My 2018 Make Nine Plans

I did participate in the #2017makenine thing that was going around on Instagram, and it worked really well in helping me to prioritize my sewing this year. Out of the nine projects I picked, the Archer shirt is the only one that I just didn’t get to at all. And I was still able to work in a few projects that were more wants instead of needs. It took some thought, but here is the #2018makenine that I finally settled on:

My #2018makenine was hard to narrow down, and there’s a lot of planned projects that I had to leave off. But if I go with what will give me the most wardrobe boosting powers, I have: 1. A knit maxidress. 2. A Fumuterre skirt. 3. A Stasia dress and/or top. 4. Pajamas, because I need to replace virtually all of mine. 5. A swimsuit/rash guard, because I don’t have a functional one and I’m tired of sunburns. 6. Two Wild Things coats, because it’s pretty much the cutest thing I can get away with #sewingforboys. 7. The Archer shirt, attempt 2. 8. The Lander shorts, though I still need to buy this pattern. 9. The Appleton shirt hack. I already have stash for 1, 3, some 4, outside of 6, 7, 8 if I do denim, and 9. #sewingplans

A post shared by sewadagio (@sewadagio) on Dec 19, 2017 at 5:49pm PST

 

(The actual picture doesn’t seem to be showing up, at least on my computer. So just in case, here’s the link.)

1. 1. McCall’s 7350, a dress pattern that I bought recently. I also found a great ITY print on clearance at Fabric.com, which made snagging 5 yards to make the more dramatic maxi version that caught my eye affordable.
2. Deer & Doe’s Fumuterre skirt. I was gifted a lovely cotton print with this earthy, abstract leafy type print to give this one a go.
3. Sew Liberated’s Stasia dress. Or maybe top. Or both. I do have a few yards of a print from a couple Christmases ago that would be a good candidate for the shorter dress, but I feel like the top has more TNT potential as a basic fitted knit top. I just might test it out on one of the pajama sets.
4. The aforementioned pajamas. The Closet Case Carolyn pajamas are pictured, and that is a pattern that I got for Christmas. I’ll start with just the pants, since I have a few lengths of flannel that are enough for that but not a full set. Since I also need some hot weather things, a set or two from the Grainline Lakeside pajamas that I’ve had waiting in my pattern stash are also likely. Though I was given fabric to make the more summery version of the Carolyn as well.
5. The swimsuit. I picked the Jalie picture that features both the rash guard shirt and the briefs lined swim shorts that I’m eyeing. I’ll need to purchase both patterns and fabric for this one, so this will be a main exception to my plan to buy as little fabric as possible, except where needed for specific reasons.
6. While I can easily think of more patterns that I still hope to make for myself, I do want to make sure I get to this pattern before the boys are much older. This is the Twig & Tale Wild Things coat, pictured in the dinosaur option. I have a piece of this weird khaki-ish corduroy that I probably got 10 or so years ago, and am strongly considering dyeing in 2 pieces to make the outside of whichever animals I decide on. I’ll likely need to get linings for this as well.
7.  The Grainline Archer shirt, since I didn’t get to it this year and it does have useful TNT potential, once I make a few changes from my last version. I have a plaid flannel that’s been sitting around waiting for that one.
8. True Bias’s Lander shorts. I still need shorts since the ones I made this year didn’t work out, and I got the pattern for Christmas, along with a fun piece of crosshatch denim to make them. I’ll probably do a test in something less interesting, though. I’ve got enough plain non-stretch denim, and I think my days of non-stretch jeans are over, so that will be a good stashbust.
9. Cashmerette Appleton, as a wrap top. I have a piece of ITY in my stash that I had been thinking would make a good one, so I was delighted to read that Jenny made the instructions for this hack available on her site– now I don’t have to take the time to figure it out myself!

I have so many projects in mind that I would also like to tackle this year if I can. It was actually really hard for me to narrow this list down, because of the much longer one I have! I’d love to make myself a new dress for Easter this year, because I’ve been either pregnant, nursing, or leaving the hospital just after giving birth for the last 3 of them, and wasn’t able to have any fun with my outfit. (If I hadn’t given up that ninth spot for the boys, this probably would have been the last pick.) I recently bought this adorable kids’ toy pattern that I would really like to make up for the boys’ Easter baskets, too. I have a couple of  more involved jacket patterns that I’ve been plotting out for a couple of years now, and other patterns that I’ve been hoarding that have had to get pushed to the side, like the Ginger jeans and the Sew House Seven Tea House dress/top. I have knits that are begging to get turned into Plantains and Renfrews, and the Ebony tee to try out. And that’s not even the whole list! But aside from the lack of pants, I think this group has some good mix and match potential in the silhouettes, as well as some good standout pieces. So here’s hoping that I’m not being overly ambitious, and here’s to happy sewing time in 2018!

