Wardrobe Planning and Random Thoughts

The mojo is still absent, but I have been trying to figure out if there's anything I want to sew or need to add to my wardrobe. 

There are a couple of patterns that I'm interested in sewing, and I did add to the stash during the recent $.99 Simplicity sale at JoAnn:

New Look 6698, S9385, 9373, 9375, 9376, 9326, 9275, 9372

And while I'm really excited to sew both the skirt in 9375 and a couple of the shrugs in 9372, that still didn't get the sewing mojo going. 

I also sorted through nearly the whole stash because I donated a bunch of fabric (4 plastic Mood bags full!) to our High School theater program. My son would be offended, he says they don't deserve anything> LOL!!!!!

So I couldn't rev the mojo in the normal way, next up was assessing if there were wardrobe holes. I still had all of my summer clothes and shoes out and had to go through the work of pulling out the fall goods. Every time I make the switch, I analyze both sets of clothing. As the spring/summer clothes are going away, I am deciding what to keep, donate, or toss...and the same with the fall/winter clothes coming out of storage. I took note of my favorite garments and realized a color story was happening!

Now, I'm not going to do any color theory or anything because...I know me and I'm just not going to do it :-p But there was a definite pattern. 

• Black, Navy, Grey, Olive, Camel, White
• Blush, Wine, Plum
• Chartreuse, teal, slate blue
• Black & white stripes and prints

a representative sample

I think I'm going to work mostly within this color palette and see how that works for me! I am also going to try to avoid buying new clothes. I have added several garments, and they all work, but I want to really thoughtfully add to my existing wardrobe. Especially with the schedule I'm maintaining right now. 

Another part of the process is NOT including anything in my closet that I cannot currently fit. I have mentioned before but, I have never really had body image issues and am having a hard time right now. Not necessarily with the weight gain (I've been over 200 lbs before) but with how I feel about my body right now. Blergh. So it's really important not to bring clothing in that's going to hang there and be pointless. 

This orange jacket has been in the wardrobe for awhile - I got it from J. Crew 5 years ago, it's linen, and I love the color. It's clearly too small right now but I think the length is wrong now too! It's funny how trends change and we end up being shaped by them, whether we intend to or not. 

In a nutshell, I would really like:

a deep red pair of pants (maybe ponte for now)

a skirt in one of the deeper shades of red (wine/brick red - it'd be great if I could find leather!!)

a chartreuse cardigan (I have the fabric for this)

a deep magenta shrug (I have the fabric for this)

slim black pants (I bought a pair last year but can't fit them right now)

1 or 2 heavier knit dresses (I have a charcoal ponte in the stash)

On the non-sewing front, I'm coming down from a high of daily grandkid visits for a whole week! Swoon! The kids have some business to tend to but my daughter and the babies were here while my son in law was taking care of some things and I was happy to help out and get alllllll the baby snuggles!

He's almost 2 months old now! 

He was born a little early but I think he's all caught up now :)

And, Nana's house has not been kid-proofed so it was a free-for-all! Just keep him safe! LOL!!!! 

August Wrap-up and September Plans

This month I sewed 3 things for 6 yards:

• Burda 5/2020 skirt - 1.25 yd (WIP)
• orange & blue animal print cotton sateen from stash
• tack buttons

• McCall's 8042 top - 2 yd
• magenta clip dot voile
• bias tape

• New Look 6651 dress - 2.75 yd
• navy cotton print voile
• elastic
• buttons

I'm not 100% sold on either the top or dress, but am hopeful for the skirt. The shirtdress is very cute but I don't know if it's entirely my style. It is still awaiting buttonholes and buttons. The skirt stalled because I am ALWAYS starting something fitted when I get to my super-bloated part of the month. Durrr.

Other thing of note this month, I finally started the process for my Beatrice! I will be posting an unboxing and summary of the scanning process soon. And once I receive it, I will post about the final product, and will follow up after some time with a review. I'm excited!

Beatrice scanning suit

My husband decided on a fancy birthday celebration and I was on short notice to find something. After a lot of pointless online browsing, I happened to go to Nordstrom Rack to return a pair of shoes and went by the sale rack and HUZZAH! I found a beautiful Vince Camuto off-shoulder dress in a RPL (rayon/poly/lycra) blend in MY size. There was no price tag on it and I took a deep breath and went to check out. It was $44! SCORRRREEEEE. After that, I stopped by TJ Maxx to make another return and found a cute Club Monaco dress in my size and for $49. So I bought both and am keeping both because they're pretttttty.

