#SewFrugal23

 Hello and happy March 31st!  We've come to the reveal day for the Sew Frugal Challenge over on Instagram and I couldn't be happier to show off my makes for it!  For those that don't know, the #sewfrugal challenge is run by two lovely sewists, Ruan (known as @TheYorkshireSewGirl) and Sam (known as @Frugalisama) and the idea is to make something using a free to everyone pattern and fabric that you already have on hand.  All month long different vloggers post on YouTube with all sorts of suggestions for free patterns and oodles of inspiration!  They've been keeping me company every evening when I'm on the eliptical machine this month and let me tell you that I have so many plans brewing in my head for all the things I could make with my horrendously large horde of fabric!

Anyways, let's get into the nitty gritty of what I decided on.  I went with a theme instead of just picking random things.  I wanted a new outfit for spring, but one that would work well as separates too.  Although as you can see we're a lot of snow melting away from wearing spring clothes just yet...

So I came up with Peppermint Magazine's Wide Leg Pants, Styla Pattern's Reine Top and the Costa Tote from Helen's Closet.  The Wide Leg Pants and the Costa Tote have been on my to make list for ever so long! And when the Styla Reine popped up this winter as a free pattern I was smitten.  Loving a good puffy sleeve as I do, it was right up my alley!

I started with the Styla Reine.  Both fabrics for this top were from "happy mistakes".  The floral french terry was ordered from Prairie Love Knits possibly as far back as 2017 or 2018 (I'm pretty sure I was working for Gen Mills still when I ordered it!).  They accidentally shipped the wrong colourway initially and I decided rather than ship it back I'd keep it (I think the shop offered me a bit of a discount if I wanted to keep it.) But I had no idea what to do with it until the Styla Reine popped up.  The ribbing I used was from much more recent times.  I ordered it in December to go with my pink fleece I had for making my Minerva Brand Ambassador project and I accidentally ordered the wrong pink.  (They have about a billion colours to choose from and I just clicked on the wrong one I guess. LOL)  I figured it would come in handy some day and it sure did!  

Next up in my frugal spring outfit was those pants.  I had lots of choices of fabric - several lenghts of denims of various weights, some floral bottomweights and then this coral linen blend that is from about the same era as the above mentioned floral french terry.  I ordered it from Minerva on sale when it was still their old site, so it's definitely been a few years!  I used a button from my button tin and the zip, while it doesn't match the coral linen - it's tan - is close enough and no one will see it, so I wasn't too worried about what colour I chose so long as it was light coloured!  I LOVE how these turned out!! The pants were pretty much perfect right off the printer (Can't say right out of the package when it's a PDF pattern now can I?  LOL!)  The only change I made was to lower the rise by an inch, and take a small wedge in at the center back.  Other than that they were perfect!  I can't wait to try them in another fabric!  I did do a bit of head scratching over the fly zip, but I think that I was overthinking things and getting myself tripped up because I hadn't done a traditional fly on anything in so long.

Once I finished the pants I had a bit of fabric left - just enough for my Costa Tote.  I found the floral cotton that I decided would be the perfect fabric for my pocket in my "dreams of becoming a quilter someday" bin of fat quarters and other quilt suitable fabrics - it wasn't big enough to do both pockets so I ended up piecing it with the linen for the back side of the tote and then lined both pockets with linen and it worked out just fine!  The lining is from a mystery cotton.  Mystery in that it's a mystery why I ever purchased it.  It's an unfortunate almost mustardy colour, but not in a good way. It's more along the lines of a cross between bile and baby poop.  Shudder! On the bright side?  It doesn't look nearly as bad as a lining for my tote and it gave purpose to an otherwise ugly and unloved piece of fabric! 

I'm so happy with how it all worked out. It feels great to have used up some of my ridiculous horde of fabric and has inspired me to start sewing more from my stash.  I've got grandiose plans of challenging myself to sew frugally, not just in March for the challenge, but throughout the year.  Maybe not always choosing free patterns - because I just had a sort through yesterday of all my PDF patterns that I've printed and it's a bit staggering how many I have.  I should probably impose a pattern purchasing ban on myself for the foreseeable future because I also have oodles of patterns that I've got saved on my computer and have not ever printed out yet to go along with that overflowing box of ones that I have printed.  Anyways, whatever I choose to do with fabric and or patterns it'll be fun coming up with ideas and inspiration!

