I’m sorry to say that we’re still on firm lockdown here in L.A. In fact, things are quite a bit worse than my last post; California made the patently absurd decision to start opening up a few weeks ago, and as a result, infection rates have skyrocketed. My family was expecting this—anyone, including the governor, county supervisors, and mayor, should have been—so we’ve been prepared, but it is terrifying to watch the devastation unfolding around us. We’re back at the level of lockdown we were in May, not even permitting ourselves to go to the grocery store, and it’s tremendously frustrating. Dora’s school will almost certainly be online in the fall, and UCLA announced an all-online plan some months ago.
The Black Lives Matters protests were a bright spot for us, even as they erupted from well-founded rage and sorrow. It was tremendously exciting to see the city mobilizing to demand police abolition and racial justice. We didn’t protest in person—I came close, but reluctantly concluded that with two little kids at home, I’d be wiser to demonstrate my commitment in other ways. We did make it to a small, socially distanced rally in our neighborhood, and I was glad to have the chance to stand with my daughter. We’ve been tracking outcomes closely and have no plans to let the city off the hook. (Pay attention to the People’s City Council, which has been on fire.)
In sewing news, I’ve been getting to the sewing machine whenever I can, but it’s become really challenging as I’ve begun transitioning out of maternity leave and back into work. I’m more exhausted than I’ve ever been, even though we rarely leave the house, and the kids are eager for any attention I can give them. I count it a huge success if I can do anything for more than a few minutes without interruption.
Still, I’ve managed to complete a few things. I started with the Papercut Sway dress, which, as I mentioned in my last post, I’ve picked out for a couple well-loved pieces of fabric. I made a wearable muslin, which turned out to be a wise decision, because the first attempt was not, in fact, wearable.
The Sway dress pattern, annoyingly, only goes up to an XL, and, feeling cautious, I attempted to grade the pattern up, since my measurements technically exceed the pattern dimensions. The resulting dress was too big, too short, and, since I used the wrong kind of interfacing, stiff and unwieldy around the chest. I valiantly attempted to wear it anyway, but it’s really not a good look and I think I’d better trash it.
For my next attempt, I decided to make a top version, since I’ve felt I needed some more lightweight tops. I discarded my attempt at grading up and traced out an XL version of the dress, just at the length of a top. After trying it on, I took in the side seams a good inch each.
While the result isn’t perfect (the shoulders are too wide), I’ve been wearing it a ton–the linen is just right for these warm days, and the lightweight fabric that was totally wrong for the Fiore skirt makes a lot more sense as a top. The next version, also made from linen, is similar, just taken in a bit at the side seams. I basically wear it whenever I can. It reminds me of the Grainline Hadley tank, but the facing on the Hadley always pops out and bugs me. The Sway uses an all-in-one facing, which entails a little more work but is much more secure. I think this little exercise has yielded a fitting insight, which is that my shoulders and upper bust, unlike the rest of me, are not actually notably wide. This explains some of the fitting issues I’ve encountered.
Finally, I felt ready to cut into the ombré silk chiffon I’d been hanging onto for about a year. Since the fabric is so sheer, I lined it with a silver satin. The silk was a bit of a hassle; it frays on a dime. I also made the mistake of trying to stabilize it with a spray starch. That might’ve been a good idea, except that it stained the silk, which was distressing. I don’t think it’s ultimately all that noticeable, but it’s annoying.
If I’m totally honest, I don’t think the dress does a whole lot for me. Maybe I’m just feeling self-conscious about pregnancy weight-gain, but I also feel like I now understand why darts and pleats are often favored over just cinching in the waist of a tunic shape. Having said that, I’m really happy that the dress came out more or less as I’d pictured it in my head, and I’m pleased that I took the time to fit it. I don’t think I’ll be using this pattern for the other fabrics I’d marked for it, however.
Cashmerette had a sale not long ago, and I purchased patterns for the Rivermont and Holyoke dresses and the Calder pants. Feeling I could use a stretchy dress with good pockets, I made up the Rivermont dress in a “paprika”-colored Tencel-spandex jersey I’d gotten off eBay. The jersey turned out to be more lightweight than I’d thought it would be, and the dress suffers a bit as a result, but I like it nevertheless, and it feels more “me” than the floaty Sway dress.
I’d like to make a second version of this in black, and I’ve gotten ahold of a beefy cotton ponte from Nick of Time textiles for that purpose. (Most of their fabric is kind of terrible, but every once in a while, there’s a diamond in the rough.) Before I get to my next Rivermont, however, I’m working on a Holyoke sundress in a beautiful quality red Tencel twill from APC Fabrics. I’d like to use it as an opportunity to really work through fitting properly, and I’m putting together a muslin now.
Dora, as always, has issued a steady stream of requests, and I made for her a Dorothy dress (for a Zoom-based family performance of The Wizard of Oz, which I realize is incredibly cheesy); a swimsuit; and two rompers, using the Peek-a-Boo Patterns Harlow romper pattern.
This stretch “performance jersey” is from Spoonflower. 
The romper includes a butterfly design, at D’s request. 
Self-drafted Dorothy dress, made from an old skirt. 
If this Art Gallery cotton knit looks familiar, I have a matching dress. I got a shower curtain to use as a Zoom background and had fun using it as a backdrop for portraits.
Somewhat unbelievably, Dora has now started sewing independently on my machine. She’s even learned to thread the thing herself, apparently. It’s kind of amazing to me, since she’s only seven, but I guess little kids are more dexterous than I might have thought. Dora being Dora, she refuses to take much instruction about seam allowances or the like, and she has a tendency to sew weirdly tiny scraps of fabric together without a pattern. (She has a huge amount of unearned confidence in her pattern-drafting skills, as in many things.) I did convince her to use a pattern to make a simple tank and skirt (no seam finishes or hemming), and her delight in her accomplishments was pretty infectious.
The quarantine has been hard on her—I know she’s lonely and confused—so it makes me happy that she’s found something that gives her such a sense of satisfaction. Although I sometimes wish she didn’t refer to it as “our” sewing machine!
