Storing Woolies, Not Just In the Freezer. What's Eating My Clothes?

Those wool pants from the other week got spot cleaned, and have done their duty. They go in the curtain lining zip bags I made for my woolies

Yes, these are curtain sheer liners, thrifted from the Valuable Village, french seamed so they won't unravel or snag, and closed with chunks of Make A Zipper.

These bags keep stuff dust free and not mildewed. 

I have lost a lot of wool items due to insects feeding on them.

Carpet beetle eating carpet moves forward and eats in a line.

Mostly beetles eat my clothes. 

At one point, I remember seeing a chart of how to identify which insect was doing the damage, based on what the hole looked like (dots or tunnel shapes)

This search for a wool eating pattern is not to be confused with

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/the-wool-eater-blanket

Silverfish holes: they have tiny mouths, so tiny holes

In the end, it probably does not matter which one is eating my clothes. The important points are the same: keep your clothes clean (spot clean stuff right away so it doesn't set and make protein stains), keep them off the floor. Store them carefully (the drawer in the kitchen by the back door is going to be the death of any woolen item by beetle)(the bottom drawer that never gets looked into will be a happy home for generations of moths). Insects like to eat preseasoned foods in quiet spaces, so keep stuff clean and rotated. Or store them in bags or tubs that seal well (and only put clean things in those tubs. ASK ME HOW THAT WORKS)

https://www.thespruce.com/insects-that-eat-holes-in-clothes-2146424

https://www.agric.wa.gov.au/pest-insects/identifying-and-controlling-clothes-moths-carpet-beetles-and-silver%EF%AC%81sh

photo from https://insectslimited.files.wordpress.com/2019/09/damage-article-1.jpg?

Moths leave stuff around. Silverfish and beetles do not.

I cannot recommend this website enough:

https://insectslimited.wordpress.com/2019/10/11/identifying-clothes-moth-damage-and-frass-part-2/

Eat a red sweater, poop red frass. Of course they do!

There are lots of ways things end up with holes in them. One of them might just be you.

https://startsat60.com/media/lifestyle/what-causes-the-tiny-holes-in-tshirts-near-your-waist

Faux French Jacket: Chasing fit around the body

You know: you get the arms right, the shoulders need work. You adjust the shoulder seam line and you get drag in the upper bust. you adjust the upper bust and the armscye is too short. The hip bone is connected to the thigh bone and how did that song go?

I have been working on a fitted jacket for years. I spent last summer continuing that journey from this 2016 post.

https://erniekdesigns.blogspot.com/2016/09/revisiting-landmarks-and-house-of-dud.html

and continued rereading of

https://jetsetsewing.com/2013/11/18/claire-schaeffer-godmother-of-haute-couture-sewing-2/

I also was baking Ina Garten's Beatty Buttermilk Chocolate Cake. DAMN.

This illustration  is my compilation of several "French jacket patterns" [mostly Claire Schaeffer, from unknown Threads articles (damn you Pinterest for stripping original acknowledgments)]. Six pieces seems like overkill, but if you're not finishing interior seams, you'd get more precise fit this way.

The pattern in this is Butterick 5066

https://i.etsystatic.com/24309950/r/il/2119a7/2549755289/il_794xN.2549755289_si43.jpg cause I lost the envelope for mine

It's a four piece jacket (front, back, sides, sleeves)  and is pretty streamlined. Shoulder pads are not as heavy as you'd think. Comes with pencil skirt;three yards and you have a suit. Nice package deal.

I am of two minds here:

I should use the four piece with the insets on the sides that provide a slight couture seam front and back. I will get a better fit in the heavier fabrics I want to use for this (vs darts). Then I have to insert the sleeve in one piece, which wouldn't be the end of the world but it makes altering to fit even more complicated as I'm adding more seams to adjust

What I went back to was a three piece (front, back. sleeve) and working on getting the upper chest and back to fit, and letting the rest just fall free. Even with the extra cake pounds, I am still relatively flat chested (cup to circumference, I'm a 40A. A size that does not exist).

Not hemmed yet

So I do have a thing I can wear right now. It has been years of tears, and twenty pounds to alter for.

And it's made of knit, so it flexes a little.
Sadly it's too cold in my office to wear this.

The thing about weight gain that is relevant to this blog  is outgrowing clothes I love (and running out of seam allowances to adjust for that) and spending time altering the TNTs to suit. I would like to think that if I had more solid gold patterns, I would put more time and money into them because I would be able to focus on the finishing work rather than leaving things open for alterations.

It is once thing I have come to admire about men's suits. Most of them are built to be taken apart.

Clearly there are alterations that are impossible - cutting down a jacket front is ludicrous; those shoulders aren't going to change. You move that shoulder seam back and the sleeve is going to pucker. All that padding and shaping and stay-stitching would be lost. It occurred to me that it would be easier to slice one up the back seam and go at it that way. And - you can. The lapels are the least built part of the jacket; you can slice them off and graft them over. Flip the way the jacket is overlapped/buttoned to avoid the buttonhole line. Sure it's a pile of work, but it's not blowing up the Parthenon to get gravel for a driveway. Just don't touch the sleeve/armscye/shoulder area. 

And as always; if you're thrift shopping for a jacket to slice up for practice, consider that perhaps someone else needs it just the way it is. The right jacket gets the job that saves the family. Tuck that in the back of your mind.