But for now, I've got a wallet and tote combination I have to finish up for J and C's wedding social in two weeks. (I'm contributing to a "handmade" prize for the silent auction), then I have two garments  that I'm working on as my Minerva Brand Ambassador projects for the month and I just signed up to do a test for Itch to Stitch again.  I behaved myself and didn't sign up for the last one she did and then promptly signed up for the next.  What am I going to do with myself?  I'm incorrigible!  Oh well.  Craftiness is happiness?  (How corny is that?  Ha ha ha!)

Apparently All I Sew Is Tops Now...

Or so it seems.  After sewing my Coimbra Wrap Top*, I kept going on the tops theme for the rest of February!

There's a few patterns I've been wanting to make and I decided there was no better time than the in the thick of the winter doldrums to add them to my wardrobe.

First up was some fleece lined athletic knit Jackson Tees from Helen's Closet.  I purchased the fleece lined athletic from Water Tower Textiles because I had made a few "base" layers for my husband last winter and had some serious Jackson Tee envy going on.  He works in a food manufacturing plant so needs cozy warm layers for daily use at work.  We'd bought one shirt from Mark's last year and while it was great it was also hella expensive, so I had gone to work trying to source similar fabric to try and replicate the one he had.  I found the fleece lined athletic to be very comparable so this year I ordered some more to make him a couple more shirts to have in his rotation.  Then as I said I had envy so I ordered some colours I'd like too.  

The Jackson Tee is perfect for this kind of top and it's so quick to sew!! I did the long sleeve version (Obviously! LOL) and on mine I did the banded bottom and on his I did just a hem.

Next up is the Tilly and the Buttons Agnes Top.  I absolutely adore a good sleeve and Agnes has a great sleeve.  Just look at that "puff" (must be a throw back to my obsession with Anne of Green Gables when I was a kid.  I cannot resist a puffed sleeve!)  Not only is the sleeve a puff sleeve it has a great gathered detail on the side of the sleeve too.  Be still my sleeve loving heart.  Of course I'm sure everyone in the world already knows all about the TATB Agnes because it's been around quite some time now.  My only problem with my Agnes is it feels a bit more... ahem... form fitting then I'm used too.  But those sleeves.  Oh those sleeves.  They'll be what convinces me to wear it and love it even if it's a bit more slim fitting than I care for!  I sewed it up in a jersey that may have been from the Fabric Snob - I'm not sure though. It's been in the stash for a long time.

Then there's the Helen's Closet Dawson Top.  What is with me sewing slim fitting tops lately? Especially given, as I just mentioned, I'm not terribly comfortable in them.  But this is so darn soft.  The sweater knit was bought from Fabricland with Dawson in mind.  I was sort of envisioning the Dawson paired with a corduroy TATB Miette Skirt for a sort of 70s vibe.  But I've not yet found the right corduroy for my vision so maybe that'll happen down the road.

At the very beginning of March I continued on with the top trend and made another pattern that I've been wanting to get to for awhile now.  I am pretty sure I got the pattern for free at one point last year, but I see now on the website that it's $10.00, so maybe I'm misremembering.  Anyways, it's a cute variation on the standard tee with it's gathered sleeves.  I'm telling you I really can't resist a good sleeve! This is the Galaxy T-Shirt from Pattern Scissors Cloth.  I sewed it out of a very inexpensive end cut of jersey from Fabricland.  I love the colour but it's a wee bit on the thin side (it also wrinkles if you look at it sideways)  I'm thinking I might make a Cartagena Cami to go underneath it down the road.

And even though I told myself I shouldn't do any more test projects when school is in, all that went out the window as soon as Kennis posted her latest Itch to Stitch pattern test call.   I've already made two of them, but can't show you just yet as the pattern is still in the testing process.  I can't wait to show you though because it is going to be an awesome little wardrobe staple!

I have a few other projects in mind for this month.  The #sewfrugal challenge is on right now for 2023 and so I've been busily making plans with my stash fabric and some awesome free patterns.  But more on that at a later date! I'm also in the process of making a jumpsuit for my next Minerva project.  Right now though I've got get going and get some things done around the house...  apparently those dishes aren't going to do themselves.

A Last Minute Summer Sew

Labour Day long weekend is coming to a close now and school starts on Wednesday for the kids. (I've already been back since last Monday).  The hectic fall season is upon us for sure, but this weekend the weather has been gloriously summery - sunshiny and warm, so I'm wearing a last minute summer sew that I  almost had finished whipping up before we went on holidays - all I had left was the shoulder straps and hem for when we got home.  Not having had an opportunity to wear it since finishing it, I totally forgot about it until this morning.

Of course, it's the new free Orchard pattern from Helen's Closet that you can get just by signing up for their newsletter!  It's such a simple make and comes with a top version with two lengths and a dress version also with two lengths (that even has pockets!).  

