HAPPY 2017!

Yay for a new year!!!

So excited for this turn of the calendar and feeling like it will be a fantastic year. On the sewing front I honestly haven't given a ton of thought to what's next but that's okay...it doesn't have to be a big 'thing'.

Patterns:
I have a lot of patterns. I have a lot of space to store patterns. Therefore, I will not stress myself out over the number that I own. I do think I can do a bit of culling. I have patterns in stash that I tried before and basically think are the devil in paper form (Looking at you Burda 6910). Why keep them? And others that I look at and wonder why I bought them as I don't really think they are my style.

I have tried to purchase more thoughtfully and will continue that.

My Burda sub has been renewed. People have commented on the January and February issues being lighter on patterns. The January issue has 21 unique patterns, excluding the kids' costumes. There is no petite pattern and one tall pattern. There was no petite pattern in the December issue either and that one also had about 20ish women's patterns. November had closer to 30 but a lot of the extras were pretty much variations in length. . I think I would rather have fewer patterns with true variations than to have them show the same thing 3-4 times with some small change in detail like color blocking or pockets.

I have one more Ottobre coming and I will decide if I want to renew or not. I may just buy those on a per magazine basis. I almost always like the autumn/winter issue and am a bit meh on the spring/summer.

Fabric:
I love buying fabric! I have a big stash and that's okay with me. But right now it feels out of control and not well contained. I need to cull there too. I have a whole bin that I almost always overlook. I dig through and 'meh' all the choices. And since I rarely muslin, again, Why hang on to it?

I am resolving to spend $500, max, on fabric in 2017. That does NOT include lining or interfacing.

Budget:
So, $500 on fabric! LOL! I plan to spend less overall this year and that includes sewing. I have tried and just cannot with JoAnn. I will go there in an absolute pinch and for those rare 70% off notions events, but there is no attempt to improve the store and I don't like giving them my money.

**I understand some people have great local stores but I don't. So please, no need to defend your store or why you visit them. (sorry, not sorry).**

I will continue to buy BMV online through my membership. I don't buy a ton of Simplicity patterns anymore, but we will see how that goes when there is something I "must" have. I will continue to buy notions and zippers from Wawak and other online stores.

Lastly I want to start saving for a cover stitch. I sew a ton of knits and I would love one in my arsenal. I also know I want a Pfaff but as you all know I have a college student and a soon to be HS senior and my life is EXPENSIVE right now. So that may be my "In 2018 I'm done *raising* kids" gift to myself. Or a 40th birthday gift. Who knows :)

What do I want to sew? What do I want to achieve?
I have tackled a few pieces of outerwear but since I am such an instant-gratification person I find it hard to start them.  This isn't a sewing issue; it's just my personality so it's much harder to combat!

But I have to 1) because I DO have some longer term/"Bigger" projects I want to sew and 2) I actually can't continue my current output but I need to sew most of the time! Again, I don't mind having a larger wardrobe -  I always have, even when I was strictly RTW. But I have a LOT of clothes right now.

Well...fall/winter. I can still stand some serious work on my summer wardrobe. And spring barely exists here.

1) A blazer. I REALLY WANT THIS!! As mentioned before I have a couple from J.Crew that fit decent but not perfect and I love blazers.

2) MOARRRRR coats. I love outerwear. I've always had a TON of coats.

• I plan to sew the Closet Case Files Clare relatively soon. 
• I need another casual coat - I love my Minoru but it is a linen blend and has quite a limited span of time it can be worn here. I need something warmer but just as sporty but not as BIG(!) as my down coat. I *think* I can make the Minoru from a wool. I know some of the areas can get bulky but thinking lighter weight wool + silk lining = warm jacket. We shall see.  
• Trench coat. I have a RTW that I've owned for forever but it's made from some very lightweight cotton that is so damned wrinkly all the time! ALL THE TIME!!! Plus I have this sweet vintage Simplicity and a buy-the-yard khaki colored fabric I scored from FM so I just have to.

