Pinafore number two has been a late-night affair: what is it about staying up too late that makes me think, 'this is the perfect time to start a project'. And then it's 2am and I can't see properly any more...
The fashion fabric is something-mainly-synthetic-with-a-smidgen-of-wool in brown with a fabulous gold thread check pattern: I can never resist a bit of glitter.
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| The threads making up the checks are metallic gold... |
I bought the fabric in Birmingham's Rag Market a year or so ago for some ridiculously small amount of money, and while I love the look of it, it is very thin and floppy, and one feels that it won't wear that well. Fortunately, I had also bought a couple of metres (my default amount) of a very splendid lining: heaven knows what it's made from but it feels (and looks) rather like thin tent material. And it's in perfect green. How do I know it's perfect? Because it matches the walls in my workroom and my VW camper van, both of which are the perfect green. To add body to the pinafore and toughen up my glitter check fabric, I used the green fabric underlining-style (can it be an underlining if there isn't a separate lining?). I tweaked my pattern to have a slightly fuller skirt, cut out the check and discovered the fabric frayed horribly, so French-seamed the side seams, treating the green lining and fashion fabric as a single layer.
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| The seams are a tad bulky, but they actually help with the pinafore's shape... |
I topstitched the facings using my lovely
patchwork foot,and gold thread. It took a bit of experimentation to find the right needle, as the thread is 3-ply and quite thick; an 80 embroidery needle rejected the job, but a 110 coped in the end. And I like the result.
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| Once the tension and needle size were figured out, this thread was still pretty horrible to sew with... |
For probably 30 years I have had this belt buckle in my stash (parts of my stash are rather like geological strata; dig deep and you'll uncover real history). I always knew it'd be the perfect thing one day, and today was its day.
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| Weirdly, as I was making this pinafore there was a programme on Radio 4
about monkish haircuts in the early days of Christianity: Roman monks
had circular tonsures (to echo Christ's crown of thorns; never knew
that) and Irish monks had druid-inspired dos with the front of their
heads shaved and long locks at the back (a kind of uber-mullet?). And
those are the hair-dos of these chaps: Irish on top, Roman clinging on
for dear life... |
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| I found a vintage button in my stash for the other shoulder strap... |
I am pleased with pinafore number two, so pleased in fact that I shall promote it to pinafore number one, primary pinafore.
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| These pinafores do look better on me than on a hanger... |