I knew as soon as I saw the pattern that I wanted to make mine out of leftover linen that I had in my stash.  Because I was working with scraps I knew that I'd need to do some colour blocking to make it work.  I used the "Summer Breeze" linen in Pomegranate from Pure Linen Envy that I used a couple of summers ago to make my Helen's Closet Ashton Top along with leftover bias binding and a small strip of fabric that was all that remained from cutting out the linen blend from Minerva that I made my Zadie Jumpsuit with (also a couple of years ago). I also seamed the back of the top because I didn't have big enough piece of the solid linen to cut out the entire back piece. Scrap busting at it's finest!! 

To make my colour blocked version I went the easiest route possible.  First to make sure my top would be long enough for my liking, I added  1 1/2" to the pattern right off the hop.  Then I traced out the cropped version and added 5/8" seam allowance.  For my contrast band I traced off the rest of the top pattern from the cropped version line to the cut line and added 5/8" seam allowance at the top.  I cut both pieces on the fold since I had the room for it on my strip of linen blend, then it was just a matter of stitching the band to the bottom of my front and already sewn back pieces.  Then I continued on with the pattern as directed.  I lucked out having enough of the patterned linen bias tape left over from my Zadie to finish everything off with so I didn't even have to piece any teeny tiny bias strip scraps together.

I am really happy with how my colour blocked top turned out and now that I know how darn easy the Orchard Top and Dress is to sew, of course I can't help but thinking of some fall print fabric to make a dress with to pair it with a mock neck Dawson Top.  Hmmmmm...  Before I ponder that too much though I have a couple of other projects in the works - right now I'm working on a Moss jacket and some Winslow Culottes (Helen's Closet has ALL my attention right now apparently!!) and then I have dress I'm planning for early fall and I still want to get the pants hack of the Brampton Shorts made.  So many plans... so little time.  

Speaking of time I have to dash.  It's football practice night and the boys need to be at the field in less than an hour.  Gotta go...

The Reynolds Top

Here we are the middle of summer and it's finally a rainy day - we've had such a hot dry summer here in the prairies, so it's very welcome.  It also means that I have some time to sit down and write a blog post that I had actually intended to write at the beginning of July instead of August.  However, since I've left it so long, I now have another project to add in here. Procrastination at it's finest.  Ha ha!

One month ago today, I turned 50 years old.  Leading up to my birthday, I decided that a 50th birthday was an occasion that definitely was deserving of a special new dress, even if my plans for my birthday included nothing more than sticking around home for the day other than a short hike at our favourite spot to take our dog Jasper for an off leash walk.  

When Helen's Closet released the Reynolds Dress and Top pattern I snapped it up the minute it was released, printed it off and assembled the PDF the same day.  I had my fabric cut out by the next day. And my dress was sewn and hanging up waiting well in advance of my birthday.  It took quite a lot of restraint to not wear it before hand, but what is the point of a special birthday dress if you're not going to wait until your birthday to wear it?

I love this pattern so much!!  It's quick and easy to sew which is my favourite thing these days!  It's a simple design so it lets your fabric really shine as the star of the show.  As with all of the Helen's Closet patterns the instructions are well thought out and include all sorts of helpful tips throughout.  The attention to small details is there as well with mitred corners on the side slits of the dress and the option of doing flat felled seams.  I sewed up a straight size 18 D with absolutely no changes to the pattern at all.

I knew exactly what fabric I was going to use on it too, without any hesitation.  In fact, I had my fabric picked out of my stash from the minute Helen had said on the patreon podcast that she would be releasing it soon. I had my eye on this large scale floral linen at Fabricland for over a year!  When it came out, I fell in love with it, but it was just too expensive to justify buying.  Every time I saw it in the store I was tempted to buy it, but even when it was discounted it still wasn't justifiable.  Then earlier this spring I was wandering through the clearance section of the store just having a browse about and suddenly I spied the bolt of fabric marked down to 70%!  Hello!  That's a completely justifiable purchase in my books!  I couldn't believe my luck.  I bought it and tucked it away in my stash waiting for the perfect pattern to come along. 

I was thrilled with how my dress turned out!  The Reynolds is great to showcase the large scale print, and it's so comfortable to wear.   I wore it, as planned, all day.  I even swanned about Tourond Creek in my hikers and dress when we took Jasper for his walk that day.  It was quite a look, I'm sure.  Ha ha!

