Do you make your own clothes?
I'm not joking. Do you make any of your own clothes? Do I hear you scoffing that you don't have the time for that? If you are reading this blog my guess is that you at least dabble in the fiber and textile arts, and that the ability to make your own clothes is within your skill set. You can knit? Sew? Then you could make your own clothes. As for time, well, I've been making my own clothes for about four years now, all the while running a business with my husband, and then starting this one up. I do not have tons of spare time in my schedule. When I come to work here I often need to be at the computer for hours on end, and not at the sewing machine. But the pleasure and reward of making garments that fit me properly is worth squeezing some time in my calendar for making my clothes. Recently I have been taking regular pictures to see how much of my own stuff I actually wear.
What you're looking at above is about a month's worth of pictures. Obviously I missed some days. I don't always have time to shoot myself, and sometimes there are too many other folks around for me to do it comfortably. So this is just a smattering. But in all these photos I think I'm wearing a mass produced garment just twice (not counting shoes/tights/undergarments). If any of you reading this know me in person, I'll bet you've seen me wearing much of this. These photos are not uncharacteristic of my daily wardrobe. Not bad, huh? Would you like to learn how to do this? Would you at least like to try and make some of your clothes? If you already know how to use your sewing machine then we've got some workshops to get you to this phase. How about The Alphabet Starts with A-Line(skirt)? Or Make Your First Sweater? Or Working with a Commercial Pattern? Or Pattern-Making? All of these workshops will help you get to the place where you can make your wardrobe. Wouldn't it be nice to have clothes that actually fit, that are in your favorite colors and fabrics, and that don't look like what anyone else is wearing…? We're coming up on a New Year, how about learning some new skills in this one? Freeing yourself from the whims of the fashion industry? You can get rid of those nagging fears that your clothes were made at the expense of someone else's well-being...
And then it's just plain fun! A great challenge and an incredibly satisfying way to spend your time. It is not beyond you, I promise. Check out the workshops on the website for details. Make Your First Sweater starts on January 9th…Copy a Favorite Garment on January 11th… Let us help you make your own clothes!
BTW The wool jumper, a Laurel, I'm working on is close to being done… Started about a week ago, with Christmas looming.
