Okay. I’ve shipped out all out-of-town gifts, dropped off most of the local gifts and have just a few more odds and ends to finish up before I can consider Christmas 2013 a done deal. At the last minute, I adopted a “semi-homemade” approach this year in the vein of Sandra Lee, with mostly store-bought items embellished with handmade tags, ornaments, accessories, etc. It’s reduced my stress-level by a thousand-fold. I have a dirty secret to share: I don’t like making the same things over and over, and I’m actually not too keen on sewing for other people. I know. I feel awful about that. K is the exception because I know her size and taste so well, but with other people, I always feel like my hand-sewn items aren’t well-executed enough or not exactly hitting the mark, taste-wise. It’s part of the reason handmade mass-produced projects are not so fun for me.
While I played Mrs. Claus today, I didn’t get around to finishing my dress this week, but I promise to show you next week. In the meantime, since it’s the end of the year, I thought I would review the status of my abstention projects. Namely, I had vowed to stop buying fabric and to continue making all clothes for myself and K without purchasing a single garment.
I fully failed to uphold my first vow. In my defense, I acquired the fabrics for a couple of commissioned/collaborative projects (I’ll write about them soon!) so technically, it wasn’t for my own use. I also received an embarrassment of knit and leather riches from my mom, setting me way back. I’m going to haul myself back onto the wagon, because friends, my stash is still out of control. In my highly accurate and technical evaluation using the eyeballing method, I started out with about 30 bins, and after roughly four months of sewing consistently, I am down to about 28 bins. Fabric overfloweth. One of the challenges I’m finding is that since I used to buy with K’s clothes in mind, I don’t have a lot of yardage for adult-sized patterns. I fear you’ll be seeing a lot of color-blocking out of necessity.
As you’ve noticed, I keep using the same types of fabric: linen, cotton, knits, voile. Usually in solid colors or subtle prints. I avoid silks and silk-like materials, and I have a crazy amount of novelty/shiny/brightly patterned fabrics from K’s baby days when I thought I would…I don’t know, make her look like a clown? I believe I have to start eliminating fabric outright and I’m certain that you, my readers with exquisite aesthetics, would recoil from this selection. I tried consigning fabric at the stash place, but after several months, I’ve made a grand total of $1, and all the effort required to catalog and price them in order to get them consigned doesn’t seem worth it.
On the upside, I haven’t bought a single clothing item in over 17 months. Nada. I am exceedingly proud of this achievement. In days past, I was a big-box-store shopper. When I worked full-time and was feeling flush, I would ransack the sale racks at Anthro, Madewell and J.Crew for myself, but usually I frequented good old GAP and Old Navy, with some thrift store perusal thrown in. I liked the anniversary sales at Nordstrom for both me and K. Essentially, I was a pretty unimaginative clothing consumer.
Not that I’m an imaginative clothing sewist (seamstress? sewer? I wish someone would come up with a better moniker), but sewing has completely altered my mentality when it comes to clothes shopping. Nowadays, I know that I can make most things — perhaps not as professionally, but definitely to my own specifications. Rather than a landmine of money-guzzling, the occasional trips to the mall or online browsing has become pure research. These retail outings and online-shopping used to leave me feeling drained and inadequate, but now I find inspiration in color combinations, trends, fabric choices and stitching techniques. It’s a whole new world.
As for the practical side of not buying clothes, you may be wondering if my handmade output has kept up with the necessities of seasons, growth (in K), etc. The answer is a resounding yes. In fact, K obviously has too many clothes, though I should have made her more winter-appropriate stuff; thank goodness for grandmas that knit. People constantly comment on how well-dressed she is, and I duck my head in pleasure. I didn’t sew as much for myself, but the other day I was at the hair salon and my very chic stylist was impressed with my grey Tova. “It doesn’t look homemade at all!” she exclaimed, genuinely surprised — music to my ears!
So. 50/50 on the abstention project, but I’m going to keep going, despite the vow breach on the fabric front. I wonder if I can manage for all of 2014?
Good for you! I love that you’re making all your stuff. I’m making lots of it, but with 4 kids, admittedly, not all. We get quite a few hand me downs and knowing how my boys trash their clothes running around our 5 acres I love the hand me downs for that. I recently started sewing underwear for the boys and I… totally fulfilling. I’d love to try sewing myself a bra because I’m hard to fit, but I’m not sure if I’m up to the challenge. I found a book that’s super helpful, but I just haven’t convinced myself to try.
I’ve been wanting to make underwear forever and just got a pattern for K. I might have something to show next week! I too would love to try undergarments for myself — you’ll have to let me know how it goes if you dive in 🙂
Congratulations on your 17 months of shopping sobriety! That’s fantastic. And I think you should applaud yourself for reducing your stash (bummer that the stash shop didn’t work out!) – it seems like fabric for commissions/collaborations should be allowed as they probably can’t linger too long! I wonder if Etsy would be a better venue to sell off some fabrics, especially for the brighter prints. There’s probably a quilter out there who would love them!
Thank you, Morgan! I’ll definitely consider the etsy route, but the shipping/handling might get hectic…hmmm….decisions, decisions 🙂
I try really hard not to buy fabric either (and do pretty dang well) but I don’t consider it a fail when i’m given fabric. Now, I don’t have some 28 bins or anything- more like 5. But what I’m given is a lot of corduroy and satin which I very very rarely use. So they kind of sit feeling unloved. Man, I would roll in piles of fabric at your house just for fun. 🙂
Mae
I normally would welcome free fabric, but my fast is about reducing my stash as much as saving money, so I was bummed that I didn’t have the willpower to say no (in fact I eagerly demanded more) 🙂 and yes, there’s definitely enough fabric to roll around in here!