Sewing top 5: Goals!

My favorite of the top 5! As is tradition, I’ll begin with reviewing the goals I made for this year.

1. 1. Figure out a workable new sewing setup. Check, as already discussed in the reflections post.
   2. My first actual sewing goal for the year is to try making bras. Also check. See hits and misses.
   3. I really, really need some pants this year. And I desperately need some shorts. Technically, I did meet this goal, even though I’m struggling to style the one pair of pants and my shorts were a flop.
   4. Another definite hole I’ve noticed is nursing-friendly tops. So I’d like to make at least one more Archer, which I do have supplies and fabric for, and another Bruyere, which I need fabric for. I’d also like to come up with a knit top pattern…. I didn’t get to the Archer, though I do have a better idea of what adjustments I’ll need to make to the pattern now. My knit top was a flop. I don’t think I’ll bother with another nursing hack for now, since I’m looking at a maximum of 4 more months this round and wearing the nursing camisoles with regular knit tops is working fine. At least my Bruyere worked out!
   5. The last definite wardrobe hole is a new coat. I need something that’s between my unlined Sewaholic trench and my as heavy as I could make without wool winter coat, because our crazy weather this fall meant that I had to guess at which one to grab a lot, and I usually ended up either too hot or too cold. This was still a problem later in the fall. Even though I started this project pretty much as soon as I was done with Halloween costumes, I just couldn’t finish it quickly enough. But the coat is getting close to being finished–I only have the closures to go–so I should be prepared for any oddly warm winter days. (Like the beautiful warm days we had in February that stopped just in time for my birthday to be cold again. Such a tease.)

Moving on to my goals for next year…

1. I’d like to work towards developing a nice stash of TNT patterns. My sewing time is so limited these days, and I’ve had so many misses over the last couple of years, that I think it’ll help me quite a bit to have some go-tos that I can be sure of. I was thinking about this quite a bit during November, thanks to the TNT theme on the Sewcialists blog. And I do think I have a couple that I’m fairly confident about– the Sewaholic Rae skirt for sure, but I’ve also had mostly good results with the Cake Espresso leggings, and the Deer & Doe Plantain top has worked well during and after both pregnancies without alterations. (I also realized during the month that I could combine those three patterns into one cohesive outfit, so that may have to happen sometime.) I think the Cashmerette Appleton dress has some strong potential, after the changes I made with my second dress, and also the Deer & Doe Bruyere once I make the tweaks mentioned in my last post. But I definitely also have some basic garment types that I need to figure out. Another skirt silhouette or two, some alternates for knit tops (I still want to get the Renfrew working again!), definitely some layering pieces, etc.
2. This may be the year I finally have to tackle one of the few garment types I haven’t tried: a swimsuit. I’ve hated shopping for those for years, and I did run into a few situations this year where I needed a swimsuit and just hated the way I looked and felt in it– my only option was an unsupportive hand me down one piece, thanks to the baby weight, and I still can’t help cringing when seeing pictures of me walking on the beach with Hobbit over this past summer. My coverup options weren’t great, either– just a pair of postpartum athletic shorts that clashed horribly with the swimsuit, or one of my husband’s gigantic t-shirts. I don’t want to be so self-conscious about my thighs or chest or anything that I can’t just enjoy being with my family, you know? I don’t have a pattern or fabric yet, but I think that if I combine three different Jalie patterns, I can make my absolute perfect swimsuit. Including sun protection!
3. I need to restock my pajamas. Badly. All of my old ones just either don’t fit anymore, or they’re horribly stretched and worn out. I know I have fabric for three pairs of pajama pants on hand, though I’ll need to see if I have anything appropriate for summer. I got the Carolyn pajamas pattern for Christmas this year, and I do also have the Grainline Lakeside pajamas to try out.
4. Even though I know that a complete minimalist approach to my wardrobe is not for me, thanks to my maternity months, I have gotten interested in capsule wardrobes. I saw some really neat ones over this past year, namely the sudoku style wardrobe that Elizabeth made, and the 4×4 capsule concept introduced to me through a series on the Curvy Sewing Collective. I don’t have time to sew a full wardrobe from scratch, and I’m not sure the Sudoku one would work for me and my size-limited shoe options. But one thing I really liked about the 4×4 in particular is that I can build on pieces I already have, and allow for prints! So even though I doubt I’ll finish one next year, I’d like to start building towards some smaller capsules within my wardrobe. I did start sketching and brainstorming patterns and color schemes for at least two, so I’ll likely get back to that in a future post.
5. In general, I want to be more creative in using what I have. I want to continue my Refashion Redemption Project, to solve some problems with things I’ve made since all of these body changes started happening. I want to play with dyeing fabrics in my stash to make them better fit my favorite colors. I have a list of 20+ projects that I can make from stash alone. Honestly, aside from Halloween costumes and the aforementioned swimsuit, I can probably go most of the year without buying fabric, unless I need linings or something, and easily not run out of things to sew! Not that I necessarily will, but if I can use more of my existing resources than I consume, that’s a win.

