This is the first blog post I’ve actually sat down to write since, you know, the world totally went to shit.

And this rather crazy long asymmetric skirt with ruffle (le 406) by DP Studio is my first make completed while engaging in social distancing.

At the time of posting, it would have been 2 weeks since I have left our apartment. A feat made possible only thanks to the army of supermarket and delivery workers who continue to bring essentials to my door. I am eternally grateful for this luxury and I am taking seriously my obligation to make my community safer for those who cannot stay home by keeping my potentially virus-hosting body safely indoors.

So let’s start with the skirt, then we’ll get to the end of the world.

So, it’s actual silk! I did it!! I sewed with a proper big girl fabric!!

I’ve never been hugely into the animal print vibe, but as leopard print keeps sticking around season after season, it slowly started to worm its way into my mind. Until, finally, after too much pinterest, I was left no longer able to resist. OK, I decided, I’ll just make one garment in leopard print.

But I decided that if it’s just going to be one, I may as well make it special!

This gorgeous fabric is Snow Leopard Silk Georgette from Tessuti Fabrics. It’s underlined with a sanded cupro satin from Meter Meter. Given that the silk is pretty pricey I only purchased 2 metres, which isn’t a huge amount when you want something midi-length with plenty of fluidity and motion! So I was rapt to realize that the DP Studio le 406 skirt would fit into that amount of fabric. I’d had the pattern in my stash for a while now, ever since my skirt series, and was happy to finally be able to put her to good use!

Seriously, isn’t it one of the most satisfying moments in sewing when a pattern you’ve had for ages meets its perfect fabric match????

Sewing with Silk Georgette

Now, I have sewn with silk before, but it’s always been a more sturdy satin-y feel silk. Yeah, I know that there are actual names for different kinds of silk but I don’t know them and googling is just more effort than I am capable of right now.

This silk georgette, on the other hand, is transparent, floaty, fluid and so delicate that you could bore holes through it by looking at it too hard.

Well, almost!

And so I returned from Australia with this silk in my suitcase, determined that my first project back would be a leopard print skirt.

But then I started to get scared.

How the hell would I actually sew something so delicate!!

Then two things happened around the same time, which made me feel that it was destiny. The love to sew podcast did an episode on Sewing with Delicate Fabrics and Julia Bobbin did a great blog post and video tutorial about the magic of hand sewing a rolled hem.

Well, if that wasn’t the sewing world telling me to “Woman Up” and sew the silk, I don’t know what is!

I really took it slowly and carefully on this project, especially setting aside plenty of time for cutting. I underlined the large skirt pieces with the cupro satin, so it is only the ruffle where I was dealing with a single layer of silk on its own. The ruffle is cut in several pieces, so I used French seams to join them. Where I was sewing with the silk on its own, I totally used the trick of starting my stitches in a sturdier piece of fabric and pulling the old “switch-a-roo” with my silk so that my machine didn’t gobble it all up!

I then got to discover the crazy joy of the hand sewn rolled hem to hem the ruffle. I strongly suggest you check out Julia’s blog post above – it completely blew my mind how actually simple it is to do this! And while sure, my first attempt isn’t a portrait of perfection, it’s got so much earnest love and attention in every slightly-different-sized-stitch that it more than makes up for it!

For the skirt itself, since the silk was fully underlined, it was solid and stable enough that I was comfortable hemming it by machine, as well as finishing the seams with my overlocker.

Sure, I know some couture addicts out there might be horrified at the thought of combining lovely silk and hand-stitching with overlocking but I’m taking baby steps into this couture world, give me a break!

Plus, we’re all just doing the best we can right now!!!

My DP Studio “le 406” Skirt

My skirt is a size 46 and this was one of the weirdest, yet most magical, sewing patterns I’ve ever sewn.

You end up with a huge almost circle skirt that makes up three-quarters of the skirt, a tiny ‘front’ skirt piece and a 3-piece ruffle that vaguely rassembles a pair of snails with a little extra triangle! There is a waistband facing on the inside of the skirt but no visible waistband on the outside. It also features pleats and darts, in addition to that mother-of-a-ruffle!

Compared to other offerings in the indie sewing world, DP Studio aren’t known for their hand-holding instructions. True to form, I was utterly bamboozled on a few occasions but managed to muddle my way through it all.

I saw on the website of a sewing store recently that DP Studio is actually going to stop selling their patterns. Which is a real bummer because, despite their sketchy instructions, they have really interesting and edgy patterns. I also love my other DP Studio skirt, for example. I can’t see anything about this apparent closure on their website, but I did notice that lots of their patterns have disappeared from their website – including this one!