I kept thinking that a Reynolds Top would be a great addition to my wardrobe too.  I have a couple pairs of cropped Itch to Stitch Samara Pants* that I made a few summers ago.  One pair I pair with a modified Crystal Cove Cami as a faux jumpsuit, but the other pair I really have nothing to go with so they continually just sit in on the hanger unworn.  I had bought some linen last summer with the intention of making a Ashton top out of it, but never got around to it, and thought that it might work out nicely as a Reynolds, so I sewed it up on Monday morning in about an hour and a half.  (Had I not had to change serger thread, ran out of bobbin thread and broken a needle it would have been even quicker).  

The only difference from the pattern was that I lengthened it because I'm not one for wearing cropped tops at all.  Otherwise, like the dress, I made no modifications.  I'm really happy with how it turned out too.  Don't mind the wrinkles.  I ironed it, then sat down for a bit in it before taking the photos and well, it's linen.  You've just got to embrace the fact it wrinkles if you so much as look at it.  

While I'd made my top originally thinking solely of having something to wear with my purple and blue Samaras, I was pretty excited to realize that it would go with my other pair as well.  It's nice to have a different look for them than just my faux jumpsuit one! Win! Win!

Now I'm wondering how many Reynolds are too many Reynolds?  I have some more fabric that would be perfectly suited to a top and I've got some cotton that I'm thinking might be cute in a shorter version of the dress... decisions, decisions...

A Bit of a Sewing Catch Up

Well hello my lovlies!  I'm back with a post I've been meaning to write for a few weeks now!  I've been busily posting my projects on the new Minerva site.  

Now it's no secret that I LOVE Minerva and they're one of my first stops when I'm looking for fabric, even though they're based in the UK, so shipping is sometimes a bit of a wait (but if we're being honest, where isn't a bit of a wait these days?  I'm currently waiting on things from the city only an hour away, so...).  Their  new site is AMAZING!!!! It's a "one stop shop" - a fabric shop, craft shop, and social media platform all rolled into one.  Have you checked it out at all yet?  You absolutely should if you haven't!  

You can follow fellow makers, see what projects have been made from fabrics you're looking at and search hashtags.  And buying fabrics is as easy as it ever was (And don't worry!  Customer service is still top notch too.  I know, because I already have ordered fabric from the new site.  LOL) 

First things first!  If you want to follow me, just click here and it will take you to my profile.  Next, I want to give you a few glimpses of what I've been posting lately .  Some of these projects I've had in the wings for a bit and others are brand spanking new, straight off the machine a few days ago.  Fun! Fun!!

Let's get down to show and tell without any further rambling from yours truly.  I'll link the projects to my posts on Minerva so you can read all the details!

First there's my Helen's Closet Pona Jacket!  I love how this turned out! I'm definitely planning another version of this for next spring!

My next project was a two for one deal.   I made a Sew Over It Emma dress and then had enough fabric left over to make a Halla Patterns Agnes dress.  Win.  Win!

Next up was a super fun collaborative project I did with the boys.  Having them so involved with the project was awesome!

Then there was the Paper Theory Zadie Jumpsuit.  It is as good as everyone claims.  Seriously!!!!

And the list goes on...  my next make was a project that honestly turned out to be my favourite dress this summer and fall!  It's the Itch to Stitch Anza Dress* and there WILL be another version made.

Which brings me to my two most recent makes!  The Closet Core Patterns Amy Jumpsuit was supposed to be a sneaky last minute summer project, however, one thing led to another and I just finally got the finishing touches done and the jumpsuit photographed the other day.

And last, but certainly not least is my brand spanking new Suki Robe from Helen's Closet.  It is glorious and I love it!  I feel so fancy swanning about the house in it!

So there we go!  Thanks to those of you who are still with me at the end of this very long list.  I'm excited to have all my projects up now and am working away on a new one as we speak.  It's such an honour to be part of the Minerva Makers "team" - a huge thanks to Minerva for generously providing all of the fabrics for these projects!  I can't wait to update you on my newest project when it's finished! 

Until next time, stay safe and healthy and happy crafting!

Sometimes You Just Need A Blackwood... Again

Well hello dear readers!  It's been a bit again hasn't it?   I've had one hell of a month quite frankly.  I headed back to work at the end of August which, if I'm being honest, was exhausting.  It's chaos.  It's overwhelming.  But it is also so damn good to be back with kids in the classrooms.  The kids are so happy to be there too so that makes each and every long and tiring day worth it.  I have revamped my whole library program to become the "travelling librarian" and I swoop in and out of classes, bringing the library to the students instead of them coming to me.  

