Here's something you may or may not know already. In China, the lunar new year is called "Spring Festival", which celebrates the end of winter and the start of spring. This makes a lot of sense as the lunar calendar was and may still be relied on by the farming communities, so a new year to them would begin when spring arrives.
So if we were to have faith in my ancestors, spring is just round the corner. What better time to talk about seasonal sewing than the beginning of the four seasons?
Allow me start off the discussion. I, for one, really am affected by the seasons when it comes to my sewing habits.
I enjoy making spring/summer clothing, but I find it harder to actually make them then - the weather is great (or better, at least), and days are longer, so more time is spent outdoors hiking/picnicking/shopping/having fun or renovating the house! I almost feel guilty sewing when the sun is shining outside...
When autumn approaches, I suddenly feel the pressure to squeeze in the "last summer dress for the year". Because of this, despite my long-held desire to make myself a cool mac for spring and autumn, I have managed to let springs and autumns pass me by as I was busy making warm weather clothing.
Then winter arrives, I suddenly find myself with a lot more time to sew. Normally I engage in some "off-season sewing", making items for the next spring, but I am proud to say that I actually managed a couple pieces of cold weather garments this winter - a wool coat and a plaid skirt! The result has been so rewarding, as I was able to wear them straight away!
After all this blurb, I suppose what I'm really trying to say is that 1) my sewing habits are somewhat sporadic throughout the year -- but generally with level of sewing activities and temperature outside enjoying a negative correlation (sorry for the geeky moment); and 2) having engaged mostly in "off-season sewing", I am planning on making more of an effort to sew "in-season".
How about you? Do you sew seasonally?
we have a good month of Winter to go before Spring appears on the calendar but oddly enough I am thinking of Summer lol! with eight grand kids there will be lots of zoo trips, baseball games etc I have started a collection of animal print fabrics for those zoo outtings, just last night I picked up a print with elephants on it , I guess I should think Spring lol!
ReplyDeleteHelen
It's the same here really - I do find that seasons come and go much earlier in China (I noticed a real difference when I visited in Sept/Oct - autumn was nowhere near to be seen then in Beijing, whereas the leaves had turned back in the UK) so let's assume that my ancestors had "drawn up" the lunar calendar only for themselves, shall we!
DeleteI know what you mean with the "skip-a-season-or-two" thinking. Those zoo outings sound great fun, and even better with animal prints!!
Oh man, I'm so uninspired to sew right now! I'm sick of sewing wintry clothes, but it will be so long before I can wear anything springy! We're still buried under snow here in New York and it's FREEZING, so it's hard to think about dresses or anything like that! But I get very energized to sew summer clothing when warm weather hits- I love summer and it feels like summer clothes sew up much quicker than winter ones!
ReplyDeleteOh dear, it does sound like a pretty extreme winter this time, and reading your comment has made me feel quite lucky -- defrosting the car every morning has not been glamorous, but at least we are not covered in snow...
DeleteIt sounds like you are the model seasonal sewer then! And I'm completely with you on the love for summer clothes front :)
I don't really have a seasonal wardrobe I just tend to add or subtract layers!! But I do like to have an occasion/location in mind for where I'll end up wearing the clothes, like on holiday, to a night out, to the supermarket etc so I guess mine are more occasion/function-inspired than seasonally-inspired if that makes sense :)
ReplyDeleteOhhh that's a great point! Having occasions to sew for is great for motivation -- holidays and weddings (went to a few last year, with more to come this year) are my favourite occasions to sew for.
DeleteI wish I was good at seasonal sewing -- I need a coat but cannot bring myself to put that much work into it right now. My fall and winter tend to be busy because of work...I seem to get a lot more sewing done in the spring and summer.
ReplyDeleteI think the longer days probably help, too, in spring and summer. I was pleasantly surprised by how straightforward making a coat was, and I think I got it done in 3 weekend days! You know, in case you fancied giving it a try before spring arrives ;)
DeleteHi Sallie! I seem to have a lot more me-made summer dresses and transitional clothes that can be worn in spring and autumn as well. If I can squeeze in sewing one more summer dress in the autumn then I do. This winter though I made quite a few wintery jersey dresses which I love wearing. Id love to make a coat sometime, but I think I might leave that until next winter! :-)
ReplyDeleteGreat idea on jersey dresses - I am very hopeful that the whole sewing with jersey thing will open lots of wonderful winter-sewing opportunities for me in the years to come :)
DeleteHaha, if you make it next winter, then at least you will have a whole year to plan for it.
Believe it or not, I've just finished dividing fabrics by seasons with plans of starting my Spring sewing now in order to have finished items ready instead of sewing during the season. Now, that doesn't mean it will work because I found myself making jackets during Fall and Winter.
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