Random Threads #38: quarantine sewing, virtual frocktails and pattern packaging

Let's face it - that fabric stash is coming in very handy right now! It's been a long time since I've written a Random Threads post, the pace of my life was quite busy the last few months and then for a lot of us most activities have come to a screeching stop.

I want to express my appreciation for all who continue to show up and work during this time of social distancing. Medical and emergency personnel, grocery staff, the folks who keep the lights on, the water running, the mail and packages delivered and the garbage picked up. Everyone who has an essential job. They are the strong ones and the rest of us need to do our part to stay home so we can kick this thing. We're starting our third week of shelter at home here in California and it seems to be working.

I've received some very kind emails of appreciation for blogging - heaven knows we all need something to take our mind off the situation and sewing can be that for a lot of us. I expect we will all come out of this with some interesting new wardrobe additions and maybe even no wish to look at a sewing machine when we can be outside doing other fun things.
But until then, let's talk about sewing, patterns and all things that made it to my notebook pages since my last Random Threads.

First up:  Virtual Frocktails   I think we were lucky here in the SF bay area as we had a great Frocktails in late February, which is put on by the Bay Area Sewists Meetup group. Perhaps the biggest attendance yet. Take a look here and here on the group's Instagram.  That was when I had a chance to wear my red coat, which is now put away until probably December!
Now that we are all sheltering and some of the notable Frocktails are cancelled due to Covid, I think Sydney, Twin Cities and Portland might have been scheduled for this month but it will all be virtual which means everyone can join in. I need no excuse to make a new dress and this pattern has been on my to-do list for ages.



This isn't THE DVF Vogue pattern, for the iconic wrap dress, but perhaps this is the #2 version of the DVF wrap dress. I see this pattern currently listed on Ebay for between $ 29 - $ 189. My copy I found at where else, a local fabric rummage sale for maybe $1. (believe me I'm always on the lookout for Vintage Vogue patterns of this type) but this one was a real find. So I'm making the short sleeve version in a pink/navy knit. See you at Virtual Frocktails this upcoming Saturday.

A Modern Pattern: Some words are overused and I think this is the one that drives me crazy, when applied to anything. I see so many new sewing patterns that are described as "a modern version" of whatever it is, top, pants, dress, etc. When everyone uses the same word it loses any meaning, plus I want to say NO it's not. It could actually be an exact copy of an existing pattern from a variety of decades. One of my favorite Instagram accounts is Paperbagwaist, where she shows a "modern" version of a garment juxtaposed with a not so new pattern that is just about the exact same style. Modern has become one of those marketing words that almost cease to mean anything, as we can see that what is described that way is virtually identical to something seen before. So what exactly makes it modern? Is their some other descriptive word that you find overused or just annoying?

Should I put in the work to size down this pattern? Another older pattern in my stash is this Butterick pattern which I keep looking at. It actually looks kind of "modern". Aside from that bit of sarcasm I like this top, it has raglan sleeves, interesting gathers around the neckline and then a flat neckband with front opening. It's just about the exact pattern for a woven fabric I've been looking for lately. It's a size 16 which is two sizes up from my usual size 12 so I would have to adjust the neckline etc. Not all that much fun to do - I always urge people to start with the pattern size that fits the neck and shoulders and then grade as needed in bust, waist and hips.  But with time on my hands I will give it a go.



Benefit of these older patterns, those nice thick printed lines - the downside for some may be that patterns were just one size per envelope. I think this one might have just prior to the change to multisizes. Vintage pattern wiki says this is circa 1977 as well (just like the Vogue pattern above). I also notice in this pattern that the cutting layout is in the instructions next to the item, so it is like 3 separate instructions in one, for the 3 garments. I'll work on it and report back!




Pattern Packaging: I think I've talked about this one before, but pretty pattern packaging does not impress me. I want efficient packaging - so that the instructions are laid out well, there isn't a lot of wasted space in the printed material so that when I go to store it later it takes up as little space as possible. I'm still on the fence as to my opinion on instruction booklets. I think I prefer the large sheet (such as in Vogue/ McCalls etc) partly because I'm used to it, and partly because at a glance you can see where you are going in the process, as opposed to flipping through a booklet to see what a particular step is leading you to. I do work with a few patterns at the studio in my classes where the cutting layout is on the pattern tissue - and yet there are pages in the instruction book with pretty photos of the garments. Which don't get you through the process and every time I see those pages I get kind of annoyed - the pattern cutting layouts could have been included in the instruction booklet. Then there wouldn't be a need to retain a piece of pattern tissue. Especially for beginners, they don't know to look for the cutting layout and don't expect this vital piece of information to be on the pattern tissue. Because they don't even know what it is! I have another peeve about the way the right/wrong side of fabric is shown but I will save that for a future random threads!

Hanging chains in Jackets: Whenever I see a chain used for this element in a coat or jacket I want to ask - doesn't that chain there on the back of your neck bug you when you wear it? It would drive me crazy to have a bit of metal there, and sometimes the chains are quite chunky. I guess if you live somewhere with a cold winter you are wearing a quite heavy coat and then need to hang it up when you go into a restaurant or cafe. A phenomenon which I am unfamiliar with here in mostly sunny Calif. In fact our restaurants or cafes rarely have any spot to put your coat so you end up leaving on the back of your chair. My feeling on this item, the coat hanging chain, is the same as most labels - out they go :)




Mostly Burda: this is a question I've been meaning to ask. For the past year I've sewn mostly from my Burda magazine subscription, to the exclusion of just about any other pattern company. Do you find it interesting to read about this Burda sewing? It seems there is a loyal subset of garment sewers that swear by Burda but they are not exactly the most popular in the sewing world. Previously I sewed with mostly Vogue/McCalls/Simplicity/NewLook.  I've made a few indie patterns, usually for Hello Stitch projects, and haven't sewn any new Vogue patterns in a while. The patterns in the Burda magazine are so varied and I always seem to find 2 or 3 per issue that I want to make. Right now I have a specific type of blazer in mine, with sharp peak lapel and quite amazingly that is exactly the jacket pattern in the February issue. (Feb 2020 # 102) I have a printed denim for the blazer plus jeans for a suit - could be great or tragic. Either way I have time to make it now.
Anyway - I hope it's still interesting for readers of this blog, hopefully so. After all as I often say - there are no new patterns so what appears in Burda now may be in Vogue or New Look next year and vice versa.

What are you sewing now that the shelter-at-home is upon us? Here in N. California we started on March 16 and I think it will go through April at the very least. Time enough to get a LOT of sewing done. It's pouring here today with much needed rain and I have a pot of braciole simmering in tomato sauce on the stove - enough for a family meal plus more to put in the freezer. And I found a new bag of bread flour in my cupboard so perhaps some baking tomorrow. It's hunker down and cook or sew time. I hope the sunshine returns soon as I need some get out and exercise time! All this staying at home I think will lead to some extra inches and I don't want to be adjusting patterns when we can go out and wear all the stuff we have sewn!!

Hope you are all well and we'll get through this,
Happy Sewing, Beth

Today's garden photo, this albutilon which I bought last year ? at the local junior college horticultural department sale. Such great finds there. I hope they will be open for their May sales.