Endings are always complicated – The Self-Made Wardrobe Week 49
The Self-Made Wardrobe is a project where I only wear garments I’ve made.
It’s a year long experiment in getting dressed without clothing labels –
it’s a year about noticing patterns, trying things, and observing what happens.
Day 337 – Friday, July 3rd
black tank top // pirate skirt
bicycle necklace // various rings // sandal wedges
Day 338 – Saturday, July 4th
black tank top // grey maxi skirt
robot clock necklace // various rings // sandal wedges
Day 339 – Sunday, July 5th
black tank top // black maxi skirt
robot clock necklace // bracelets // rings // flip flops
Day 340 – Monday, July 6th
black tank top // pirate skirt
pocket watch necklace // bracelet // rings // sandal wedges
Day 341 – Tuesday, July 7th
black tank top // black maxi skirt
robot clock necklace // rings // flip flops
Day 342 – Wednesday, July 8th
black tank top // vine print skirt
princess necklace // rings // sandal wedges
Day 343 – Thursday, July 9th
black tank top // black maxi skirt
bicycle necklace // various rings // flip flops
oh damn! This feels crazy! and kind of surreal! But there are just 21 days to go…
It’s weird – I have lots of thoughts and feelings about the end of this project, and most of them contradict each other.
Part of me wants to panic and make ALL THE THINGS!!
& part of me wants to let those 21 days pass gracefully.
Part of me wants to extend the project.
& part of me can’t wait to dig into piles of clothes I haven’t seen in a year.
Part of me wants to never see these clothes again.
& part of me can’t wait to start mixing handmade with store bought.
Part of me never wants to photograph myself ever again.
& part of me can’t wait to play in front of a camera in more free-form ways.
Part of me wants to wear nothing but pjs from now on.
& part of me wants to wear all the crazy things!
Part of me is like “it’s just the end of a sort of silly project – stop making it so complicated.”
& part of me is like “but it’s not over yet!”
& part of me is like “this is ridiculous – stop being so conflicted.”
& part of me is like “but this is complicated!”
And then part of me remembers – endings are always complicated.
(and then another part of me is like “I can’t believe you’re going to hit publish on this.”)
Sometimes you need a project you can just start NOW.
Sometimes you need a super simple straightforward, easy, non-thinking project.
No planning needed. No designing required. No counting. No math.
Just starting and making.
Often, starting a project with no planning is a recipe for disaster.
It’s generally how you get ill-fitting sweaters, cockeyed shelving units, uneatable meals. Planning is super important for creating a usable finished object – it’s why swatching is important, and so is math.
However, sometimes you need a project you can just start now, without going through the thinking, or the planning, or the calculating.
For me, spinning fills that need.
I don’t often spin yarn with a knitting project in mind.
My handspun & hand knit sweater being the exception.
I don’t often spin complicated yarns.
No art yarns, no intricately planned color sequences, or time consuming fiber prep – they’re not my thing.
I like my spinning projects pretty damn straightforward.
I start a spinning project by going into my fiber stash, pulling out a braid of roving, splitting it in half, and starting to spin. Sometimes I’ll do some more drafting or prep – especially if it’s a multi color roving – but not often.
There are definitely technical spinners out there – I’m not one of them.
For me, spinning is about being a conduit.
Take fiber. Add twist. Make yarn.
How much twist? As much twist as the fiber wants.
What ratio? The ratio that feels right.
How many treadles per minute? As many treadles as your feet want.
How many plies? What direction of twist? What fiber prep? What color sequence? How long? How often? How consistent? etc. etc.
What feels right? What feels right?
No over thinking. No over planning. Just spinning.
(the red yarn on the left, is a red & purple 3ply handspun, also spun by me without much planning)
How to Sew a Straight Seam – which is not always as easy as it feels like it should be
(Background: Two weeks ago, I spent most of the week sewing through 3,000+ yards of thread, for fifteen 5ft by 15ft pieced drapes as part of a theater project. I taught a handful of people a true sewing fundamental – proper pinning – and spent most of the time sewing super long straight seams & thinking. This is one of the things I thought. )
I’ve taught a dozen or so people to sew over the past couple years, and as it turns out there are tons of things that can screw you up when you first sit down at a sewing machine.
There are lots of new things to learn, no motion is entirely intuitive, and it turns out, that sewing a seam in a straight line is not as easy as it feels like it should be.
Intuitively, you watch the sewing machine needle. It’s the most eye catching part, it moves up & down, it’s the piece of the machine actually creating the stitch.
Except, watching the machine needle is not how you sew a straight seam.
When you’re sewing, by the time the fabric meets the needle, you have very little control over your seam. You can make a sharp adjustment, (like turning a corner), but that’s about all you can do.
The only way you have control over where your seam is going, is by focusing on the path the needle is taking instead of the place the needle is.
If you’re focused 2-3 stitches ahead of the needle, you have time to make slight adjustments and sew a straight seam.
If you’re focused on the stitch that’s being created, you don’t have time for those slight adjustments, you only have time for something drastic. Like sewing a corner, or breaking out the seam ripper.
