I started sewing because I couldn't get the clothes I needed for the
SCA at my local Gap or Hot Topics (not that I shop at either of those
stores). I couldn't even go to a garb merchant, because I chose a persona
that most people in the SCA don't have -- Russian. Then I got to researchin',
and found my new interest: Mongol culture of the 13th century. They
don't sell that at the garb merchant, either. Merchants sell what people
want most: chemises and t-tunics, skirts and pants, bodices, belts,
pouches and cloaks... and who can blame them? They need to make a buck,
and in the meantime, I learned to sew. I gleefully hoard fabric in our
workshop and in the garage.... and I think there's a box at my mom's...
muahahaha!
I got a serger a few years ago, and didn't use it for two years, but
once I learned how, I was hooked. I made six garments in a week's time
last year, when Memorial Day weekend snuck up on me (for those of you
who do serious production work, that's a record for me). The serger
cut and over-stitched the seam edges. If I'd tried to make all that
on a regular machine, I'd be sewing yet, what with having to press all
the seams open so I could join the pieces correctly. It's not historically
correct, but it sure gets the job done.
My favorite garments to make are pants and hoods, because they don't
take long to cut out, and I can put them together in a wink. I've discovered
that I hate cutting fabric, mostly because the surfaces I have to work
on are too low and bending over the table hurts my back. Maybe someday
I'll have a tall enough surface -- I covet one of these foldable cutting
tables. I think my sister has one... maybe someday, when the sitting
room is finished.
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