Who’s afraid of Drawn Thread Embroidery?
The Single Twist (and multiple headaches)
Would you believe if I told you that I took about four hours to make that? I would like to see another person who can work slower than me!
I have to say this was probably the craziest thing I’ve tried yet. The removing of the horizontal threads from the fabric was a real killer. I realised later that I was doing it the turtley-slow way (which I reckon is even slower than the snaily-slow way). But of course, the faster method only presented itself upon the removal of the last thread.
Never mind. I forged on anyway, despite it being past midnight. I didn’t want to stop till I had made my first single twist. I switched on my big ol’ reading lamp — the one I use for night-time sewing, and set to work. Took me a good 10 minutes to figure out how the twisty things should be done. I had the instructions right in front of me, but somehow…. Working the needle from left to right was a really tricky maneouvre. I’m right-handed, so usually, I would stick the needle in from right to left. So, being asked to do a left to right was like trying to make my wrist do weird feats of acrobatics. Plus, the beauty of this type of embroidery is that you need to count threads as well. Six — no more, no less! It felt almost like I was being made to balance on my head while doing math (if you know me, you’ll know I can’t do math to save my life).
Never mind. I managed. After much twisting and turning (the embroidery hoop included), I finally figured out how to make the first single twist! Hooray! My determination was rewarded with success! But obsession has a nasty downside: that night, I dreamt about tugging horizontal threads from a piece of cloth, and it wasn’t exactly a sweet dream. I kept waking up, falling asleep to dream again about exactly the same thing again!
“How one suffers for one’s craft!” cries the newest member of the Sewing Turtles Anonymous Club (note: not related to the teenaged mutant ninja variety).
Sweetsville, here we come
My very first blouse!
To be honest, I’m a little surprised that I finished this blouse as quickly as I did. In fact, somewhere halfway between the gathering of the sleeves and the sewing on of the collar, I thought I might not finish this blouse at all. All said and done, I took about 4 days in total to finish this project (not including the cutting!). I really took my own sweet time with this, sitting down with it for only an hour or two each time. I figured that if I took it at a leisurely pace, sewing this would seem more like a reward than a task.
Okay, having that said, I have to confess that I haven’t sewed the buttons on yet. I haven’t quite decided how I want to do the buttonholes.
- Option A: Go in search of a sewing machine that will sew the buttonholes in less than 5 minutes.
- Option B: Go haute couture and sew them by hand.
I’m leaning towards Option A (it’s the evil twin in me wanting instant gratification). Then again, I’ve already come this far; why not extend the challenge, right? We’ll have to wait a bit and see.
The pleasantest surprise in this project was how I didn’t have to make many adjustments to the original pattern. Unfortunately, I bungled up the collar bit because I wasn’t paying close enough attention, and of course I could rip everything out and do it right … but no! I shall save that for another day (a day I’m looking to punish myself, probably).
The jury’s still out on whether I like this blouse or not. On its own, I think it’s girly and sweet (good things in my books). On me, it’s just a little more matronly than I’d like. Maybe it all has something to do with that bungled-up collar. But being the optimist that I am, I shall try to make it work. Perhaps all it needs is some accessorising! (And buttons, of course.)
The Huffing & Puffington Post: Blouse update
Blouse in progress ... the biggest challenge yet
There’s been quite a bit of huffing & puffing at the sewing machine the past couple of days. This collar & sleeve ensemble is a little tricky. Not impossibly tricky, but tricky nonetheless. The sleeves have gathers, and it’s my first time trying to sew gathers into something, so it was a bit intimidating. It was one of those days I wished I had a modern sewing machine with all the fancy accoutrements (like a ruffler foot!).
The seam ripper came into action a few times, but each time it was entirely my own fault. See the sleeve that’s already attached to the blouse? That was wrong side out the first time. I guess it was also when I was already getting tired, so after I finished doing that sleeve, I decided the other sleeve would have to wait for another day.
It took me a while to psych myself up to start on this blouse. At first, I thought it would surely be a total failure. I wasn’t sure what to expect. But as I progressed, it started looking more & more like a proper piece of clothing, and I’m starting to feel encouraged again. Hopefully, I’ll be finished with it by this weekend. I have a few other projects floating around in my head, and would like to do something a little easier for a change.
