SPECIAL FREE-TO-ALL FEATURE so take advantage of this generosity and then pass it around! Give it for Valentine's and pretend you paid a lot for it if you want, I don't care. Love, Jane
Editing this piece reminded me of when I was 13 and my best friend and I decided we would wear a dress to school one day a week. Since I didn't have hardly any, I started making them. They were always half falling off, but it was really fun to do and so satisfying. I am absolutely going to sew something again now because of you, Jasika. I think I have to start with something really simple like the sassy pillowcase dress though, and maybe work my way up to the sassy tie-skirt. I'll show you what I do for your critique.
Jane!!!!! I didn't realize you were already about this life!!!!! No wonder this resonates so much with you, you already have the maker spirit inside of you! haha! I have some recommendations if you're ever interested- there is a great dress that I just wore today that is super simple- only a couple seams I think, and it doesn't really have pattern pieces, you just manipulate a rectangle of fabric into the dimensions you want with a couple measured cuts. It's super impactful in terms of fit and style! It's called the Envelope Dress by Cris Woods and you can pair it with a rtw belt or make one in the same fabric, or go sans belt. Depending on the fabric you make it in it can have a very different look. I made mine in silk velvet which looks super lux, but a floaty cotton gauze is also stunning and of course linen is always a winner! Not sure if you can link in comments but here goes:
You absolutely can link in the comments and that one looks like a great one for me to start with! Thank you so much! I'm remembering that the ones that I made when I was a teenager also rarely used patterns. I would make a lot of them up with the same basic skirt and then kind of a halter top attached to it (we all start with halter tops!). And I remember a lot were my own made up idea of wrap dresses because they were easy to make without any buttons or zippers or any of that hardware and they would always fit. But don't take this to mean I have any skill or talent in this realm at all. I have not made anything since then. I even had a Jane magazine reader make my homemade mommy and me dresses for me and my daughter when she was little. I am a big mender, though. I love mending!
By the way, I haven't said it yet, but I love when you describe clothing like those jeans as "memade."
Now I want YOU to do a deep dive of clothes you made 😂 I’m so impressed you were doing this so young! I only came to it cause of a neccesary college class but you were expressing yourself like this so early! Also getting a reader to make your sweet mommy and me dresses is 🤌🏽 peak fashion magazine flex 😮💨 I’m obsessed!
Thanks Christina and I agree! You just reminded me that mom used to make us these leather strappy sandals with leather soles when we were kids but high heels?!??! I can't even imagine.
I hadn't either when I started, I literally didn't know it was possible. Some of my favorite introductory shoes to make are Birkenstocks, I often invite friends over to make them in whatever designs they like cause you can buy the cork footbeds for less than $40 and they are super beginner friendly-design the upper out of leather or fabric, stick a thick rubber sole on them and call it a day. It's a great gift idea too!
Do I love this or WHAT? I had a five year period where I made all my clothes — and steep learning curve is right. Once you master it, there’s no turning back. You can never look at what you wear again without seeing … “oh yeah, that’s how to do it.” What a talent you are!
It’s made shopping RTW again virtually impossible 😂 but as you say, also exciting cause I’m always looking at the guts of a garment to see how they achieved a certain design element! My therapist let me study the insides of her incredible Christine yee trench yesterday and now I’m on the hunt for a comparable pattern for it! Thanks for reading Susie ❤️
You’ll love this story: I was making a gown for the Renaissance Faire for the first time, and I wanted to try using the sew-in corsetting tape. My sewing teacher Jill told me this tape was a “great cheat,” in that you can zigzag it into the seams, and then use a warm iron to mould to your curves.
Well, Jill, quite a matronly hippie type, started describing to me a kind of spiraling you can sew into foundation garments to lift the breasts and hips, “just like” a Playboy Bunny uniform. “I took one apart to find out how they did it, it was a patented design!”
“But Jill, how did you get your hands on a Playboy Bunny uniform?”
And that’s when she told me… HOLY SHIT. She was hired for one of their clubs in the 60s!
