Since some of the lurkers must be feeling intimidated by all the faster-than-light sewing that's been going on around here, I thought I'd post an account of my slower-than-molasses sewing.
Unfortunately, I write slower than molasses too. That shouldn't be too bad in May -- but I keep my molasses in the refrigerator.
At least it's not in the freezer.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
I bought unbleached "russia drill" to make new summer jeans some time ago, but a while back on another forum, a professional shirtmaker posted that she always washed hemp hot and dried it hot at least three times -- and that was shirt-weight hemp.
Eh, having consulted my diary to find out the dates, it's easier to quote than to summarize:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
19 April 2008I was going to start cutting my new hemp jeans Thursday, but I read a complaint on Creative Machine that a hemp shirt had kept shrinking every wash, and the guest host (It's shirt week, and a professional shirtmaker is hosting) replied that she always washed hot and dried hot three times before cutting hemp. I'd washed my Russia Drill only once, so I popped it into the washer to soak overnight -- with real soap, since I'd used detergent last time, and because the soap chips were piling up.
Then I forgot to finish washing it yesterday. Rinsed it in hot water and ammonia this morning, and now it's in its second hot rinse.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Somewhere along the line, I drew threads to straighten the ends. This was unsettlingly easy -- it showed that the threads are strong, but it also proved that they aren't packed very tight. I like a nice firm weave for making jeans. After that I sorted out the pattern, which had been hanging on a nail, and put it with the fabric.
Last Tuesday I opened my dining table to its full extent, laid out the fabric, and cut along the drawn lines. Used my smaller rotary cutter and smaller mat for this, but my old Case bent-handle trimmers proved more appropriate for cutting two layers of heavy twill.
My piece of drill was three yards long -- well, it says three yards on the invoice; I didn't measure it -- and just a tad under sixty inches wide. Just enough to make two pairs of jeans, with the front of one pair and the back of another pair interlocked at each end and the small pieces in the middle. Couldn't quite figure out how to get a strip long enough to make the back waistband, but decided to worry about waistbands later.
Next problem: my dining table opens to only two and a half yards. Putting the gate-leg table at the end stopped the fabric from drooping, but didn't make it flat enough to lay out and cut.
The layout crosswise was tight -- it was "I'm going to trim that corner off the seam allowance anyway" tight -- but the layout lengthwise was loose enough that it was quite safe to cut a back and a front off one end, then pull the rest of the fabric onto the table and finish the job.
Having decided that, it was time to eat lunch and take a nap. Luckily, DH is in the habit of taking his lunch into his room, so I could leave all the stuff on the table.
4 May 2008At which point in the narrative, I took another nap, or had to cook or something.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
That afternoon, I overslept and had just two hours before time to clear off the table and put food on it.
Drew arrows down a selvage with a wash-out marker, cut out one front and one back, drawing more arrows on the pieces and the cutaways so that I'd know which pieces belonged together. (I like to sew with the nap even when there isn't any, on the off chance that some subtle difference will show up when you've sewn it together and put it on.)
The marker was in hand, so I used it to mark all the notches -- easy, because repeated use of a tracing wheel had turned each notch into a slit. Then I stuck a pin into each mark and used it as a guide to mark the other layer.
Then I stuck the marker through the tailor's-tack holes and twisted it: voila! Hip-pocket placement marked! But how to mark the other layer? Stick a pin so it takes a nip on each side of the mark, then stick another one at right angles to it. Flip over, X marks the spot. I have marked the wrong sides, and I need the marks on the right side. I'll deal with that when it's time to sew the pockets on.
Front and back cut and marked and carried to the ironing board. Pull fabric onto the table, check layout -- plenty of room for twelve pockets, but I *still* don't see where I'm going to get the waistbands. Cut and mark another front and back, carry to ironing board, carry remaining fabric, tools, etc. to ironing board, close table -- remaining fabric will fit on eating-size table -- start making salad.
Wednesday I boiled a piece of muslin destined to be passport pockets.
Thursday, put fabric etc. back on the table -- now it is plenty big just by raising the other leaf -- use template to tear out two passport pockets. The muslin has a good tuck selvage, as if intended for making sheets (even though it's *way* too coarse), so I use that as the top hem of the pockets. Pin template to pockets, lay on top of fronts and backs, put muslin back on shelf.
Study remaining piece of russia drill. There is just no way to get the waistbands out of this without a seam in the back. Oh, well, said the fox, this stuff is too thick and soft to make a waistband anyway. I've got a whole roll of that coarse muslin, and it's about the right color. (Well, it was before I boiled the dirt out of it.)
Jumping ahead of the story: as days passed, I grew more and more unhappy with the idea of putting a cotton waistband on hemp jeans. Linen would work better, but all my pieces of linen are either bleach-white or bright colors. But, while typing the first installment of this saga, I remembered buying two yards of cannabis canvas and then deciding that I didn't want a canvas poncho shirt after all. Most of it is still here, and (great shock!) I remembered where I put it. Probably weighs more per square yard than the drill, but it's thinner -- and *much* firmer. This will make excellent waistbands.
Meanwhile, back at the narrative. I started laying out four each of the broadfall pockets, hip pockets, and watch pockets, two with arrows pointing this way and two with arrows pointing that way: well, duh! Not to mention awk scrickle. Bring back the muslin and the template, tear out two more passport pockets. There was only enough selvage left for one more pocket, so I tore a pocket-wide strip with selvage at one end, then tore a pocket off the selvage end and left the rest to be hemmed down to the same length.
I cut the broadfall pockets by patterns (I'd long since made a second copy of the patterns for these pants), cut the watch pockets by drawn threads, cut the hip pockets half-and-half; they are rectangles with one pointy end. I drew the pointy ends on at least three of them with wash-out marker, to save pinning the pattern/template to the fabric. Didn't fold in half to check symmetry, as recently discussed on Creative Machine. I may when it's pressing time.
I wrote "Hemp May 2008" on each pattern piece that I used even though I started this job in April.
Friday I made birthday cake. And blueberry muffins.
Saturday the Farmers' Market opened for the season -- I bought a dozen eggs and a tomato plant -- and there was a party at Chimps Comics (I found a Dark Horse title I hadn't seen before). Saturday may also be the day I started writing this.
And today was Sunday. (I did plant the tomato I bought yesterday.) Perhaps tomorrow I'll get on with hemming pockets and pressing edges, but I've been known to take two years to finish a pair of pants.
Joy Beeson