Time Capsule: Digging up projects from the past.

I've been sewing for a few years now. I think roughly 6. I remember really getting into sewing shortly after my mother's death, and thinking I could do it all. Of course, I knew nothing about grading, fit, fabric choices, etc. All I knew was that I was sewing and that was good enough, right?



As I was cleaning up my current fabric stash, I came a cross some foldable storage bins I got a loooong time ago when I lived in SF.

I kind of used them past capacity, and they are showing their age. I cleared the 4 I had out and have them collapsed in my bedroom closet. I might just chuck them as they are really folded and don't keep their shape well.

When I moved to this apartment, I did a right amount of purging. Tossing some old things, giving others to Goodwill. This time around, since I've been at this place for nearly a year (I know! Can you believe it!?), I decided to root through again and see what was there.

My 'to mend' box.

Like all of us, we have our 'to mend' pile; a collective of projects that need an array of alterations from a broken zipper to a complete sleeve re-do, to you name it. Yet, there is a reason we are keeping these projects. This box isn't that. It's what I call the 'I really didn't know what I was doing when I made this' box. I'm sure you have all had one of those too.

The reason I kept most of these items is the because of the fabric I used. There is some good yardage here, and though my fabric selecting choices have greatly improved, I still see potential in those remnants of wool and cotton.

This cotton calico I don't think I washed before I made this really big skirt. For some reason I lined this cotton skirt with black cotton. I remember liking the stiffness of the fabric. Oh, how I have learned.

These are olive green wool pants. I did a button side, but man, was I unexperienced at making pants. 

This a linen green 50s dress. It's okay, but the color makes it look like a girl scout uniform. I pleated the entire bottom of the skirt and I was going to chop off the bodice and make it a skirt.

Another skirt that was too large and too short. I was never honest with my waist size, and here I made loos, really loooooose.

This was a three piece suit I made (jacket, vest and skirt) from some really beautiful linen herringbone. I even used some great vintage buttons on it. I'm going to gut the entire project and make something workable from the fabric.

Oh, I found a pocket apron I got from when I worked at the sewing lounge, Stitch in SF.

This fabric I'm not too sure what it is. Most likely it's a polly blend with a velvet pressing. I've always liked this fabric and I made a skirt from it, but it was just ugly. Looking at it now, I think it would make a great beret!

When I see these fabrics I see potential. I guess what would be next is actually working them out and making something useful from them. That's my plan. I guess Make and Mend is still going on.

I really like MnM. It's put me in such a crafting mood. I loved the way the robes turned out (I'll do a photo shoot on the patchwork robe for next week) and I'm really not into making clothes now. My size is still transitioning. I've lost 25 pounds and I'm thinking about really loosing more. Gym, personal trainer, weight lifting. I'm not dancing anymore, and the hiking I've been doing is nice but really time consuming. Woah, this way off, isn't it?

In any case, how do you all handle past projects? How do you feel about old and newly found items? That patchwork robe really made me think of the memories I've had when I sew. That, and I have WAY too much fabric to justify buying more and starting anything really, really new. I'm in a reusing mood. I can live with that.