.........with apologies to Charles Dickens.
Today I have been making 2 linen shirts for my elder daughter as she prepares to return to the workforce after 16 months leave. They are the same style as others I have made recently.
I have finished the hot pink one apart from the buttons and buttonholes. I have to buy more thread tomorrow so that I can finish it.
The white shirt is partly made and should be finished tomorrow as well.
While trying to conserve the pink thread I realised how wasteful we are in so many ways, simply because it is easier. In an attempt (in vain it turned out) to have enough thread to complete the buttonholes I started just pulling the fabric a couple of inches away from the foot at the end of a row of stitching before cutting the threads close to the end of the seam. Normally I would pull the fabric up to 8 - 10 inches away before cutting the threads. Today's method took a little extra time but made me think of how many metres of cotton I have wasted over time.
Saving thread reminds me of a story book I had as a child - "Five Little Peppers and How They Grew". In one part Polly and her mother are sitting on the verandah unpicking garments for refashioning. Polly's eyesight is failing and she cannot see the thread properly and breaks it. Her mother hears the snapping sound and reprimands her. I realised that not only were they planning on re-using the fabric but also the thread which they were rewinding onto spools. That is seriously frugal!
Back to the 21st century - I will take photos of the shirts when they are finished and post them here.
Today I have been making 2 linen shirts for my elder daughter as she prepares to return to the workforce after 16 months leave. They are the same style as others I have made recently.
I have finished the hot pink one apart from the buttons and buttonholes. I have to buy more thread tomorrow so that I can finish it.
The white shirt is partly made and should be finished tomorrow as well.
While trying to conserve the pink thread I realised how wasteful we are in so many ways, simply because it is easier. In an attempt (in vain it turned out) to have enough thread to complete the buttonholes I started just pulling the fabric a couple of inches away from the foot at the end of a row of stitching before cutting the threads close to the end of the seam. Normally I would pull the fabric up to 8 - 10 inches away before cutting the threads. Today's method took a little extra time but made me think of how many metres of cotton I have wasted over time.
Saving thread reminds me of a story book I had as a child - "Five Little Peppers and How They Grew". In one part Polly and her mother are sitting on the verandah unpicking garments for refashioning. Polly's eyesight is failing and she cannot see the thread properly and breaks it. Her mother hears the snapping sound and reprimands her. I realised that not only were they planning on re-using the fabric but also the thread which they were rewinding onto spools. That is seriously frugal!
Back to the 21st century - I will take photos of the shirts when they are finished and post them here.
1 comments:
Anonymous said...
Look forward to seeing the shirts Fairy. Did DD like them?
Possum.