What an incredible story. I LOVE finding out that there is more to someone than I would have thought. And that's a crazy good example.
Also: having you and Jasika conversing here makes my heart soar. I'm so glad you're part of this thing Susie. And I still owe you a subscription. Let me work on that!
Oh wow, she would NEVER admit this in public, and I bet she has no idea what Substack is. She’s in a Church and on and on. The best seamstress I have ever known in my life. I am lucky she tells me these occasional secrets.
I'm just coming back to report that I was able to figure out the subscription thing! Let me know if it didn't work but otherwise, I am very proud of my technological capabilities and happy you're here!
Okay, I might actually attempt more seamstress type stuff than my current skill level of stuffed animal triage, button replacement, and shitty hemming after reading this.
Also, Jane, I highly recommend FRINGE-Astrid Farnsworth was one of the best characters on the whole show.
OK, I'm definitely checking out Fringe. Also, Jasika and I had a laugh about my connection to Friends because of something that happened when she got cast in Fringe but I'll let her tell it cause she'll tell it a lot better. I just adore her and I'm sure she's fantastic in it. Can't wait to watch. Thanks for the recommendation!
This is SUCH a cool piece and an incredibly fun read! My mom is an amazing sewist and one of my chief life regrets is not getting her to teach me while I was a kid. Ohhhh the 18th (and 19th!) century ball gowns I would have made!
Also - RANDOM - but Jasika I think I may have met you in NY? Were you ever in a show that was like a disco/nightclub version of A Midsummer Nights Dream? It miiight have been called “The Donkey Show”?
No but I was in a musical called Cafe A GoGo that replaced Tony and Tinas Wedding for like 6 months before we got booted cause we were not Tony and Tinas Wedding 😂 I did a lot of off off off oooooooff Broadway stuff when I lived in nyc tho so maybe it was something else??
So cool! I just do not understand the sewing machine - my MIL bought me a very high tech one when I got married… the idea being she quilted and made her own clothes, so I must be able to. It turned into hand sewing, which my brain understands. I made clothes for my dog. I made stuffed animals and stuffed sick creatures. And that, was the bulk of our income in 2008 when we went (medically) bankrupt right as the economy imploded. My janky-sewn art creatures 😂 But this is an art and a talent I’ll admire, while surrendering to my own ineptitude!
Those electronic sewing machines with all the bells and whistles look so exciting but, unless you're already an experienced and confident maker, can be overkill! I have a Bernina with a big instruction manual and 99 different stitches on it, 97 of which I rarely if ever use, and a vintage Singer from 1950 that's only designed to make a straight stitch but can sew through both leather and silk with ease. Of course that's the one I end up using the most, haha. Thanks so much for reading, Gina!
Meow! I have the “last” mechanical Bernina they made before the electronic change… WILL NEVER LET IT BE PRIED FROM MY FINGERS. And I have my mom’s old fifties’ Singer too, which as my sewing teacher advised, “has never been equalled for a pure straight stitch on denim.”
I love this! I've been upcycling clothes for a few years now, and recently found a local upcycling fabric place. Jasika has inspired me to be even more conscious of the materials I use. And those blue heels--wowza!!
Agreed. I learned so much from this about what not to do and buy also. I knew some of the horrors of RTW but not all these specifics, which are so important.
I needed this. I too am a theatre major who learned to sew by making an 18th century ball gown in the early aughts. Fast forward to 2022 to one of the darkest, hardest times of my life when I picked up sewing again. I’m nowhere near your skills but putting on a boxy linen top that is made with care is something I can’t take for granted. You’re inspiring me to really commit because RTW just sucks. Nothing fits and it all looks the same. I hope this inspires more people to consider the humble stitch as something they want to embrace.
lol @ 18th century ball gown- that's how they reel us theatre kids in! I'm so sorry you had a dark period to push through, but damn, it sure is beautiful that the joy of making helped usher you out of it. Thanks so much for reading!