3) I have to finish my daughter's quilt. I feel so bad that I never got it done. I have to see how many blocks I have but I can't make anymore blocks. I can't. I cannot cut up any more tiny squares. (I'm shaking my head rapidly from side to side saying, "no! no! NO!!!!! No more!")

I think I have 11- 14"x14" blocks. If so I'll make a 12th one I have 14 blocks and am unsure if a 3x5 center will work. It may look too disproportioned. If it's okay I'll move forward...if not I'll take it back to 12. and then build up the rest of the quilt with borders. Yes, I still have to cut up and reassemble fabrics but not tiny squares that become triangles and all that. :shudder:

See? No more tiny pieces. No more. I am no longer able.

And there goes my career as a quilter. If my son really wants a quilt he will get a jelly roll race quilt. That was fine. That I can do. My annoyance with that came with the actual quilting. And I have watched so many YouTube vids and read so many blogs but my brain is unable to miter corners.  But I can pay someone to quilt and bind it!

4) Bodice.Sloper.!!! I want to do this. Well, no I don't want to; it doesn't sound fun...but it sounds necessary. 

Personal:

Grrrr. I didn't lose a ton of weight but I'd lost some in 2015 (~12-15 lbs) and nearly all of my knee pain disappeared. Right around that time I'd found an article in a medical journal that said for people who suffer OA of the knee, every pound of weight loss reduces the force on the knees by 4 lbs. And I was ecstatic that I wasn't suffering constantly. 

Well the weight is back and so is the pain. It hurts a lot. Everyday, no matter the activity, and my scale says I weigh 189 and my rheumatologist wants me to lose 30 lbs. So I need to do it. I won't set a hard/fast number for weight loss. E.g., if I lose like 26 lbs I'm calling it good. Because I don't actually dislike my almost 190 lb body but my knees and hips hurt so it's too much. 

Professionally I'm gunning for some big moves! I have a certification to prep for and I need to get my behind in gear. My exam window is 5/1 - 7/15 and I have a lot of studying to do!

Personally I have a lot to leave behind in 2016 and sure this may sound a little hokey, but I have to let a lot of negativity go. I was a poster on GOMI, and no, it isn't all personal attacks and meanness. But it DOES go there and it's really not nice when it's against someone you consider a friend (hey, our sewing friendships are so important even when we've never met irl!). So I felt complicit in a way, even though I didn't participate in those discussions and defended as I saw fit. So I'm done there. 

Pattern Review. Grr. I almost deleted my account at one point. It's like 2016 was the year of the crazies over there. But I had to remember how much I enjoyed that site when I first learned to sew and to be a participant in a way that works for me. So helpful posts, pattern discussions, writing reviews, etc...and leaving all the crazy making stuff alone.

Wait - I'm not talking about putting on those rose-colored-everything is fine and positive and totally uplifting in the sewing blog community-glasses. I'm talking about not bogging myself down with people and things who are nasty and take up mental space that they certainly don't deserve.

My local sewing group has decided to keep a set date/time for meeting up and then whoever makes it can make it. So I am happy to have that to look forward to now most months. I am truly a home body and if not for my kids I would be holed up in my house a lot. I'm really going to try to be a bit more social in 2017.  Right now it's pretty much automatically a hard no on doing anything during the week after work. Which may sound normal (lol) but I get off work at 4:30 and am usually home 20 minutes later. And yes I go to bed early but I can still get out occasionally and do more socially.

Social Media. I deactivated Facebook back in September, and got back on temporarily last month.  I have deactivated again as I just can't.  And I am *this* close to leaving Instagram. FB owns it now and I dislike the changes they are making. However, I do feel like interacting on IG in the sewing realm has been a bit different than IG as a whole. The problem is that I don't get to live in my sewing bubble anymore because of their stupid algorithms and suggested content. And I dislike the 'liking' of comments on posts. So I am finding myself annoyed/irritated a lot of the time when I'm on there.

