I’m back! Apologies to my loyal readers (hello Alison) for the prolonged absence. Anyway, I thought I’d give this whole clothes-making thing another go…
First though, for reasons I can’t quite fathom, I feel compelled to do a round-up of the previous batch of clothes that I made. Time to play pass or fail…
Pass
- Blue cotton drawstring trousers
Worn a lot – they are comfortable, flattering and they fit. They are now falling apart.
- Dark-brown moleskin winter a-line skirt
Worn a bit but not a lot. I decided that the length was a little too long, a little too sensible, so I’ve shortened it by 5cm in the hope that this will make me want to wear it a bit more.
- Blue fishtail lace and cables scarf
I wear it occasionally, that’s about all I can say.
Borderline
- Fitted a-line dress
Somewhat ambivalent about this dress. I didn’t love it but I did wear it quite a bit for work. The a-line was a little too flared to feel right. Still have the dress but it doesn’t get worn much.
- ‘Gneissic’ grey woollen scarf
I like this scarf but I never wear it. Don’t really wear scarves much I guess. It’s still sitting in a drawer in the hope that this might change.
- 1920s-style knitted cloche hat
I wore this a lot and was very happy with it. Currently not so sure. I’m sure this has nothing at all to do with a kind friend describing it as my ‘House of Idiot’ hat. Perhaps one needs to be in the right mood for this hat. I might make a different hat for those occasions when I’m in a different mood.
FAIL
- Camisole top from Japanese book ‘Everyday tops’
It never fitted and gaped open in a not very helpful way. Long since departed to a charity shop.
- Brown linen-cotton wrap skirt
It was scratchy and uncomfortable to wear so I didn’t wear it in the summer. Tried wearing it with tights in the winter but it didn’t do much for me. I think it became cleaning cloths.
- Nightshirt
The pattern I made was, as it turned out, too fitted for a nightshirt. I could never quite persuade myself to wear it so we parted company.
- Khaki drawstring cargo skirt
It looked like a sack. Enough said.
Lessons learnt?
So it could be better, could be worse… and they were all interesting ‘learning experiences’. You do really need to get the fit right to produce something that’s actually wearable.
I think that Stephanie Pearl McPhee’s comments on knitting sweaters (from Knitting Rules) may also be relevant here: “I knit tons of crap. Crap all the time. The path to a good sweater is paved with crap. There’s a magic number of crappy things you have to knit before you can get a good sweater. You must work through the crap to get to the light. It’s either that or you don’t follow directions well. One of the two.”
Hmmm, I’m not totally sure which one applies here…