I’ll make a bonus knitting goal as well: since I’ve been knitting it for over a year now, I’d like to finish my Gnarled Oak cardigan. Finally.

Also, since my Christmas fabric acquisitions are in, and the stashbusting is an ongoing goal, here’s where I ended up as of the project I just finished tonight: I began the year with around 394 yards of fabric, and I now have approximately 342.5. Between the January fabric purge and actual sewing, I went through 108 yards this year! So a net loss of over 50 yards is good, I think. I’m honestly not expecting as big of a decrease for next year, but I’m hoping I can at least keep the sewing steady, even if it’s slow.

 

the berry Bruyere

I’ll just say up front that this took forever. My plan was to make this shirt for the Sewcialists’ TNT theme month, to see if it would work well in a second iteration. Considering that ended over two weeks ago, obviously that didn’t happen. Between little boy sleep difficulties and rehearsals all over the place, it feels like I’ve barely been able to spend any time in my little closet!  But finally, I have a finished project to show again.

The pattern is the Deer & Doe Bruyere, and while I’m not sure it’s quite a TNT yet, I think it’s well on its way. Since my first iteration was a fabric that I have to wear a camisole under, it’s much easier with this one to see potential fit issues. The one thing I did know would need to happen was dealing with the bust darts. I lowered the horizontal bust darts about an inch (the gauze I used for the first version pressed nicely, so it works, but those darts were not designed for the post-nursing chest!) It didn’t cross my sleep-deprived mind that lowering meant I’d also have to shorten both darts. That took a couple of attempts at ripping out and restitching to point in the right place, but I think I got the horizontal ones sorted. The vertical ones still need to be about 3/4″ shorter, I think. The lengths are written down, so I just need to transfer that to my pattern. I think I’m also going to have to mark the point on the cuffs to gather to better, because there was more overlap on my green one and it made the plackets lie better.

Another thing I think I’m going to have to do is lengthen the bodice just a bit. Maybe 3/4″ or so. I discovered quickly that the undergarments are important with this one, because I initially wore it with one of my old nursing bras that the underwire fell out of ages ago, and everything lay sooooo much better when I switched to one of the more supportive me-made ones. But it still feels like the waistband is sitting just a tiny bit high.

Can we talk about the fabric? It’s a raspberry colored chambray from Robert Kauffman, and it was a delight to work with. It presses so well, and held up really nicely to the seam ripper. I’ll need to see how it fares in the ironing department, but I’d not mind using this quality of chambray again at all.

The only downside of the chambray was the occasional thickness of the layers, despite my efforts to trim and grade. There were a few buttonholes that I had to redo multiple times as a result. If I do get my hands on this fabric again, I think I’d better find my rubber mallet that I got for jeansmaking. I know it’s in the downstairs supply stash somewhere… but anyway, look how crisp the pleats are! (Please ignore my derpy face. This really was the best shot of the back of the shirt.)

I think I’ll end up having to replace the buttons at some point, because the ones that were the closest match to the color at Joann’s were in a package labeled as craft buttons, and the quality is awful for garments. Despite my efforts to allow for buttonhole space when sewing them on, I discovered that they’re really hard to work. They’re so thin that I feel like I’m going to snap them in half every time I shove them through the buttonholes. Not to mention that it literally hurts my fingers to do so. It’s really impractical for what’s supposed to easily be a nursing-friendly shirt in particular!  I’m just not sure what to replace them with, since my color matching difficulties means I’ll probably have to go with a contrast. Any suggestions?

