Wild Weather

For years it has been dry.  Now the cycle has changed again and the rain is falling.  Along with this we have been having really severe storms.  It is cyclonic.  The kind of storms we used to see up north but there are some here that I think are worse.  We have had several weeks of rain, a couple of clear days, when you get the garden straightened and the lawns mowed and then bunker down again.

I have to make a woollen skirt as part of my Garment- Maker's course.  Goodness, wool!!!  I haven't worn wool in years.  And then I got thinking about that.  When I was a teenager and into my 20's I did wear wool and even in my 40's.  School's can be cold places so woollen slacks were called for.  But there has been a steady increase in the temperature over the years and there is no need to wear wool.  The change has been gradual and I, and I guess most others, have just adjusted and forgotten that we once wore woollen clothes in winter.

Then I thought back to when I did make woollen garments.  I remember that we used to bind the seams and hems with a tape.  I haven't laid eyes on that for years.  I suppose we use overlockers now and we  hemmed  woolen garments with herringbone stitch.  I was mulling over all this, and then, in the middle of the night, I woke up and had this thought, moths!!  They could ruin anything.  They usually got into your clothes in the summer months and that was the end of your good woollen garment. And then there was 'dry-cleaning'.  I don't know where I would find a dry cleaner now.

Still, I made the trip into Fortitude Valley to the Fabric Store to get some  fabric.  They had sent me an Email saying the had 'short ends' of wool fabric.

Short Ends are the ends of bolts of fabric from designers.  They usually sell these off cheap to clearance houses.  If you are quick you can  get some beautiful fabrics at a good price.  And I did just that.   It is an treasure trove that place.

  So this is the fabric on the bolt  that I bought and I got a lining as well.

Problem with 'short ends' is that  if you don't buy them when you see them you never see them again.  So I bought a few.  Well, I know we will probably be making shirts and blouses, so I will need the fabric for them.  In amongst them is this silk fabric, (the stripe) it will make a beautiful blouse, along with some Liberty Lawn.

But I have now remembered that there can be problems sewing with fine, silky fabrics.  I seem to remember I used tissue paper to get an even feed into the machine.  Oh boy, this is a whole new world!!

Comments

[Queenie Patch]

Isn't it wonderful to revisit the past?! I am sure you will have a very happy time stitching in natural fibers like wool and silk and all the complications it involves.

[Rachel]

Maybe not entirely new, because you're remembering all the tricks!

[Carolyn Foley]

But what have I forgot?