Few things we scroll past stop us dead in our tracks. We are hungrily impressed with your talents Jasika. You had us a “make my own clothes” but your shoes are also astonishing. Thank you for this huge hit of inspiration! Time to dust off our sewing machine. 🧵🪡
AHHH! Thank you so much, y'all! I'm honored you took the time to read this! Sometimes I feel like I'm in a tiny little bubble hunched over my piles of fabric in my craft dungeon, but this is such a great reminder that craft has always been rooted in community!
I found your IG about 5 years ago I think and you’ve been such an inspiration ever since. I’ve knit and made pottery for a long time but recently taught myself to crochet using your mantra of learning success. Sometimes it’s hard to get started learning a new skill because the possible failures are looming but thinking of them as just steps in the learning process really helped. About to finish my first crochet sweater vest ;) Have dabbled in sewing clothes before; hope one day try again. Thanks for sharing your journey!
Tamara I love hearing that learning success was a helpful reframe for you!!!! And congrats on your almost finished best, what a feast! Thanks for reading and sharing your kind message ❤️
Editing this piece reminded me of when I was 13 and my best friend and I decided we would wear a dress to school one day a week. Since I didn't have hardly any, I started making them. They were always half falling off, but it was really fun to do and so satisfying. I am absolutely going to sew something again now because of you, Jasika. I think I have to start with something really simple like the sassy pillowcase dress though, and maybe work my way up to the sassy tie-skirt. I'll show you what I do for your critique.
Jane!!!!! I didn't realize you were already about this life!!!!! No wonder this resonates so much with you, you already have the maker spirit inside of you! haha! I have some recommendations if you're ever interested- there is a great dress that I just wore today that is super simple- only a couple seams I think, and it doesn't really have pattern pieces, you just manipulate a rectangle of fabric into the dimensions you want with a couple measured cuts. It's super impactful in terms of fit and style! It's called the Envelope Dress by Cris Woods and you can pair it with a rtw belt or make one in the same fabric, or go sans belt. Depending on the fabric you make it in it can have a very different look. I made mine in silk velvet which looks super lux, but a floaty cotton gauze is also stunning and of course linen is always a winner! Not sure if you can link in comments but here goes:
https://criswoodsews.com/products/envelope-dress-instructions-pdf-download?srsltid=AfmBOop1S_8eB__FMm_FB6-bpF0IS0DEIM6uA7K8EVk2FNvmGDExlMWJ
You absolutely can link in the comments and that one looks like a great one for me to start with! Thank you so much! I'm remembering that the ones that I made when I was a teenager also rarely used patterns. I would make a lot of them up with the same basic skirt and then kind of a halter top attached to it (we all start with halter tops!). And I remember a lot were my own made up idea of wrap dresses because they were easy to make without any buttons or zippers or any of that hardware and they would always fit. But don't take this to mean I have any skill or talent in this realm at all. I have not made anything since then. I even had a Jane magazine reader make my homemade mommy and me dresses for me and my daughter when she was little. I am a big mender, though. I love mending!
By the way, I haven't said it yet, but I love when you describe clothing like those jeans as "memade."
Now I want YOU to do a deep dive of clothes you made 😂 I’m so impressed you were doing this so young! I only came to it cause of a neccesary college class but you were expressing yourself like this so early! Also getting a reader to make your sweet mommy and me dresses is 🤌🏽 peak fashion magazine flex 😮💨 I’m obsessed!
This is so fucking cool
Thanks, my new friend! That means a lot and I agree.
ummm, YOU READING THIS IS SO FUCKING COOL. Thanks so much, Lena!
I agree with that too!
Wow. I have never heard of somebody making their own shoes! That is pretty impressive.
Thanks Christina and I agree! You just reminded me that mom used to make us these leather strappy sandals with leather soles when we were kids but high heels?!??! I can't even imagine.
I hadn't either when I started, I literally didn't know it was possible. Some of my favorite introductory shoes to make are Birkenstocks, I often invite friends over to make them in whatever designs they like cause you can buy the cork footbeds for less than $40 and they are super beginner friendly-design the upper out of leather or fabric, stick a thick rubber sole on them and call it a day. It's a great gift idea too!
