October Wrap-Up and November Plans

Gah. It just occurred to me, IT'S NOVEMBER! Sigh. I was excited on Sunday because, new month! new week! Daylight saving!

 

But the month is off to a meh start and of course, there's the absolute anxiety of the general election and the results. 

 

This month, I sewed 3 items and 5.5 yards. I didn't buy any new fabric (I almost did! Surge Fabrics had some nice waffle knits!)

• Ottobre 5/2018 sweatshirt - 2 yards
• pink ponte from stash
• Burda 4/2018 shirt - 2 yards
• pink cotton shirting 
• buttons
• New Look 6326 skirt - 1.5 yards (WIP)
  
• wool suiting and pongee lining
• zipper, buckles

Favorites: Meh. I think my general mood has zapped my sewing energy. Nothing is grabbing me right now.

 

Fails: The sweatshirt. I hate the color. I knew I hated the color, but I guess it was more of a wearable muslin because I figured I could still wear it around the house for lounging. It isn't wearable 1) because I abhor the color and 2) because I just haven't worked out Ottobre's fit on me yet and it fits weirdly.

 

Accomplishments: Meh. LOL! The shirt is nicely sewn and the skirt is coming along.

 

I'd be more excited about this skirt if I knew I'd be wearing it when it was finished :-p

I really wanted to muslin that jacket and jeans for my husband but didn't get around to it. Partially because my hand has been bothering me a lot lately. 

November? IDK. I won't make too many plans because who knows where my mental state will take me. But, here's a few recent screenshots of RTW that caught my eye. If I do sew, it'll probably be some warm/snuggly stuff, even if I don't really need clothes right now. 

I saw this "maxi hoodie" by Nike and thought it was cool, but then not so sure about procuring a long zipper that doesn't cost an arm and a leg. The shorter hoodie is kind of the alternative...in the same vein as those, this maxi dress with the stripes down the side is cool! That could be a fun project. I've also rewatched Power lately and one of the main characters, Tasha (Naturi Naughton) was wearing this raglan, colorblocked bomber and I thought it was cute so I might copy it. We'll see!! And, those jeans are just fun!!! 

I did work up a swatch for a sweater - I'm going to aim for a simple round-neck just to up my machine knitting confidence. And again, even if it isn't great, it'll be something I can tool around the house in.

This green ruler is a quick, instant way to check gauge. I was pretty aggravated that it was like $12 but, I like not counting stitches!

A swatch for a standard gauge machine means knitting 40 stitches by 60 rows and the ruler "counts them" instantly! So here, by lining the edge up with the left marker, we see that I am just under 27 stitches. The other side of the ruler has the row measurement.

Using waste yarn at the beginning and end is your marker for the rows and about midway through, you mark the stitch just outside of the 20th for easy markers for the stitches. It's a pretty slick process! Here, my aim is 29 stitches so I'd have to dial back the tension a bit. 

So, I suppose my plan for the month is to finish my skirt, knit a sweater, and stay healthy!

No-Go On the Mojo

I spent 2 weeks out in California with my daughter and son-in-law, and 12 glorious days in new grandma land. I was so glad that I was able to help out in those early days but it also meant NO sleep. It took me a long time to get my energy back! I know people have babies at 40 but goodness gracious I cannot imagine doing the sleeplessness now! Hahaha!

Couple that with not going into the office (most of my sewing is work wear) and fall breezing right by...meh. Oh, and that?! When I got back, I put away lots of summer stuff but not everything. On 10/9 it was 79F for a high. On Sunday, 10/18, the temp was 35F and it hasn't gotten above that since. BLERGH!

So I finally just went in the sewing room and got started on a project. Burda 4/2018 has been on the to-sew list for awhile. It's so interesting!! It's done and just needs photos. I will have to get them this weekend because this fabric practically glows with my phone.

Beth over at SunnygalStudio has made a couple iterations of this too!

I chose it 1) the pattern 2) nice, stable fabric 3) slightly more involved project. And I like it! And it fits nicely! But it didn't spark the mojo. 

So now I'm sewing a skirt. I was going to make another version of Burda 2/2020 but with all the seams, wasn't sure I had enough fabric for matching stripes. But I knew I had way more fabric than for just a straight skirt. Then I found these buckles in stash and got a little more excited. So I cut another NL6326

mock wrap skirt. Here's a prior version with the buckles:

I think this'll be a fun project and will "age" well in the wardrobe, even if it doesn't get much wear this winter. I'll be lining it in a black pongee.

I cut the waistband on the bias:

Lastly, mom and dad are doing well and adjusting to parenthood. The little one is doing EXCELLENTLY...still shunning clothing! :)

Pattern Repeat: Burda 11/2018

A review?!?! hahaha!

This Burda 11/2018 is a remake. This time I decided to leave off the sleeves and sewed it in a heavy rayon lycra jersey.  I used my normal Burda size - 40 neckline and shoulder, 42 for the rest. It is so simple and in a neutral solid, it's a great wardrobe addition. 

I love the neckline so much. I can't remember how the pattern wanted the neckline finished but I made a facing strip, stitched, turned and topstitched. I finished the armholes the same way.

It is kind of long and in the ponte, slightly thick. So it doesn't work as well to tuck in unless the bottom garment is a looser fit. 

I finished this sometime in August so I'm a little behind on my reviews! 

A couple of weeks ago marked my 1 year anniversary of reduction surgery. Woohoo!!!! Sometimes, I don't look very different IMO, then I see a pic like the one below (left). Ah. Ah-ha. LOL!!

I also celebrated my 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY!  

Adulting is hard and marriage is hard, but we found our way and we've built a great marriage. Hoping for many more years. 

September Wrap-up and October Plans

 Another quiet month on the sewing front. But let's start with the MOST IMPORTANT THING!!!

