Recently I have been thinking a lot about the choices I make in my life. One of my long term goals is to try to incorporate as many sustainable choices as I can, be it decisions regarding food, cleaning products or clothing. I realize this process is slow and made up of lots of little changes rather than one big lifestyle change. Along those lines, my closet really needs a major overhaul. It is full to capacity though I probably only wear about 20% of what’s in there. I’ve just started the process of discarding items I will no longer wear. More importantly, I am determined to only add items back in that really match my lifestyle and that will get worn. To that end I’ve taken stock of the type of clothes I like to wear and have made a plan to add to my wardrobe in a mindful way.
First, I’ve made a vow for 2012 to buy no clothing from a chain store. I’m planning to limit my purchases to the excellent local thrift stores in my area. Anything else will have to come from my sewing room.
My lifestyle as a stay-at-home-mom doesn’t require a lot in the way of wardrobe choices. In the winter, my “uniform” usually consists of jeans and a long sleeved t-shirt topped with another layer. As anyone who reads my blog knows I am really in love with the hand-stitched clothing of Alabama Chanin, and I think t-shirts would be the perfect place to start my clothing plan – something that can be completed quickly and will be useful additions to my wardrobe. I envision using appliqués, stencils and embroidery to create unique designs. Remember all of those t-shirts I bought recently at my thrift store? Those are my raw materials.
This past week I finished my first shirt. It was a fantastic experience (though my finger is still a bit sore from all of the hand stitching). It did not take nearly as long as I thought it would, and the process was so enjoyable. I began by deconstructing two t-shirts, one long-sleeved, the other short. Let me tell you: if you have never cut apart a t-shirt you have been missing out on life. There is something really gratifying about slicing into heavyweight cotton. Once I had the shirts in pieces I cut out the "new" t-shirt from a Burda pattern I fitted a number of years ago. I cut a double layer for the front and back but only a single layer for the sleeves.
I traced the stencil design that I chose (the Bloomers stencil from Alabama Stitch book) onto what would be the top layer of the shirt. I layered that with the corresponding underlayer and began stitching. I first stitched the bust darts through both layers. I slit the dart and felled the dart legs open. Next I used a running stitch around the larger leaves, then completed the reverse appliqué by trimming away the top layer. For the smaller designs I cut the shapes from scraps of the green fabric and appliquéd them on with a parallel whipstitch.
The construction was all done by hand. It went together pretty quickly, maybe 1.5 hours which included felling the shoulder and side seams. The most time-consuming part was putting on the neck binding. The chained feather stitch was new to me, and it took some practice before I got into the rhythm of the stitching.
All in all I spent about three days working on this shirt, not the 3 hours needed to whip one up on the serger but not a large investment of time for a really unique garment. I know I will get a lot of wear from this shirt, and I can’t wait to start my next one. I’m hoping to complete 3 or 4 more before the spring when I’ll start on my short-sleeved versions for the summer. Watch for more coming soon.