To add to the exhaustion of being back to work I ended up having some dental work done that went rogue.  It started out a year ago when I went to the dentist complaining of pain in my tooth when I'd bite down on something.  He xrayed and couldn't really see anything so told me to come back if it started really bothering me.  I actually took that to mean I was basically silly and a hypochondriac and so kept telling myself it wasn't that bad.  Except it was getting pretty bad and by the time everything shut down in the spring it was really bad.  But being ridiculous I kept thinking maybe it wasn't "emergency" bad.  Which brought me to August and it was hurting pretty much constantly, waking me up at night, and I was taking advil around the clock.  

So I got into see the dentist (not the same one) who did an xray and said he couldn't really see too much, but "maybe there was something down towards the root of my tooth" and then he did some sort of sorcery with a blue light of some kind and discovered there was a fairly large crack in tooth.  The plan was to take out the ancient (since I was a teenager I think) filling, drill down, then start filling up my tooth, and finish it off with a crown.   

A week later on a Monday afternoon I walked into his office, sat down in the chair, and had the filling done. I was pretty amazed that I didn't have any discomfort during the filling.  Usually at some point they'll hit a spot that isn't frozen enough and I'll be miserable.  This seemed so easy.  I thought I was going to get off easy. He warned me it was deep and that the nerve had been disturbed and that I should take Advil before the freezing came out.  He also mentioned it might take seven to ten days to heal.  Long story short it did not heal.  Instead I ended up with a massive infection in my jaw bone, the worst pain I've ever felt in my life (worse than childbirth, surgeries and broken bones, no joke) and lockjaw.  On the Friday afternoon I sat in the chair again, this time for three hours getting a root canal done.  The root canal was over three weeks and two separate rounds of antibiotics ago now.  I still can't quite open my jaw all the way yet and there's still a tiny bit of swelling along my jawline, but pain wise I'm doing ok and I can eat food again, which is a huge plus.  

It was truly AWFUL though. All I could manage was to go to work, come home and go to bed, usually in tears. So let this serve as a public service announcement.  Don't leave things go until they're really bad.  Especially because you feel silly or embarrassed.  You'll feel a whole lot worse in the end.

Anyways, as a result, all my grandiose plans of sewing all sorts of things for fall fell by the wayside.  I'd had plans for a couple of last minute warm weather makes, some Lander Pants, a Tami Hoodie, and some new tees for fall.  None of it got done.  My crafty to do list is as long as it was at the beginning of the month. But I did manage one simple project to make myself feel better.   

There is nothing like a TnT pattern to get a sense of accomplishment, and what better tried and true pattern for fall than a Blackwood Cardigan.  I've been wanting another long length Blackwood for ages and I had a nice cozy hacci sweater knit that I knew would be perfect for it.

The pattern and fabric pairing did not disappoint.  Its snuggly warm which is perfect for this time of year.   The grey and black marled knit makes it so easy to pair with pretty much everything in my wardrobe (including this Elliot Tee I made last winter).  I think this might be my fifth time making a Blackwood.  Or is it my sixth?  I feel like I'm forgetting one of the ones I've made...  Whatever the number, there is a reason I keep going back to it.  I enjoy sewing them and I love wearing them. Really, what's not to love about a TnT pattern you can cut out and sew up and be wearing in a matter of a few hours on a quiet afternoon?

I'm hoping to get back into the swing of things down in my sewing room again now that I'm starting to feel better.  My to do list has grown again.  I still want to whip up those warm weather makes. (I have them cut out and I hate to leave projects cut out and not sewn), but now I'm also itching to make another coat.  I've been wearing my Ellsworth Coat that I made for the Minerva Blog almost every day this fall and I love it, but I want something a little more traditional in terms of fabric I think.  I do have some lightweight coating/lining in my stash and I have a couple different coat patterns I'm debating that are also in my stash - the Love Notions Octave Coat* and the Sew Over It Dahlia Coat.  So watch this space... maybe, just maybe I'll get something checked off that ever growing list before the next time we talk!  Until then, I hope you and your loved ones all stay healthy and happy! 

New Summer Staples

My Helen's Closet Suki Robe finally got made in May!  A couple posts ago I was telling you how I had purchased the pattern and ordered some embroidered cotton from Minerva almost immediately after and then I sat on it for the last few years.  Like so many projects I have NO idea what took me so darn long to make it.  I was obsessed with the idea of a shortened Suki as a summer cover up for over tank tops and tees after seeing Helen's version on her blog. Really, it's a bit silly to say, but the thing that held me back was deciding on the length I needed to make the robe.  (Told you it was silly! How do I let things like that hold me back?!?!).  

