still not sewing, starting to feel like a laurence sterne character

Still no sewing!  Arm is good – I can type two handed, touch my nose, brush my hair right handed.  I can now outperform a two year old in every key result area except self control.  That is one advantage of breaking a bone in a dominant limb. Learned ambidextrosity can only go so far – the limb will assert its dominance as soon as it can, even if this is a little ouchy at times.  Which means my physio is very pleased with me.  So far.

No, what’s stopping me this week is this:

In summary: sewing space traversed by (admittedly very clean, neat and helpful) bathroom associated tradesmen.  Thin film of fc sheeting sawdust to be wiped off every surface - which I don’t want to include any internal part of an already primadonnaish Janome 6500. Access to other sewing supplies blocked by cadged marble vanity top (is it skip diving if the skip is on your own verge?) 

It may improve this week as we go into tiling mode - I hope so. I always dream more than I sew but these weeks I’m buzzing.  Something must be made….

But I have been op shopping, at various places, and pulled in a bit of a haul. 

l-r fine knit print (synthetic), cotton voile batik, raw silk

I love this pattern even if it is by Style.  It’s seventies, but in a good way.  My fabulous pattern features list has many of the elements of this pattern, it ticks raglan, yoke with gathers, neckline (what is the name of that neckline??), gathered/push-up sleeves.   I love it.  But it is a size twelve.  I am not a 12 – not in this pattern era.  For this era I am a big girl.  I’ve measured the pieces and in a stretch fabric (such as the black one pictured above, so providently provided by another op shop) I can probably get away with not altering most of the pieces.  Except in two crucial areas.  

The bingo wings will require (ahem) slightly more accommodation.  And the front will require significant expansion.  So today’s project will be to expand and resize as necessary.   Which I will try to detail for another post, another day.

In other opshopping, isn’t the top pretty?  I may have to hand it along to a niece though – it doesn’t seem to play well with my other clothes, probably on account of its extreme youth.  I also bought two pieces, a cardigan and a vest, in grey merino knit.   Usually when op shopping I am stalked by chartreuse linen (I have witnesses!) but on this day I was hunted by grey merino.  

One piece was a short cardigan with a buttoned cowl.  Now the function of a cowl is to drape, no?  Buttons and button bands, on the other hand, their purpose is to stiffen an edge so it will join and sit flat and neat, not really draping at all.  So that was not a happy relationship.  I was musing on how I might turn it into a wrap when my daughter asked for it.  So I gave it to her.  She wears it open, and it looks good.

Then when I wore the vest, a drapey necked thing which I had to belt for definition (think Jalie, or recent Style Arc and you would be on the money) she wanted that too.  Again, not so good on me, so I gave it to her as well.  They both suit her (though no photos as she doesn’t do photos) and keep her warm so all good, yes?

But I have set up a very unfortunate precedent, and I now have a raging case of a particularly insidious giant clothing moth, which is threatening to decimate my woollen knit wardrobe.  She is gunning for my favourite red merino cardigan (burda 03-12-122) and I don’t know how long I will be able to hold out.