Can I offer you a glass of ice-cold sangria?
Michael made this yummy drink (with Chardonnay, fruit, and mint) last night and it was very refreshing, though I conked out shortly after drinking it.
It has been so very hot here these last few days. When it gets like this I don't even want to go outside if I can avoid it. Which is just as well since there is sewing to be done!
Readers, do you remember this very lightweight white cotton shirt I made two years ago (to the month)? The fabric is perhaps voile -- or is it lawn? I get all those light cottons confused. It's not crisp but rather droopy. Anyway, I never liked the way that collar band looked; it flopped, even with starch, and it was also too wide (i.e. high).
So this morning I removed it and replaced it with a regular collar.
I ripped the stitches out of the band (remember, a band is what you have if you don't have a full collar; a stand is the "band" when it supports the collar. I think I learned that from David Coffin.
I cut the inside stand from a similar weight lavender cotton. The outer stand is white (and interfaced), as is the collar.
Then I attached collar to shirt (using my Featherweight).
Voila! I like this much better. And the lavender should show less dirt.
Oh, more good news! Remember my pink linen shirt with the hem that wouldn't lie flat? Well after wearing it out once and letting it hang for a few days, it relaxed. Isn't that interesting?
Lest you think I am neglecting my navy linen blazer project, I opened the pattern and cut it out. Next step, a muslin.
In closing, readers, do you ever re-visit old projects years later and tweak them, either because you want a different look or you never really liked the way the garment came out, or both? It's not something I've done often, but I do do it from time to time.
Happy sultry Sunday sewing, everybody. Stay hydrated!
Oh, that sangria looks de-lish! I find that I have tweaked a few previously loved makes because I gained a few pounds. It is nice when their wearable lives can be extended just like my waistline ;) Nice save on the shirt, it looks great. Stay cool in the heat.
ReplyDeleteoooh, the lavender stand lining looks lovely. :)
ReplyDeletei wish i re-visited projects more but i lack the discipline. i'd generally rather donate to goodwill and try again all over.
I feel so sorry for you guys in the heat over there, since I'm sure it is humid heat :( Add the car pollution to it, and I don't think I would leave either. We are having an unusually cool summer again this year. At least when it is hot, it is dry.
ReplyDeleteI rarely go back and tweak a project, I hate even doing alterations on things I buy. I also hate when people ask me to alter things for them, when they know I can sew. I know a lot of other seamstresses who hate this as well, I wonder what that is all about.
I do like how you tweaked the collar to that shirt, nice job!
It's about being too cheap and lazy to take things to a cleaner! Lol! I keep the fact that I sew secret, especially at work...Lord knows I don't need the aggravation of having people annoyed and disappointed when I say no to alterations!!
DeletePeter, are there public swimming pools in NYC? What options are there for cooling off during heat waves? Beautiful save on the collar, which is lovely now with the lavender inside. And tonight, we will try Michael's drink. Does he freeze the fruit first?
ReplyDeleteRecently I took *everything* out of my closet, tried on every piece and started a project pile to tweak anything that just didn't fit as well as it could, or I just wanted to update the style. Alterations aren't always fun, but they generally take less time than building from scratch, so why not fix things so we really like them?
ReplyDeleteSometimes reworking old projects is good. Sometimes it is appalling, such as trying on pants that were way too large two years ago and finding they fit quite nicely. Time away from a project can turn insurmountable problems into small ones. I tried on an old muslin. If I add a seam's width to all the seams below the waist, the thing won't look so tubular.
ReplyDeleteI have thoroughly enjoyed tweaking things in the past couple of years. I was burnt out on sewing garments because patterns are so atrocious anymore and you can't predict the outcome no matter how closely you measure and fidget and fuss. I'd made only home decor stuff for a decade or more.
ReplyDeleteThen I purged my closet, found time to thrift a whole new wardrobe and felt very fulfilled everytime I could take a so-so thrift find and tweak it to wonderful, perfect for me!
I think maybe I have developed more patience with tweaking as I've gotten older. And I do think about my grandma alot while doing the intricate ripping parts. She lived with nothing her whole life and made such beautiful things.
I'd love a glass of Sangria. It is so hot out today! I am at home sipping ice-tea, which I have become good at making recently...And I often tweak things I've made. It's as if coming back to something with fresh eyes really improves things. Also, I learn a lot when tweaking other garments that I own but did not make because I learn a lot about different ways to construct garments. I learned how to put in a coat zipper in a really improved way by taking out a broken zipper from a Tommy Hilfiger jacket belonging to a student in my class.
