#fat sewing

[pre-raphaelitepunk]

Trying to see if I can make a chemise in a night 😬

[dngrcpckwithmurdericing]

More disabled sewing with Ivinenn!

Today on Disabled Sewing With Ivinenn, we have part 2 of bra-making. This post is also available at Dreamwidth for the full web 1.0 experience.

Part 1 is at this link for Tumblr; at this link for Dreamwidth.

I forgot to write a post about finishing my version of the Lengberg Castle bra! So here is what it ended up looking like on me:

It turned out very very comfortable, but not quite what I wanted - the darts just felt really wrong. You can see in this picture that I actually made the darts face different ways for each cup to see which was better, but I did not like either:

It also had way too much ease, even after I marked it up and modified it to be tighter:

So I started another garment, this time determined to move the darts into gathers on the bottom and sides.

Even though I KNOW that gathers don't provide as much support because they are looser by definition, I was still surprised that the gathers did not provide much support. Also I was not ultimately thrilled with the shape.

I guess I should have titled this one "neurodivergent sewing" because as you can see from the below pictures, I measured/draped, and then added several inches, because when I looked at the pattern from my measured/draped toile, I thought, "That is too small." Ahoy dysphoria!

I am very very fat, but apparently not as fat as I think I am, although this past week multiple doctors were grossed out by my fat body! Love the medical industry for me.

Anyway, this bra is made of pink cotton gauze so lightweight it is almost cheesecloth. This is a picture I took while putting together the third iteration of bust cups - I doubled the material and it is still transparent. It's so so so nice to sew, though - unlike when I was sewing with the beige muslin (or, if you look, you can see blue fabric with white and yellow flowers - that's a quilting cotton I was using for mockups) I didn't even need a thimble, even when I was making an eyelet through eight layers.

Here are my silly eyelets that are so so so big, threaded with a piece of string I made by sewing scraps together and then rolling them and then just whipstitching. Catch me making a tube that has to turn inside out! Never! My fingers simply cannot accomodate that kind of finesse.

Ultimately, v2 of the bra is not bad, but not what I want. But ok for wearing around the house! I guess I could mark it up and adjust it and make it tighter and more supportive but instead I moved on to iteration 3.

By the way: I know that you are “supposed to” sew in matching thread, BUT:

1. Thread matching neon pink cotton gauze is difficult and I don’t want to spend the money when I already have a spool of 5,000 yards of blue cotton thread;

2. It is MUCH easier to see what I’m doing when I can see the thread;

3. I knew this wasn’t going to be a final version, and I knew I wanted to upload it to tumblr, so I wanted to make sure YOU could see the thread. Look at my wonky stitches! Look at how nothing is the same size! And yet it is a garment that sticks together. I have had really bad tremors these past few weeks from weather related migraines, and also one of my medications, so my stitches will never be the tiny, neat stitches of a professional sewist, but that is OK by me.

Preview of iteration 3: the 3-piece bust cup.

To give you a sneak peek, here is the first version of this cup - three pieces. When I made it from the double-layered gauze, I then had to cut, like, viking style godets - 1 into the top of the inside and 1 into the top of the outside; then I had to match the top piece, so it got 3 godets. Exhausting. By the time I was done, my hand was trembling too much to take a picture. NEXT TIME.

(I KNOW I can buy underwires, but I don't WANT an underwire bra. If I wanted an underwire bra, I could just go to Lane Bryant and drop $80 on one that would be uncomfortable and I wouldn't be able to breathe. My ultimate goal here is to actually be able to make these "bras" with a longer torso so that I can wear them as shirts under cardigans when I have to go into the office.)

Anyway, I suspect part of the problem is the fabric I'm using. Loosely woven fabric just IS NOT IT for this kind of project. I know other folks have used linen, but I find that the linen I like against my skin is also too loosely woven; plus I am not here for things that cannot be thrown into the washer with all my other garments. I think a cotton sateen might feel nice but be too heavy. I don't want a fabric that is man-made ("man-made") like rayon, and I don't want something plastic like polyester. I also am on multiple medications that make me overheat, in addition to just being a person who is always hot in general, so while I feel like a wool suiting would actually be PERFECT for this, I could not bear it.

Coming soon to my mailbox is a selection of 21 yards of fabric in 8 different weights - yes, I'm getting a cotton sateen, but I'm also getting a voile (slightly heavier than gauze but still light!) and a poplin shirting (crisp! tightly woven!).

I am also getting two different cotton knits, because I like pain. I mean. I do like pain, but actually not the kind of pain that comes with hand-sewing a knit. But I want some tank tops and I really need a knit for that unless I want to go through The Pain Of Braless Boobs In A Garment With Darts.

In other news, Mariah Pattie made basically exactly what I want to make out of the Lengberg Castle bra pattern, but since she is, you know, like, a professional sewist, hers look amazing. Envy!

[pre-raphaelitepunk]

2021 Sewing Plans: May Check-In, Pt. 1

links to are to inspiration pics, finished projects, and patterns used

Below is everything I'm supposed to have made by now, with the things I've actually made crossed off :

Bedgown/Adrienne - pattern TBD

Shift - self-drafted

All Well Cardigan

Seamwork Kenzie Skirt: altered to work like an 18th C. petticoat

Seamwork Willis Shirt

Long-Sleeve Band Collar Shirt - pattern TBD

Seamwork Nolan Pants

Thimble and Plume Wulsthaube to go under my current headwraps

Bum Pad - self-drafted

1780s or 1790s stays - pattern TBD

Easter/Pentecost Special Occasion Outfit

3 out of 11. Wow.

I have to remember that I *knew* I would have some setbacks, which is why I don't have plans for the last half of the year. I knew I would need this time to catch up.

What have I actually made so far?

1 Jacket, but I didn't use the All Well Cardigan

1 Petticoat, but I didn't use the Seamwork pattern, though I did follow along somewhat with the Burnley & Trowbridge tutorial (see a theme emerging?)

2 Gathered Midi Skirts, following Rosery Apparel's tutorial (these are my pride and joy)

1 Seamwork Akita Top

1 House dress where I tested making a super simplified version of the Watteau pleats I need to practice to execute my historical costuming dream project: a mustard yellow casaquin / adrienne / contouche and matching quilted petticoat

2 stuffed bunnies for baptism and 1st birthday gifts (sadly no pics for these)

I did end up making the Special Occasion Outfit hence the unplanned Akita Top and the second Gathered Midi Skirt! I used a beautiful peachy linen that I will also be using to make a robe that will suffice for the Bedgown on my list. Speaking of which...

What have I learned about my creative process so far?

I will - without fail - get sidetracked by unplanned projects and change my mind about the project itself in the middle making it slowing my progress to a crawl

I need to include the time and energy it takes to make mockups in my mental and handwritten planning for any project that is large or that I want to come out perfectly

Having an unmovable event assigned to a project is the most reliable way to keep myself on track

I really need to get in the habit of clearing my sewing table after each project; half of my slow down comes from getting to the point of not being able to work and just letting stuff sit on my sewing table for weeks.

What am I working on now?

So I have reapproached the Bedgown project AND the Seamwork Nolan Pants. More on that in Part 2!

[ms-newvegas]

totally going to try to make new bikini bottoms for this summer

I need something really cute though since my top is just black

but first... I need a double needle for my kenmore which is old and I will have to figure out what needles it takes sigh