I was a lot less bloated on the day I wore the dress, LOL!

We had an awesome time!

I also became a Nana again! My daughter and son-in-law welcomed their 2nd baby boy, Fin into the world on August 26. I'm heading to California this week to get all the baby snuggles!

September plans are pretty loose. Here we are a whole week into the month and I'm just now writing an August review. Wah. And when I return from CA, there'll be just barely a week left in the month. I still don't have anything specific I want to work on and will likely focus on finishing my shirtdress and the skirt I started last month.

And I am playing around with some knitting machine techniques because I AM GOING TO KNIT AND FINISH A SWEATER!!!!

ribbing with hand manipulated eyelets (you can see where I messed up! LOL!) and laddering.

At the very top of the ladders, I tried to bring the needles back into work but apparently did that wrong

And I tried my hand at lace again

Isn't this pretty!? The machine does ALL the work, I just have to remember when to do my 2 rows of knit carriage (vs. the lace carriage). My machine has capabilities of a new machine but not the full electronics. So on the actual 940s, the machine will tell you when to knit. On my upgraded 910, I have to pay attention to when to knit. I will probably try something simple like a shawl with lace before diving into a sweater with the technique (like, decreases and increases in LACE?!? eek!)

As always, more later. Fall is my favorite so I'm really hoping my mojo makes a comeback. 

Meh - McCall's 8042 Top

Let's start by discussing "negative reviews", shall we? On the one hand, people often say that "No one writes negative reviews." Personally, I often figure out a project isn't worth completing before it's done and I just move on without much fuss. Other times, I keep going because I'm unsure, or because I think that mayyyyybe, I can salvage it. But, sometimes, things just don't work out. 

• The style itself may not quite work 
• The fabric might be uncomfortable 
• The color may be "not quite right"
• The fit may be off. Even if it fits "fine", it may not be the preferred fit

And sometimes, you just aren't feeling it despite everything "appearing" to be good. And a lot of times, there's a lot of good-natured attempts to reassure. By the time I bring a wadder to the blog and label it as such, it's a done deal. I'm not trying to figure it out (though I do ask sometimes and appreciate the recommendations on things to try!). I've tried it with all the things in my closet that it can be tried with. I've tried whatever sewing-related adjustments I can make to make it work. 

In this case, this top is too fussy. In the few minutes that I've had it on to try it out since finishing, I am constantly adjusting the collar or the ties. I do not do fussy clothing. So, it's a wadder.

I took a trip into SR Harris recently to grab some cotton voile for a dress lining and thought this clip dot voile was really pretty. They had it in white too and I got some of that! The white is much more like what you'd expect a cotton voile to feel like. I'm probably not going to sew a dress from it this summer (how is it almost September already!?) but it'll be fun to have in stash for next year (do not get me started on all the summer things I did not sew).

This fabric behaved like cotton in a burn test but it has quite a bit of drape. And while that makes some elements work well (the flutter sleeve and the gathers created by pulling up the drawstring), it makes the most dominant element (the collar) unworkable. 

The color is GORGEOUS!

I didn't realize the vacuum was there til after I put the tripod away! It was the most accurate color representation so... :)

Not enough hip room

I cut a medium with the hips graded to a large. This is still not enough hip room. I'm not sure why they make these tops straight down from the bust but they are long enough to hit the hip. I raised the front slit by an inch and shortened the pattern 2 inches (through the waist).

Still not enough, LOL!

This way may actually be the most wearable 

(with a tank underneath)

First, the front pattern piece is a disaster. There's a muddled mess of lines for the front slit, stitch lines, fold lines, collar lines, hemming lines, blah, blah, blah and for ALL sizes. MESS! The construction on this thing is bananas. And I don't mean that in a good way. It's just some weird stuff happening. The collar is extended from the front, back, and sleeve pieces. Hemmed at 1/4" and two rows of topstitching to create a casing. 

The sleeve ruffle is hemmed with a narrow hem (No thank you! This is the ideal scenario for a rolled-hem), gathered, and sewn to the raglan. 

But theres this area that is left unfinished. I presume it's for range of motion. The cinching of the collar can change the feel through the armhole/sleeve.

So you're supposed to use bias tape on this little area. OY VEY! Just, foolishness! I inserted the ruffle, serged the whole thing, trimmed 1/8" off the section to be finished with bias tape. I used some pretty floral tape from Bessie Pearl Textiles. 

I wanted to love it (that color!) but, it's been hanging there for 2 weeks and I have had no desire to wear it. Blergh.

