05 March 2007

New T-shirts


Going on a small vacation like I did made me realize the deplorable state of my clothes.

Since my retirement from cubicle-land I have been systematically weeding items out of my inventory. Currently, I work around a lot of messy things like molding plaster and clay and bronze dust and it is not good for nice clothes. So my uniform, if you want to call it that, is blue jeans and variants of t-shirts or sweatshirts or anything that is easily washable.

So, back to my closet. Believe it or not, it was quite empty! But not for long. There was a mighty fine sale on interlock knit at Joann Fabric (50% off!) so I went shopping and came back with enough t-shirt material for 7 shirts. Well, 5 out of the same pattern and 1 a short sleeve and 1 a tank top. I rummaged around until I found my favorite pattern. You can tell this is old (from the 1980's) because it is a "Big Shirt" and you are supposed to put in shoulder pads to make it hang right. I have gained enough weight over the years that the shoulder pads are gone but the pattern still fits. Just shows how 'big' this shirt is. *shrug* I love this pattern. I have used it so much that I copied it onto Do-Sew which lasts a lot longer than the pattern tracing paper. You can just see a piece of it popping out the top.

I spent Saturday afternoon laying and then cutting out the shirts. View C in the upper right corner of the pattern, if you must know, because it has a nice soft turtleneck collar. Sunday was spent stitching them up. I can't remember the last time I made this shirt so I had to get an old one from the closet to remember what NOT to do. Yep I made a mistake last time but I still wear it. I struggled with the sewing process on the first shirt trying to remember the flat construction techniques. Once I had it down, I zipped right through the other 4 shirts. Oh how I love my serger for this type of sewing.

This all brings me to another thought. I have three (yes 3) archive boxes of clothes, home dec and toy patterns. I used to be quite a seamstress until I found quilting. Why am I keeping all these patterns? I dunno. *shrug* I found something else to stashbust! Because I also have a stash of non-quilting fabric. I think I'll go through the patterns and the non-quilting fabric and make some more clothes. Not that I need them or anything! So I don't think I'll have many quilty things to show you until I'm over my clothes sewing frenzy. I should make some shorts too! Think spring!

Hey, do patterns sell well or at all on eBay?

6 comments:

  1. I don't know the specifics, but I do know some patterns sell... usually "vintage" - whatever that means... & children's based on my blog viewing...

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  2. I too have lots of patterns-costumes, kids (the grandchildren are grown up now), clothes, etc. but I can't make myself throw them away. THey do take up lots of room but I'm sure as soon as I throw them away I'll need(want) them.

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  3. I used to sew all my own clothes. That is until I took up quilting. LOL! Lately I've put on so much weight that nothing I own fits and it's hard to find clothes that fit me right in the stores. So I've been thinking a lot about pulling the serger out, getting it serviced, and making myself some new clothes. Unfortunely I gave away the majority of my clothing patterns/fabric a few years ago but they would have been really dated anyway so I'll just have to buy more. Hhhhmmm, maybe I'd better go check out Hancocks and see if they have anything decent left in their close-out sale. You know, I've never looked at THAT side of the store before. LOL!

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  4. After leaving 'the office' I just kept everything in my closet . . . just in case. About 6 or 7 years later I realized everything was hopelessly out of style. Now I just try to fill in here and there, but jeans and tee's are the order of the day.

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  5. I'd be happy to look at pictures of clothes. I haven't sewn clothes since I was pregnant, and even then I made a couple of outfits which I wore every other day. My friends were so tired of me wearing the same things over and over again that they bought me a maternity dress!
    I do have a kimono that I need to make.

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  6. never had much luck with patterns on ebay. but you never know there's a buyer for everything.!!

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