April 2021 WIPs: Poolside Tote, jeans mending, and underwires
Welcome to WIP Roundup! Handicrafts are just as much about the process as the end result. The projects I work on can take anywhere from days to months to years before they are finished. In 2021, I’m writing a monthly series where I take a look at three WIPs and give a quick snapshot of how things are going.
For April 2021, I have a new bag to show off, an attempt at mending my favorite pair of jeans, and a small update on last month’s bra.
Poolside Tote
This bag is the Poolside Tote — my first Noodlehead pattern. I've made maybe four bags patterns, and this one ranks at second best in terms of the pattern design and output. (The Fremont Bag by Klum House is by far my favorite.)
The outside is made from baule cloth — so lovely! I love ikat weaving. The inside and handles are white cotton canvas and cream denim that were thrifted remnants from SCRAP.
The bag is a nice large size, and seems like it would work well for grocery shopping, an extravagant library visit, or an overnight trip.
Jeans Mending
My absolute favorite pair of jeans ever (my third pair of Megan Nielsen Ash jeans) died earlier this year. Pre-COVID, I literally wore these jeans every day they weren't in the wash. The inside thigh was wearing thin and finally ripped. Definitely should have mended these before they became so bad, but I was worried about ruining them — haha. Now that they are actually ruined, I have nothing to lose. :)
You can buy variegated blue thread for mending jeans, but I couldn't find a similar one for black/grey jeans. So my idea was to get a grey cotton thread, mend the jeans, then dye them. This way I wouldn't have to worry about thread color matching.
I made patches from denim scraps I'd saved (look how black the jeans used to be!) tacked them to the inside, then did a million rows of zigzag stitches (right diagonal, left diagonal, and up/down) to firmly attach the patch and reinforce the area. And actually, I think the thread matches pretty well so I'm not doing to dye the jeans for now.
Here's an awkward crotch shot of the mending in progress. The left side had the hole and I started with that side first. I decided to mend the right side as well since those white horizontal lines show stress marks — that fabric is going to rip any day now. The oval at the top is my DIY patch before I stitched it inside.
Bra Underwires
My larger underwires for my Black Beauty Bra finally came!
When selecting the updated size, I used the printable chart from the website and compared them with my most comfortable RTW bras. Honestly, I should have done that from the start. Size 34 seemed like a perfect match — the shape is basically identical.
Seemed being the operative word here... because when I did a test fitting, the underwires jabbed me in the side. :( Looking more closely, although the wire matches the channeling shape almost exactly, actual underwire in my bra is about a centimeter shorter... and that centimeter makes all the difference.
My test fit was kinda awkward since I haven't attached the hook and eyes or the straps. So before I make a final conclusion, I'm going to go ahead and finish it and try the fit again.