Do I love this or WHAT? I had a five year period where I made all my clothes — and steep learning curve is right. Once you master it, there’s no turning back. You can never look at what you wear again without seeing … “oh yeah, that’s how to do it.” What a talent you are!
It’s made shopping RTW again virtually impossible 😂 but as you say, also exciting cause I’m always looking at the guts of a garment to see how they achieved a certain design element! My therapist let me study the insides of her incredible Christine yee trench yesterday and now I’m on the hunt for a comparable pattern for it! Thanks for reading Susie ❤️
You’ll love this story: I was making a gown for the Renaissance Faire for the first time, and I wanted to try using the sew-in corsetting tape. My sewing teacher Jill told me this tape was a “great cheat,” in that you can zigzag it into the seams, and then use a warm iron to mould to your curves.
Well, Jill, quite a matronly hippie type, started describing to me a kind of spiraling you can sew into foundation garments to lift the breasts and hips, “just like” a Playboy Bunny uniform. “I took one apart to find out how they did it, it was a patented design!”
“But Jill, how did you get your hands on a Playboy Bunny uniform?”
And that’s when she told me… HOLY SHIT. She was hired for one of their clubs in the 60s!
What an incredible story. I LOVE finding out that there is more to someone than I would have thought. And that's a crazy good example.
Also: having you and Jasika conversing here makes my heart soar. I'm so glad you're part of this thing Susie. And I still owe you a subscription. Let me work on that!
😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮let’s get Jill in the chat, STAT, she needs an It Happened To Me slot
I love this. You're hired as my Editor At Large if you want the slot!
Oh wow, she would NEVER admit this in public, and I bet she has no idea what Substack is. She’s in a Church and on and on. The best seamstress I have ever known in my life. I am lucky she tells me these occasional secrets.
I'm just coming back to report that I was able to figure out the subscription thing! Let me know if it didn't work but otherwise, I am very proud of my technological capabilities and happy you're here!
Okay, I might actually attempt more seamstress type stuff than my current skill level of stuffed animal triage, button replacement, and shitty hemming after reading this.
Also, Jane, I highly recommend FRINGE-Astrid Farnsworth was one of the best characters on the whole show.
OK, I'm definitely checking out Fringe. Also, Jasika and I had a laugh about my connection to Friends because of something that happened when she got cast in Fringe but I'll let her tell it cause she'll tell it a lot better. I just adore her and I'm sure she's fantastic in it. Can't wait to watch. Thanks for the recommendation!
haha @ stuffed animal triage! thanks so much for reading, JJ!
I didn’t just GEEK THE HELL OUT over you replying to my off the cuff comment, nor am I about to brag to my husband about it either. 😁
Awesome
🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽 thanks so much for reading ❤️
Holy moly, that’s Astrid! One of my favorite tv characters ever. ❤️ Big props to the jean making. That’s super impressive!
This is SUCH a cool piece and an incredibly fun read! My mom is an amazing sewist and one of my chief life regrets is not getting her to teach me while I was a kid. Ohhhh the 18th (and 19th!) century ball gowns I would have made!
Also - RANDOM - but Jasika I think I may have met you in NY? Were you ever in a show that was like a disco/nightclub version of A Midsummer Nights Dream? It miiight have been called “The Donkey Show”?
No but I was in a musical called Cafe A GoGo that replaced Tony and Tinas Wedding for like 6 months before we got booted cause we were not Tony and Tinas Wedding 😂 I did a lot of off off off oooooooff Broadway stuff when I lived in nyc tho so maybe it was something else??
On my list of many things to do is to take a sewing class so I can make or at least alter my own clothes. This is inspiring!
YES! I love this! Thanks for reading, Fawnia, and Im wishing you luck and joy as you dip your toe into the sewing-sphere!
I need to! Thank you! I mean my mom made her wedding dress and knitted me a cute crop top in the 90s. I really need to learn!!
