Salvage

Like Lisa at Sew Random, I've been doing a bit of salvage sewing during the last week--what a great description! Somehow, it sounds better than "alterations," which I dread. That probably explains why I have so much stuff parked in my sewing room!

Nevertheless, I worked on a couple of items this past week, and I'm actually pretty happy that I've turned a couple of potential discards into "new" items.

The first project was the remake of a slinky skirt I bought at Coldwater Creek a couple of years ago when I wore a Large. I loved the fabric, a gold and black paisley, but there was way too much of it for me to wear now that I'm several sizes smaller. So it hung in the closet. Then my girlfriend Fran wore a similar skirt to work and I had an "aha" moment--time to revive that skirt. It turned out to be so easy. I just cut the elastic waist off and ripped out the coverstitched hem, re-sewed the side seams, put in a new casing, and restitched the hem. It's projects like this that really make me love my Evolve!

The second project was some tweaks of the Plaza Pants I made at the Sewing Workshop Getaway last fall. They were too long in the crotch and too loose for my taste. Since these have no side seams and also have the pleat/flange detail in front, I removed the waistband and cut off 5/8" from the top edge. Then I removed the excess width from the center front and center back seams, a total of 1 1/4". Re-attached the waistband, and done. I think I'll be making these pants again and will need to transfer the changes to the pattern.

Salvage projects still aren't my favorites but I do enjoy the results when I can convince myself to start. A couple of rules of thumb, though. Don't try to salvage everything--make sure you're spending your time on a garment that you'll actually wear afterwards! Like the skirt--love that fabric, so I'll wear it now that it's remade. Don't waste time on something you feel meh about. Similarly with the Plaza Pants--they're a color, olive, that I'll wear a lot. And the pattern has the potential to be a TNT--the flanges can be folded out for a seam down the front of each leg. Or, the seam can be eliminated altogether for a one-seam pattern.

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Also, thanks for all of your comments regarding my rant about my friend. I'm setting more boundaries re: the phone. I'm using the Mute function on my land line and cell phone, and she also knows that I turn off the ringers when I need "me" time. I'm working on weaning her off her computer dependency as well--the public libraries here not only have wi-fi access, but computers you can use. I really believe she'll be happier if she has more control over her destiny during her job search.