Hinterland

I've been putting off this post because it feels like a failure.  I made the popular Hinterland dress earlier in the spring, and I really wanted to like it.  I did!  

But I just felt like 1995 was calling and wanted its dress back.  

It may have been my fabric choice--the Indian block print cotton was perhaps the wrong thing for the pattern, and a solid color may have felt differently, but who knows.

I think I cut a 12 on top and an 8 on the bottom, although I could have gone with a 6 for the bottom.  I didn't want much volume in the skirt and that seemed okay.  I will say that the bust *just* fits and I'm barely a B cup.  The pattern is drafted for a C-cup, and the 12 should have given me at least three inches of ease all around.  It's not tight, but there isn't a lot of extra room in the bust area.

I cut a faux button placket because the print seemed to need some breaking up.  I interfaced it with knit interfacing, which was about right for the fabric and structure.  It was a good experiment, and the buttons were a perfect match, but the whole dress was just not the right thing.

The good thing to come out of it was a decently fitting bodice block with inset sleeves that I can use to make a 3/4 sleeve button down woven top at some point.  

I did end up adding gussets under the sleeves for better range of motion and comfort across the back, and I think I did a forward shoulder adjustment (more on that in a future post).  

I did take it partially apart and remade it into a two piece ensemble for Birdie, who is thrilled with it.  

I changed out the buttons for yellow ones and she likes that very much!  I think it picks up the yellows better.  I could stand to take it up slightly more in the shoulders for better fit and may try to do that this week.

One of the side effects of all her health issues is that she can't tolerate binding around her middle, so she wears all her bottoms below her belly.  The peplum top is a good style for her in that way.  It does mean all her skirts look off in the hem (lower in front) and I realize I could hem it differently to make it look better, but she wears these clothes so briefly it hardly seems worth the effort.  But maybe I'm just lazy?  

In any case, I'm glad she loves the outfit, and that the fabric will get good use.  After several not-wins and sort-of successful remakes with sewing projects (about which more later), I was starting to feel rather wasteful.  I'm still purging the house and going through stuff, so there is this tension in me about stuff-usage.  I always have that to some extent, but it feels particularly acute right now.  I'm trying to let it go and take my own advice to get rid of things that I'm not going to get to any time soon.  It is tempting to hang on to everything because I could theoretically make use of it at some point, but I just don't have the space for what if projects.  The kids are home all this coming week, so we'll see how much I get done!

In garden news, look at my cute baseball-size watermelon! I'm thrilled to see it grow.  I put up additional trellises this week to support the expanding watermelon and cucumber vines and moved two potato plants into another planter since the first two seemed crowded.  Just have to keep hilling them now!  Fingers crossed for a good harvest.  

A Year of New Things

Nothing like leaving a year in review to last minute, eh?  I scrolled through all my posts this year to see what I had made and wrote about, and it was a Year of New Things.  I tried a bunch of new-to-me patterns, knitting techniques, and silhouettes, and had some great successes.  

I fell in love with stranded knitting (colorwork), got more confident with lace charts (open work), and found that I like working with sport or fingering weight yarn best, even if it takes longer to complete.  I found a few well-fitting basic sweater patterns that I can modify or adapt going forward.  Pullovers are still my happy place.  

Sew House 7 topped my list of great pattern companies after I made the Remy Raglan and the Elemental skirt in the spring.  It took me a while to get the sizing right on the former, and the fit right on the latter, but I loved wearing both once I did.  

My summer was again a horror of heat, humidity and feeling crazy in my clothes, but I guess I went into it knowing that, so it wasn't as bad, perhaps?  I made the Free Range slacks in the early fall, but decided I liked the pattern better as a skirt and have happily made several in different weights.

I revisited the Coco dress pattern after writing it off years ago, and discovered it makes a great knit shirt.  Hot flashes and tucked-in shirts are not a great combination, but it is hard to find tops that look good untucked on me, so having a go-to pattern that works for my short torso is fantastic.  

I frankenpatterned a woven top that I like very much (and can also wear untucked).  I got better at inside finishes and did a lot more handwork, including some embroidery to fancy up a linen skirt from 2020. 

 

I made some dresses: the Sorrel, Terrace, and a Frankenpatterned knit dress pattern that were fine.  I used my bodice block and Anne Adams skirt bottom to make a flannel dress this fall.

 

In unselfish sewing, I did a lot more than in years past.  In September, I became a godmother again and made the baptism ensemble.  My Weekender sweater worked out well for Ponchik last winter and she wears it constantly right now.  I made my dad a linen shirt for his birthday.

I made a lot of simple panel lap quilts for family and my kids and enjoyed the process of quilting very much, although perhaps not the self-imposed deadlines. I made myself use up almost all the scraps from the quilts on pillowcases or zipper pouches or tote bags, so that was useful. Panel quilts are very straightforward, so I'm not sure pieced quilts are in my future, but I have in mind to make some kind of crazy quilt with my scraps. 

Making my first bra was a fun project, but I'm unsure about making all my own going forward.  I'll probably have a mix of me-made and RTW in that department for a while.   

I had several outright fails and some alterations, but overall, I had a lot of successes, and ended up pieces I wear a lot, so it has been a good year of making! 

So long, farewell, до свидания to 2021!