Recap of 2017 goals and sewing plans:

1) Buy patterns thoughtfully; cull at some point (early) this year.
2) Continue my Burda challenge (okay fine I didn't mention this but I'm totally doing it again). I will sew a Burda a month from that particular month; but from any year.
3) Consider dropping Ottobre depending on how spring/summer looks
4) Buy fabric thoughtfully. Limit fabric purchases to $500 for the year; excluding lining and interfacing.
5) Sew a fitted, lined blazer
6) Sew 3 new outerwear pieces
7) Finish my daughter's quilt
8) Create a bodice sloper
9) Lose the danged 30 (ish) pounds
10) Be more positive
11) Be more social in real life

Skirts! Simplicity 1322 and Butterick 5760

B5760; my TNT...my little gem of a pattern in a unassuming wardrobe pattern. Ahhhh. I don't know ho many times I've made it...this is number 7 or 8.

This skirt works with SO many colors!

(my daughter is transferring to a local school and her mini fridge temporarily resides in the dining room. c'est la vie)

I have no idea where I got this wool; it is very fine and a beautifully rich camel color with flecks of black or dark brown. I am almost certain I paid "a lot" ($20-25/yd) for it because I knew I only needed 1 yard. Boy am I happy for this splurge! I bought 5/8 yd of Ambiance to line it and almost picked up a more caramel colored lining and got this gold instead. The other would have been a better match but this is okay too with the ivory colored hem tape.

Lining/facing slipstitched by hand to zipper tape

The lace hem tape makes me happy!

Truer color representation

I eliminated the back slit - I had a hard time figuring out that area when I made the boucle version with lining. And I often peg the skirt but didn't this time, making it okay to not have a slit or vent. I made no other changes to the pattern from the other times I've sewn it. It's a 16 front, 18 back with the front waist graded up to a size 18.  Full 2" hem taken (I removed 1" from the lining).

Love <3

Next (well, this was sewn first), I made S1322. I had been eyeing the pattern for forever and then I made a version for my daughter and knew I had to have one.

It's okay. I do have a tummy and get a little pulling in front - that doesn't bother me. I think with the stretch of this fabric (it stretches in both directions!), that I pulled the fronts too snugly (even though I matched the notches) and now it doesn't lay flat. I do like the shape of it though.

I was taking advantage of the bright light and wasn't about to put on tights. I will totally wear tights with it.

I made a size 18 in this thick/spongey RPL suiting.

Don't be like me, read the directions. I just started sewing away, as I do, but you have to follow the order of construction. Boo for rules! LOL!

Darts, side seams, hem, hem the front wraps, overlay and attach waistband/yokes, insert zipper, facings.

Lapped zipper

Facings stitched by hand. I caught the facing when I ditch-stitched but I was not about to unpick it. 

I am also confused on how to finish the facing when it's a lapped zipper. The upper portion isn't really secured so that the zipper isn't obstructed. 

The front wrap has coverage when walking/standing still but boy does it open up upon sitting!!

The other issue is, I don't know what to wear with it. In my mind I was all YAY! Grey skirt! But with the wrap a lot of my tops didn't seem quite right with it. So now I'm unsure how it'll work in the wardrobe!

Here it's paired with a black tank and my latest Swoon cardigan and then with a RTW drapey top.

See how the wrap opens? I don't think there's actually risk of showing off anything, erm, private...but when you sit it opens quite high.

Quick note, I didn't review the cardigan but I made it from this cool burnout jersey from FM and I really, truly LOVE it! 

 In other vacation sewing plans...

I had a major mishap with my Vogue pants, more on that later...and switched my solid colored M6612 for the new M7358. Including DDs pants I think my vacay sewing will total 7 items. Not bad!

Wrapping up 2016

Another year in the books!!! I think I had a good sewing year and did okay on my goals.

1) Patterns

I have still purchased a ton. Mid year I was planning to fast for the rest of 2016. Big, giant, mega FAIL! :)

I catalog all of my patterns on Pattern Review and looks like I've bought 62 patterns since July 1. Oops.  A total of 102 patterns for the year. In 2015 I purchased a total of 140 patterns. Hey, that's improvement!

2) Fabric

I have purchased WAY less fabric in 2016. According to Fabric Mart, I spent $1,017 over 21 orders in 2015. That number hurts. OUCH! But 2015 was stressful and I'm not surprised. There had to be some SR Harris visits (but not many) and plenty of Hancock visits in there too.

