Spring Sewing Plans or #sewoveritsummer

The other day I as I sat pairing fabrics and patterns in my head I thought it might be better if I actually wrote them down on a list so they wouldn't get lost in my mental filing cabinet.

Of course I'm being unrealistic in my goals here, because goodness knows that a) I rarely sit down to my sewing machine anymore and b) I still have knitting goal lists floating about that I wrote out about ten years ago and never did a single project of because if nothing else I am fickle.  Today's MUST DO project is not necessarily going to still be next week's MUST DO project.

I noticed a few things about this list besides my delusions of productivity.  I have a heck of a lot fabric.  I should not be buying more.  And yet... well.  Don't judge. There are much worse vices I could have.  The next thing I noticed was that out of 18 projects, ten of them involve Sew Over It patterns (actually there's an 11th needs to be added to the list.  I realized just now that I have the perfect fabric for the newly released Eve dress... Eve wasn't out when I wrote the list and I had totally forgotten about the fabric that I have in mind for it.  I definitely need to get my hands on that pattern!)

In light of the patterns, I thought maybe I should just go ahead and declare 2017 a #sewoveritsummer  because my wardrobe is going to be overwhelmingly designed by Sew Over It.

Would you believe that I already have one of my makes done?  Last week I picked up some rayon voile at the fabric store and thought it would be perfect for Susie although the details of the collar do get a little lost in the print.  My two Susie blouses I made last year were so well loved, but the fit needed a bit of tweaking so I knew I had to tackle that before I did anything.  I was pretty sure that I needed to do a broad back adjustment because while my blouses from last year are fine when I'm wearing them and not moving my arms, the minute I move my arms it feels tight across the upper back, and getting out of them just about requires the jaws of life to extricate me.  In my search for information I came across a video that made the adjustment really easy to do.  I extended the back sleeve a bit too to match up with the side seam and it was exactly what I needed.  I did a half inch adjustment on either side, which was a touch on the generous side, but at least I know what I need to do now and my blouse is totally wearable and very comfortable.  I also gently curved the hemline for a shirt tail hem rather than more straight across feeling that is a more flattering look.  (although I realize that I neglected to get any photos of the bottom of the top so you'll just have to imagine it!)

The rayon voile is super comfortable to wear, but was a bit of a beast to cut out and sew.  It was so darn slippery and wanted to slide away at every turn, but I managed to get it on grain with a bit of patience and determination (and more than just a bit of flouncing and bad words).

I was really excited to have a new spring top just in time for some sunshine and warm weather yesterday!

I also finished a Betty dress yesterday, it's been mostly done since Easter weekend, but still needed hemming.  I got put off a bit when it got really cold last weekend and then decided to be full fledged winter, complete with snow again for a few days.  But the sunshine inspired me yesterday and my machine was already threaded with blue from my blouse so I did a quick machine hem on the Betty before turning the machine off for the day.  I'll try and get pictures soon of it!

So. About That Plan...

This may well be my new favourite outfit for spring!!

Remember how the other day I had a plan?  One month.  One dress.  All I had to do was decide which one?

Well it kind of fell by the wayside.  It wasn't my fault entirely.  It was that I was let loose with some money in my pocket and a fabric store in my sights.  I was still on the straight and narrow of the "Operation New Dress (revisited)" plan at the fabric store for the first bit of my peruse around.  But then I spied a sweet red floral print.  Better yet, the red floral print also had white polka dots.  And there went the plan.  Because that seemingly sweet innocent floral/polka dot print was actually screaming quite loudly that it absolutely NEEDED to become a Sew Over It Susie.

Plans to make a dress. Cuts out a blouse...
(And yes.  That is a can of tuna and a can of black olives doing double duty as pattern weights)

You know how it happens.  You plan to make a dress and instead start a blouse.  Oh the fickle seamstress I am.   But I loved this print and it's lightweight and soft and was a remarkable $3.99/metre.  You can see how I couldn't say no, right?

Like my first Susie, I really adore this one!  I had cut it out earlier in the week and then unfortunately never got a chance to start sewing right away.  It ended up that I actually sewed it up after the little boys went to bed on Thursday evening.  (And Baby Boy didn't go to sleep until about 9:45, darn his little hide!).  Now that I've got the fit down from doing the work prior to my first Susie, it was so quick to put together. For reference, I was hanging my new blouse in the closet and climbing into bed by 11:30pm. So not bad for sewing time!

