How I Solved a Four-Pronged Sewing Dilemma
A vintage two-piece pattern made with Ankara fabric my friend Aquil brought back from his tour of Africa.
Earlier this year I encountered one sewing/wardrobe issue after another and I was kind of spinning my wheels about what to do about them.
First, I had backed myself into a wardrobe corner. I kept buying things that were on sale but then when they arrived in the mail, I realized that either they didn’t fit as I’d hoped, or I just plain hated them. I’d wear them a few times then donate them. Now granted, I got most of these items on extreme discount, so the loss was negligible. But it still felt wasteful.
Second, I have limited storage for fabric. I keep my fabric in a big brown wicker storage trunk. By limiting myself, I keep myself from buying too much fabric (yes, fellow craft hoarders…there is such a thing as too much fabric). But because I’m often working on several projects at once, I end up with a shit-ton of scrap fabric. My scrap fabric stash is so ridiculous that it takes up the entire trunk. Because of that, I can’t buy more fabric that I might actually need for another project.
Third, I have a pretty stellar collection of vintage patterns that I’ve amassed over the years. I first started making pieces with vintage patterns maybe 10 years ago. But because I was a novice to using sewing patterns (prior to that I was just a crafter/quilter), a lot of those pieces are now gone because it was clear that a novice constructed them. Looking at these older patterns, I thought about how much I missed the pieces, despite how shoddy my work on them was. And I realized I needed to have those pieces back in my closet STAT.
Fourth, a good friend of mine who loves to travel sent me fabric from several of the places he visited. He sent two fabrics from Japan that, while beautiful, were very sheer. I have a tendency to not work with sheers at all because they’re so much trouble. But I’m so very thankful for friends like my bud Aquil, for thinking about me when they’re living their best lives abroad. And I wanted to find a way to use this fabric that he spent a lot of money sending to me.
What did I do?
Well, I used the scrap fabric to make shirts. Since most of the cheap/ugly/useless items I’d ordered and later thrown away, were tops, this solution was kind of perfect. I didn’t have enough of any one fabric to make a bigger piece like a dress. So it worked out. I now have several shirts made out of scrap fabric that I love and fit me like a glove because I made them.
I used the fabric that Aquil sent me from Japan to make two dresses from the same pattern. Originally, I used this pattern with an African print fabric. Because the pattern was one size too small (I didn’t realize that until I finished the dress), it quickly ripped. I got rid of the dress and was super sad about it until I decided to use Aquil’s fabric for it. I made a tea-length version of the dress in the houndstooth fabric he sent. And I made a short version in the airplane fabric he brought. The airplane fabric reminded me of something a Harajuku girl would wear and so I thought the style was fitting.
I also had a giant pile of this shiny poly-satin. I originally planned to use it to line the SLAPS that I sell. But upon closer inspection I realized the fabric’s sheen could be rubbed off. It wasn’t like glitter was everywhere. But it definitely wouldn’t work as the lining of a sleep cap. It was super obnoxious and I couldn’t find a use for it until one of our friends suggested we go salsa dancing. I knew I needed something flowy and I had a 70s pattern that would be perfect for a night of spining and sweating my ass off. Additionally the shiny, yellow, sort of see through fabric would work like gang busters.
Peep below for the products of my problem solving skills.
Some of my Trashed Dresses:
The Shirts I Made with Scrap Fabric:
Wins:
-Use of Scrap Fabric
-Useful Addition to Wardrobe
Wins:
-Use of Scrap Fabric
-Useful Addition to Wardrobe
Wins:
-Use of Scrap Fabric
-Useful Addition to Wardrobe
-Second Use of Favorite Pattern
-Note: I first made the blue outfit for a fashion show a couple of years ago. I got rid of the pants cus they were awful. But I still wear the top regularly.
Use of Old Patterns:
Wins:
-Use of Scrap Fabric
-Useful Addition to Wardrobe
-Second Use of Favorite Pattern
Wins:
-Use of Gifted Fabric
-Use of Troublesome Fabric
-Useful Addition to Wardrobe
-Second Use of Favorite Pattern
So after all was said and done, I added some amazing pieces to my wardrobe, I created beautiful things with the fabric gifted me, I replaced some of my favorite pieces, and (biggest win of all) I made room for more fabric.
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