In 2016 that number is $680 over 12 orders. I had one order each in February, March, April, May, June, July, September, December. And I had 2 in August and 2 in October. That is a fantastic improvement!! I had very few visits to SR Harris and lost Hancock this year. I am also good for 1-2 orders from Fashion Fabrics Club so we'll consider that about even from last year to this year.

3) Budget

I didn't end up setting an overall budget but I spent less on patterns and fabric and with Hancock leaving and hating JoAnn, I've been going to Wawak. I don't spend a ton at once but the prices are so much cheaper that they blow JA out of the water on almost everything; even with 50-60% off notions sales. And zippers! I have 19 zippers in my cart right now for a total of around $5.50 (I need serger thread too and with 8 spools I'm at $23 total).

4) Skills

a.) Floaty fabric; crepe has become my friend. Other floaty fabrics can go to hell. LOL!

b.) Sew a blazer; I had planned to give it a shot over break but the fabric I have is much thicker than I think it should be. I had lost 10 yards of lining fabric, found it when I moved, but can't locate it again. Soon. Very soon.

c.) Sew at least 6 Burdas. I've sewn 11 and do plan to sew from December!

There were no actual "fails". I am just uncertain about the length of the black/white top from October and I have the pants marked in my "maybe these won't stick around" pile. We'll see how they fare in the spring when ankle length pants are an option again.

January, April and July's dresses are some of my favorite garments EVER from the year. 

d.) Sew DDs prom dress - did that and used the pattern again to make a gorgeous gown for her concerts!

e.) Sew pajamas - As mentioned mid-year I made a couple of nightgowns and will be sewing PJs from the December Burda. And while I could never actually sleep in full PJs, I want to make a pair with piping and the whole jazz. I just think they're so cute. You know I'm not a "try to do everything with an Indie" type of sewer so B6296 will be the target pattern and I will not be paying oodles of dough for the CCF Carolyn.

f.) Sew a summer wardrobe. I feel like I added cute things but still felt kind of meh this summer. Summer just isn't my season. I think I need to just have all the dresses and live in them.


So, what did I sew?

I didn't keep great records like last year.  I just went through my wrap-ups and PR reviews and I already know some things are missing but that's okay...

Including the month of December, I've sewn a total of 82 items, 75 for myself:

19 Dresses
22 Tops
10 Pants (7 pants, 2 shorts, 1 jean)
11 Skirts
9 Toppers (4 jackets, 4 cardigans, 1 vest)
4 Others (2 sleepwear, 1 activewear, 1 jumpsuit)
7 Items for others (6 for my daughter and 1 for a friend)

I did not slow down from last year as expected. In 2015 I sewed 88 items for myself.

There are a total of 12 items that are no longer in my wardrobe; 1 because I lost all of my sweaters. (I may start crying again at the realization of all that's missing!!). And there are 3 items that are in the naughty box and may not stick around. Of the 15 items, there are:

2 dresses, 7 tops, 3 pants, 1 skirt, 1 jacket, 1 vest

In my ongoing problem category, tops, I've done WAY better!!! Last year I had a 60% success rate. Excluding the lost sweater, I have a 71% success rate on tops this year!

Favorites:

Dresses:

I love everything about this 4/2016 Burda! I should make another one!!!

This Burda from 6/2016 is high on the list too. And it was a FUN project!

Jackets:

New Look 6481 is a WIN. I love this jacket so much!

Butterick 6244 I absolutely adore. What a great save on that fabric. It was in stash for quite a while.

Tops:

Simplicity 8214; you can't be shocked! :)

Skirts:

WAIT until you see this camel Butterick 5760. It is perfect. It is well sewn (if I do say so myself). I just cannot wait to wear it!!!

The blue boucle version is a close runner up:

The biggest disappointment for me from this year was the casual suit. The fabric was a disappointment and the Kwik Sew jacket pattern was as well. I want to keep them because of the idea of it, but they just do not work well. The fabric is a cotton blend and bags out when worn. The jacket is ill fitting and while I knew that when I finished, it's so much worse every time I try to wear it.