“For the 80th time, I wish I had a serger!” laments the amateur seamstress. “I’m sure I would be able to sew much better collared blouses then!”
And the drama continues….
A good cook needs a good apron
An apron fit for the queen (of the house)
And so, here it is! My version of a good apron for the best cook in the world, my mum! I wanted to make an apron that’s functional, yet stylish. Being the style maven that she is, my mum has never, ever walked out of the house without looking her best.
I chose black linen for the front, and durable grey cotton for the backing. I decided to do a double-layer apron because she specifically mentioned she needed an apron to prevent oil splatters from ruining her clothes.
For accents (the straps and pocket), I decided to use the remainder of my Japanese cotton fabric as a bright contrast to the black linen.
I thought sewing an apron would be easy peasy after all those tricky bags I’ve been dealing with, but I still had to bust out the seam ripper — at least it was just once this time! The illustration showing how to hem the chest piece was misleading, so I went ahead and did whatever I could to make the finishing as neat as possible.
I like the way this turned out. If I had any complaints, it would be the weight of the linen. It turned out heavier than I thought it would be. But overall, I’m pleased as punch with the results. And mum likes it, so yay!
The Showerevolution! (living clean & green)
It must be the kinds of stuff I’ve been reading and the blogs I’ve been hanging around, but it seems that lately I keep coming across new concepts for healthier, chemical-free living. What piques my interest is how it overturns what we’ve all believed all our lives, and how do-able this “green living” seems to be. Of course, being new to all of these things, I’m super-excited about putting it to the test, and seeing whether it will eventually change my life for the better.
There are a couple of things we’re doing as a family, but what’s occupying me personally at the moment is what I’ve dubbed my “showerevolution.” (Shower + revolution/evolution!)
I found it a little tough to get my head round the “no commercial cleansing agents” bit at first. Having grown up in hot and humid tropical weather (summer all year round), and having a mother whose motto in life is “cleanliness is next to Godliness”, 2 to 3 showers a day is normal. We wash our hair every day. We wash our hands almost all the time. So, when I read about not using shampoo, or not using body soaps because loofahs are enough, it’s enough to make my head spin.
Still, I was curious, and you don’t know if something works till you try it out. I couldn’t go cold turkey, so I cut things out bit by bit over the course of about 2 weeks now. I’m already amazed with the difference. This is now my current practice:
Body
AM: Straight out of bed and into the shower. I use the loofah to scrub myself from top to toe.
PM: Home from work (after walking the dog!) and into the shower. I use homemade, organic soap only where it’s essential, and then the loofah from top to toe.
This was the easiest switch. I did not experience greasiness or any other detoxification process.
Face
AM: I use a microfibre cloth to lightly clean my face, and no cleansers. I spritz citrus water on my face and neck (which somehow works as a sunscreen). And I apply a light dusting of organic mineral foundation powder (mineral powder is the best thing that’s ever happened to me!).
PM: Microfibre cloth only, no cleansers.
For the first few days, I used a facial cleanser in the evenings, to wash off any grime (imagined or otherwise). After a week, I totally cut out the cleanser. I had just slightly more greasiness during the day, but it stabilised after 2 days. Not using moisturiser had no major side effects. I had some tightness the first 2 days of not using a moisturiser, but that was it.
This is huge to me! This is because I have always had problems with my face, having suffered pretty bad acne in my teens, and I do occasionally still break out. I used to have very greasy skin — I couldn’t last a day without busting out those facial blotters. After some very expensive salon treatments, the greasiness came under control, and I haven’t had to use as many of those facial blotters. But since I cut out the cleansers, moisturisers, creams and lotions, my skin felt even better. I haven’t had a break out since I started this new regime. Previously, when I used to slather on the lotions and potions, I almost always woke up with greasy skin, and a weird smell on my face. Not anymore! To think I spent a small fortune thinking I was fixing something, when I was really just making matters worse. I’m absolutely converted. Best of all, it has cost me close to nothing (just a few dollars for a microfibre cloth from a local shop).
The hair revolution is much, much trickier. I’ll leave that for another post!