So cool! I just do not understand the sewing machine - my MIL bought me a very high tech one when I got married… the idea being she quilted and made her own clothes, so I must be able to. It turned into hand sewing, which my brain understands. I made clothes for my dog. I made stuffed animals and stuffed sick creatures. And that, was the bulk of our income in 2008 when we went (medically) bankrupt right as the economy imploded. My janky-sewn art creatures 😂 But this is an art and a talent I’ll admire, while surrendering to my own ineptitude!
Those electronic sewing machines with all the bells and whistles look so exciting but, unless you're already an experienced and confident maker, can be overkill! I have a Bernina with a big instruction manual and 99 different stitches on it, 97 of which I rarely if ever use, and a vintage Singer from 1950 that's only designed to make a straight stitch but can sew through both leather and silk with ease. Of course that's the one I end up using the most, haha. Thanks so much for reading, Gina!
Meow! I have the “last” mechanical Bernina they made before the electronic change… WILL NEVER LET IT BE PRIED FROM MY FINGERS. And I have my mom’s old fifties’ Singer too, which as my sewing teacher advised, “has never been equalled for a pure straight stitch on denim.”
Love every bit of this! And every pair of jeans I make is on the singer 🤌🏽
I love this! I've been upcycling clothes for a few years now, and recently found a local upcycling fabric place. Jasika has inspired me to be even more conscious of the materials I use. And those blue heels--wowza!!
Agreed. I learned so much from this about what not to do and buy also. I knew some of the horrors of RTW but not all these specifics, which are so important.
I needed this. I too am a theatre major who learned to sew by making an 18th century ball gown in the early aughts. Fast forward to 2022 to one of the darkest, hardest times of my life when I picked up sewing again. I’m nowhere near your skills but putting on a boxy linen top that is made with care is something I can’t take for granted. You’re inspiring me to really commit because RTW just sucks. Nothing fits and it all looks the same. I hope this inspires more people to consider the humble stitch as something they want to embrace.
I'm so glad you were inspired by this and I'm glad sewing helped get you through that darkness. Xox
lol @ 18th century ball gown- that's how they reel us theatre kids in! I'm so sorry you had a dark period to push through, but damn, it sure is beautiful that the joy of making helped usher you out of it. Thanks so much for reading!
The thing is, I chose the ball gown when the assignment was “make a full costume of at least 3 pieces”. 😂 18 yards of fabric later…
looool
Few things we scroll past stop us dead in our tracks. We are hungrily impressed with your talents Jasika. You had us a “make my own clothes” but your shoes are also astonishing. Thank you for this huge hit of inspiration! Time to dust off our sewing machine. 🧵🪡
This comment thrills me and I can't wait for Jasika to see it herself. Thank you for getting it!
It made our eyes wide with amazement. Thank you!
AHHH! Thank you so much, y'all! I'm honored you took the time to read this! Sometimes I feel like I'm in a tiny little bubble hunched over my piles of fabric in my craft dungeon, but this is such a great reminder that craft has always been rooted in community!
Yes! We’re utterly blown away by your resourcefulness and talent 🤗
This is incredibly motivating and inspiring and loved reading all of it!
Same here! I plan to make something now and am figuring out what to start with. Thanks for the sweetness!
I LOVED Gertie’s blog! Endlessly inspirational. I never became very adept at sewing but I only gave it about a year. I admire your sticking with it.
I had nothing but time on my hands for a few years so I treated it like I was going to home sewing graduate school haha
I found your IG about 5 years ago I think and you’ve been such an inspiration ever since. I’ve knit and made pottery for a long time but recently taught myself to crochet using your mantra of learning success. Sometimes it’s hard to get started learning a new skill because the possible failures are looming but thinking of them as just steps in the learning process really helped. About to finish my first crochet sweater vest ;) Have dabbled in sewing clothes before; hope one day try again. Thanks for sharing your journey!
Tamara I love hearing that learning success was a helpful reframe for you!!!! And congrats on your almost finished best, what a feast! Thanks for reading and sharing your kind message ❤️