A Susie Selfie! I ADORE this blouse!!!

I was so glad I stayed up a bit later Thursday night so I could wear my new blouse out for my date with my mama and my daughter on Friday.  Good visit, good food and a comfy blouse.  What more could a girl ask for?

So now that I've got Susie sewing out of my system I will return to my previously scheduled new dress sewing... Honestly.  I will.  Really...

Selfish Sewing Week - The Reality

Selfish Sewing Week is now over of course and as promised I'm back with my reality check post of how my week went.

For a brief bit of time I thought this was going to be an incredibly short post stating, "It didn't happen." However, at the end of the week I was able to get a bit more sewing time in and finish up at least one project in the nick of time.

I'm a bit disappointed that I wasn't able to get all three done that I'd planned, but you know what? I'm not going to beat myself up about it.  I was still having quite a bit of discomfort from my back and hip and was trying to get caught up on all the things I couldn't get done the week that I couldn't do anything at all.   Also, the one item I did get done, was a complete winner.  I absolutely ADORE it! So that is an extra big bonus in my books!

Onto my finished item.  It was, of course, project number one, the Susie Blouse.  It was my first ever time sewing a Sew Over It pattern and I was really impressed.  I did muslin it first and I'm really glad I did as I definitely needed to tweak the pattern to fit properly. I actually did two muslins, which of course also cut into my planned schedule, but I'd much rather take the time to do the leg work at the beginning and finish with a garment I love rather than forge ahead and have a dud sitting in my closet unworn.  Now that I have the size down pat I can definitely see making more Susie Blouses in the future!

I ended up sizing up from my original muslin to accommodate my broad shoulders then doing a sloped shoulder adjustment, and tapering down a size for the waist and hips.  I think in retrospect I could have lengthened the blouse a touch as well for my personal preference, but it'll do alright as is for both tucked in and untucked.  I also could have shaved off a smidge more in the hips, but again.  It'll do.  The only other adjustment I made was to adjust the sleeve cap slightly.  My sloped shoulder adjustment brought the previously drooping armscye up pretty much the perfect amount, but then the sleeve cap was a bit uncomfortable so a quick shave off to make a gentler curve and it was perfect.

The fabric was a great bargain and I've enough left over that I'll likely either make a Tortola Tank or a Sorbetto with the remainder.  It's a polyester with a silky feel and great drape, but was lovely to sew with, not slippery at all. It's showing up on the photos as shiny, but it's actually a matte.  It rained all weekend though so we had to use the flash when taking the photos and maybe that's what accounts for the shine?  I've no idea.

I did finish all the seam allowances with my serger though as I discovered much to my horror how much it wants to fray when I trimmed the seam allowance a wee bit too close on the collar and ended up with it fraying apart at the seam.  EEEK.  Thank goodness for extra fabric!  I cut and new collar and was far more cautious after that.  Also, as you can see in the photos, static cling.  OH MY WORD!!!!  Unbelievable amounts of static in this fabric.  Must find a remedy for that!!

I did manage to also start sewing my Wedgwood skirt but didn't get it finished.  I'm now in limbo on it's construction waiting for my Ebay lace zipper order to arrive.   I'll finish it up quickly enough once the zips arrive (providing I get a dark blue in my "random assortment pack") since I've decided I don't really want to use the red one I have in my stash currently.

As for the Shelley?  It didn't even get cut out, but that's ok.  Its pretty much a no brainer, quick one or two day project at this point.   So that was my Selfish Sewing Week in a nutshell.   Not as successful as hoped, but certainly not a complete bust.

Next on the agenda will be participating in Me Made May!  I just realized that's coming up in a hurry so headed over to So Zoe to throw my hat (or pledge as the case may be) in the ring today.

Selfish Sewing Week - The Plan

Today kicks off the start of the Imagine Gnats Selfish Sewing Week!  Now, I know what you're thinking.  You're probably saying to yourself, "But Sarah, you always get excited about this sewing week or that sewing week and then you never get anything sewn!"  Or maybe that's just ME saying it to myself, because I can pretty much guarantee that happens 99.9% of the time around here.

