Bamboo Linden
Pattern: Linden Sweatshirt by Grainline Studio
Fabric: Bamboo knit (x2) from Stitch Sew Shop – reclaimed from two failed projects!
Sewn Up: Winter 2019
Have you ever made something that you were so excited about in the moment, but very soon after, you realize it was ill-conceived? This happened quite a few times during my first year of sewing!
Example #1: Last summer I had aspirations for a new fourth of July shirt. Scanning the shelves at Stitch for patriotic options, I found some navy and white stripes in the softest bamboo knit, plus a navy cotton lawn sprayed with red white and blue dots – basically a fabric firework! I had a vision of using the stripes for the bodice of a t-shirt, then setting in some square sleeves made out of the lawn, then binding the neck in red. As I tend to do, I sewed this up the afternoon of July 3, right before a Nats game I wanted to wear it to. Rushing plus inexperience yielded a wobbly neckband, misaligned stripes, unfinished seams, and awkward sleeves (I think there is a reason we don’t see a lot of knit body, woven sleeve patterns out there!). But the shirt still seemed reasonable enough to wear to the game – which I did, and felt very festive at! So festive, in fact, that after the game I followed the sound of live music from the street and uncharacteristically danced under the stars! And then the top never got worn again.
Example #2: Last fall I was excited to sew my first dress to greet the arrival of tights season. Back to Stitch, and I found another bamboo knit that felt right for cooler weather – a dark eggplant striped with teal. I sewed it up into the Moneta Dress – another lesson in the difficulty of stripe-matching stretchy fabric. I wore this once, and as with its patriotic cousin, never again after that. The weight of the bamboo combined with the gathered skirt made for a very heavy dress. Also, it somehow felt preppy on me, plus too tight in the top, too full in the skirt, and generally not really my style. It’s funny that this can happen with a dress whose every detail you chose yourself!
Fourth shirt + fall dress – R.I.P!
These two garments hung in my closet unworn until earlier this year, when I needed material to muslin my first Linden Sweatshirt (to prep for color-blocking my precious Mood stripes into Linden #2). I realized that both bamboos I had picked out happened to be made of the same stripe but different colorways, and thought the combo would make for a fun, if somewhat strange, wearable muslin! I still had some of the red knit left for a second attempt at a red neckband.
It felt so liberating to cut into the failed garments and give these stripes new life. Unused items in my closet tend to haunt me, and I think that effect is multiplied for things I have created myself! I got to disappear both of them with this one project, which was quite a thrill. I was short on the navy, so I carefully pieced together a few scraps to have enough for a sleeve. And although I initially thought of this as more of a muslin, I really love how it turned out, and reach for it whenever I need a bit of a fabric hug. Bamboo, guys – too heavy for a dress with a full skirt, but perfect for world’s softest t-shirt!
~ Photos by Lizzie Epstein - thanks sis!
Drawing process reel: Closet floor photo, pencil sketch, digital drawing.
