ThemeFriday Sewing Space

This Friday, Me Made May '13 takes us on a tour of sewing spaces. Here's the northeast view of my 12x13 foot sewing room. Patterns are usually covered by the fabric curtain. Zero waste bin for scraps are below the patterns. UFOs are in bin on table to right.

Books are in IKEA kitchen cabinets above table. One primary sewing machine and serger. Backups of both machines for when sewing with others or in contrasting thread colors.

Southeast view with pressing station and UFO bin of half-finished projects.

Messy studio.  The closet and bins under the tables are full of fabrics, yarns and clothing awaiting refashioning.

KC asked for a closer look at Vogue 1310.  Behold, the pieced front.

I made the top from the leftovers from the matching bias skirt.  The linen started out a light celadon green while the cotton jersey was a pale olive.  I over-dyed the linen to match the jersey.

I cut the front in a size 12 and the back in a size 10.  When mixing a knit and a woven, I generally cut the woven a size larger than the knit.  Notice that the top has been washed more often than the skirt and is more faded.  They started out the same color.

I improvised a bias skirt pattern with a knit yoke.  Rather than make a straight tube, I joined two pieces with angled seams to simulate two darts for a smoother fit.

I found the linen and jersey at Trash for Teaching.  They hold open family studio workshops every Sunday afternoon in their Gardena warehouse.  You can also purchase their recycled materials for $1-2 per pound.  They asked Pennamite and I to lead workshops.  Pennamite already led one about how to crochet fabric strips (donated by American Apparel) into bags and home dec.  When I am less busy, I will lead one showing how to make scarves from fabric scraps.

I purchased the rayon skirt lining and cotton voile top lining from SAS Fabrics.  I bought new thread, elastic and a pattern, so the outfit is not 100% recycled content.  However, I used nearly all the scraps of each piece.

I've already shown Iris' jersey shorts.  The leftovers became my skirt yoke and top back.  Her race shirt from the West End 3k was remade into a fitted raglan shirt along with some slinky knit from the Michael Levine Loft.  The black fabric on the cardigan back and the dark olive jersey for the skirt came from SAS.  The Loft and SAS are odd-jobbers and these small scraps were leftovers from the garment industry.

 My top, skirt and Iris' shorts, showing the dyed-to-match set.

Yeah, our family dresses in trash. Or, you can flip it around and say that we dress sustainably. You decide.

ThemeFriday 1: Water