My current WIP, NL6551, is working out well. I am not FULLY loving it, but I am not unhappy with it! I love the fabric, the color, the style.

I have the collar partially attached. Once that's done, I have the other sleeve to hem, buttonholes, and buttons. Yay! 

July Wrap up and August Plans

This month, I sewed 2 items and 3.75 yards (from stash). I sewed:

• Simplicity 8337 top - 1.25 yd
• emerald green rayon jersey
• McCall's 6744 dress - 2.5 yd
• floral diagonal ITY knit
• elastic

I really love how the dress turned out, it's absolute perfection. 

I was not feeling well (Covid negative!!) and was really a lump for like, 2 weeks. I finally decided to try to sew a little something. I finished up M8042 today in a clip dot woven. I swear it burned like cotton but it's SO drapey. I'm not sure about it yet.

Mid-July I made a quick trip down to Chicago for a cousin's birthday and got to wear my super-duper awesome Vogue 1507 top (blog post). I really love this top. It's such a fantastic, impactful pattern.

We made the big decision to purchase eBikes back in June and FINALLY, they arrived!! I don't care as much about cycling as my husband does. It just isn't my preferred activity or mode of exercise. But the eBike was SO. MUCH. FUN when we rented them. 

FedEx just parked it on the porch and since I was home alone I had to get it in the house solo! These thighs came in handy! LOL!!!

We went with the Rad Runner bikes and mine is the RadRunner 1 step-thru. We were finally able to take a maiden voyage :) a short 5 mile ride, and I'm excited to hit one of the (MANY!) trails soon.

I bought a few new patterns this month too during the Something Delightful Vogue sale. 

I'm not sure what I want to sew next :( I have purchased some new RTW items to tide me over since we've returned to the office this month and I'm a size bigger. I really want a khaki skirt and am thinking of sewing this Burda 4/2019 (blog post) again. We'll see.

McCall's 6744 Dress

Sure, I have lots of other projects that have long since been finished and remain unblogged. We're not talking about those right now!! :)

I forgot that I had a plan for this fabric when I saw a surplice RTW dress in a floral print, and I was sold. I have sewn this before, many years ago (2013 or 2014) and that really got me excited to make it. I'm all for sewing without cutting out paper patterns.

I posted a joke on Instagram that I was going to throw out every pattern I'd sewn in '13 and '14 because my cutting and adjustments are just horrendous! LOL! I'd made some really weird changes to this pattern and spent a little time bringing it current :)

I cut a size medium, added 1" to the back bodice at the waist and on the back skirt from the waist, tapering to nothing about midway down the thigh. The front neckline is cut as a size small but the rest is a medium. I didn't want the maxi length but knew the shorter length was too short. I decided to add 4" to the shorter length and hemmed at 1". 

The pattern is constructed by sewing the shoulders first and creating a casing for 1/4" elastic. Newbie me tossed(?) the elastic guide but was also smart enough to have noted the elastic length in the instructions. SCORE! I like the soft gathers that it creates, and it really secures the shoulder/sleeve area. If I happen to make this again, I will add some width for my biceps.

This was before I sewed a snap in place in front.

Next up is hemming the front neckline, which was quick and easy with the coverstitch. Then, I sewed the bodice side seams, and hemmed the armholes. I attached the bodice to the skirt with the sewing machine (basting the bodice first!) and serged the seam, creating an elastic casing (I'd sewn the skirt side seams first, via serger). Inserted the elastic, tried it on for length, a quick hem through the coverstitch, final press, and DONE! I started it on Tuesday and finished on Saturday. This slow sewing thing is new to me :-p

The fabric is an ITY from Fabric Mart that has apparently been in stash since 2018! It's a diagonal print which plays really nicely in some areas! It's ALSO a panel print. It totally says that it was a panel (I love my FM purchase history being searchable via my email) and I ordered 2 panels. But, I had THREE! I would not have been able to make the dress with the two 40" panels while paying any sort of attention to the print. So while I didn't fully plan it out, I did make some choices on the front panels and then worked the skirt pieces onto one panel. 

I LOVE IT SO MUCH AND IT IS EVERYTHING I WANTED! LOL!!

I am a volunteer board member for a local non-profit and this dress was perfect for this year's annual award ceremony. It hit just the right note on a warm, summer afternoon.

My husband has been really fixing up the back patio (we rent a townhome and this is our little personal "slice" of privacy) and the flowers make me smile and my dress blends right in!

Because I am still working on conjuring the mojo, I am going to focus on prepping a few projects for SewCamp or else who knows what I'll be working on! :-p