Wooly thoughts

So, for the last few years I've been into wool; blankets, scarves, purses, jackets, pants, skirts, etc.  I've knitted a couple of wool sweaters, which are great for travelling, because they stay warm even if they get wet, like you get rained on.  Aside from smelling like wool, they also don't tend to get all BO-y if you don't have time to wash them.  In broader terms, wool fabric tends to drape really well and adds a slightly sophisticated feel, without being fussy or delicate or impossible to clean.  And its warm; a wool skirt along with leggings and boots makes for appropriate winter attire, even in crappy climates like Cleveland.  More recently, I've made some wool skirts, mostly in herringbone, because I am currently a particularly big fan of herringbone.  There is a weaver in Canada that I have sent some medium sized amounts of money to in exchange for some lovely herringbone fabric in fun colors.  I've had a nice length of green/cream fabric sitting around for a number of months waiting to have that magic combination of time and motivation to make a skirt that I've had in mind.  I finally managed to find that combo the other day.  I spent the better part of two days on this, and spent way more time with the ruler, pins and iron than ever before on a project, but am pretty pleased with the way it turned out.

I started with a pattern for a pencil skirt and an idea from a skirt I saw someone wearing, and went from there.  Its distinctly different from my other herringbone wool skirts, and should be a viable part of my wardrobe even when I have to step up my game in the dressing nicely for work area (I probably won't be able to get away with my rather casual version of business casual when I start my real job).

Anyway, some interesting things I've learned about wool from working with it, mostly from trial and error;
- You're going to need a steam iron if you expect your ironing to have any lasting effect
- you want to make sure you really want that fold in that spot before you iron it, because its really hard to make it go away after you steam iron it in place
- its really hard to pick a seam out of woven fabric; as above, make sure it is where you want it to be before sewing
- fusible webbing bonds really well with wool, well enough you can use it to put the hem up and not worry about it coming down later
- it has some stretch and give to it.  Lining fabric does not.  Sewing the two together can be interesting

More general thoughts
- with as many skirts as I've made in my life, I still struggle with zippers, though I'll give myself the benefit of the doubt and say it might be easier if I had a zipper foot for my sewing machine
- its risky to buy a zipper before the fabric comes in the mail, because the color as it looks online may not be how it looks in real life.  The same applies to thread and lining fabric, though these being the wrong shade is much less likely to send you to the fabric store mid-project
- I finally bought a light for my sewing machine, approximately 20 years after learning to sew on that very machine.  It was a good purchase.
- I'm going to have a pretty strong musical memory associated with making this skirt, as I was listening to Def Leppard's greatest hits on repeat the entire time.
- eventually getting an ironing board that is at the proper height will probably be much better for my back

I also went to a day spa and had a massage and a facial, and it was fabulous.  It was so fabulous I have a new found aspiration to be able to get a weekly massage, but we'll see if I'm ever that rich.


:)