But this time will be different.  This time I have a plan!

See?  An honest to goodness plan.  I even wrote it all out for myself on the handy little printable planner from Rachel at Imagine Gnats.

The only caveat I have to all this planning business is that I don't yet know if I can really sit at the sewing machine.  I've been down for the count since last Monday with horrendous low back/hip pain.  Bad enough that I couldn't actually dress myself and had to rely on the kindness of my five and six year old each morning.  (and all the result of merely bending to tie a garbage bag of all the unheroic and unathletic reasons. BAH)  It is slowly getting better but it's been a long haul this time, possibly the worst I've had in the last ten years.  I got dressed all by myself today including my socks though, which I feel is a huge improvement!! I also didn't want to cry getting in and out of the truck to drive the boys to and from school and I can get in and out of a chair without needing a hoist.

So here we go. As you can see from my plan I've got a busy week scheduled for myself.  First up is a Susie Blouse from Sew Over It.  I love it's sweet simplistic design and could see it working in all sorts of different fabrics.  The fabric I've set aside for it is a feminine little scattered floral on a navy background. I know it's showing black in the photo, but I swear it really is navy.

For Susie

Next up on my schedule is a chambray Straight Stitch Designs Wedgwood Skirt.  I was drawn to both the big pleats and the cute side pockets detail on the pattern.  And although I've been a staunch disapprover of the exposed zip, I've suddenly switched sides and am now smitten with the idea.  Initially I'd ordered a red lace zip for this skirt and I thought red button accents on the pockets, but then I got to thinking that I'd rather have a navy zip and navy buttons, because I'm currently on the hunt for the perfect navy and white polka dot fabric to do another Wedgwood in and I think the red zip and buttons would go so well with that instead of the chambray.  Only problem is I am awaiting a shipment of zips that I bought off of Ebay and they are taking their sweet bloody time in arriving, so I'm not sure I'll be able to actually finish my skirt this week.  Ah, the trials and tribulations.

For Wedgwood

Last on the list is a new Pin Up Girls Shelley bra.  It's my go to pattern and I've got the fit perfected now, so it's a no brainer.  My ivory lace, power net and duoplex as well as findings just arrived from Bra Makers Supply last week ready to be cut out.

For Shelley

Wow. I've got to say that it's all kinds of weird to be talking about my under garments publicly like this.  Sooooo... Anywhooo... moving right along.  Nothing to see here...

Of course throwing a bit of a wrench into my plans was the arrival in today's post of this gorgeous sateen cotton from an eBay purchase a few weeks ago.  I wasn't expecting it until the end of the month and yet here it is already! I'm beyond impressed with both the quality of the fabric and the speed in which it arrived all the way from Bangkok.  (Well damn.  I can't manage to ever even think the word Bangkok without having One Night in Bangkok start playing on continuous loop in my brain. So know that as I'm typing the remainder of this post I'm actually singing along with Murray Head.  Which is ridiculous because I didn't particularly like the song back in '84 when it was released and I don't like it any better now.  It just gets stuck there. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.)

Anyways.

The fabric in question is this:

For Emery???

It's so lovely I wish I'd bought an extra yard of it to make a Sew Over It Betty, but since I didn't (WHY OH WHY????) I think it may become another Emery.  And I may switch up my schedule a bit to include it this week.

What is it with the navy blue kick I'm on this spring?!?  I just realized I've mentioned navy in relation to an astounding four different projects in this post alone.

Anyways, back to the plan.  We shall see how much I can get done on it.  So far in little bits today I've cut out my pattern and a muslin for my Susie.  I've done some basic pattern adjustments, but need to tweak it a bit further I think yet.  I was hoping to sew a few seams this evening, but I think I'll have to pass on it tonight.  Hopefully tomorrow will work out better in terms of actual sewing.

I'll be back sometime in the next week to tell you how Selfish Sewing Week actually goes and if I manage to sew anything at all!  For now though I'm going to say goodnight.  I've taken all my meds for my back now and the pharmacist wasn't kidding when he warned me about the drowsiness from the muscle relaxant.  I'm starting to feel a bit cross-eyed at the moment.  Hasn't put the least bit of a damper on One Night in Bangkok mind you...