17 months? I can’t tell you how impressed I am by that. Truly. Even though I sew for my girls, I would estimate that only about half of their wardrobe is handmade, and probably even less for the oldest daughter (who is less enamored by handmade clothes than her younger sister). As for myself, almost entirely store-bought with the occasional exception. You are inspirational, Sanae – and nobody, and I mean NOBODY I know has a cooler wardrobe than Miss K.
As for the fabric challenge, when life hands you lemons (in the form of more gifted fabric!), you shrug and make lemonade, err . . . clothes! On the bright side, even two bins less is progress!
Thank you, Lucinda! Time flies! I can’t believe I’ve gone so long without buying clothes. Sometimes I look at the prices and think it would be so much easier to buy the dirt cheap t-shirts, but I’m stubborn and on a mission. I’m determined to wrestle my fabric stash too!
Seventeen months is an awesome accomplishment!
I used to make all clothing for my daughter (at ages 3-5) but then it moved to about 75% and then half and half. Inspired by you I have been ambling it up again. Honestly, I thought that she would not want me to sew for her much as she got older, she is 8, but she loves it and prefers clothes I made. This fall I made her two coats, fall one and a proper winter wool coat with thinsulate lining and real welt pockets. I just need to make a decision to sew her tees. I consider them boring to sew and my main issue is that I don’t have a good source of good quality jersey (I don’t like ribknit). But storebought fits really badly, Japanese patterns on the other hand are perfect. Would you share your t-shirt/leggins fabric source?
Hi -anu! So wonderful that your daughter loves your handmade clothes! I keep wondering when K will stop wanting to wear what I make…as for the jersey I use, I got most from my mom and the fabric content is usually a mystery to me, but I do seem to like cotton/rayon blends. Bamboo jersey is luscious but expensive. Pacific Fabrics has a pretty large selection, though the quality can be hit or miss. 🙂
Hi Sanae,
i just plug in to say : “Merry Christmas” to you and your family. The holidays are a traditionel “low media”-time over here, so i won’t have computer time to look in this little space of yours. I hope you all are doing well and enjoy the holidays!
Greetings from Germany
Marit
Happy Holidays to you and yours, Marit! Thank you for leaving such a sweet message. Much love from Seattle 🙂
I love what you’re doing over here! My sister and I are going to try and make most of our kids clothes this year as well, and I have to admit you’re my main inspiration to try! You have such great style for K and I love the things you make her but you still seem very down to earth and show when things don’t go perfectly. As lovely as some of the other blogs I read are, they almost feel too perfect like pictures in magazines. You manage to make your blog both beautiful and real. I find that very inspiring. Keep up the wonderful work!
Oh, thank you Kathryn! I love all the comments I receive, but I am especially happy when folks get that I’m not trying to present some perfect world. Good luck with the clothing making venture! I find it extremely rewarding and I hope you and your sister do too 🙂
i enjoyed reading this post so much, as i enjoy reading all of your posts. but as someone who has spent far too much time thinking about the sewist/sewer/seamstress conundrum, i thought i’d weigh in. i completely agree that there has to be something better.
as often as i read ‘sewist’ it’s just not a word i feel comfortable using and owning. it’s kind of like how i’ve lived in Texas for almost 8 years now and still don’t say y’all. even though, yes, i do agree english needs a plural ‘you’ and ‘you guys’ can be cumbersome and not technically correct (sometimes we’re addressing gals, you know?). 🙂 but the whole ‘i sew and am therefore an artist, thus sewist.’ just feels a little over the top to me. i would see sewers as less artists and more artisans anyway. but sewisan (?) – yeah, that doesn’t work. and calling oneself an artisan could also sound self aggrandizing.
so i do tend to use sewer, though, i hosted a sewing party once ‘calling all sewers’ and one of the women, a mom of one of my friends, read it as sewer: the underground system which carries sewage. so there’s that. she obviously figured it out, though. i do see the dictionary’s second definition of sewer is ‘one who sews’. (the first is: a medieval household officer often of high rank in charge of serving the dishes at table and sometimes of seating and tasting) who knew?
and finally seamstress, i believe implies that sewing is your occupation.
so, yeah, i’m in agreement – there has to be something better. 🙂
I am completely on the same page as you, Rachel! I rarely use any of those words to describe myself because of those very same reasons (I’m starting to realize that I just don’t like to label myself anything given my aversion to words like “blogger” and “artist” and even “illustrator”). Sewisan sounds very Japanese, and I got a kick out of that 🙂 A stitcher? Apparently, it’s an on-demand internet radio. A sewing enthusiast? Doesn’t roll of the tongue. Hmmmmmm….thanks for your well-thought-out comment!
17 months is a great achievement! I and another blogger ran a Stashbusting Sewalong last year so I feel your pain with sewing the stash… I was weak in the gifted fabric area too…
A stashbusting sewalong! What a great idea! Gifted fabrics are such a double-edged sword, no? I’m going to do some serious analysis of how to get through my stash this week. 🙂
You’re absolutely incredible!! I love that you’ve stuck to your goals so well – it’s inspirational. I, on the other hand, can’t seem to stop shopping for clothes OR fabric – while I certainly need more of neither. Totally get what you’re saying about not having enough yardage for your own clothing. It’s one of the reasons I don’t see more for myself. Buying several yards of fabric is often way more expensive (and then there’s the sewing time), than just going out and buying something ready-to-wear. Anyways – mad respect for you, yo! 😛 Just needed throw that “yo” in there. Felt right 😉 Happy Holidays, Sanae!!
Happy Holidays, yo! 🙂 You’re a sweetheart, Cherie, thank you! I figure I’ve already got this insane stash, I need to plow through it though I’m going to end up with a lot of patchworked clothes. We shall see how my abstention plays out…