 
This spring I took the fabric back out of it's pile it had been languishing in and put the pattern pages together - oh yes. I'd even printed it out as soon as I bought it.  My ridiculousness knows no bounds.  Ha ha!   It was such a quick sew once I got started.  And I was so happy to have it done!  I'd planned to wear it during Me Made May but alas.  I had absolutely nothing that looked good with it.  My love of florals can sometimes be a problem given almost all my tops are in some sort of bold floral print or another.  I really wanted a solid coloured top underneath so that the embroidery on the fabric could really shine.

Took me a few weeks more to get around to getting some solid coloured linen-look black fabric and whip up a modified ITS Crystal Cove Cami, but I got it done eventually - not in time for Me Made May of course, but whatever.  My Suki is done, I love it, and I certainly don't need to wait for an occasion or event to wear it.  I'm going to sew up a pink Crystal Cove as well so I can have a couple colour options to wear.  I bought a metre of it as well when I bought the black, I just haven't got around to actually making it.

Oh! And all that fear I had about the length?  Well - actually it turns out I cut it too short really.  Ooops!  But the world didn't come crashing down on me, nor did the gods of sewing punish me, so I guess it's alright. Ha ha!  I just used some really wide 2" bias binding I had in my stash and created a facing type hem instead and made a note on my pattern to add a bit of length for my next one.  Did I mention how much I love my shortened Suki Robe?  I might splurge on some pretty fabric to make a full length robe for lounging at home too down the road, but I've not had anything catch my eye just yet.

My other project that I am super happy I got made is another Helen's Closet pattern, the Ashton Top.  I sewed it up on the last day of Me Made May and immediately put it on for the rest of the day. I definitely need more in my life because it is getting a bit embarrassing how often I wear mine.  I hadn't sewn anything with linen in so long that I'd forgotten what a joy it is to work with and how amazing it is to wear, especially in the heat of summer.  The Ashton Top was another pattern that I've sat on forever.  I think I got it last summer when Helen started talking about "Ashton August" and all the hacks she was planning for it.

I joke that this past winter was the "Winter of Elliots" because I made and wore the Elliot so often - actually I just realized I'm wearing an Elliot tee as I type this!  I'm thinking I may have to dub this the "Summer of Ashton" because I continually wear it... see comment above....  It's just so easy to throw on with jeans, or shorts, or palazzo pants and it's cool and comfy and if it wrinkles I do not care because it's linen and that's what linen does.

I'm currently putting linen in and taking it out of my cart online because I know I shouldn't actually buy fabric.  I don't need fabric.  But I want fabric darn it.  I've even braved going to the fabric store specifically to look for linen.  (Didn't find anything I loved for an Ashton so it was kind of a disappointment - although I did find a great bargain on a linen blend for some floaty, breezy Winslow Culottes...) What I do think I might do, is take apart a dress I made forever ago when N graduated from high school and use the skirt of it for an Ashton.  It was a black and white linen blend print that I loved but lets face it.  I'm never going to fit into the dress again, so I might as well enjoy what I can of it!

So that's been my two - well I guess three with the Cami - new sews for summer that I'm going to be living in.  If you see me wearing either of them on constant repeat, just pretend you don't notice.  I'll try to at least make sure they're clean...

Oh and as for Me Made May?  My pledge was :

I challenge myself to wear at least one me made garment each day and to assess what the holes in my me made wardrobe are and to try and fill those holes by sewing some new garments.

Well, I did wear at least one me made garment each day and as it turns out, without a single repeat.  Which tells me I have a heck of a lot of clothes and not a whole lot of holes in the wardrobe.  Although, I did notice it was tops, tees, cardi's, hoodies etc.  Other than a few pairs of me made shorts, I haven't got many bottoms to go with the tops.   So I guess if I'm meaning to fill holes, that should be where I start.  I mentioned a pair of Winslow Culottes, but I also want to make a pair of cropped Lander Pants and I have fabric put aside for the Arden Pants as well.  We'll see how it goes though.  If nothing else, I tend to be pretty fickle with my sewing plans.  "Oooh look at the shiny new thing... I want to make that instead!"

Until next time, take care of yourselves and each other.

Me Made May 2020

Well here it is, already May 1st, which means its time for Me Made May!  I've been kind of hit and miss with my participation in Me Made May over the years, but I thought this year I'd give it a go!

My challenge for myself is pretty simple :

I challenge myself to wear at least one me made garment each day and to assess what the holes in my me made wardrobe are and to try and fill those holes by sewing some new garments.

My hope is that with my challenge to myself, I'll get back to creating. As I mentioned in my last post, I've found it very hard to focus over the last month and a half on things, and while I know that I always feel much better when I am giving myself the opportunity to flex my creative muscle whether it be through sewing, knitting or another crafty and creative outlet, I have found that I often don't have the energy to actually do so.  Perhaps being more thoughtful about what I need in my wardrobe will give me the gentle nudge to go sit down and do something.

