Summer Sewing Mania

Governess Season: Make it Yourself

Summer is for sewing.

Each year, the longer days see me sewing my heart out until the light dims. While I cozy up on the couch with knitting through the dark days of winter, summer is when the fabric unfurls.

Last week I was silent on here because it was so hot I could barely see. Temps topped out last Sunday at 41C (105.8 F), which was Berlin’s hottest ever day on record. It felt like it. We all nearly melted, especially poor Hugo, who was panting at an alarming rate and it took me until 1am last Sunday night to get him cooled down with ice packs. A dear friend arrived Saturday afternoon, visiting from LA, and I told her to get straight in a bathing suit and into the cold bath.

Not much writing happened that week, I won’t lie.

But… the weather has been weathering in the exact opposite direction and I am, as I write this, in jeans and a short-sleeved wool sweater as it’s now 18C (64 F). We have no idea how to manage these wild swings.

I deal with drama by sewing.

I learned to sew when I was about nine

but haven’t been consistent with it since. While I’ve knitted solidly from my early twenties onward, sewing has come and gone until it reappeared with a vengeance several years ago. Sadly I didn’t get the fever during the pandemic, as I could have sewed a whole wardrobe then, but I was too busy writing.

This past week, I’ve made a dress, helped my visiting friend make a skirt she hadn’t even imagined when she arrived, and I’m now on to a top and skirt combo.

I am the sort of person who prepares for travel by taking on absurd tasks the last week or even a day or two pre-departure. We leave to visit America and do our semi-regular “visit all the relatives until we fall over” trip on Saturday and, despite having plenty of clothes, I’ve decided I need about four new things in order to be permitted to leave Germany.

This dress got finished yesterday:

Delighted that I can wear it with and without a belt for maximum versatility

This project had extra momentum, as I plan to wear it this Wednesday for an exciting event I’ll report on afterward.

For me, there is really no high like making one’s own clothes. Perhaps this obsession will force me to decide if the joy of a new garment is worth the pain of figuring out how to cram it into my limited wardrobe space, but for now I am firmly in favor of making the thing.

In addition, my friend who rode out the heat wave was thrilled to find a print fabric reminiscent of the Baltic countries, where she spent the other part of her holiday, making this handmade skirt the perfect souvenir. We cut the fabric coated in sweat during the heat wave and sewed it up her last day, shivering in sweaters.

The skirt, which I promised her we could sew before lunchtime and was finished by 13:00.

This may be my new pitch for visiting friends: come to Berlin, make a skirt, and go home with something new you made yourself.

I am VERY picky about how I make things. I French seam anything I possibly can, so the pieces I make will last as long as possible. I also find enclosed seams less itchy and more comfortable to wear, especially when it’s hot out. I will flat fell if the fabric is too thick as well. (Feel free to smile and nod if this means nothing to you. There’s time to learn!)

If you’ve never sewed before

Start with something labeled “beginner” by the pattern company. This will allow you to learn a few skills without getting overwhelmed.

For my paid members, please find links to all my favorite patterns and resources for getting started below. (Including the full details of the pieces pictured above).

At this point, at least a third of my clothes are handmade and I expect that ratio to keep tipping away from store-bought. Once you’re able to make things that fit in the colors you want but never see in shops, it’s pretty hard to go back.

Here’s hoping you catch the fever too, if you haven’t already.

Happy making!