(in Deutsch lesen)
#SMYLY2018 aka Sewing Makes You Love Yourself is a sewing challenge initiated by Athina Kakou (@athinakakou), Hattie van der Krohn (@hattie_van_der_krohn) and Lisa Kisch (@lisakisch). The task is to sew a garment that makes you feel beautiful and to tell your own story on how sewing has changed your life and/or your body image. I have already read a lot of beautiful, touching and also sad stories about sewing and the life around it.
I spent a lot of time thinking about what to sew (and what I should write about), and finally decided it just has to “click”. And with these leggings (the sports bra is unfortunately bought) it just fell into place. Sizewise I was between size 34 and 36 and I finally decided to use the bigger 36 – making it tighter is always easier. Since I had only 1 m of fabric available, I cut the waistband seperatelly and took the opportunity to let the gray mottling go in the contrary direction. The fabric is actually relatively thin and slippery, but was easy to sew with. I only had troubles when trying to do the hem. Zig-zag stitch (irregular and rough on the skin) as well as twin needle (unwanted piping) have failed me, so I’ve added a cuff.
Sewing these leggings made me happy, the first fitting also. Not always is everything working out as expected. For my boyfriend it was clear that the leggings should be combined with a sports bra for the photos. Not for me. I am slim, moderately athletic and yet not always 100% satisfied with my body. I have body parts that I prefer to hide. Everyone else says, “You are so slim …”. As if being thin boosts the self-confidence. I do not sew to make clothes that will finally fit me. I fit in the average women’s RTW size 34, and yet this 34 does not make me happier or more self-confident. I know curvy women who are perfectly happy with their bodies. They even said, they did not feel better, when they were slimmer. A body similar to societies expectations is not the same as a good body image.
Even though sewing did not give me a better body image, sewing and blogging brought me closer to my family. While I probably used to call once or twice a month, we now have our editorial meeting regularly on Sunday evenings. I used to enjoy seeing my sister, on average probably twice a year, but would never have thought of calling, because our lives were completely different. The little, money-earning sister, and me, the older sister, still studying and getting pocket money from dad. These are just two different worlds. And we will never be extremely similar, but we have found a common hobby in sewing. We do not compete, because everyone wants to sew something different, is interested in something else. Therefore, it is a hobby that brought us together, a family hobby and that makes you happy too. In a different way, which is also important.
If you do not have a sewing family, look for like-minded people. There is nothing better than sharing interest in a shared hobby. And even though sewing is sometimes a lonely hobby, when you share it, it’s even better. I have to remind myself often, that not everyone has a family with whom he can share the ups and downs of sewing. Therefore, share your works, give someone a like, write a nice, genuine comment! Ask a question, because than an exchange happens. Someone else is happy about it. Because behind every online presence is a real person. A person with feelings, with insecurities that we ourself try to hide often enough. We all like to forget that often.
Conclusion: Simple and fast project. My weekly Zumba-course already provided some first testing.
Pattern: Prinz(essin)en-Büx (leggings and/or thights) by German sewing patterns designer Hilli Hiltrud – provided for free in the course of pattern testing
Farbic: 1m Jersey from Stoff&Stil
PeterSilie & Co 