2013 sewing

This year's sewing was sewing in twos and sewing wardrobe staples:.  Here are the twos:

• Two Renfrews - yellow and purple, two pairs of Sew Liberated skinny jeans in red and in blue, two staple dresses by April Rhodes, two pairs of shorts from Simplicity 5558 (thank you Phillipa)

navy shorts

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• Two Tovas - grey and white floral
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  grey tova

  
  

  

  spotty tee

  
  

  

  spotty Staple dress

  
  

  

  floral Staple dress

  
  

  

  blue Sew Liberated skinnies

Two Ottobre tunics

And sewn only once (so far)


Minna blouse from Salme patterns (unblogged)

Traveller dress from Sew Lisette
Spotty tee
Vogue green cord skirt

Most of these garments have been worn so much and become my staple everyday uniform, especially the Sew Liberated jeans and in the summer the Simplicity shorts.  The |Renfrews are slightly too big so I wear them but not as often as the Ottobre tunics which I wear and wash, wear and wash at the moment.  So  hurray for sewing wardrobe basics.

I have a few vague plans for 2014, but nothing concrete yet.  I just want to think about getting more creative,  linking sewing to my painting....returning to some form of teaching as I desperately need to earn some money!  Oh and finishing off my ufos of course!  I have recently bought the Lola pattern and the Paula pleated skirt from Maria Denmark so once the UFOs are done, those two patterns are top of my list.  

vogue skirt

Last year I learnt the value of looking after my sewing machine, reading the manual and changing the needle. Could I finally be moving away from being a slapdash sewer?  

Last year I have learnt that I have lots of ideas but I do not have the time or resources to follow them all

through. Maybe I need to focus more.  Hmmmmm...I will get to you about that. 

FO: Simplicity 2246/ Sew Lisette Traveller Dress

Oh yes, I am a cultured person, hanging around museums, and looking pensive, is my modus operandi

Finally, I finished my Simplicity 2246 / Traveller dress in dark blue.   Yipeeeeeeee.  I started this back in August I think, oh no, checking my past posts I realise I cut it out in June. so that is 10 months in the making.   

This is view A - the classic shirt dress style.  I sewed it in fits and starts from Summer to  the second week of March. It wasn't such a long time in the making because it is a hard pattern to sew, I just kept getting distracted by other projects.  It had been waiting just for the buttonholes and buttons for three months.  finally I sewed those buttonholes in half an hour one morning this week.  And then wondered why I had been putting them off for so long. 

Please note, me-made bag

Another reason why it took a long time to complete is because I made it as a wearable muslin first and so didn't have that shiny lure of a new pattern when making it the second time.

The wearable muslin version

 I  am glad I finished it as I like wearing it very much. Very much. Plus it was getting on my nerves, just hanging up in my dining room, having baby food thrown at it.  A bit like a guest who outstayed their welcome. *

 For fabric I used some blue linen look cheapy fabric from the Rag Market in Birmingham.  It was £3 per metre I think.  it was originally a brighter blue, more like royal blue, but in September I dyed it with an indigo dye as I wanted it to be a very dark navy.  I was aiming to make a very boring, plain, classic shirt dress that will be worn with lots of different accessories, cardigans and footwear. 

For some reason I made the sleeves just above the elbow.  I can't remember why now. 

I used very simple little pale blue shirt buttons, having been tempted by pretty polka dot buttons, red floral buttons and white vintage buttons, I remembered I was trying to keep it plain!



 Bad points: This fabric creased a lot by on the skirt the end of the day,  so it's a dress that needs careful ironing before each wear. 

Good points: This ticks the box for a plain dress, that can be worn in a variety of ways. making use of clothes and shoes I already own.  Not to mention my substantial scarf collection.   I think it has year round potential.  I am pleased I stuck to a plan for once and kept it simple resisting the lure of novelty buttons, piping and trims.  I am also sooooooo happy this dress is no longer hanging up half done.

I am looking a bit shifty now.  Think the attendant's coming over.  Time for a sharp exit.

Finally I have to confess in a sewing geek way, that when I can't get to sleep, I still keep planning possible ways to make version C of this dress in my head, with a fuller contrasting skirt and  puff sleeved top.  I have several possibilities in my stash. Am I the only sewing geek who plans patterns rather than count sheep?

* DISCLAIMER: Please note we do not really throw baby food or any other food at guests here, how ever long they stay.  Honest.