So if you are interested in getting your hands on it, you better scour some indie stores for remaining stock before it’s gone. The official name is “Long asymmetric skirt with ruffle detail” or “le 406”.

Sewcial Isolation

So this pretty eye-catching over-the-top skirt was finished in active defiance of the fact that the world as we know it has been transforming before our eyes.

It’s barely been three weeks, since I returned to The Netherlands from a three week trip to visit my family in Australia. At that point coronavirus was a slight blip on the radar that neither non-Italian Europe or Australia were taking particularly seriously.

As soon as I got back to The Netherlands, I noticed that there was no soap to be found anywhere (seriously, who were all the grubs who evidently simply weren’t buying soap before this happened???), let alone hand gel. That was my first inclination that something out-of-the-ordinary was about to happen.

I purchased plenty of thread and sewing needles and waited. I may not be able to sanitize my hands but I’ll be damned if I find myself without sewing supplies!

And now, within a couple of short weeks from that initial “what the hell happened to the soap aisle at the supermarket” moment, we have 20% of the global population in lockdown, countries shutting borders and my native Australia going into toilet paper meltdown.

Here in The Netherlands, we are not in an official lock down but our household is strongly heeding the call for extreme social distancing. Schools have been closed, so the 4 year old is bouncing off the walls of our apartment and both hubby and I are having to work from home. It’s a challenge but we are lucky. We can work from home, we have each other and we have all we need to be safe for now. We aren’t working in the frontlines like so many healthcare workers, let alone supermarket staff, IT workers, delivery personnel and everyone else who is keeping the world functioning for those of us luck enough to be able to stay at home.

For so many people, this forced isolation is an entirely new experience. As an introvert and one who is obsessed with an indoor manual hobby, I’m not actually challenged by social distancing as such. At least for now.

But, with the challenges of caring for the little one and working full-time, I am definitely finding it hard to find as much time to sew as I usually would.

I’m also wanting more comfort and togetherness in these uncertain times, so Im actually finding myself a tad more drawn towards knitting than sewing at the moment. Hand-sewing the hem on the ruffle of this skirt was actually the perfect coronavirus isolation project, since it allowed me to make something (hands up all other control freaks out there desperately trying to stay in control of something right now), while also being able to be surrounded by family, rather than alone in my sewing corner.

In many ways, as sewists, we have a distinct set of advantages in the present challenging situation.

We can handle isolation.

We can lose ourselves in a project and, in so doing, escape the world around us.

We can find calm in making.

We can channel a sense of productivity, whilst keeping our virus hosting bodies safe in the comfort of our own homes.

Really, if you think about it, we got this!

This may well be the only times in our life where we actually have the chance to be heroic by staying the fuck home and sewing! (Below photo is my best attempt at posing like a tough “sewing hero!”)

But it’s still an absurdly stressful time. This is a collective trauma we are facing and there are huge range of emotional responses possible.

All are perfectly legitimate.

I struggle with uncertainty. With not being in control. Which is obviously fantastic right now!

My childhood germ phobia is rearing its ugly head. I’m feeling anxious in ways I never have before.

I’m self-doubting – “why doesn’t anyone else around seem to be as scared of this as I am – what’s wrong with me?”

Or “everyone else is trying to be positive, why can’t I?”

I’m actually engaging in anxiety-driven fabric shopping online. But, for now, it’s not that rush of shopper’s adrenalin that I seek but rather that rush of “normality”. That temporary feeling that all is fine. That nothing has changed. Until I place my order and then start stressing out about the ethical questionability of expecting postal workers across multiple countries to be involved in delivering my shipment.

I’m anxious, stressed and overwhelmed.

And I’m in a pretty fortunate and supported situation.

After all, many of us might be finding ourselves isolated from the loved ones we want to be with most. I must confess that I felt like there was a rock in my stomach when I saw that Australia was recommending that all its citizens return home and that it was closing the door to all foreigners. And while there was never any question for us but to stay put in The Netherlands, being so far from the rest of my family at a time of crisis is constantly on my mind.

If you’re feeling particularly isolated, I’ve noticed that there are quite a few hashtags on instagram popping up connected to this issue, so maybe following them could provide a way to reach out to people in the online community and build some connections.

In our household, we’ve totally found ourselves doing some things we would never have dreamed of before, like calling up friends and having a “dinner party” over skype. So if there’s ever a time to reach out for contact if you need it, it’s now.

