Sewing Credo

If you are going to invest your time in something as impractical as sewing historical costume then it really pays to have a method to your madness. Every inspiration source I look at gives me that ooooh, I want to make that too feeling. If I put every bit of costume eye-candy on my project list I'd never do anything except costume for my next 3 incarnations. I had to have a way to tame the fabric lust, the knee jerk reactions and stupid projects that I know I'll get bored of before I even cut the cloth.

I've done some thinking today and come up with some hard and fast rules for culling the "list" to a manageable level...

Invest In The Best

If I don't love it I leave it. Any fabric I feel ambivalent about never gets purchased no matter how useful I might find it later on or what a great deal it is. If I can't pick that fabric up and instantly know what I'll make out of it then it's not for me. And I have to admit there have been times when I've wanted to bring fabric home that I had a feeling would be great for "something" but I've left it behind. And it's usually only a few hours before I feel that was the right decision to make. My current fabric hoard is decidely lean, it all fits into one square foot box. Every item in there is earmarked for a particular project. There's no fabric just lying around without a project to call home.

One Garment, Multiple Uses

I like to mix and match my wardrobe, even my historical wardrobe. I won't invest a week or two of my spare time on a standalone item unless it's very, very special. So far there's no project in that category. My fabric choices have to cross-dress. One petti, multiple jackets that co-ordinate, one jacket multi petti's that go. I actually think this is very 18th century of me. There's a reason why many 18th century ensembles are seperate pieces. Aside from a lack of fastening choices I also think it has a lot to do with frugality. When your clothes chew as much fabric as these ones do it really pays to get as many outfits as possible out of each piece. Only the very rich could afford an endless wardrobe, and even then there's evidence clothes were recycled with recuts as well. Since I don't fall into the very rich category I'll stick with mixing and matching as much as possible.

Take My Time

I'd much rather own one beautifully tailored ensemble than five that reminded me of how much I rushed them to completion. I like to chew over design and trim choices weeks in advance of beginning the project. I like to ensure my fabrics co-ordinate with existing pieces. I enjoy taking the time to handsew trims and finishes. I'd be proud of a piece that took me weeks to create because I know how nicely finished it is. And most of all, this take my time process allows me to eliminate projects which won't entertain me for long. If I get bored of it in the planning stages then it's really unlikely I'll finish it, so why start it? Besides planning a project is really more than half the fun of it.