Sewing plans and summer plans and health

The echo temple at Haga

I try to keep my personal life out of my blogging, but sometimes, of course, it intrudes anyway. Like right now and as this is something important to every woman, so I will let it intrude for once. Some time ago a small tumor was found in one of my breasts and even if the doctors thought it very unlikely that it was malign, they wanted to remove it and booked me in for surgery pretty much immediately. The surgery went well and the final test result says that I am clear of any danger, but ladies, I can’t urge you enough- go and have your breasts checked out regularly! I’m very glad that I do!

So I am well again, the only lingering effect is that I’m still sore, which only affects my life when it comes to my sewing plans, because I can’t wear stays. And as I have been unwell for a large part of the late winter/early spring (I had a few weeks with my ever returning bronchitis), my sewing plans needs to be re-made. I had decided from the onset that they are flexible as I plan to help me sewing and I knew my plans was over ambitious, but I wanted to try it anyway. Now, however, it’s time to let go and re-think.

First, I have to put any sewing projects on hold that I need to wear stays for. That means the 17^th century purple bodice, Gustaf III’s national gown, or rather the robe part as well as finishing the embroidered polonaise. I can still work on the petticoats for the purple bodice and the national gown.

Second, I will give up trying to make all the challenges on HSF14. I like the concept and I love the Facebook-group, but one of the things that makes me not sew are just deadlines and right now I get more stressed by the deadlines every second week than inspired. I have also realized that there is a danger that I throw out my planned projects to make something that fits with a challenge. Which means things I really want to finish gets bumped back. I also have a priority list and I want to keep to it. So for now I will be happy if something I finish fits a challenge and let the rest go. Next year I will hopefully have less planned projects so I can be more flexible.

So what has worked for me? To fix four projects at the time and only allow me to work on those. This has worked really well. I devote most of my sewing time on the item that is on top of my list, but can switch to one of the others when I need a break. This also means that I always have something for hand sewing when I watch a movie. When I finish the top project, the next one gets bumped up and I can add the next one on my list. For example, right now I’m working on finishing a 40’s silk noil skirt, but I’m also working on the petticoat for the national gown, the skirt for the 1910’s suit and adding a new project, a Robe Volante. Which you may have suspected after yesterday’s post.

I have wanted to make a Robe Volante since forever and though it was certainly not part of my plans, I also didn’t have plans for breast surgery. I have no idea when I will be able to wear my stays again and there are usually a lot of summer activities. I do have my blue casaque, but I always feel frumpy in it. Granted, being rather big, I will probably look like an elephant in a Volante, as I do in the casaque, but I am not going to make it frumpy. I’m going to make it in silk taffeta that is shot with pale gold/dark blue, which makes it a shimmering green, and I’m going to give it gold details and wear it with my panier. I may be an elephant, but I will be a shimmering, glittering elephant, not a frumpy one.

When the silk noil skirt is done I will put the Volante on top and add the double-sided raincoat that I have been stalling. 

On June 6 I hope for wonderful weather, because there will be a picnic in the garden of Haga Castle. It will be a historical picnic, but it will be multi-eras, which I think will be a lot of fun! And hopefully my Volante will be done, but if it isn’t, I will go as a frump.