Just getting into sewing this year; did a fun exercise where I disassembled my old holey jeans to make them anew out of secondhand corduroy. Been a great exercise in appreciating a clothing item that’s been ubiquitous in my life/culture.
Extremely same; I get a bag and then have them for lunch over the course of the week. These and Sumo oranges are the fruit seasons I wait for every year up here in the northeast.
Finished the final muslin for the “old jeans made new” pants, turns out the correct adjustment was 0.5” additional width. Marked and cut the corduroy, pretty happy with the usage once I accounted for the nap of the fabric.
One of my favorite fusion recipes; take a chuck roast, prep it like you would pork butt for Carnitas, and add garlic, ginger and the masala for beef Nihari. I call it niharnitas; serve as tacos with fried onion crema and pickles turnips on flour tortillas/naan.
Desperately trying to find more time and energy for sewing, looking forward to the holiday weekend. Mark 2 muslin for the pants pattern I’m working on is coming along well. Already chomping at the bit to start on subsequent projects, it’s a problem.
Here’s the recipe! You can sub the old dough for a quarter cup of active sourdough starter mixed into a half cup of flour and a quarter cup of water if you want to do it sans yeast. Transcript in thread, bluesky alt text character limit too short. Sorry it took so long, life.
Had a great day; got a steal on some seersucker shirting from a secondhand fabric store, made a kick ass southern-inspired dinner, then traced out the mark 2 muslin for the pants I’m working on.
Next up I took some old Levi’s too far gone to be wearable but broken in to a perfect “me shape”, and disassembled them to make a pattern. I want to use the pattern to make two pairs of pants (to start) one in lined linen and one in corduroy.
This coat was my first sewing project and I’m super proud of it!
Did the pattern from scratch using a draft in an old book (background in technical drafting helped) tradition oilcloth means no ironing or pinning outside the seam allowance. 3 prototype muslins to get the fit right, 5 months total.
I just finished a big project and I’m really proud.
Lost my beloved cat of 15 years last December; between ADD, grief, and sobriety, “decided” to jump into a new hobby.
I wanted to make a coat!
Specifically landed on a Balmacaan made of traditional oilskin. (Lol)
Here’s a thread showing the process!
First I did research to learn about the coat style; the defining features are a raglan sleeve, a fly front, and a Prussian collar.
I really wanted something that would fit my “dwarven Inkeep” body well, and got daunted by the prospect of shopping for a pattern and then trying to adjust it.
So I decided to learn how to draft one!
Found this old book on tailoring with instructions for drafting a Balmacaan online. Started with a scale model draft, that I made into a tiny coat to learn hand sewing and how patterns become 3D shapes
After that I started making “muslins”, which are a prototype garment out of cheap cloth. For the first one I basted together 2 layers of muslin for every piece to simulate how I would layer the waterproof oilskin with barrier lining that keeps oil from rubbing off on the clothing underneath.
It was also great for practice & comfort with the sewing machine that my housemate and sewing tutor so kindly let me use. (She’s wonderful and taught me everything about sewing; cackled with delight watching me take on a first project that couldn’t be ironed or pinned outside the seam allowance T.T)
I made 3 coat, 9 collar muslins in the end; lot of prototyping but I was determined to get it right!. Ended up applyin “remedies for blocky shoulders and a thick neck” to the draft, raising the armhole a bit & shifting more of the shoulder from the coat body to the raglan sleeve. Cool stuff!
Then it was time to cut the cloth! I was so scared; practicing so many times helped. Traditional Oilskin in “grass” green from merchant & mills. Tough to sew, can’t pin outside the seam allowance, it cuts like a dream. I’m happy with the neat cuts! The left and right are stacked together in this pic
Made the 3-piece raglan sleeves, hand finished their seams with appliqué stitching, then attached them to the coat body where I did an attempt at “Hong Kong” seam finishing for the center; even this tiny bit of ribbon work convinced me people who see satin are a million times braver than the troops
This collar was done fully without ironing! Just a seam roller and finger press on my Cold Iron Ham I made out of barrier lining scraps stuffed with the muslin scraps(so I could use it wi the the oil cloth). I’m really happy with it after all that work refining the draft and the structural assembly
After putting it together & adding the buttons/fly, I originally wanted patch pockets because it seemed easy and I was scared to cut into my beautiful coat; but the sleek aesthetic of welted side pockets called to me, and after all this work I couldn’t settle for anything less than satisfaction.
With a lot of help from my sewing expert housemate, I pulled it off! Not perfect but pretty neat for a no-iron job. There’s something so viscerally satisfying as to border euphoria for pockets _exactly where you want to put your hands_ that are deep enough to hold a Nintendo switch.
And there you have it! My own personal overcoat! Not perfect by any means, but in retrospect a wildly successful over ambitious first sewing project and a testament to the power of hyperfocus! (Timeline was bought the book in January, finished the coat a couple weeks ago in May)
New formal outfit came together real nice; incredible bolo from @wingsndnsilver.bsky.social . Hopefully there’ll be some outdoor or relatively COVID safe events I can rock up to this year.
Commissioned a piece from Dr. Abbey of my own beloved cat, they did a great job. Highly recommend their work if you want a portrait with visual interest and texture that still captures the detail of the subject.
Every time I sell any of my art, I can't imagine how I managed to become a real artist.
A prospective client saw my piece at the recent Feline Fantastica Cat Art Show and is arranging to purchase it.
Surprisingly bittersweet pizza night; this is my first time making it without my beloved assistant curled up in his chair. Pies came out well through the tears, I think. True Canadian bacon, pickled onion and jalapeño, NM red hot honey drizzle.
CW pet death
Said goodbye yesterday to the best little guy; terminal gastro cancer. He went peacefully surrounded by our little found family. Fifteen years of love and companionship, together my entire adult life. He was truly a blessing.