Some of the hashtags I have been seeing include #sewcialdistancing, #isewlation, #stayhomeandsew #sewstayhome #isewlated2020 #sewcialisolation. My personal favourite is #sewtofuckthevirus but perhaps that’s just a reflection of the kind of mood I’m in right now! There’s also the #sewconnected challenge by Stylemaker Fabrics. Fibre Mood is also running a social sewalong (in 4 different languages) featuring a pattern a week for the upcoming 5 weeks.

What else is out there guys? Any good hashtags that might help those in our community who are feeling alone and in need of connection find others in the same boat?

Sewing through Corona

But still, it’s not all bad.

As thousands die, we can still make ourselves lovely silk skirts in the comfort of our own homes.

Ok, ok, I’ll try harder.

My natural pessimism is coming out a lot at the moment. I will never forget when I was about 10 years old and my teacher told my parents that I was too pessimistic. I remember, to this day, that rush of righteous indignation I felt as thought “no, you balding idiot, I’m realistic. There’s a difference!”.

So let me try my utmost to focus on some positives.

Let’s see, I haven’t worn an underwire bra in two weeks. The only time I’ve worn make up in that period was to take these photos. I no longer need to invent excuses to avoid social events because I would rather be sewing. I haven’t flossed my teeth in two weeks cuz, well, fuck it, I’m reprioritizing. This is a god damn emergency!

And, you know what? Handshakes always were truly disgusting. I hope they are gone forever!

My husband hopes that this event will mobilise an enough-is-enough uprising against rampant capitalism, inequality and elite rule. Me, well, as I said, I tend towards the pessimistic.

But I hope like hell he’s actually right.

Perhaps, at the very least, a few highly placed right-wing political assholes or garden-variety despots will be wiped out by coronavirus.

As I concentrate on what I can do with my own two hands and continue to make pretty objects out of fabric, it would be nice if a better world could come out of all this madness. One with a sense of solidarity and community, rather than one in which human instinct errs towards “that’s something happening China/Italy/Iran/France, so it’s got nothing to do with me”.

Cuz it really sucks trying to explain to your kid what is happening in the world right now. Seeing his hands cracked and bleeding as his skin reacts to frequent hand-washing. Comforting him when he is scared he is going to get ‘the virus’ because he touched something in the park. Hearing him say that our family in Australia are so lucky because they can’t die of the virus over there.

Alright, evidently, trying to be positive isn’t my forte. Perhaps I’ll just try to be practical instead.

Getting back to my sewing practice, sewcial isolation has sent my sewing queue into disarray. The clothes I reach for daily when working from home tend to be very different from those I wear into the office. Which has also left me rethinking what I well get most wear out of in the immediate future.

I still love the idea of the sewing plans I had, but what do I need more right now, a linen jumpsuit or the comfort of knits?

Has being stuck at home messed with your sewing plans too?

To finish it off today, here are my top tips for how not to be a dick as the world battles COVID-19:

• stay the fuck home and sew;
• be kind to whoever it is you are stuck at home with;
• make time to look after yourself – it will make you less likely to cause serious injury to those with whom you are isolated. Whatever that looks like for you, make time for it- yoga (seriously, my daily dose of Yoga with Adriene is majorly feeding my cooped up soul), sewing, long baths, writing self-indulgent blog posts…
• if you’re lucky enough to still be getting paid, keep paying others if your financial circumstances at all allow. Even those people who simply can’t do their jobs for you right now: cleaners, babysitters, personal trainers, dog walkers, your local gym. Keep their salaries flowing the same way that your own is. Yes, there may be government support available but it likely doesn’t cover everything and doesn’t do so fast enough to support those employees who need an income right NOW;
• don’t hoard food or medical supplies. Although fabric is fair game – who know how long this will last??? Even The Fabric Store is no longer shipping orders, nooooo!
• check in on friends/colleagues who are more isolated than you, even if it feels kind of weird. The worst that will happen is they are totally fine, have no need for your concern and ignore you. No big deal
• see if you can find safe ways to continue to support local small businesses!

You know, in general, I reckon us sewists have a pretty decent track record of not being dicks. At minimum, we’re above average in that regard! So let’s spread the “don’t be a dick” vibe more than ever!

And, in the meantime, I have the fanciest silk skirt ever for hanging out on my balcony this Spring!

Oh and, finally, a little P.S! If you like to get your blog hits through Bloglovin’, feel free to follow me over there: you can find me here. And you can find me on Instagram here.