ReplyDeleteI live in the desert so I totally understand heat. I tweak things that I have already bought for my kids. I just cut up, re-do and add. I don't use patterns because I don't need them, I am truly lazy but creative. However, I do make crafts from scratch, like things I know people like. I find thrift store things too and re-do.
ReplyDeleteThat collar looks fantastic. Nice redo. I think organza is the material to use to make things stand up crisply; have you tried that?
ReplyDeleteMichaels Sangria looks so delicious, even though we have little sun or heat currently here in the uk ( we are told that July will be our turn-gulp)
ReplyDeleteYou make changing a collar seem so reasonable and easy, if i remember rightly, a waist band on an Aline skirt in my needle work lessons at school ( I am that old we had such teachings back then) took me three terms and a threatened exclusion order to complete, and it still looked hideously amateur.
How do you do it !, such cleverness, I deeply envy.
Unfortunately, once I make something, I adopt a "no fixing" stance unless it's something super minor like re-attaching a button. If after a day/week/month I no longer fancy it, I pass it on and hope that someone out there will fare better. =P
ReplyDeleteI've done this a few times now and it's amazing how something that sat unloved for a long time can suddenly become a favoured garment, often with a quick and simple fix. I'm also amazed when I find garments at op shops that have obviously been discarded because the hem has come down or a button has come off. The ability to sew is a wonderful thing! It's cold where I am, so in lieu of sangria I will drink mulled wine.
ReplyDeleteI'm become a tweaker as I move closer to sewing all my own clothes. My winter coat has had a new collar and a new lining, my dressing gown has had the bands and patch pockets replaced, my cord shirt had a new collar, cuffs and pocket before it finally wore out, and many garments have been redone with new buttons and seams and hems taken in/up or let out/down. The more I sew, the fussier I get and the more willing to try to fix details like droopy collars. It feels wonderfully clever if the fix looks as nice as your new collar.
ReplyDeleteI'm also becoming a major mender, darning, catching torn seams, reinforcing pockets and so on. (tip; DON'T let on to anyone that you mend unless you want to be swamped with requests to mend for them!)
A bit of steamy summer would be welcome in parts of Australia right now. I'm just back from three weeks camping in inland South Australia where the skies were clear but the winds chilly and the nights fff-ff-freezing. So my flannelette PJs were very welcome, and now they need a bit of mending!
Gosh you are so good at this. I only hope when I start I can become as enthusiastic and great.
ReplyDeleteThe reworked shirt looks much nicer. I've never gone back and redone anything that major. I usually have enough "if I were making this again, I'd ....." changes to just make a whole new one.
ReplyDeleteThat sangria looks scrumptous!
Peter, One year I made a huge jar of the absolute best white sangria using a recipe from Southern Living. You used a bit of brandy to "marinate" the fruit and then added the white wine and sparkling soda and mint when you mixed up a drink. Well that brandy and the fruit just kept on fermenting in the fridge. We would come home from work and have a glass out on the gazebo and were worthless for the rest of the evening. Sadly I dropped the big jar one day and broke it - Boo Hoo!
ReplyDeleteLove your commentaries and the dogs are sooo expressive of how it feels in this heat!
The reworked collar is a vast improvement and the lavender inside stand looks lovely. Nice job/save
ReplyDeleteMichael iz a lovely luvely personz,every time I come back to peek at the comments-He offers me a drink!,
ReplyDeleteFive timezzz now, ur a Naughty boy Michael I sid last tum, only a schmall one, an, ur luvely, wazz this blug about again ? never mind...I'll ask michael, oh look anova sngria...zzzzz
Michael and I both got a giggle over that one. Well done!
DeleteJust LOVE your white shirt, with lavendar touch. Such a good idea, and so beautifully sewn!!!!!!!!! I do go back to older projects. I finished a georgette gored skirt I began about 1997, and just LOVE, LOVE it. I usually had run into troubles with my projects (help!!!!!!). Alterations for others are a pain in general, but I will do for Virginia, who fixes my jewellery for free, and is a great cook too!!!!!!! No charges to either of us. Working on rummage we can learn a lot about sewing techniques (that are not in patterns). I have several up-cycles in the works, mainly skirts in batistes and voiles, that will be modified, and/or become summer dresses or tunic tops. As some are rather voluminous, lots of fabric to play with. My neice also makes clothes this way. For ex., an unworn denim/lycra dress (long) in size 28 has pleanty of fabric to play with, and in a $3. (fill you bag) sale, is a steal. Cathie, in Quebec.
ReplyDeleteI have a handful of projects I need to revisit, either because things didn't work out the first time or because I am bigger, smaller, changeable in style/preferences. I try to alter my handmades the way I try to alter my store-bought clothes before I'm willing to discard them.
ReplyDelete