Time Enough To Sew

“Time is what we want most, but what we use worst.”~William Penn

Just because I haven’t posted in a while, doesn’t mean I haven’t been sewing! First though, let’s catch up! I have been sewing a few items of clothing, but I have mostly been quilt making. I wanted to change up what I was sewing. Quilt making, as you can imagine, is time consuming. While I can piece a quilt top together relatively fast, the hand quilting process takes a lot of time.

I also wanted to reset. I took a look at my day to day life, and had to give myself a reality check. The reality was I was on social media way too much. I wasn’t reading as much as I would like to. I wasn’t gardening, or tending to other parts of my life that made me feel fulfilled. The phone is a giant time killer, and to quote Benjamin Franklin, “…do not squander time, for that’s the stuff that life is made of.” Well I decided to not squander my time!

I’ve been reading, and gardening (when the winter weather permits). I built a free little library in my yard, for my community to “take a book or leave a book”, AND I’ve stayed off of my phone a lot more! I’ve also tended to other parts of life which I had neglected (making healthier meals, adding squats and weight to my work out, blah, but good for me).

But fashionistas never fear, I haven’t given up sewing! I decided to make this groovy gal from 1967!

I had picked this pattern and fabric out, and when opening it discovered that it had never been cut and still had the factory fold. Some people who collect patterns want non cut patterns. It doesn’t matter to me, as long as all the pieces are there! And let’s be real, I’m not selling any of my patterns. I’ve discovered I’m a collector. (The term “collector” is much nicer than “hoarder”. HA!)

Once I started unfolding the pattern I saw how much nicer old patterns were made. For instance, each dress piece was on it’s own paper. It wasn’t just printed on a large sheet that makes you have to first locate the pieces, then cut them out.

The facings for the different views were likewise organized beautifully.

There was even a nice dotted line separating the different groups of facings for each view.

I laid the pattern out onto the fabric and pinned it.

When it came to the sleeve, I wanted the short sleeve view. I didn’t want to cut off the part for the long sleeve option, so I just carefully folded it under.

For this sew I used pins to mark the darts. You put a pin where the indicating dots are.

When you lift the pattern back, the pin is in the fabric and you mark that spot with tailors chalk.

I use a ruler to connect the dots to clearly show the darts.

Tailors chalk either wipes off, or washes out.

Once the back darts are all sewn I prepped the zipper opening.

Prepping the neck facing.

Hemming the sleeve before attaching it to the dress.

For the hem, I’m using a blind hem stitch. Yikes though! Look at that dust in my machine! Time for a clean!

Since this dress is a 1967, I thought we could take a pop culture break! In 1967, The Beatles release their groundbreaking album, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. It influenced music and fashion alike!

It had a huge influence on me, when 30 years after it’s release, I got married with Sgt. Pepper being a theme in my wedding. Michael was in love enough to go along with my wild ideas. He likes The Beatles too, but not as much as I do. I’m happy to say that even almost 30 years after this picture he’s still in love enough to go along with my wild ideas, or just used to them all by now!

Were we ever so young?

Now back to the sew! The dress was finished!

It’s a simple dress with a timeless look!

Made by me!

So once again something from 1967 has influenced me today! I will wear this dress as soon as the weather warms up! It’s a nice dress for everyday use. You don’t need a special occasion to wear a dress, each day is special!

And don’t squander your time, fill it doing the things that matter. And if it’s something you love, then it matters!

As for me, onto the next!