mending matters
and making jam
It’s been a week of modifying and mending.
I decided that my linen weaver pants (from the Maiwa ‘Journeywoman’ story) needed to be a little longer, and so I harvested a matching strip of linen from the front of a ‘wayfinder’ smock, cut it in half and frankenstitched each piece to the end of a leg. Initially I was simply going to hem the raw edge that was left on the smock and leave the back dangling longer, but once I’d finished stitching across the front, the extended sides (of the back) were simply begging to be folded sideways and tucked behind the leading edge. This has made layering the garments even more fun, whether over a shift plus trousers (as at left) or the smock plus trousies (to the right). Then of course I became somewhat carried away and began layering things up ready for cooler weather (which is many months away). This is the beauty of having a body shape on a stick…seeing how your outfit might look without having to climb in and out of clothing. For winter I’ll be starting with a silk skirt, and stacking a silk tidewanderer over it, followed by the smock and then a very nice wool cardigan that I gifted myself for my birthday, topped off with a buttersoft mulberry silk shawl that is the colour of the ocean thanks to judicious layers (always with the layers!) of eucalyptus dyes and indigo. Add boots and a hat and I’ll be ready.
I then tackled the lovely organic cotton velvet dress that the nice folks at Privatsachen had so kindly gifted me three years ago, but which I haven’t worn as much as I would like as the cut of the neckline wasn’t quite low enough for my chonky neck. Here’s the first pouring of colour…if I had warmed the brew slightly I wouldn’t have twitched at the cold, and more of it might have adhered to the cloth.
Then I had poured more things on it…
And then…
After dyeing and then drying…
I took my courage in both hands, and cut the bodice away from the skirt, but leaving about a handswidth so that I could make a space for elastic. The the project sat for twelve months, while I pondered what to do about the length, as it seemed to me that the skirt needed something more.
This week it came to me. I would take the lovely heavy double border from the lower edge of the tidewanderer dress that Charllotte had generously sent me so that I could experiment by suspending it in one of our dams. It hadn’t gone as well as I’d hoped, and holes had been eaten into the bodice. (I have a plan for that, though, never fear.)
So now I have a kind of frankenskirt to which I’m still adding rows of stitching because I can. You’ll get a few glimpses of it in the video below. How lucky am I, to be able to play in this way, while in so many paces there seems to be hell on earth.
While Israel and Russia illegally bomb the stuffing out of their neighbours and make a mockery of the rest of the world, I am grateful to live my small life. Mending and modifying my clothes. Reverting to my first language and yelling “Haut ab, ihr kunterbunten armleuchter” while flapping my arms at invading rainbow lorikeets to try and save a few plums for jam. They truly are a gorgeous bird, but wickedly destructive when it comes to fruit. The plums weren’t even ripe yet, but those little blighters simply nipped chunks out of them and hurled then to the ground1. I managed to gather a bowlful (of plums not birds) and cooked up a red jam of plums, cherries, strawberries and raspberries. Enough to fill three jars, not exactly provender for the whole winter, but tangy and delicious nonetheless.
There’s a ‘fireside chat’ (but without the fire) below for my kindly subscribers. Meanwhile if anyone out there needs February-therapy, here’s the link. (Please email me if you’d like to gift one to a friend. It’s tricksy but possible !)