Designing and sewing Hand Woven Saori Clothing During covid 19 isolation

Up date  2022 i added side panels to add to the flare and shape !

And added a separate scarf 

Before  photo  above i added the side panels to make less skimpy 

A student videos trying it on 

( the back story ) In the last month the world has changed forever. the second week of march 2020 Covid 19 became a pandemic as you know. i cancelled all my  studio classes and sheltered at home like most of the united states.
it took a while for for some states to comply. as we learn more and more about this new deadly sars virus effecting organs and the brain besides the heart and lungs if you survive it it is sobering and scary.we are rural, and can not get our  groceries delivered  ( my husband and i are in the age group most at risk). so we drive into Santa Cruz to pick up a delivered on line grocery  order from our daughters front porch in town.
to protect us i made face masks
 I started a "sew  covid 19 face masks" thread  in my Ravelry group  Ravelry my saori group click here( or join ravelry) I do instagram saorisantacruz  but not face book . you will not see me on facebook ,intentionally .
durning this isolation i have been sewing and weaving … one of my most favorite pieces emerged but it was not fast and the first try i did not like so i redesigned it and came up with this it took 3 weeks …

but it was a long journey to arive at this tunic….weeks actually

 after i wove this piece my daughter said to me " it is the Indian holiday Holi this totally goes with the holiday" and she was right ! very timely

 my first  try was design  a pullover V neck, that i did not like so  then i cut it down the front  into a jacket

 but i still did not like that…

  first attempts

Before pretty dumpy looking design fail! 

 so i did a cutup and rip it apart day… i love the fabric and i wanted a new tunic out of it
i set to sketching and decided lots of gores would look cool but did i have enough fabric to do it?…

  I drafted and cut pieces out of muslin pined and tried it on till i had this ...

i liked it ! but i was still worried , would i have enough fabric to make it? here is the jacket cut  apart laid out in a  rectilinear  jumble of sorts pockets were the only left overs of the once  finished jacket first  attempt design  try….i started laying out the gores  still worried would i have enough fabric ??

  i  cut  and cut and i barely squeezed out the 10 gores I made it!!!  . the  Left over fabric from the  pockets were  All i had left and i used used  Them for the curved yoke neckline.

playing around with the placment of the 10 gores  it took a long while to find the sections i liked with other neighboring sections 

  out in the studio the crab apple  and plum trees burst into bloom with the colorful weaving and the blooming fruit trees my heart was lightening up.

  it was a glorious day  to look out and see them as i pined  and sewed the horrors of  covid 19  faded away for a few hours

finely after  about 20 try ons,  sew try ,on sew ….my tunic is finished !

  i found two buttons in my stash that were perfect for the shoulder  openings  hoarding buttons  for years is a good thing!

  the tunic can be worn front back or back to front

  this is the back

  this is the front

  the front . this piece in mostly cottons

  now when i can go out again i will wear my Holi / pandemic of 2020 tunic … i thing in the next months i will be designing and sewing quite a bit i may have a compleate wardrobe before it is safe again to have someplace to go.
i hope you have time to weave and spin and sew as we all wait sheltering in place for a vaccine for covid 19 to … maybe over a year… stay safe , stay strong  weave and sew . reduce the curve…

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