But back to alterations. Men's trouser pants have that nifty back seam that is just one seam from crotch through waistband. Since men traditionally  have flatter butts, it's an easier move, and it's a finish I've started putting in my pants. Because I like cake.

So I am a slapdash seamstress (not that one sadly) who likes cake more than handstitching a Hong Kong finish into my jacket.  That's just how it is. I am doomed to perpetually alter.

Winter Pants Miracle

 It's a gorram miracle.

I can't find the original photo of these fully lined Eddie Bauer wool pants, which were given some winter wear last year by adding a new zipper over the old opening and moving the button over an inch.

There's been a lot of cake since then.

This year's model: cake happens. It happened all in the front, the back fits just fine.

Is this flattering? No.

Is it real? Yes.

Do I have a problem I can solve with sewing? YESSSSSSS

OH YEAH

2/10: Took off tabs and waistband.

Took out pleats, gained inches (about three on each pants front side)

This is gonna work. Using the original zipper.

I was prepared to take that off and add the fabric harvested from the waistband.

I am leaving the waistband and tabs for later. Someone may want them.

This is the moral of this story. If you have a well made article of clothing, over it's lifespan it may need to be many sizes. Alterations in costuming teach you to leave your options open, keep the seam allowances, and save the scraps for the future you can't possibly know or plan for. The trick is keeping those spare parts somewhere you can find them again. And yes, I have a spare parts drawer. I've also found pieces sewn into other coats or vests, tucked in the linings. Because you never know that the temperature is going to drop and You Have No Warm Pants.

New waistband. Nothing fancy, I'M IN A HURRY. Gonna be 20s tomorrow. I'm old. I got super cold at work today, in my chilly little hallway.

Wearing them right now (2/11)

Brrrrrrrrr

Art Doll / Link Party

All the rest of the photos in this post are not mine. I have tried to put as many credits and identifications on them as possibly. And waaaaaay too many links. But I am putting my photo first so it shows up as the header for this post, and not promote this with someone else's work.

 I'd argue that the best thing about the art doll community is that it likes to demonstrate how to make things. Some of the videos are barely edited. 

This sounds like an insult, but it's actually instructive: it's real time instruction, this is how long it takes to do this thing. It's also very soothing to watch someone else make the thing for a change.

For example, New Vintage Lady's new videos
https://youtu.be/y_VElNmrXrk

Little Bird Blythe shows you how much you will have to fiddle with the screws.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVu2Q_yKBld_K8Grc7WUanw/videos

On the blog side of demonstrations and high fashion, I adore Fashion Doll Stylist

https://fashiondollstylist.blogspot.com/

Their blog is where this started for me, with the runway fashion shots and the scale recreations they made for their dolls. I'm only posting this one photo, you HAVE to go look for yourself to see the amazing work they've been doing for eight years now.

https://fashiondollstylist.blogspot.com/2019/08/no-business-like-shoe-business.html

The dean of dolls, making beautiful shoes. And check out the side linked blogs.

The minute you start on YouTube looking at OneOfAKind dolls, your suggested video list is going to multiply with other similar accounts.  It's an entire world of specialists and reviewers and conventions and it's been a really nice holiday for me. 

Frankly, sewing clothes right now just seems really pointless.
Where am I going that I'm not wearing a uniform for? How many masks do I need?
So,   DOLL RABBIT HOLE!!!!!

Skeriosities Doll Art
https://youtu.be/rWzIUtfX-vE
who has some amazing work on Etsy (link in video)

"He's so cute and I'm going to ruin it"
This is the best doll video here. You will learn everything in under 15 minutes
Mr 2 Bon Clay from One Piece

https://youtu.be/roaRXlI_LAs

I can't recommend Enchanterium's videos enough. Even if you have no idea what the inspiration for the dolls is, the techniques and the creative struggle (and the tiny pants with functioning pockets, the attachable space helmet, the 3D printing and LED lighting issues) are worth it. Super bonus points for very very dry wit. There are laugh out loud moments in all of their videos. Plus they are SISTERS.

Removing the head and the hair and the facepaint (!) while getting the ErnieK Seal of Safety Approval for correct spray paint safe use.

Candy's Dolls
https://youtu.be/WzNFMoRUD5o

and some editorial commentary on Steven Universe while refacing for Rose Quartz
https://youtu.be/cDYcgBxSHdc

How to straighten/curl doll hair

https://iamloveddolls.wordpress.com/2015/07/10/back-to-basics-how-to-fix-and-straighten-doll-hair/
she has a link to the second, curling tutorial in the post

And then there's just starting all over again by rerooting hair
https://youtu.be/qHQOKpHJcZE

Closer to what I needed:
http://ilovetocreateblog.blogspot.com/2014/07/how-to-make-frida-style-braids.html

Best use of three hands ever

Dollightful Repaint 

https://youtu.be/oA0xgwZFnPo

Barbie sawn apart to get a new Morticia waist

https://youtu.be/y_6HToVKF2Y

And a lot of talk about costuming and character

how to make 'converse' style shoes

https://youtu.be/xeIApc6dwKI

Because I am going to make one doll into a little Mini Me.

Because I can.

I will continue to add links to this as time goes by, because this is my information storage unit.