As it stands right now I have about twenty projects swirling around in my head - I should sew tee shirts! But then maybe I need pants more.  Oh but then there's that Zadie jumpsuit that would be a good thing to wear this spring.  But it's chilly still somedays.  Maybe I should sew a hoodie. Then again summer is coming and I need a new bathing suit...

So it goes on.  Nothing gets done.  Heck nothing really gets started.  LOL  But!  If I can use Me Made May as a catalyst for figuring out what I need to start with maybe it'll help.

I did put together the PDF for the Helen's Closet Suki Robe the other night and do plan to start with that.  I'm going to make it as an alternative to a cardigan for spring in an embroidered cotton.  Both cotton and pattern were purchased when the pattern was first released and I've even had it printed out since then!  I was still working in the parts room back then and because my wardrobe consisted of jeans, tees and sweatshirts at the time, it got shoved to the side.  I think its high time to make it a wardrobe reality though.

Anyway, this morning dawned chilly and cloudy and very much threatening to rain, so instead of wearing something nice and springy for this first day of Me Made May I reached for a pair of ready to wear jeans and a me made hoodie.

The hoodie is my Tami Revolution Hoodie from New Horizons Designs that I made early last fall.  It's made from a heavier weight cotton lycra from Prairie Love Knits out of Alberta as I'm pretty sure its safe to say it's my favourite hoodie I've made to date! Yes.  I am wearing my moccasins.  It's a work from home day for me. Don't judge me.  Slippers are totally acceptable footwear. (They're from Manitobah Mukluks if you're curious, which is an Indigenous owned local company that I'm pretty much obsessed with because they have great products and fantastic service! My husband always cringes when I casually start a sentence with, "So... I saw Manitobah Mukluks is having a sale..." LOL)

I plan to document my me mades on my Instagram account this year so if you want to see what I'm up to you can pop on over there to have a look.  And watch this space!  I'll be back, hopefully sooner than later with that new Suki Robe!

Until then keep healthy and well!

A Trio Of Elliots

Hello all!  Here we are almost a week later since my last post.  How is everyone doing?  I waver between calm, rational thought and obsessive worrying and anxiety lately.   There seems to be no middle ground for me.

So I thought I'd distract myself with a long overdue post about my trio of Helen's Closet Elliot Sweaters that I made earlier in the new year.  How have I neglected to blog about them?  I wear them all the time!  Next time One Week One Pattern roles around it will be a no brainer for me given I have a total of five Elliots now! You can see my previous versions here and here.  Oh!  And I made my daughter one last year for Christmas... I don't think I have a photo of that one though.  I love this pattern.  Can you tell?

Let's get down to business here!  Note - these might not actually be in order of how I sewed them. Too many weeks and too many things have gone on in between to remember details like that and I'm a bit too lazy to figure it all out right now.  It doesn't really matter anyway.

Elliot #1 :

I sewed this one as an entry for the Fabric Snob's sew along.  It has a few mods to it - I lengthened the front, lowered the neckline slightly,  and simply lengthened the sleeves following the pattern lines so they ended up somewhat belled.  I LOVE this sweater.  It's in a hacci sweater knit from the Fabric Snob.  They still have it stock right now as a matter of fact.

Elliot #2 :

A t-shirt version is up next.  This one I'm not quite as happy with because first I lengthened it too much and then I shortened it too much.  WHY?  Why do I do that so often? ??  And now I feel that it hits at an awkward point maybe.  Also the sleeves need to be shortened just a smidge still.  I followed View C with the banded neckline, and had, as mentioned, initially lengthened it to have a curved hem.  I also initially shortened the sleeves somewhat from the pattern, but still not enough for my preference. After over shortening the top itself I'm scared I'll shorten the sleeves with reckless abandon as well and regret it.  What I don't regret at all is the fabric I used.  This one is a tri-blend jersey also from the Fabric Snob (and also still in stock) and it is so, so soft and comfy!

Elliot #3 :

I'm not going to lie... this one could be my very favourite of all my Elliots maybe.  It's definitely right up there. What seems like forever ago, Helen posted photos of herself wearing an Elliot dress.  She looked amazing in it and I couldn't get the idea of a Elliot dress out of my head.  I had some French Terry from Water Tower Textiles sitting in my stash since last August waiting to be used, and it seemed perfect for a dress with such simple lines.  For this one I simply extended the front and back to the length I wanted to have a straight hem and the rest is as View A is designed.  This dress makes me feel like a million bucks. It's comfy (hello, secret pjs!), easy to throw on and easy to wear.  It checks all the boxes!  Thanks for the inspiration, Helen!!

