Patience | the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, problems, or suffering without becoming annoyed or anxious.
Sewing and patience go hand in hand. This project was a friendly reminder of that. Have you ever worked on a project where it feels like everything is going wrong and nothing is working out? There were many moments through out this project that I felt exactly that. Thankfully I had a little voice in my head that reminded me of patience and the importance of practicing patience. I was able to take a step back, rethink what I was doing, breathe, slow down and end up with a summertime set that I am really proud of. Maybe slightly more cropped than I had imagined, but oh well 🤷🏻♀️, it’s nearly summertime here down under.
This is my entry for the #memade #ochrechallenge and I am in love with the new #twinset to hit my wardrobe. This beautiful, mid weight linen was purchased from the The Fabric Store and the pattern was created by me using my skirt block and a touch of guess work and free hand for the top.
I really want this blog post to be less about the overall making experience of this summertime combo and more about the emotional roller coaster that comes with creating. The whole process of coming up with a design, choosing the fabrics, patterning & testing your design, making the finished product and putting out there for the whole world to see (and very few actually see it 😂😂) can be quite daunting. For me anyway. You are bearing your soul through your craft and fear can be a killer.
I wanted to create an outfit that screamed minimal simplicity & effortlessly cool. This was a long way from the place I started. I have a tendency to over design. To create outfits that have an impact and wow factor but then end up in the back of my wardrobe to never see the light of day.
I was so excited about my original top design. It had big puffy sleeves with an 80’s vibe and a fitted cropped crossover bodice. Three toiles of the top later it was time to take five and reassess the direction of this design. Who was I kidding. I would never wear that top in public. It was certainly not minimal simplicity nor effortlessly cool.
Looking back through my inspiration pages it became clear that the right top was a simple tie front top that could also be a wrap top. It would make the perfect partner to my wrap skirt. Round four of toiling began. This time it went off without a hitch. A few adjustments where required for both the skirt and top but I was able to make those adjustments and move to cutting in my final fabrication.
However, the actual sewing process didn’t run that smoothly. After sewing right sides to wrong side, overstitching darts, unpicking, pinning facings on incorrectly I heard that little voice in my head again. Patience.
There are few things we do in this life that require us to be truly present. Sewing is one of those things for me. Yoga is another. To do a beautiful job I have to be fully focused on what I am doing or the mistakes creep in. Each step is important. To build a beautiful garment you need a good pattern and the right fabric. You have to be willing to change course if something is not working out, to unpick when something is not sewn well, to press each and every seam as you go.
Through practicing patience I was able to create an outfit that I am really happy with and will get worn a lot over the coming summer months. The skirt is going to be a great all year round piece in my wardrobe when styles with a chunky knit in the cooler months.
Sewing Tip
I’m a big fan of block fusing. It saves time and beats trying to line up your main fabric with your fusing at the ironing board. It also saves your iron and iron cover from getting covered it fusing glue.
Cut a square or rectangle of fabric big enough to fit all of your fused pieces and a piece of fusing slightly smaller. Iron your fusing to the fabric in a block.
Then you can cut out you fused pieces in one go. No more fiddling at the ironing board!
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