Mending and Adjustments

 Hello friends! I hope this new year is finding you safe and well. 

I haven't posted in a while because my illness(es) flared up over Christmas and I have had a hard time getting back to normal. I have not been doing much of craft-related interest except for mending and alterations, and working on the Perpetual Pile of Sleeves. 

As you would probably know by know, I loathe a sewing do-over, and that is exactly what mending (and associated activities) feels like, so it is very easy to put the chore off and do more exciting projects. So I have been working to whittle down the list of things waiting to be fixed or adjusted - with varying degrees of success. It does seem like a Magic Pudding type situation, but I am plodding along.

Adjusting a slip

(For those of you who are not familiar, The Magic Pudding is an Australian children's book about - you guessed it - a magic pudding that you cut a piece from and it magically restores itself. Apparently much like my sewing to-do pile.)

The characters from The Magic Pudding. (Image from: https://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/exhibitions/magic-pudding-celebrating-100-years)

The Perpetual Pile of Sleeves is starting to look more manageable, as I have just kept at it; a little bit every day. 

Predictably, I have left all the eyelets til the end.

 

Short Holiday

I had a few days break on the coast at the end of September. It was a quiet trip as I ended up getting sick with a few infections, but luckily I have a great doctor there. I did some hand sewing and drew up some embroidery designs.

It is an area of stunning natural beauty, and a very nice place to recuperate.

Revamping a Second Hand Skirt

I recently picked up a second hand wench-style skirt to use as an underskirt. Although worn, it is good, heavy cotton drill and still has life left in it. I needed to take it up, so I added two tucks in the skirt. This is a great way to take up skirts that have already been hemmed, as you don't need to cut to re-hem, and the tucks help to hold the bottom of the skirt out. Skirt tucks can be seen in some full length late period portraits like these:

Portrait of Infantas Isabella Clara Eugenia and Catalina Micaela  1570

Image from: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Infantas_Isabella_Clara_Eugenia_and_Catalina_Micaela,_1570.jpg

Alonso Sánchez Coello's portrait of  The Infanta Isabel Clara Eugenia and Catalina Micaela, 1575
Image from: https://www.museodelprado.es/coleccion/obra-de-arte/las-infantas-isabel-clara-eugenia-y-catalina/739df39f-78e9-4261-af91-149b55547573 via Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/374150681512985632/

Portrait of a Moravian Woman- attributed to Pieter Pietersz the Younger

Image from: https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/190769734187521657/

Detail of Portrait presumed to be Henrietta Maria of France by French School
Image from: https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/491736853035824650/

It is also a great way to take up the hems on kid's gowns - a tuck can be released every time there is a growth spurt.

Portrait of an Unknown Girl by School of Bronzino

Image from: www.pinterest.com.au/pin/390546598927323514/

To add the tucks I marked out two lines on the inside of the skirt. (I then marked out two more for another potential set of tucks, just in case.) I moved line one up to meet line two (looping the fabric in front) and pinned in place. I then sewed the lines together with a relaxed whip stitch.

The lines for the tucks marked in chalk. The space between the lines dictates how big the tuck will be.

(One tuck didn't take the skirt up enough so I added another tuck using the same method.)

 The underskirt (outside) with the tucks completed

The inside of the underskirt, showing how the tucks lie 

The completed tucks hold the skirt out nicely

When the tucks were finished, I added some white ribbon around the hem as a trim.

The stitching lines holding down the white ribbon trim

 I'm pretty pleased with how the whole thing has turned out; the tucks make the skirt bell out nicely.

Felling Seams

Well, it took quite a while but I think I have found the issue with the photos that were not showing up on the blog, and fixed it. It took me on quite a trip down memory lane; reviewing past projects and remembering other things that were going on in my life at the same time. It reminded me also that I do achieve quite a lot despite my health challenges, and that I should probably stop criticising myself quite so much and stop comparing my efforts to what all the able bodied energetic people are doing. Hmmm...... easier said than done.

This week I have spent my sewing time hand felling hems for a friend who has an event coming up and needs some hot weather garb. It's not exciting stuff by any stretch of the imagination, but it is a good opportunity to practice my hand stitching. And it is lovely to work with pure linen, which is usually our of my price range.

A&S Century Challenge - Secret Scribey Projects

#100DaysofAS
I've been working on projects for other people and doing scribal work, so no photos. I do have a picture of my special helper. :-)

Enjoying the Struggle, I mean 'Journey'

I've been struggling lately with the amount of sewing and embroidery that I have to do before June. (A bout of gastro and a viral chest infection haven't helped either.) This week I am starting to - barely - see the light at the end of the tunnel. I saw this meme on Facebook and I thought it was a timely reminder that I should probably work on my attitude to sewing.

I really don't enjoy sewing, and I spend an awful amount of time doing it. So perhaps it is time to change my mindset?!

New thread source at Cos Bits

A re-enacting friend runs a haberdashery store and has recently started stocking an exciting range of embroidery threads. This week I managed to pop in and pick up some wool, silk and linen embroidery floss at fantastic prices. I am looking forward to playing around with my new acquisitions over the Christmas holiday break.

Take a peek at the range at http://www.cosbits.com/  or pop in at 20 Gilbert Place, Adelaide, South Australia, 5000 (Tel: 0422 746 595). Tell them I sent you!

Image source: http://www.cosbits.com/