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Posted by Phaedrine Stonebridge on May 7, 2008, 12:25 pm
I almost never top-post but I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed
your detailed, descriptive narrative! Thank you. :)
Phae
> Since some of the lurkers must be feeling intimidated by all the
> faster-than-light sewing that's been going on around here, I thought
> I'd post an account of my slower-than-molasses sewing.
>
> Unfortunately, I write slower than molasses too. That shouldn't be
> too bad in May -- but I keep my molasses in the refrigerator.
>
> At least it's not in the freezer.
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> I bought unbleached "russia drill" to make new summer jeans some time
> ago, but a while back on another forum, a professional shirtmaker
> posted that she always washed hemp hot and dried it hot at least three
> times -- and that was shirt-weight hemp.
>
> Eh, having consulted my diary to find out the dates, it's easier to
> quote than to summarize:
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 19 April 2008
>
> I was going to start cutting my new hemp jeans Thursday, but
> I read a complaint on Creative Machine that a hemp shirt had
> kept shrinking every wash, and the guest host (It's shirt
> week, and a professional shirtmaker is hosting) replied that
> she always washed hot and dried hot three times before
> cutting hemp. I'd washed my Russia Drill only once, so I
> popped it into the washer to soak overnight -- with real
> soap, since I'd used detergent last time, and because the
> soap chips were piling up.
>
> Then I forgot to finish washing it yesterday. Rinsed it in
> hot water and ammonia this morning, and now it's in its
> second hot rinse.
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Somewhere along the line, I drew threads to straighten the ends. This
> was unsettlingly easy -- it showed that the threads are strong, but it
> also proved that they aren't packed very tight. I like a nice firm
> weave for making jeans. After that I sorted out the pattern, which
> had been hanging on a nail, and put it with the fabric.
>
> Last Tuesday I opened my dining table to its full extent, laid out the
> fabric, and cut along the drawn lines. Used my smaller rotary cutter
> and smaller mat for this, but my old Case bent-handle trimmers proved
> more appropriate for cutting two layers of heavy twill.
>
> My piece of drill was three yards long -- well, it says three yards on
> the invoice; I didn't measure it -- and just a tad under sixty inches
> wide. Just enough to make two pairs of jeans, with the front of one
> pair and the back of another pair interlocked at each end and the
> small pieces in the middle. Couldn't quite figure out how to get a
> strip long enough to make the back waistband, but decided to worry
> about waistbands later.
>
> Next problem: my dining table opens to only two and a half yards.
> Putting the gate-leg table at the end stopped the fabric from
> drooping, but didn't make it flat enough to lay out and cut.
>
> The layout crosswise was tight -- it was "I'm going to trim that
> corner off the seam allowance anyway" tight -- but the layout
> lengthwise was loose enough that it was quite safe to cut a back and a
> front off one end, then pull the rest of the fabric onto the table and
> finish the job.
>
> Having decided that, it was time to eat lunch and take a nap. Luckily,
> DH is in the habit of taking his lunch into his room, so I could leave
> all the stuff on the table.
>
>
> 4 May 2008
>
> At which point in the narrative, I took another nap, or had to cook
> or something.
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> That afternoon, I overslept and had just two hours before time to
> clear off the table and put food on it.
>
> Drew arrows down a selvage with a wash-out marker, cut out one front
> and one back, drawing more arrows on the pieces and the cutaways so
> that I'd know which pieces belonged together. (I like to sew with the
> nap even when there isn't any, on the off chance that some subtle
> difference will show up when you've sewn it together and put it on.)
>
> The marker was in hand, so I used it to mark all the notches -- easy,
> because repeated use of a tracing wheel had turned each notch into a
> slit. Then I stuck a pin into each mark and used it as a guide to
> mark the other layer.
>
> Then I stuck the marker through the tailor's-tack holes and twisted
> it: voila! Hip-pocket placement marked! But how to mark the other
> layer? Stick a pin so it takes a nip on each side of the mark, then
> stick another one at right angles to it. Flip over, X marks the spot.
> I have marked the wrong sides, and I need the marks on the right side.
> I'll deal with that when it's time to sew the pockets on.
>
> Front and back cut and marked and carried to the ironing board. Pull
> fabric onto the table, check layout -- plenty of room for twelve
> pockets, but I *still* don't see where I'm going to get the
> waistbands. Cut and mark another front and back, carry to ironing
> board, carry remaining fabric, tools, etc. to ironing board, close
> table -- remaining fabric will fit on eating-size table -- start
> making salad.
>
> Wednesday I boiled a piece of muslin destined to be passport pockets.
>
> Thursday, put fabric etc. back on the table -- now it is plenty big
> just by raising the other leaf -- use template to tear out two
> passport pockets. The muslin has a good tuck selvage, as if intended
> for making sheets (even though it's *way* too coarse), so I use that
> as the top hem of the pockets. Pin template to pockets, lay on top
> of fronts and backs, put muslin back on shelf.
>
> Study remaining piece of russia drill. There is just no way to get
> the waistbands out of this without a seam in the back. Oh, well,
> said the fox, this stuff is too thick and soft to make a waistband
> anyway. I've got a whole roll of that coarse muslin, and it's about
> the right color. (Well, it was before I boiled the dirt out of it.)
>
> Jumping ahead of the story: as days passed, I grew more and more
> unhappy with the idea of putting a cotton waistband on hemp jeans.
> Linen would work better, but all my pieces of linen are either
> bleach-white or bright colors. But, while typing the first
> installment of this saga, I remembered buying two yards of cannabis
> canvas and then deciding that I didn't want a canvas poncho shirt
> after all. Most of it is still here, and (great shock!) I remembered
> where I put it. Probably weighs more per square yard than the drill,
> but it's thinner -- and *much* firmer. This will make excellent
> waistbands.
>
> Meanwhile, back at the narrative. I started laying out four each of
> the broadfall pockets, hip pockets, and watch pockets, two with arrows
> pointing this way and two with arrows pointing that way: well, duh!
> Not to mention awk scrickle. Bring back the muslin and the template,
> tear out two more passport pockets. There was only enough selvage
> left for one more pocket, so I tore a pocket-wide strip with selvage
> at one end, then tore a pocket off the selvage end and left the rest
> to be hemmed down to the same length.
>
> I cut the broadfall pockets by patterns (I'd long since made a second
> copy of the patterns for these pants), cut the watch pockets by drawn
> threads, cut the hip pockets half-and-half; they are rectangles with
> one pointy end. I drew the pointy ends on at least three of them with
> wash-out marker, to save pinning the pattern/template to the fabric.
> Didn't fold in half to check symmetry, as recently discussed on
> Creative Machine. I may when it's pressing time.
>
> I wrote "Hemp May 2008" on each pattern piece that I used even though
> I started this job in April.
>
> Friday I made birthday cake. And blueberry muffins.
>
> Saturday the Farmers' Market opened for the season -- I bought a dozen
> eggs and a tomato plant -- and there was a party at Chimps Comics (I
> found a Dark Horse title I hadn't seen before). Saturday may also be
> the day I started writing this.
>
> And today was Sunday. (I did plant the tomato I bought yesterday.)
> Perhaps tomorrow I'll get on with hemming pockets and pressing edges,
> but I've been known to take two years to finish a pair of pants.
>
> Joy Beeson
--
"The tree of Liberty must be refreshed from time to time
with the blood of patriots and tyrants."
-- Thomas Jefferson
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