Le Prêt / The Loan

Je déplace les meubles pour faire de la place dans ma maison sweatshop.

Mon copain, Olivier, veut bien me prêter sa machine industrielle pour un temps indéfini parce qu'il va mettre à sa place une machine plus puissante. Je suis allée l'essayer hier et je suis revenue toute énervée par la possibilité de faire des choses que je ne peux pas faire avec ma Singer : du cuir? des jeans? Elle n'a pas bronché. Une multitude d'épaisseurs? pas de problème. 

Je vais de ce pas me pencher sur un nouveau modèle de sac, tout de suite. Au travail!

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I'm moving some furniture to make some space in my sweatshop house.

My friend, Olivier, is lending me this for an indefinite amount of time because he needs a sturdier machine. I tried it yesterday and I got in a right old state of agitation as I was thinking about projects that I couldn't previously do with my Singer : leather? jeans? She did not bat an eye. Thick layers? No bother.

I'll go think up a new bag, right now. To work!

Pauline The Weaver

I would like to introduce you to my Aunt Pauline's hand (I am sorry Pauline for the crummy picture!).

Pauline's hand can sew, knit, crochet, DIY, cook, repairs high voltage transformers, play with her grand-children, take care of my 98 years old grand-mother, she is the local WI secretary but, most of all, Pauline's hand weaves admirably. 

Weaving is so mysterious.

 

When I visited with her she was working on placemats and dish towels on two of her three looms (the third one is at my aunt Jeannine who also weaves) which, she offers to the members of our large family (larger than Céline Dion if you want to know!). Pauline never sells anything, she gives it away!  When she opened her wardrobe, it was brimming with plastic bags full of wonders, hours of fabulous workmanship.

  

Tablecloths, baby blankets, adult blankets, car rugs, placemats, tea towels. In Pauline's house, all the linen is handmade and generously offered. 

She gave me some tablecloth scraps, her scraps are so much more beautiful than mine! I have an idea germinating about what I am going to do with this, but it's for Christmas so sh!

Then she handed me this.

I quickly snapped a picture and then I saw her smile, "wrong side" she said.

She weaved this cloth a few years ago, with the intention of making a suit, which she never made. It's a really thick, dark blue and lilac polyester weave worthy of Chanel. Pauline said : "you have it". Emotional doesn't cover how I felt. 

I have been looking for a worthy project since then.

I would like to make a coat and I have been looking for a pattern I saw years ago. It was a long Chanel-like coat with a zipper in the front, the coat was white on the envelope, but I can't find it. Can I jog your good memory to help me find it? I will take any other suggestion as well.

Pauline La Tisserande

Je vous présente la main de ma tante Pauline (je suis désolée ma tante, la photo est mauvaise).

La main de Pauline sait tout faire. Elle coud, tricote, crochète, bricole, cuisine, joue avec ses petits enfants, répare des transformateurs pour transporter de l'électricité, prend soin de ma grand-mère qui a 98 ans, elle est secrétaire du Cercle des Fermières de sa région et surtout, la main de Pauline tisse admirablement. Le tissage c'est tellement mystérieux.

Voici ce qu'elle avait sur deux de ses trois métiers quand je suis allé la visiter (le troisième est chez mon autre tante, Jeannine qui tisse elle aussi) : des sets et des torchons qu'elle offre en cadeau aux membres de sa famille qui est très, très grande (plus grande que celle de Céline Dion!). Pauline ne vend rien, elle offre. D'ailleurs quand elle a ouvert son armoire, je ne savais plus où regarder. Empilés dans des sacs plastiques, il y avait des heures de travail fabuleux.

Des nappes, des couvertures, pour bébés, pour lits plus ou moins grands, des plaids, des napperons, des linges à vaisselle, chez Pauline, tout le linge de maison est fait main et offert généreusement.

J'ai pris les restes d'une nappe, parce que quand Pauline vous tend ses restes, c'est tellement beau, vous les prenez. J'ai une petite idée qui germe pour son utilisation, mais c'est pour Noël alors chut!...

Puis, Pauline m'a tendu ceci.

 Je l'ai photographié, je trouvais ça super beau, puis elle m'a dit en souriant : "ça, c'est l'envers". 

C'est une étoffe qu'elle a tissé il y a quelques années, pour un tailleur qu'elle n'a jamais fait. C'est du polyester marine et lilas, le tissage est digne de chez Chanel et Pauline m'a dit : "tiens, prends-le". J'ai été très émue.
Depuis, je cherche un projet digne de ce nom.
J'aimerais en faire un manteau, et, il me semble que, il y a quelques années, j'ai vu un patron de manteau à fermeture éclair style Chanel, blanc sur la pochette, et je n'arrive pas à le retrouver. J'en appelle donc à votre bonne mémoire pour le retrouver. Je prends aussi les suggestions.

The Jim Jones Review Stunt Dress E02

Here is the Stunt Dress... I am ready to rock!

The dress feels so good! The cotton is heavenly, I really like the fit, the dress has pockets (Erin would be proud of me! She loves pockets and stunt dresses!) and though the fabric is loud and not age appropriate, I might even wear it in real life because I don't care what people think. I might even make another one next summer.

I am just as proud of the innards. I have figured out how to bag it and do minimal hand sewing. I took pictures as I have not seen this RTW finishing method anywhere.

Start with an almost finished dress. The lining which I made from the toile, don't mind the Crayolas washable marker's marks, is all attached. I used the method described by Saraï from Colette Patterns to sew a facing to the invisible zipper, sewed and topstitched the top and pressed the allowance at the bottom. At this point, you have the choice to whipstitch the bottom, stitch in the ditch or turn it all inside out with the skirt inside. Which is what I did, pin.

Sew real close to the waist going as far as you can near the zipper tape, serge the allowance or zigzag and trim (you can leave it as is, but it'll be a bit bulky). 

Open up the side about 3 inches (when I know I'll be bagging, I sew part of one side with a longer stitch) and pull the dress out.

Voilà! Minimal hand stitching here...

...and a little bit on the sides there. Press.

I still have to figure a few things out about this method. In RTW, there is no hand stitching at the zipper tape at all, if you know how to do that, I would love to hear from you. Also, can you do this with the straps all sewn in? I had a doubt, so I attached them to the back after.

This is the shot where you see what I was saying about the fit. Just the right amount of ease, can be worn from morning to night. I love it.

Lovely princess seams were obtained with my new pressing tools! I love them too, get some.