I headed to California the morning of the 15th. We hung out that afternoon and on Wednesday, my daughter, son-in-law and me walked down to the beach. Thursday morning, she mentioned not sleeping well that night and I said, today is the day! They didn't believe me...but I told them! I had been telling her to pack a bag and finally, around 10 a.m. she did. By 11 a.m., she was having contractions 7 minutes apart and by noon, she was ready to head to the hospital. She was 6cm dilated and within a couple hours had hit 10. Grandson was born on Thursday the 17th at 3:25 p.m. My SIL called me on Face-Time and luckily, I got to witness the birth! Watching a baby come into the world is truly a magical thing!!

And because I am CERTAIN that he waited for me to get there, I was able to spend the first 11 days of his life with him! I snuggled that sweet boy every moment I could!

Her labor story SO mirrored mine with her! I spent the evening with varying levels of back pain and when I finally told my mom I was ready to go in, I apparently was already 9 cm. dilated! I got to the hospital at about 11 p.m. and she was born 3.5 hours later. 

I made a new tee with the Cricut for my plane ride there so I could proudly let any and everyone know! 

So this month was productive in a different way! :)

I did sew a few tops for my daughter for nursing. I plan to make a few nursing camis for her since she wears lots of button front shirts anyway (flannels) in fall. 

I made 2 versions of S1916. I used a size 12 and shortened the sleeves. The only other mod I made was that I didn't use the included pattern piece for the neckline facing and just cut a strip an appropriate width.

I also sewed up a version of Burda 11/2007 #121. It's pretty "booby" LOL! I missed the fact that the model was wearing a tank underneath. But it's fine for these early weeks where you're just at home trying to survive the lack of sleep.

I cut a size 38, eliminated the facing in place of a "faced band", and used cuffs instead of hemming. 

I love this front detail!!

So that's 3 items for a total of 4.5 yards this month, all fabric from stash. 

October? 

Sigh. Whine, whine, no real reason to sew new fall clothes, whine. 

I'll likely sew those camis I mentioned for my daughter.

I've coveted this sweatshirt from the 5/2018 Ottobre issue for 2 years. I think it's about time to sew it! 

I was *this* close to finishing my blue blazer before I left. So I'll finish that. I'd love to sew the blazer from the 2/2020 Burda:

And, since Covid doesn't seem to be going anywhere, and I'm terrified of what's going to happen once we're deep into cold and flu season, we are still being hermits. I want to sew my husband's corduroy jacket but I know it won't actually be worn if we're not going out for dinner and such. He's in IT and definitely wouldn't wear it to work. I should definitely muslin the Fulford jeans for him though! He has a tough time buying jeans. Also, I LOVE sewing jeans but 1)I really don't wear them very often and 2)I don't need any. If I can make this pattern work for him, I can sew a couple pair and get my fix! :-D

Are you sewing for this fall season (or spring if you're down under!)? Is Covid affecting your sewing plans?

August Wrap Up and September Plans

Quiet month, as I expected. I had little motivation because as mentioned in last month's wrap up, it's usually the time I start sewing fall garments and wahhhhhh. 

This month I sewed 3 items and a total of 5 yards.

• Simplicity 8389 shorts - 1.25 yd
• Navy brussels washer linen from stash
• elastic
• Burda 11/2018 top - 1.25 yd
• ivory rayon lycra jersey from stash
• Burda 5/2019 dress - 2.5 yd
• striped double brushed poly from stash
• gold cord stops

Fave: I'll go with the dress because it was a vision come to life. That's always fun! :)

FAIL: Not really a fail. The Simplicity short was fantastic in crepe and a bit too stiff in this linen. But, linen will soften with continued wear/washing so hopefully they'll grow on me a bit more.

Accomplishments: I didn't sew up much yardage but it all came from stash! 

I really like this Burda pattern! I could have cut the armhole in a bit since I left it sleeveless. 
Something to keep in mind.

I also finished my second Burda 5/2020 top in the ankara (I'm going to review both, promise!)

I made up a few of the free Aplat masks for us. I had this fun Art Gallery print on hand (that I bought to make a cover for my knitting machine) and the mask doesn't take much fabric so I stole a little corner from my yardage :-D

I was looking for a mask pattern that didn't use elastic around the ears for my husband since he is back in the office full time. The pattern worked great for him as-is (he is 6'2" FYI). I found the original size to be too large on me. I removed 1/4" from top and bottom (technically, it should be taken out of the center). I added elastic to mine because I found the tie a bit fiddly. 

I found myself sweating way more in this fabric than my other style. I don't know if we happened to have uncharacteristically warm days when I tried it out or what but I wanted to rip it off when I got back to the car after grocery shopping. I LOVE the style and how quickly it sews up! Will have to test the comfort again to make sure it wasn't a fluke.

And, I got a new sewing machine! As we know, sewing friends are the best, and she so graciously sent me this Janome Skyline S3. I only managed to unbox it today (I don't test the limits of my hands if I don't have to) but will be setting it up tomorrow!

September Plans:

I finally fixed my jacket from last year's tailoring class! Now, I'm sewing in the lining. I still need to sew the sleeve lining (hem and vent) and sew in the shoulder pads. Then I have to do the front buttonholes (sleeve b-holes are done) and sew on all the buttons. I will finish this blazer because it is really awesome! 

I still need to make the baby blanket on the knitting machine. I just need to settle on a stitch pattern; it should only take a couple hours. 

I'm going to whip up a handful of nursing friendly pj tops for my daughter before heading to CA. 

Hopefully, I'll get to muslin V8890 for my husband. 

I hope to get pics taken over this long weekend for some old stuff. Things I can't photo solo like the ankara top and the black one, and the dress I just finished is bright red (with blue dots) but attempts to photograph it just reads insane brightness.