the dress from clinging, which is hot as well as unattractive.
I have another project in process, one which uses 7 yards of fabric and which should be finished this month. I will try to keep you apprised.
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