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.

Click on a title below to access links in those categories.