Wahsega Valley Farm

Modest swimwear

Image from Modest Swimwear Solutions

I finally received my swimsuit pattern and fabric! I ordered them from Modest Swimwear Solutions - not because I've ever been particularly modest (certainly not in my youth!), but because I love being in the water and since getting malignant melanoma a few years ago, I can't get out in the sun for any length of time any more. These swimsuits cover a lot of skin and with the alterations I plan to make, will cover even more. My top will probably have 3/4-length sleeves and the legs will be capri-length. And I'm planning to make the tunic shorter than most of their suits show. I really like the colors in the picture above from the Modest Swimwear site. I just might have to make two swimsuits to get that look for myself!

In the meantime, here is the fabric I chose, because it looked like "water". Maybe I will disappear when I'm in a pool.

If I have time, I'm going to make the suit this weekend. If it looks good on me, I'll might even post a picture! But first I have to blow the dust off my sewing machine and remember how to use it.

Daisy, did you need a special needle when you made yours?

TGIF and aprons

I'm so glad it's Friday - though we have a very rainy day and weekend forecasted. But we need the rain and I love rainy days, especially when I don't have to leave home... like this weekend. Right now I am looking out the window at work from the 7th floor and it is quite dismal looking - very low clouds and heavy rain coming straight down... shiny, black pavement with car and street lights reflecting off it. The sun is up, but it's still dark.

It would be a good sewing weekend if I had the room to sew. Alas, Mike has reclaimed the dining room table, and our kitchen table just isn't suitable for sewing - and I'd have to move all my herb study materials anyway. But - if I had a place, I think I'd sew myself an apron. I found two patterns yesterday on this site that I like from The Paisley Pincushion. One is just comfortable and straight-hanging and would go well with jeans when I'm working at the farm outside gathering veggies or some such fun chore, and the other would be nice when I'm wearing long skirts puttering around the kitchen. I have several baker-styled aprons and use them, but they're so utilitarian. Which is nice sometimes. But these aprons are kinda fun, pretty and useful.

Here is the one I'd wear while in jeans. I'd like to make it in some sort of vintage look fabric - and not quite as girly looking as the fabric shown... though I do like the flowers:

And, here is the one I'd like to wear with skirts - or maybe jeans too. I don't like the large flowered fabric at all, but the apron design is just what I've been looking for:

Can't you just see me serving up pancakes while wearing this? Yessiree.

Patterns and Poems

I went to the big fabric store yesterday all inspired and giddy with anticipation. And I left disappointed and confused. I guess it's been quite a few years since I shopped for new patterns, other than my wedding dress - which was actually in the costume section. The pattern books are about half the size they used to be and I looked through all of them - Simplicity, McCalls, Butterick, Vogue, Burda and New Look. None of the patterns moved me. They all looked flat and uninspired. Is it me? I found the one I posted about, which I do like, and picked it up to purchase. I wanted to get some fabric for it and looked at everything at least twice, touching and feeling as I went... but there was nothin'. Zip. Zero. Except the quilting fabrics. They were beautiful and there were hundreds of them - creating a huge rainbow on the wall. My favorites were the ones they called batiks. They aren't true batiks, but have the look. There was no drape, though, so I just sighed and kept moving. But the colors; I loved the colors. Here are three of them.

I was at the store way over an hour and left empty-handed, feeling discouraged and thinking things had changed too much for my liking. Used to be I'd take my pen and paper and make a list of all the patterns I saw that I wanted. I always knew I couldn't buy them all at once; there were too many! The list was always loooong, instilling visions of creations I wanted to make and the fun I'd have doing it. Yesterday I found five patterns I'd like to have and they included aprons and pj bottoms. But they didn't inspire me very much. I don't feel the need to have them. Where did all the cool patterns go? ...  oh yeah, to Goodwill by my own hand about four years ago. Somebody shoot me.

When I got home I went up into our attic to see if I could find any of my old patterns. I seem to remember keeping my favorites, but where-oh-where did I put them? It was so hot up there I felt as though my skin was roasting; it was oppressive. So I didn't stay long enough to look properly. I need to go back up in the morning when it's cool and I can dig around.

But I did uncover an old 3-ring notebook I had in the tenth grade with "ALLEN" written in big block letters with a ballpoint pen down the outside spine. And, on the inside cover was written "French test on Wednesday" in sloppy script. It was overflowing with poems and thoughts I wrote when I was in high school. Oh my... I was so "deep" and serious. Stuffed behind all my words of love and pain and faux anxiety were poems and letters to and from old loves. Such angst as you've never seen. I was almost embarrassed for my young self. And hiding amongst the strained and often silly words was a sweet poem to me from my first love and first husband, and my son's father, Allen. Reading it almost brought tears to my eyes. He is gone now and one day I will write about him. He was the kindest soul I've ever known, and one of the most troubled. Maybe tomorrow I will post his little poem. I think he would like that.

