Category: sewing

When you absolutely don’t need to acquire more fabric or make more clothes, what do you do? Buy a bunch of notions and plan to make a pack.

I’ve had the make your own gear (MYOG) sewing community on my radar for a while and was looking at pack patterns over the weekend. A lot of what’s out there is meant to be made ultralight (UL, of course) and going from my 3-pound Osprey to a 19 oz DIY pack sounded pretty good… but then I realized we just don’t do the kinds of hikes that need a 30L pack. Honestly, the Osprey is overkill for our afternoons up Millcreek, so when I saw Stitchback Patterns’ “Lumbar Pack” above, I thought, “This is perfect.”

It’s big enough to hold snacks, a hat and gloves, and a first aid kit (my non-negotiables) and it has that chonky hip belt and pockets for water bottles. I still have Ottertex outdoor fabric from an order two years ago, so my pack won’t be ultralight–but you know it will be color coordinated:

Notions shopping was FUN (because shopping!): I found colored buckles and webbing at Strapworks, and the khaki accents and even orange spacer mesh at Rockywoods.

As soon as my $50 in notions and shipping arrive, I can get started on my “free” pack!

Like I said last week, I decided to push through the king size quilt I’ve had in progress so we can have it on the bed by the end of the year. I also decided we needed matching shams, so that meant I had to make a trip to Harmony on Saturday for more fabric (and, oops, some sock yarn):

Then I cut all that brand-new fabric up into smaller pieces and arrange it:

Then I sew the smaller pieces together, cut them up again vertically, and sew them all together again to get a block that’s smaller than the piece of brand-new fabric in the first place. (Sometimes, modern quilting makes no sense, but in my defense I ran out of big enough scrap pieces months ago; the mask making of 2020 really put a dent in my quilting cotton.)

Anyway, this is all pretty money- and labor-intensive. I wish I’d started tracking time and expenses but now I’m just going for it. I did have a moment, though, thinking this entire thing wouldn’t even look good. I grabbed the blocks I had 100% finished and laid them out to see if this was going to work… and it is. Sometimes you gotta get some distance and then you can see the patterns emerge.

Yes, that was a Quilting Metaphor.

I’ve started wearing shorts again in a few more places than just the hiking trail. Why did I stop? I felt bad about my vein-y legs (my varicose veins started in high school). Why am I starting again? The older I get, the less I care what other people think!

These are the Greenstyle Balboa Shorts, made in stretch woven from them, with the zip pockets. I made this version with built-in briefs so I can wear them to the river…or just in public, like at a skate class when you finally figure out turns and show the world your veins and nobody cares:

Like I said yesterday, I’ve already made a circa 1998 cutaway top and I really love it:

This is the Greenstyle Sky Tank in a stash cotton rib in the waist length. Highly recommend for a quick sew that will let you relive all your high school fashion dreams, but with more muscles and less anxiety.

I also finished these bright! chartreuse! linen! wide! pants! at the same time and realized they worked really well together:

I think there’s just something that happens after you turn 40 where you become more and more attracted to linen–right after your mid-30s when you realize that you won’t stand for uncomfortable clothes any more. This explains Eileen Fisher and I am 100% in her demographic but I hate how neutral it all is.

Good thing I can sew! Elizabeth Suzann has very similar vibes to Eileen Fisher, but offers sewing patterns so you can make your loose elastic pants in any color you want. The pattern is expensive for what you get (I had to add pockets on my own) but the drafting is really great: They’re extremely comfortable and not “dumpy” in the rear. I used an almost-neon green linen from Fabrics Store, which has relentless emails but also pretty nice linen.

Wide-legged chartreuse linen pants definitely encapsulate the “maximal summer” vibe I want this year: bright, spacious, easy, comfortable. Add a 90s top and Birkenstocks and you’re all set.

Our anniversary is in March; nearly exactly three months later Doc finally has his gift. (Hey, I got distracted with fleece stuff and linen jackets.)

Look at that healthy and ambulatory person post-surgery! <3

 

This is the same old McCalls pattern but I used a poly board short fabric this time–I’d hoped to recreate some of his favorite old technical shirts from REI, but this really wasn’t a technical fabric. (Well, I guess it would be if it got wet, but I wanted something more wicking.)

But happy anniversary, sweetie! Thanks for being patient.

When Doc got out of the surprise hospital visit a couple weeks before his scheduled surgery, I stopped at Sewtopia to get a little treat of neon pink webbing. I wanted to make the Buckthorn Backpack/Tote in time to use during his (planned) hospital stay–I liked how it could be hands-free and it seemed like the pockets could hold both a Kindle and a sock project.

Well, we all know what happened to my plans for being there in the hospital for him…but I did finish the bag over the weekend while he was home and I was still keeping away from him until I got a negative test.

The only mods I made were to add a key leash a laptop pocket on one side. The backpack straps made me think this might be a good travel bag if I ever have a work trip and I had leftover tailor’s felt to pad the laptop pocket with.

I did splash out for the deluxe zipper from Zipper and Thread. It ended up being a perfect color match to the outer fabric, which I had from another unblogged bag project last year. It’s waterpoof Ottertex outdoor canvas so it was thicccc but I used basting tape instead of pins (life changing) and my machine handled it all really well.

I spent most of the long weekend working on this and I’m so pleased with it–even though there’s no bright colors or patterns to be seen!

Well, almost no patterns and colors:

Oh yes, I Hong Kong finished all the interior seams with floral bias binding. It was extra work but that linen herringbone is so nice I wanted to give it a nice finish. (Seriously, the linen was a dream to work with–so much body, took an iron beautifully but kept its texture, just a neutral delight.)

I had the J. Peterman copy from the “champagne in a rowboat” jacket in my head while I was working on this: “It looks like nothing on the hanger and really not much in the picture. It looks like everything on.” This is just a beige shape on the hanger, but even throwing it on unhemmed over pajamas with weekend hair suddenly makes me feel so elegant! Polished! Even, maybe, finally…someone who brings champagne on a boat ride!

Details:

• Linen from Harmony in Provo
• The Assembly Line Cap Sleeve Vest pattern
• Copying a 2007 look at last
• Currently debating whether to put on snaps or to leave it plain, a la J. Peterman

 

Sometimes you just need to make a matching top and pants from a bright blue tiger print knit and wear them together on a random weekday:

The picture isn’t great but the print IS–it’s from Nerida Hansen (unavailable now) and I sat on it for nearly a year before deciding on the matching set.

I used the True Bias Nikko Top and a mashup of the Greenstyle Brassie Joggers (above the knee) and Flare Tights (below the knee)–not my first time making either pattern, so this was done in two weekend mornings.

I love it. The flared pants and the sleeveless turtleneck are taking me back to high school in the 90s, but the print on both is giving “eccentric Palm Springs widow.” Truly a great combination for my middle age.

I went to the fabric store in Provo over the weekend with a list of very specific fabrics to make things for  summer. I wasn’t expecting them to have much but lo and behold, they had the PERFECT heavier weight herringbone linen-cotton:

What am I re-creating from 2007? This linen “topper” from Emersonmade, before they were Emerson Fry, which is one of the first things I ever saved on Pinterest:

The Assembly Line Cap Sleeve Vest pattern that I made at the first of the year gives the exact same vibes, plus I know it fits and I like it. I won’t line this version; I also got a fat quarter from Harmony to make into bias binding to Hong Kong finish the seams.

I still feel the most “dressed” for work in a blazer-like object but most people show up to Zooms in sweatshirts; I think this rumply linen will be a nice casual-but-still-more-polished-than-a-sweatshirt layer to have for the summer.