When I was in my twenties I used to sew a lot of my clothes, mainly fitted dresses and jackets. When I now return to sewing in my fifties after a long hiatus I realize I’m a different sewist than I used to.
My mother used to sew clothes for me when I grew up. I remember asking her for a certain design for the last day of school every year and she managed to realize my ideas. I learned a lot from both her and from craft lessons in school and was quite independent when I got my own sewing machine in my early twenties. She is still going strong – a Husqvarna 2000 from the 1960s, weighing roughly 17 kilos [37 pounds].
Cranky and hangry
My problem with sewing, though, was that I couldn’t stop. I continued way past my limit of energy and got crankier and crankier. Many times my husband gently took my hand and brought me to the kitchen to eat before I continued and hurt myself or ruin my work. I never got angry with people (at least not to their faces), but I could nearly tear fabric apart when it didn’t do what I wanted it to. Most of the times while hangry.
The wedding dress
The last larger project I sew was a wedding dress for my best friend Elli. Just a couple of years earlier she had given me a folder with a correspondence course in pattern construction that she in turn had got from her fiancé’s mother. After I had gone through the course I was fairly confident I could make a pattern and fit it to her body. The only thing I couldn’t do was to adjust it for a pregnancy, and so I told her I wouldn’t take any responsibility for the dress if she were to get pregnant with her second child before the wedding.
Six weeks before the wedding she came to my house to pick up the dress. We hugged, and she whispered into my ear: ”I’m pregnant”, and I replied in hers: ”So am I”. I had done the test that same morning and was over the moon. The wedding took place and the dress did fit the bride. I sew a few baby clothes with epic failure after that, and decided to stop sewing – I had no dedicated sewing room and I didn’t want to risk dropping pins on the floor with a baby crawling around.
Back behind the Husqvarna
This was 22 years ago and recently I have found my way back to sewing. This summer I sew a linen pinafore dress and two pairs of trousers from Chinese vintage handwoven fabrics. I made myself a sewing studio in the shade on the balcony and enjoyed it more than I thought I would.
I loved both the trouser models and the vintage fabrics and bought myself enough fabric for another two pairs. These projects are waiting for spring. During the fall I have started sewing a pair of trousers and a skirt in a wool/linen blend. This week I finished the trousers, and I love them.
Wool/linen twill trousers
The wool/linen is a herringbone twill with lots of lustre. I bought it from the Berta’s flax guild. It comes from an Austrian mill and is made from local fibers. The fabric is very soft and the drape marvelous.
Just to make sure I overcomplicated things, I used a pattern books of module based patterns. In Japanese. The Google Translate app was my friend and through the very clear illustrations I could figure out what to do when and where.
This week I finished the trousers and they have that loose fit I love. The distance between the top of the zipper and the waist button is a bit long, so I added a hook and eye to avoid flashing my belly. Other than that everything went very smooth and I’m still shocked to be honest.
Wise and uncranked
As I sew, pinned, basted and lined, I kept wondering when things would start going wrong, when the tension and frustration would flatten me like a rolling pin. But they never did. I had one minor ripping incident, but that was it. I saw it, realized what had happened and dealt with it. I realized that the memories I have of sewing come from 20+ years ago. I am a different person now, with a calmness and with an inner wise woman who tells me to listen to my heart and learn from my mistakes. I am grateful sewing came back to me, especially at a time when I know where to find high quality vintage fabrics in natural materials.
I still have a couple of meters left of the wool/linen fabrics, plus four meters of antique linen fabric, also from Berta’s guild. And an indigo fermentation vat underneath my desk. I wonder if they marry well…
Happy sewing!
You can find me in several social media:
- This blog is my main channel. This is where I write weekly posts, mainly about spinning. Do subscribe!
- I share essay-style writing on Substack. Come and have a look!
- My youtube channel is where I release a lot of my videos. Subscribe to be sure not to miss anything!
- I have a facebook page where I link to all my blog posts, you are welcome to follow me there.
- I run an online spinning school, welcome to join a course! You can also check out my course page for courses in Sweden or to book me for a lecture.
- On Patreon you can get early access to new videos and other Patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patrons are an important way to cover the costs, time and energy I put into the videos and blog posts I create. You can read more about my Patreon page here.
- Follow me on Instagram. I announce new blog posts, share images from behind the scenes and post lots of woolliness.
- Read the book Knit (spin) Sweden! by Sara Wolf. I am a co-author and write in the fleece section about how I spin yarn from Swedish sheep breeds.
- I am writing a book! In the later half of 2025 Listen to the wool: A why-to guide for mindful spinning will be available. Read more about the book here.
- In all the social media I offer, you are more than welcome to contact me. Interacting with you helps me make better content. My private Facebook page, however, will remain private.
- I support Centro de textiles tradicionales del Cusco, a group of talented textile artists in Cusco, Peru who dedicate their work to the empowerment of weavers through the revitalization and sustainable practice of Peruvian ancestral textiles in the Cusco region. Please consider supporting their work by donating to their causes.
One Reply to “Sewing”