People Want to Make Clothes

I am hoping to get two projects done this weekend. The quilt store south of town will put classes for these on the schedule, but I need to make the sample garments, first, and I’d like to get them done ASAP. I’ve also got a custom apron order that I want to finish soon.

One of the tops is the Easton Cowl from Liesel + Co:

It calls for a lightweight knit, so I pulled all my knit fabric out of the stash to see if I had something suitable (I did). I would rather use up my stash fabric than buy more.

The second one is the Scout Tee from Grainline Studio:

I did not have enough of a suitable fabric for this one. It’s a woven tee, not a knit. Part of me is wishing I had splurged and bought a yard(ish) of the Liberty Tana Lawn when I saw it at the Joanns in Seattle, but I am not a flowy lawn clothing type of person and had no idea what I would do with it.

Because I needed fabric and thread, I made a rare weekend trip into town. Fortunately, the Joann Fabrics store is on the east side, just over the bridge, so I didn’t have to go into Kalispell proper.

I found two different lightweight cottons for the Scout Tee. One was a lovely Swiss dot in the clearance bin, marked down 50% with another 40% off because the stores are trying to make room for new stock. The other fabric was also a lightweight polka dot—a chambray—which I got for 75% off because there was a flaw in the fabric. It is not a big flaw and I can work around it, but the saleswoman offered the discount and I wasn’t going to refuse. Thread was “buy three, get three free,” which is always a good time to stock up on cones of Maxi-Lock serger thread. I also scored two yards of another knit on their Doorbuster sale for 60% off. (Maybe I should have bought a lottery ticket, too.)

Both top patterns have cup sizing options, which is fabulous. Most Big 4 patterns and even a lot of indie patterns assume a B cup. These go up to a D cup. The Scout Tee has darts in the pattern for that size. I may transfer those darts to the Kristin dress pattern because they appear to be in the correct location and also long enough, but I’ll know once I’ve made the top.

I traced both patterns and washed the fabric. Today and tomorrow are looking stormy, so I’m hoping to be able to knock out both tops. I’ve got a Serger 101 class on Tuesday afternoon and a Cookin’ in Color Apron class all day Wednesday and after that, I have to hit garden tour stuff hard.

I ran into someone I knew at Joanns. She and I were chatting at the cut counter and I said something about my serger classes this week. The lady at the cut counter got very excited and said, “You teach serger classes? And how to make your own clothes? Where do I sign up?” I gave her the information about the serger classes and I suspect she will be in Tuesday’s class. She wants to make her own clothes for the same reason that I do—because RTW fits so poorly.

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Something has been mowing down the peas about 6” from the ground. I wondered why they were struggling because I don’t usually have a problem growing peas. We do have more rabbits than usual this year, however, including one that has taken up residence here by the house. And ground squirrels, ugh. I would be picking off the ground squirrels with my .22 but the neighborhood is too busy and I can’t do it safely.

I saw two more garter snakes out in the garden yesterday morning—big ones—so I suggested that they move over to the other side of the garden and patrol the peas. The snakes have a tendency to hide under the leaves of the zucchini plants and scare me to death because I am not expecting to see them there. I don’t mind them, but I have to remember to look, first.