I do have ideas in my head of how I can use this pattern for at least two more garments, so I do think it will be worth getting those last few fitting tweaks worked out so I can start hacking. Especially because, in spite of the waistband feeling a little high, I feel good about how I look in this shirt. It’s been a really long time since I’ve been able to say that, with all of the weight fluctuations and lifestyle changes over the past three years. Honestly, I feel like the opacity of the fabric makes it more flattering than my green voile version, even though I do still love the color. Since there’s a fairly good chance that this will be my last finished garment of 2017, though I’m very close to finishing another, it’s good to go out on a high note.

 

Sewing Top 5: Reflections

I definitely had some new challenges when it came to keeping sewing (and crafting in general!) as part of my life this year. So here’s my thoughts on that, with maybe a knitting bonus thrown in.

#bpsewvember days 26 & 27. The view from where I sew is an unexciting windowless closet. I’m currently brightening it up with a “vision board” collage from a girls night out with some ladies from church. I’m still trying to figure out what style lines work for me now, since the fitted waistlines I used to love don’t anymore. But I’ve lost enough baby weight now to get a better sense of my @grainlinestudio #archershirt from last fall. Spoiler alert, the fit isn’t what I want yet, especially on the sleeves. So this will probably end up on the chopping block for my ongoing #refashionredemptionproject . #handmadewardrobe #momwardrobe #ootd #toddlerphotobomb

A post shared by sewadagio (@sewadagio) on Nov 27, 2017 at 6:47am PST

1. My sewing space changed drastically this year. I went from having my own room in our townhouse to having one wall of the walk in closet in our bedroom. Doug has been wonderfully accommodating of my need to have a place where I can leave my machines safely set up, from drilling a hole between the closet and the main bedroom wall to give me electricity, to moving his own rather minimal wardrobe into Hobbit’s closet so I’d have a little more room to work. I had to be really deliberate about choosing which tools I needed on a regular basis, since most of my stuff is being stored in a basement closet. I’ll be honest, I do miss having a larger space to work/natural light/being able to cut things out at home. I’ve had multiple instances of getting easily annoyed that I gave it up for a kid who wouldn’t sleep at all in there for several weeks, when running on an accumulated three hours’ sleep. But I know that it could definitely be worse. If I had to haul out and set up my machines every single time I can grab a few minutes to myself, I probably would have finished about two things this entire year. If that. So I am thankful for my husband’s creativity in making small spaces functional. And I’ll still hope that maybe someday, I can have a sewing room again. If nothing else, I only have to wait about 18 more years, right?

2. My mom has also been wonderfully accommodating in letting me use her sewing room. When the boys are napping or playing happily at her house, she’s usually fine with me sneaking upstairs for a little while so I can work in a half hour or so before teaching. I’m also doing essentially all of my cutting out and pattern assembly/tracing at her house now, since the only option at home for me is the kitchen table and I am 1000% sure I’d have Hobbit all over it because he’d want to “help Mommy”. The sentiment is admirable, but that’s just not going to work. I’ve mostly been a one project at a time girl over the course of my sewing life, but I’ve been keeping two projects going at a time this year– one for home, and one for her house. That’s been working out well for me, and I think I shall continue to do so as long as I’m working with this setup.

3. In a way, I think that having to downsize my space was good for me, because it essentially forced me to really evaluate what was in my various craft stashes–and what crafts to even continue. I got rid of a lot of stuff, from over 60 yards of fabric to about a third of my scrapbooking stuff to most of my beads. More on that later. Recently, I purged my patterns to get rid of everything that I’d previously cut in the old size that I doubt I’ll hit again. Even though I’m doing well with weight loss and trying to be more everyday active, I’m pretty sure that my hips’ bone structure is permanently wider! (I wish I’d started tracing my indie patterns sooner, because throwing out some of my older Sewaholics broke my heart a little.) This whole process has definitely fueled my desire for a more curated stash, particularly in fabric. I’m not worried about gifts, since my mom is usually the only person who buys me fabric and she knows my taste in prints and colors well. But in the future, I should definitely think twice before accepting others’ hand me downs. Because the vast majority of those just aren’t me.

4. I’ve missed refashioning. I need to start working that back into my sewing life again, because my one little salvage project made me ridiculously happy.

