I have been informally sewing along with other stash busters and this I believe must be the ultimate in stash busting. This fabric has been in a cupboard for 61 years ! Not mine , I`m not that old thanks ! I will make a long story short , my mother -in-law has a friend who apparently has a lot of fabric and was thinking about giving it away . Well in a nutshell she is not quite ready to let go ( yet - I still have hope ) but this led to my MIL telling me about the time she pleaded with her mother to buy her some fabric to sew when she was 17. Her mother did so with the promise she must actually sew it -hmm fast forward 61 years .
After a good and gentle ( and a lot of trepidation ) hand wash the fabric came up pretty well. There was one small stain and a few moth holes but pretty good for being a senior( heck I hope I am that good at 61 myself ) . My MIL wanted a kimono style robe so I used New Look 6928 - a unisex pattern for sleepwear . I have made the robe once before - size Small and it is huge but very simple to construct . I had just enough fabric - 3 1/2 metres at 90 cm wide. I managed to avoid the worst patch of moth holes but could not avoid the stain . There wasn`t even enough fabric left to make even one pocket. The fabric was lovely to sew with and ironed beautifully ( it wrinkled beautifully too ) . It was marked in one spot on the selvage -Anglosheen -British fabrics- and I wish I knew more about it .
Well my MIL is very pleased and says her mother will be looking down at her from Heaven happy as well. I should have offered to sew this up 20 years ago when I first started going out with her son ( not that I knew about the material until this year )because I think my approval rating has gone up a couple of notches .
Cheers Janine.
PS I am soooo enjoying The Great British Sewing Bee. I don`t think the smile left my face the whole time watching it.
Always good to earn extra Brownie-Points from the MIL! She will absolutely love this - great sewing ... J
ReplyDeleteIt certainly pays off to stay on the good side !
DeleteI think I can just about see that fabric smiling for being finally used after all these years!
ReplyDeleteIt was a delight to sew with - I wish I knew what the content was.
DeleteI too use my blog as a bit of a sewing/making diary. Welcome back!
ReplyDeleteI love that you've earned points with the MIL !
Thankyou !Also I do not think I will ever see this robe again so I thought I might as well `document ` it.
DeleteI love your robe and your blog. I just became a follower. My MIL gave me some fabric from her stash too. She had been saving cottons for years to make a quilt. I used her stash to make her a quilt. I gave it to her on Christmas.
ReplyDeleteShe looked at me sternly and said"Never do that again". Not to worry I won't. Not the "thank you" I was hoping for. I am glad that your MIL was happy with you.
Your MIL reaction is incredible . Oh well at least you waste anymore time there.
DeleteGreat to hear from you again and see that you are back blogging.
ReplyDeleteLove the robe and fantastic to hear it is made from fabric so old. I am sure it is glad to be out of the cupboard one on the road to a useful life.
Thankyou - I know the robe will definitely get loved and worn. I just wonder if she has any other goodies lurking in her cupboard.
DeleteThe fabric is absolutely perfect for a kimono robe - beautifully feminine. And the cut shows off the fabric and its memories so well.
ReplyDeleteTHe fabric was quite pretty - different to what my MIL normally wears but she was only 17 at the time of purchase.
DeleteIt is always good to do what you can for those brownie points from the in laws. Nice robe, fun post!
ReplyDeletethanks! However my selfish sewing ways means I don`t want to earn too many brownie points through sewing !
DeleteYour MIL knew that you would do an amazing job with that precious fabric. I too am loving the Great British Sewing Bee.
ReplyDeleteThanks. I have sewn her a few nighties before and she always appreciates them . I am looking forward to the next episodes . Hope they commission some more series.
DeleteLove that robe! What a great project!
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh, I discovered the Great British Sewing Bee on you tube and I have been completely obsessed! Can't wait to see the last episode!!!
I love your fabric story. The robe is so pretty, and it is good to rescue fabric! My MIL gave me some 35 yo viyella quite some time ago - I didn't use it for about 5 years so my Brownie points rating sunk very low, but eventually it turned into a smocked dress for my niece (her granddaughter) so I got SIL and Auntie points as well ;)
ReplyDelete