The archives: while at university

When I first went to University I didn't have a stash. In fact I didn't even have a sewing machine, since until then I had always used my mother's Singer. I can't really remember when I bought my little Singer, but I had it already before my senior year in college. It served me very, very well for  the next 10 years and moved with me throughout the US and Europe.

I didn't sew regularly at all in those years, but miraculously, everything I sewed I actually did finish.

Evidence 1: a party dress of simple princess seams in red Bengaline.

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I sewed this dress during a couple of days when we were snowed in after a storm. No classes and nowhere to go? Sewing was my coping mechanism... I couldn't quite sew the invisible zipper at the seam so it gapes visibly, but aside from that, the dress is quite ok.

Evidence 2: a velvet bolero, to go with the party dress.

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with sleeves

Well, I didn't really sew this myself. I got the velvet jacket from my aunt because it didn't fit her anymore. It was perfectly new and it fit me like a glove at the shoulders. But my aunt is 15cm shorter than I and so the waist was all wrong for me. Solution? Hack it off at the middle and convert it into a bolero. Voila!

Evidence 3: Missoni top

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This beautiful knit I bought at G-street Fabrics, the second summer I spent in Washington DC. I loved the Missoni-like zig zag pattern and the browns and blues colors. Plus it is a bit shiny, what more could I ask for!

I copied another knit top I had that fit well. I had already cut all the pieces when I realized that the fabric was a bit too loosely knit and would hang too limply. I then interfaced each piece to give the fabric more body. That worked well, except that the fabric became a lot less stretchy and the top didn't fit anymore!

I added the two central strips to make it wider and disaster averted. I was so proud of how well I managed to match all the stripes!

The buttons are mother of pearl and they match beautifully in color and shine, but they are a bit too heavy. I keep thinking that I will change them, but never do...

I still wear it, and I get lots of compliments when I do.



Evidence 4: ballroom dancing dress

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I made this dress my second year in grad school. I had joined the ballroom dancing club and I needed a dress for the weekend trips to the dance hall. The dress of course needed to have a wide skirt and be comfortable enough for some serious physical activity without straps falling or worse. The pattern was McCalls I think, I wonder where it is?

The archives: alpaca trousers!

I made these some time in 1987 or 1988. Again from a Prima pattern. I was very much in a high-waist phase, or maybe it was just the fashion at the time.

They were great trousers these, and I wore them quite a lot even though the wool is a bit too thick and warm for Mexico.

The fabric is a wonderful wool-alpaca mix! With a tiny houndstooth pattern and the greatest shade of blue you can imagine. Lapislazuli blue.







I don't fit in these anymore, otherwise I would still wear them. Well, these are fairly wide '80's-style trousers, so maybe not. But I definitely must refashion this fabric into something else, perhaps a skirt...

The archives: plaid sleeveless jacket

Another early confection, circa 1988 . This one was never finished, I think because I left for college. I really cannot remember where I got this fabric. It could have been in my mom's stash although I doubt it. The plaid is her style, very classic but colorful. But it is not the best quality as it is a bit rough, and that she would not have stood for.

I do remember that I liked the colors and that I worked hard at matching the plaids, not always successfully. It is princess seamed and it fit quite well, again thanks to a lot of effort and trying-ons on my part.

My friend Veronica had a princess seamed plaid jacket that her mother had made her and this was my copy. I didn't have enough fabric for sleeves, so it was going to be sleeveless. Also, Vero's had more swing below the waist, but I didn't want that, or I didn't have the fabric for it, I can't remember which.  

I was always ambitious and stingy, and this jacket was going to be reversible. The lining was a nice sueded silk and I think that is why I wanted to make it reversible. Why waste such a wonderful fabric on a side no-one would ever see but me?

I still very much like this silk, so I might refashion it for something else...

The archives: Japanese knit reprise

Yup. I loved that Japanese striped knit so much that I had to buy more of it. The second time I got it in a solid color, though still with textured stripes.

Lacking in imagination I made again the same turtleneck. This time, though, I didn't have enough fabric (I wonder why?). I was forced to make do with the fabric I had so I made two changes: the neck facing I made with the red-black striped fabric, and I cut the neck piece a bit off shape.

The first change wasn't a big deal, you cannot see the facing when I'm wearing the top. But the second change had serious consequences. I know that now, but not then... And for this one I had finally discovered invisible zippers! Unfortunately invisible zippers on knits was a bigger challenge than I could master and the back is a bit, let's say "wavy".


Anyway, I still wore this top quite a lot. Come to think of it, I vaguely remember that there was also a knit skirt, in the red-black stripe fabric. I remember it was a mini skirt, which quite unsettled my mom and of course this made me only like it more. Yeah, it had a high waist and a waist facing instead of a waistband. That was a very flattering style on me, and I wore it lots! Ah, that is probably why I made this top as well, to allow some variety since with the striped top it looked like a dress.

Oh, yes, I also remember that I would sometimes wear the top over the skirt, and other times I would wear the skirt over the top. This latter emphasized a small waist and made the top blouse a bit from the high waist up, giving it another silhouette, and both were very flattering on my pear-shape body. The skirt is now long gone, of course.

Wow, funny that I could remember that!

The archives: Japanese knit turtleneck

Ca. 1988. I loved this fabric. I bought it at Liverpool, big department store in the D.F. back when it still sold fabric and merceria. The label said it was from Japan, and that sounded so exotic, so high tech! The fabric itself has a very nice hand, it is stretchy but holds its shape very well. Plus I love stripes.

I used a pattern from Prima, a pattern magazine very much like Burda. A very simple mock turtleneck, no darts in front, all the shaping came from the side and center back seam. It also has a zipper, but I didn't know invisible zippers existed back then, so it doesn't look pretty.

The shape was very flattering on me and I wore it to death. I am wearing this top in my yearbook photos for my senior year in college. So even after 5 or 6 years I still thought it was one of my best pieces!


Incredibly after all that wear, and the corresponding cycles in the washer and dryer, it still looks passable. Though not great, and hence I'm retiring it. All this years I couldn't bear to let it go, but making this page allows me to say goodbye. I'll give it to the charity shop, and who knows, maybe someone else will also get much joy out of it.

The archives: happy blob jacket

The archives. The stuff I made back when I was still living at home in Mexico. With my mom's trusty old Singer machine, and her critical eye over my shoulder... I only wished I had listened more! She had learned at the knee of my great aunt Angeles, who had actually gone to dressmakers school. In my defense I was a teenager, deafness comes with the territory!

I made this jacket ca. 1987 and you can tell because it is rather shapeless. Huge 80's silhouette with dropped shoulders. I loved this fabric! Such a happy print over a cotton damask. Nice hand, but the red flowers have bled a bit in some places. Still, there is enough fabric here that I might try refashioning it into a summer top.