5. Sewing really is self care, at least for me. Sure, I make things for the boys on occasion, but since music is my job, sewing and reading are the two things I do mostly for myself. Reading is easier to work in while nursing, but I’ve known for a long time that going longer stretches without sewing has a negative impact on my mood. I’m glad that I’ve had a few years to accept the mindset of slower crafting, otherwise I’d probably be beating myself up for only averaging slightly over one project a month this year. And there are definitely times I’ve wished I was faster, like when I had to do a little binge RTW shopping early this fall just so I’d have pants this winter. But I have a much greater appreciation for the small steps now. And I think that as I slowly get back to a place where I’m more confident about having enough clothes that I can build outfits from again, that will serve me well in not just making things because I can, but because I want to.

Bonus thoughts on my other crafts:

Finally, a different progress shot of my #gnarledoakcardigan . #carknitting #knitting #knittersofinstagram

A post shared by sewadagio (@sewadagio) on Nov 3, 2017 at 9:41am PDT

Knitting, as I said, stays. I like having a portable craft. But I’ve found that for this season, portable is the only way I can do it at all! I’ve finished one project this entire year. For the rest, I’ve been either not knitting or working on the same cardigan, because Hobbit likes to grab my yarn and run. So now my knitting is limited to the car while Doug is driving! It’s working well for now, since I’ve been doing stockinette for ages. And slow progress, i.e. two or three rows at a time, is better than no progress. I’m not sure how I’ll handle the yoke yet, since that’s a chart and I can’t read in cars without getting a nauseating headache. But since I’m still on the first sleeve, I probably won’t have to worry about that for months.

I do still scrapbook, though I’ve mostly switched from doing the elaborate two page spreads that I used to into mostly using the pocket page protectors. It’s been working well, since I found a photo company geared towards scrapbooking that will make prints in a wider variety of sizes, including Instagram squares! I’ve been using them for a few years now, so I’ll just usually plan out my pages and what size photos I need, print several months at once, and then just do a little binge assembly when the order arrives. I’ve long been rather sentimental about memory keeping anyway, and I do see value in continuing to do that in as easy a way as possible, now that I’m a mom.

I did conclude that making jewelry doesn’t make much sense anymore, since I’ve barely been able to wear most of mine for 2 1/2 years now. I ended up getting rid of a bunch of both my me-made jewelry and my storebought stuff in a more recent (and still painful) closet purge. I do miss wearing it, and pretty much jump on it for concert days when I know little grabby hands won’t yank at it for a few hours. But I basically kept just enough supplies and tools that I can repair what I kept, and make just a few pieces more/embellish my sewing projects. And then I’ll probably just shop Etsy for any future jewelry wishes. It’s hard for me to essentially just give up on a craft that I did for so long. But so much of my life right now is prioritizing what’s most important, and when asking myself if I’d be scrambling to make a pair of earrings or sew a couple of seams during naptime, sewing wins every single time. And maybe it’s better to just focus on doing a few things well.

Top 5 Highlights of 2017

I usually do reflections with this one, but that would make this post too long. So here’s what’s been going on in my real life…

1. Obviously, the biggest thing that happened this year was having our second son. It’s been quite the adjustment! There was close to a month and a half where we had the dreaded two under 2 thing going on. We’re just about at 8 months and 2 1/2 years now. It’s still two in diapers, two not sleeping through the night (that has been SO bad the last couple of months), and now we’re just barely hitting the point where they’re both mobile! Padawan is sitting unsupported for longer stretches now, rolling all over the place, and occasionally army crawling. He also loves to stand up with help, so I suspect it won’t be long before he’s trying to walk. The little guy is such a cuddler. And I have to admit that I’ve been overall quite pleasantly surprised by Hobbit– I thought he’d be jealous, since he was just getting to a more possessive stage around my due date. But for the most part, he’s turning out to be quite the attentive and caring big brother! I hope that continues.

Speaking of Hobbit, he’s getting to a fun age. His vocabulary has exploded over the last 6 months, we can actually have basic conversations, he asks me to read him books regularly now, and when he’s not doing the 2 year old tantrum thing, he’s constantly cracking me up!

