Weekend wins: June 28, 2026

It's the tail end of a fairly nasty heat wave and I've spent all of this weekend holed up at home. Alone, since my +1 is off on a long weekend elsewhere. Perfect time to catch up on youtube videos and pick up various craft projects. No pictures, because that takes too much time and energy for a post that is basically me congratulating myself about getting things done.

Vintage jeans

That's right, I finally mended them! They were left on the back of my sewing chair for a while after I opened up the butt seam. I patched the hole and its counterpart thin area on the other side of the seam, closed said seam back up, and now I have a pair of presentable jeans (it was about time; I've been lamenting the lack for at least one season). I topstitched the flat-felled seam in regular dark blue sewing thread, because a) I don't have topstitching thread in a matching tan colour and b) I could not be arsed to rethread the machine in anything else. I considered doing a faux top stitch with embroidery thread, but the mended area is nicely tucked in a part of the pants nobody has any business looking at too closely. This was the first thing I did on Saturday, which was a smart move, because the other stuff I did on the sewing machine took away a lot of my energy and patience. Which brings me to...

Swimsuit top

Before moving last year, I cut out a few things out of swim fabric from the remnants bin at the fabric shop near my office. They've since sat in a bag, waiting to be assembled. This one is only a win because I didn't rage-quit it, even though it deserved it. I'd first sewn the panels together and unpicked them last year, because the back was sandwiched between two layers for the front and I got the orientation of the fabric wrong. This time I got that right, and that's about the last thing that went well for this project. (The pattern is modified from the Axis supportive tank top, which is a great pattern, my problems are entirely my fault.)

The binding has been a major PITA. From wonky sewing to shitty thread to not catching the binding correctly to finding out the binding was cut too long in the first place, not one thing has gone right. I persevered, and I finished it, and it looks hideous. It's now going to be in time out until I decide if I want to unpick the most egregious sections of binding (one of which, of course, is right at the center front), after which it needs to be hemmed, and it will be technically wearable.

Lime bast cordage experiment

This one, too, sat untouched for a while. I just posted the full write-up, so I won't go into any detail here. What am I going to do with this cord? who knows.

Underwear patterning

This took all of half an hour, but I'm glad I got it done because I kept remembering to do it at times entirely unsuited for the task. Long story short: one of my favourite pairs of knickers has been in my wardrobe for at least ten years, and it won't last forever. Also, I hate most commercially available underwear, because apparently it is now illegal to want your butt cheeks properly covered. So, despite my swimwear debacle, I'm still planning to sew a few pairs of knickers for myself, in between trying various brands to see if their offerings still suck. Anyway; I took some A3 sheets of paper and took a rough pattern of this pair, and I'm hoping to try it out someday.

(I did, at some point pre-move, buy the Anaïs undies pattern, but my first mockup showed that it needs some pretty significant alterations before it's what I want.)

Sweater alterations

Not the one I mentioned in the Pile of Doom post a little while ago, but an easier (emotionally and physically) alteration of an acrylic and Lurex sweater from the thrift shop. I'm planning to write about the whole process later, but the point is: I finished it this weekend, bound off, seams refinished, ribbing blocked, ends tucked in. Now to wait for excuses to wear it. There is a distinct possibility that I'll lengthen the sleeves at some point, since I have a bunch of yarn left from unraveling, but I'll see when I've worn it properly.

Cross-stitch projects

I made some progress on one and put another, finished one in a hoop, so that it's now ready to hang on a wall. I still need to decide where to put it, but progress is progress.

Conclusion

This has been fun. Adding pictures always feels like a hurdle to making blog posts, so I'm enjoying this quick and dirty post a lot. It will happen again, and that is a threat.