I didn't find any patterns up in the attic, but when I opened that notebook, all kinds of memories flew out and filled my head.

Thinking about sewing

I have a yen to sew. I've not yet made it to the fabric store to peruse the monstrous catalogs for patterns yet, but I found one online I kinda like, though there weren't many choices. Take a look:

If I get this pattern I'll probably make a variation of D or E, which are very similar. I don't want sleeves that long though so will make mine maybe three quarters instead. I want a new shirt to wear with jeans - and depending on what fabric I use, it can look casual or dressy. I'm thinkin' a white gauze right now since it's so hot here in the summer.

OH! I found my wrap-around skirt that opened up on me! I can't believe I still have it. I must post a picture; it's really not all that pretty to me anymore, but I still love it. I need to move the buttons out a bit on it since my waist is no longer 24". Well, my age isn't 24 either so boo on that. At least my waist isn't my current age! The skirt is the perfect thing to wear when I'm puttering around the house and want to look more feminine. But I need a new little top for it. I can't find any patterns online that I like, so I think I'll go to JoAnne's on my way home today. Oh goody goody goody.

And, speaking of sewing, I ran across a swim suit I would actually make and wear! Up until I was diagnosed with malignant melanoma, I was pretty brazen in my swimsuit attire. Since I'd worked out most of my adult life, I still looked good in a bikini into my early 50's. But when my dermatologist told me to stay out of the sun 100%, I put those bikinis away and never looked back. But I love swimming and being in the water and miss it so. I always felt a part of me was taken away when I got skin cancer. I'm fine now, but have looked high and low for "safe" swim suits. Most look like athletic outfits and were just not "me", but here is one that has great potential:

It is from modest-swimwear.net and though it's not perfect, I can easily change it to suit me. I need the arms and legs to be a bit longer, though not full length. And I'd like the tunic part to be a bit shorter - just covering the bottom. The idea of a tunic type top over tight-like leggings - made of light, swimming suit fabric - seems near perfect for me. Then I would only have to worry about putting sun screen on what little skin is showing. With a few changes to the basic design, I would really like it.

Okay, Mike needs to move his Harley parts off the dining room table now so I can take back my space. I claim it! I have things to create!

Sewing

I miss sewing. I miss thumbing through the chunky pattern books at the fabric store and dreaming about what I want to make next. I learned how to sew in high school with instruction from my mother and using her old Graybar sewing machine that looked a lot like the painting here by Janet Karen. All it could do was straight stitch, but that was okay for me at the time; I thought it was wonderful. When I got married and then pregnant, my mom gave me that old machine and I made all my maternity tops and a long maternity dress made out of an India print that I had on my bed. And shirts for my husband at that time made with fabrics that looked like batiks. Then I added crochet lace to the sleeves or neck area, depending on the design. I loved the whole process and only cursed a little when I sewed pieces together the wrong way. Seam rippers became my best friend!

In the late 70s I bought a Sears Kenmore machine that made different kinds of button holes and zig-zags. What luxury! And I loved that it had a skinny arm when needed, like shown in this old ad - for doing sleeves, cuffs and things. I used it a lot and starting making most of my clothes - even my work skirts and dresses. It was quite a creative endeavor for me and I used to love telling people where I "got" an outfit when they complimented me on it. I collected so many patterns and used and reused them. My favorite things to make were peasant tops and skirts, but I also make pencil skirts and jackets for work. I got quite good at sewing.

Life changed a lot and my sewing was put on the back burner for many years. My patterns collected dust and I thought I'd probably never sew again since I was doing so many different things and just didn't have the time. So I took all those wonderful patterns to Goodwill - along with all kinds of fabric. Oh, the pain. I so regret that now. Just months later, Mike asked me to marry him and I wanted to make my wedding dress and his shirt. Parts were missing from my old Kenmore, so we bought a Husqvarna that does everything I could possibly want, and I had a grand time creating our outfits. Since the wedding, I've had a yen to make some blouses and aprons and lamented many times that I gave all my patterns away. Someone has some very cool patterns from the 70s and 80s!

I told Mike that when we add on to our little cabin at the farm I would love a sewing room - or at least a permanent spot. A place where the machine can always be ready and available for mending or creating.

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A special thanks to Daisy for making me think about sewing again. :)