So there you go!  There's my three Elliots in all their glory!  It's such a great "blank canvas" type pattern with its simple design lines and possibilities for hacking.  Helen also has a great post up on her blog with her versions of just her tees which could be a great jumping off point if you're looking for inspiration!

That's it for me now - back to reality, housework and making supper.  Until next time, I wish you all to stay safe and healthy and remember, especially in these difficult times to try and share kindness and light as you go throughout your day.

A Crafty Catch Up

I'm back... hope all is well out there and apologies for the radio silence as of late.  I've been posting a fair amount of my crafty pursuits on Instagram lately, but haven't had the chance to sit down and properly write a blog post.  The whole new job thing didn't work out unfortunately - it just wasn't a good fit at all for our life right now, so I'm back to pounding the pavement so to speak and looking for something new.  I'm hoping to be back to work somewhere soon - and hey!  If you know anyone looking for a library technician/parts person/purchaser let me know!!

I have done quite a bit of craftiness in my blogging absence, albeit most of it Halloween related.  I made the boys halloween costumes this year again and of course they had very distinct ideas of what they wanted to be.  Little Man wanted to be Harry Potter wearing his Quidditch uniform and Baby Boy wanted to be a Red Panda, which happens to be his very favourite animal.  But he didn't want to be any ordinary Red Panda.  He wanted to be one that had super powers.  And Red Pandas with super powers have wings.  Not capes. And the wings had to be very specifically shaped and attach to his costume in a very concise manner. Fair enough. Who am I to argue on the finer points of the elusive Super Red Panda?  Little Man's costume even included a very exclusive "Nimbus 2009" model made by his dad.  The boys got to go Trick or Treating at the zoo again this year on the weekend before Halloween and the highlight of course was getting to see mama, papa and baby red panda very active in their outdoor enclosure!

Super Red Panda set to save the world!

Trick or Treating at the Zoo!

Harry Potter's favourite animal is also the Red Panda...

Super Red Panda meets up with his ordinary counterparts

I also decided to put my Silhouette Cameo and some glow in the dark heat transfer vinyl to good use and make them some skeleton tees for Halloween.  I went the easy route and just purchased the plain tees at Old Navy rather than sew them up, so it was a quick afternoon project that I surprised them with when they got home from school one day!

In the un-halloween related realm of craftiness, I finally met our newest little great nephew last week and was finally able to give him his baby gift.  I went with an owl theme - I love owls, so figure everyone else should too - I had got a little book and owl stuffy and had a tiny little owl toque I'd knit ready to go, but I wanted one more little something to go with it, so decorated a little onesie with vinyl.  I was really happy how it worked out!

I also sewed up the Elliot Sweater, which is the newest release from Helen's Closet.  I snapped up the pattern and printed it out instantly when the notification hit my email inbox that it was up on her site, but then had to wait a bit to have the time to sew it up.  I had bought the fabric from Blended Threads last fall or early winter, and when it arrived I had no hot clue what I was going to make with it.  It's a bit bulkier than I wanted for a cardigan and I wasn't sure how it would handle any sort of bands because of the bulk. I thought of a waterfall type cardi, but that wasn't really speaking to me much as something I wanted in my wardrobe, but as soon as I saw the Elliot I knew that was the pattern the fabric was waiting for!  It's a super quick sew.  I had it done in an afternoon, except for the sleeve hems.  I wasn't sure what route to take because they felt just a bit too short for such a bulky knit and because I'd only had 1 1/2 meters to start with, there was no way to cut longer sleeves but I had just enough left over to make nice wide cuffs to create somewhere between a 3/4 and bracelet length sleeve.  I absolutely LOVE the way it turned out and may actually live in this for the rest of the fall and winter.

Lately my knitting and spinning has really take a back seat in my crafting time.  I am not sure why, but I still haven't located my missing knitting mojo.  I want to be knitting, but am finding it hard to find the energy or mental space for it somehow in life right now.  So because of that I am still working on my latest Untangling Knots knit along Populuxe cardi (the deadline was November 1st, but my cardi is, as of yet, still sleeveless.  Ooops!)  so I thought I'd try to jump start my motivation and shift gears with a little colour work project, but sadly even that is not going anywhere quickly.

I have taken some time to do a bit more sewing though this week and I'll leave you with a bit of a teaser of that one.  I was outside in the snow this morning trying to take pictures of it, which was a bit silly, but the light was better out there than in here.  LOL!

I'll be back next week to tell you all about this one, so until next time, happy crafting everyone!