Thursday 20 June 2013

Report from the sewing doldrums

Breaking your right thumb is pretty bad for the sewing output. I wasn't able to trace for a few weeks, or cut with scissors, which has been rather annoying. However, I could knit with a broken thumb, phew! See my luxurious new mitred square blanket

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 I could also bake - not so good for the waistline......
Here is my broken garment sewing to go with the last dregs of my broken thumb.

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Once upon a time, these were last years' most favoured winter pyjamas (cotton flannel, RTW), that had mysteriously shortened in all lengths over the summer . However, due to the peculiarities of growth, they were still exactly the same relative dimension to the wearer in girth.

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I added them to a nearly unworn windcheater, suffering from the same relative dimension changes, but fortunately having started out as a rather long-in-the-body style, and have made this year's most favoured winter pyjamas with very little effort, and a side benefit of a glow of thrift!


The original sleeves were slashed to made the new sleeve insert - added to the windcheater at a similar section of the sleeve, and the appliqued motifs on the front.The original pyjama shirt back and fronts turned into double folded cuffs for the pyjama trousers.

There was also some rotary cutter friendly + already traced pattern sewing.
Here are multiple pairs of yoga pants for different members of the household? 
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Jalie 2215 in wicking polartech 100 ? powderdry with fold over waistbands from wardrobe culled t shirts and/or cotton lycra. I have sewn these so the waistband seam has enclosed edges on both sides to minimize chafing. The district rep. cross country runner in the family was not available for modelling, but she wants another few pairs. Dull, dull, dull, but terribly Useful and Practical.

I know, doldrum sewing - yawn.
Quick, I will show you some more knitting.
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Lovely warm socks. I have not been completely craftless.



Very soon, there will be dozens of finished objects bursting from the backlog of projects this hiatus has caused. Naturally, being limited in sewing, I have been buying sewing things instead.
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This removed the thrift glow fairly quickly and has completely undone my stashbusting streak, but I have decided that guilt has no place in my sewing life. Wait until I show you my Chanel knit boucle! It will make a lovely contrast to boy's pjs.

17 comments:

Kyle said...

Oh no!! Sorry to read that you broke your thumb! Glad to hear you are on the mend!!!

Stacie Davis said...

Sorry about your thumb! After I had a surgery last Spring and couldn't walk for 6 weeks my stash grew enormously! Darn internet shopping. If you need something to do....maybe you could post on how you come up with your amazing wardrobe capsules? I have admired them, and am recently stumped on developing one for myself for a change in job and size!

Sharon said...

Didn't realise it was your right thumb, take care and hope your recovery time is close to an end. You have managed to turn out some gorgeous knitting and the PJ conversion for your son is ingenious.

Marie said...

Oh goodness me. I hope the thumb is all better soon. cna't believe your output despite some hurdles.

Gail said...

Gosh if this is what you can achieve with a broken thumb I say break a leg!

Carolyn said...

Oh no, I am so sorry for the broken thumb, but you have been impressively productive nonetheless. Where there's a will etc!!
How long have you been knitting socks? I don't recall seeing them on your blog before.
Guilt? I think with the amount of very unselfish family sewing you do I think you should feel free to banish guilt from your sewing life until the end of time.

Nautical Knitter said...

Just curious, what is your connection with Alabama? Didn't see an about page on your site. Are you in the state? I live in Auburn... Hope your thumb gets better quickly!!

ElleC said...

So sorry to hear about your thumb! I hope it is healed soon, so you can get back to sewing and not buying.


"Glow of thrift!" I will have you know I snorted coffee at the monitor when I read this. I am going to think of you and the "glow of thrift" every time I mend or remake something.

Summer Flies said...

Oh sounds sore! You have been very productive for no being able to sew much! I wondered what happened to you. My son suffers the same issue! I need to make last years school trousers into shorts for next summer and make new trousers for this winter after my last exam on Monday!

Anonymous said...

OMG I saw this earlier but was on my phone so couldn't go OMG the Shin book-does it have detailed instructions which can be used for drafting all sizes or is it just 34C or whatever and then you need to figure out what to alter for other sizes? From the amazon reviews it seemed like the latter and no blogger seems to have addressed this in their reviews =( Do go over it-I'd love to know so I can get the library to get a copy (can't afford the expense meself at the mo' =P).

Also-thumb bla bad times-get better soon.

Mary said...

Poor thumb-I see retail therapy helped however. :-) The blanket is gorgeous. All your other projects are wonderful too-and the yoga pants yummmmm.

pdiddly said...

My sympathies too, but at least you were able to do some things - great knitting get well soon

Vicki said...

Ouchy! It certainly hasn't stopped you being productive. The throw looks cosy.

Galica said...

Oh no! I know how frustrating it is to be dreaming of sewing but unable to carry it out. I'm impressed you sewed anything at all with a broken thumb.

Meanwhile, you certainly didn't waste your downtime. Last year in similar circumstances I managed three (small, slightly sad) scarves.

Hope your post means you are back to normal.

Joy said...

Oof, so sorry about your broken thumb! Us sewists should never take our thumbs for granted, I see. You seemed to be very productive, though!

The Slapdash Sewist said...

Eek, a broken thumb? That sounds terrible. And not being able to sew must be torture. I'm glad you were still able to knit. Hope you continue to feel better.

liza jane said...

Oh man, you need thumbs for everything. What is it about non-productivity and buying things? I've been doing that lately, too, since I haven't been sewing much. Excited to see what you make from those Alabama style books.