01 September 2010

tmi maybe?

FlickrDroid UploadOkay, so maybe this is weird, but today I made some underwear. Small photo to the left, because posting a photo of my underwear is weird enough. Normally this is not something I would post (didn't tell you about the yellow and black pair I made in the spring, did I?), but is that not the best fabric that has ever existed, ever? EVER? It's t-shirt fabric (is that a thing? It has a weird sort of texture, not jersey or anything else I've really seen) purchased at Hancock last spring, around the time I bought my serger. I think it was $1.50 a yard; I bought two yards but wanted to buy 10. I don't know what the hell I'm going to do with it; maybe just make more underwear?

I made them from a pattern I drafted myself, based on the instructions at So, Zo, which turned out fairly well. I did not adjust for the fact that you have to fold the elastic over, so they ended up a tad short but otherwise super comfortable. I think the materials were probably under $1. I bought the elastic at SR Harris in Brooklyn Center, MN; I want to say it was $.15 a yard (before their normal 50% discount on everything). Once I adjust the pattern a bit, I will likely be able to crank out at least 4 or 5 pairs this week, which will make my Self-Sewn-September thing much more realistic. And while making my own underwear is admittedly something I feel a bit weird about (I am turning into such a dirty hippie, for real), it also sort of gets directly to the point of why I want to focus on either sewing or thrifting all of my clothes. During college (and after...) I definitely got into the habit of just buying more socks and underwear when I didn't have time to do laundry (I'm sorry, that's gross, I don't do that anymore), so I now have roughly fifty or sixty pairs of boring underwear that was probably mass-produced in factories with awful labor practices. I like the idea of getting out of that cycle of unthinking consumption and making my own underwear, preferably out of fabrics with awesome star-burst patterns. Or polka dots? Or maybe dinosaurs? Someone must make knit fabric with dinosaur prints. Whatever, I like the idea of having my entire wardrobe, underwear and everything else, made up of a few things that I really, really love and have a direct connection to, rather than having so much boring crap that I wear because I'm too broke or busy or whatever to find anything else.

Does that make sense? I've been alone in the apartment all day, working and sewing, so I'm starting to feel a bit stir-crazy. It was worth it though, not only did I make a new pair of underwear, but I finished two weeks of prep for teaching, and I'm nearly finished with my thesis reading list for the semester. Exciting stuff!

1 comment:

  1. I love this material! Wearing this underwear would make you feel like Wonderwoman! But I agree, it would definitely be weird to pose in your undies even during SSS... it's funny what we do in the name of blogging!

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