Back to basics

It was time. A combination of “discovering” knitting, too much sewing to a deadline for this summer’s wedding outfits and then a subsequent run of bad sewing karma and botched ill fitting projects have meant months of dust have gathered on the sewing machine. The longer you leave something the harder it is to go back to it again. So today I made a real effort, blew the dust off the old machine and went back to basics with a forgiving knit fabric. Result: a basic base layer- a simple black long sleeve top:

(Wow, point a camera at me and I just don’t know where the heck to put my hands. Here I am in full “hey someone just superglued my hands to my hips” pose…)

Half an hour in I was already noticing the difference between my sewing mindset and knitting mindset. Knitting for me is a contemplative activity. The soothing rhythm of the needles allows the active restless part of my brain to be occupied with stitches, which the rest of my mind feels free to drift around without direction in a more creative “slow thinking” kinda way. Knitting seems more sociable, infinitely more portable and much easier to produce good results with than sewing (providing you get gauge, knit the right size and remember to do the right stitch when you should and definitely DON’T DROP ANY).

Sewing on the other hand for me is a full workout for body and mind, from the cutting out the fabric on the living room floor to the machining and pressing. Then there’s just so much to go wrong, and far more variables. From the cutting to the pinning and sewing, being millimetres out across even four seams can add up to make or break the fit of a garment. Half an hour into today’s project I remembered how just how obsessively sewing can take over your day. I couldn’t even think about anything that wasn’t the project, I couldn’t hold a conversation, didn’t want to stop for lunch and by the end, I admit it, I was kinda grumpy that things weren’t panning out to perfection…

The top I made is a variant on my Tank Top for a Tomb Raider. I even used the same fabric, which I still have a load of left in my stash, a beefy black modal lycra knit with four way stretch. I simply took the pattern I’d used for the Tomb Raider top and made some adjustments, mostly to the shoulder- extending the shoulder seam out two inches and extending the side seam by an inch and then redrawing the armhole curve. The sleeves I had to make up the sleeves up, using a sleeve from a commercial knit pattern as a rough guide for shape. As I drafted the sleeve I made sure the top of the sleeve was just a tiny bit longer than the actual armhole flat. (I stitched the sleeve in flat, with the sleeve immediately on top of the machine’s feed dogs so they could ease the sleeve in.) I allowed negative ease in the sleeve, ie. the sleeve is slightly narrower that my actual arm because four way stretch knits needs to be under slight tension to look right and fit the figure.

When I’d sewed it up as a garment I realised the arms are slightly too long and the body length is slightly shorter than the last top. For the moment the hem and cuffs are raw edged, and I may even leave them that way. (I contemplated cutting a couple of inches off the sleeves, but I quite like the way I can extend the sleeves out over my hand a little for extra cosiness.)

Has my sewing confidence been restored? I’m not sure. Maybe. Perhaps November will be the month I make a dent in my fabric stash…

Anyway, time to go consume roast pumpkin crammed with cream and gruyere cheese. Happy Hallowe’en everyone :)