I will post in early January a "goals" post. I will for one be continuing my Burda challenge, amending it a bit. I know I want to continue buying less fabric and fewer patterns, etc. I'll have to think all that through.

Vacation Sewing Progress

I somehow got way too excited about using this (fantastic!) RPL suiting for a skirt (hopefully I have enough for pants too!) and cut out S1322 and got it sewed up. Moved on to my TNT B5760 in this really pretty camel wool suiting and whipped up another version of M6612 in a black and white printed jersey.

Dress needs hems

Grey skirt needs facings tacked down

Camel skirt needs some hand sewing (hemming the skirt and attaching the lining to the zipper tape). I am ecstatic about both skirts but this camel one. Swoon. It is really nice and I can't wait to wear it!

I think I can get the hand sewing done in the morning while the house is silent then I'll get the dress hemmed. I was ready to move on to the other knit dress and then pants and then...

My daughter had asked me to make a velvet dress for her for Christmas. But we were expecting freezing rains that day and therefore dangerous, icy roads. When I told her we weren't going anywhere on Christmas Day she changed her mind about the dress. I was NOT happy as I'd gone to the store that day and bought the velvet, the zipper and the pattern. ARGH! 

So she asked for VELVET PANTS(!) yesterday. Sigh. Fine. 

I went to the best source I have - Burda. I have the pattern sheet laid out on my cutting table now and will be making this slim pant from the February 2014 issue. 

Fingers crossed :)

Finished: McCall's 7251

Last we "spoke" of sewing plans I was planning a Swoon cardigan and a wrap cardigan using NL6301. Well those were both serger projects, things I'd made before, and both black so those were zip, zip, done. Contemplating what to sew next, faced with a -22 degree F day last Sunday (sew day!) and knowing this past work week would be a busy, I decided on something that would take a bit of time to work through.

I'd wanted this shirt since it was released. I just love the details of view B and had to have it. I bought a nice pumpkin colored cotton twill for it and was ready to go!

And then I decided the shirting was far too crisp and reached wayyyy back to this cotton shirting I got from SR Harris back in April 2013. After playing some pattern/fabric tetris, I decided the facings of the front bands would have to be cut from contrasting fabric. I had some plain black cotton shirting in stash that fit the bill. Also, while the yoke is intended to be single layer, I cut the inside from the black shirting because you should burrito whenever you have the chance! :-p

Burrito!!

black facing and yoke

Wait.

This pattern has some minor issues.
-The tech drawing doesn't even show a yoke. But it does exist!!
-Matter of opinion but I don't think the drawing in the instructions show how dropped the shoulder is. But the tech drawing is accurate there. It's low.
-The instructions for the sleeve placket are WACK and WACKY.

I cut a size 14 and after extensive flat-pattern measurements decided I didn't need any adjustments. I did...I needed to slash and spread for butt room. It's not too bad but (with leggings on especially), the shirt does get caught up on my butt. I left off most of the top stitching as it just wasn't showing up well in this fabric. I only used 3 buttons in front instead of 4. And I left off the roll-tabs for the sleeves.

LOVE the side slits, actually like the tunic length (it looked super long when it was in progress), love the dropped shoulder and neckline fit. The collar stand doesn't have much shaping, giving it a nice, casual/relaxed look. The collar falls open nicely.

Meh on the pockets. They are what attracted me to this pattern but they are awkward. When I put it on they have to be arranged 'just so'. Again I ask my more experienced sewing friends - could the one piece pocket be the issue? You know how often there is a pattern piece for the "yoke" and the pocket and pocket bag are separate? It's all integrated into one piece and while it doesn't exactly sag, it does...something...

I don't think the fabric reads in photos anywhere near how it looks in person. But checked fabric often does that whole optical illusion thing.

Lighting situation in the tundra is horrific! And today it's been raining so no chance for outside photos. 

This was a fun project and if asked I would say YES! Make it! It's casual and cute.

Up Next:
I am finishing up Simplicity 1322 (this was a quick one!) and just some more vacation sewing!!! :-D

Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! Happy Holidays!