2. This has been a surprisingly busy year in my semi-professional life! I’m still doing the community orchestra, and am currently gearing up for a concert in which I play principal flute on one part and the highest notes I’ve ever had to play in my life on piccolo. I’m also still doing the flute choir, and we just recently did a concert featuring all female composers. (Which, according to our director, was surprisingly hard to assemble considering the general ratio of female to male flutists.) On top of that, I’d gone into the end of the summer thinking that this would probably be a good year to try and consolidate my teaching to fewer days– but then I picked up several new students! I’m up to double digits again now, which I hadn’t been in years. So a lot of my focus over the fall and going into 2018 is trying to figure out how to streamline and organize things at home to make it easier to juggle my job and the kids. (Also, since my mom is my babysitter for all of this teaching, she’s amazing and I couldn’t do this without her.)

3. We survived our first overnight trips with kids! We took a somewhat last minute trip down to Virginia over Labor Day weekend, in which we drove through a big chunk of Shenandoah National Park. And then last month, Doug’s parents took us and his sister’s family to a waterpark resort up in the Poconos. The park was better than either of us had been expecting, and we agreed we’ll have to try to go back up there ourselves sometime when Padawan is older and can actually enjoy more of what the place has to offer. Also, we have a tentative goal of trying to get the boys to as many states as we can before they graduate high school, so this means they’re both up to five now. Not bad for the toddler and under set. (It helps that it’s really quick and easy to leave our state. Yay, northeast.)

4. We ended up moving to a new church at the end of 2016. It was a tough call for me, because I’d been at the same church for nearly as long as I can remember. But this one is more local to where I live now, and there’s a lot more kids around the boys’ ages than there ended up being at our old one by the time we left. So the highlight for this year is that we’re starting to find ways to get involved and it’s feeling more comfortable now. Which is always a plus, since I am such the stereotypical introvert and it’s always hard for me to go into new situations where I don’t know people well.

5. I feel like I’m finally starting to get healthy again. I wasn’t exactly unhealthy before, and I’m still not getting nearly as much sleep as I probably should. But the time around the end of my pregnancy was rough. I was having so much trouble breathing at the end that I barely slept at all for the last few weeks, and even spent a day at the hospital’s triage section of the labor and delivery unit, only to be told that it was just the baby’s positioning and I just had to ride it out. I ended up having to deliver without painkillers, which wasn’t my plan, but actually a blessing in disguise because I was able to get around again more quickly. Except for my hip. I’ve been in physical therapy for several months because my hips got so misaligned somewhere in there that even normal walking was really painful. It’s finally taking effect now, though I’m not done PT yet. I’ve also been trying to walk more , since I got a fitness tracker to help me keep myself accountable. And it’s helping, because I’m already more than halfway through the baby weight! Hopefully it’ll continue, since it’s Christmas cookie season, and I do love homemade baked goods. I’m hoping to spend more active time outside with the boys next year, and maybe work in a yoga DVD too, to continue to improve on that. Exercise really isn’t my thing, I seriously loathe running and never enjoyed being forced to do team sports in gym class, but I do enjoy hiking. (Except for the bug factor.) And we tried out geocaching during the fall and that was fun, so I think I can get behind doing more outdoorsy family activities.

Top 5 Hits and Misses

It’s time for my favorite year-end series! Thanks for hosting this yet again, Gillian!

I have to say, it was a rather mixed bag this year. I wasn’t the most productive in terms of finished projects. And I do have two currently unfinished things that seem to be turning out well, but I don’t want to hold off on this post in case I don’t finish them in time. That, and time to write on the computer instead of my Kindle is rare and must be taken advantage of. Let’s start with the hits, shall we?

1. The award for most worn definitely goes to my nursing bras. I only ever really blogged the ivory one, but I made three. It did get a little better as I went along, and the black one is the best by far. I’m happy to report that they are holding up far better than the RTW ones I used with Hobbit, since those were falling apart by the time he got to the age that Padawan is now (7 months). The fit is decent enough. I’m still thinking through whether bra-making is a field I want to dig further into. On the one hand, I do have a Craftsy class on them that I haven’t gone through yet, and I do get annoyed at continually paying for bras that start falling apart after a month. (Seriously, every non-nursing bra I had for the few months between weaning Hobbit and being too pregnant with Padawan to keep wearing them lost their underwires in that short time, and I’ll have to buy all new ones again when he’s done nursing. Argh.) On the flip side, this was super fiddly, and I really do prefer wearing the smoother foam-cup bras. Either way, this won’t be anything that’s happening next year. Maybe once I finally get my wardrobe in better shape again.

2. The “best wardrobe builder” was my grey Espresso leggings. It’s nice to have a pattern that works equally well for maternity and normal clothes! And since I pretty much exclusively wear leggings as tights instead of pants (except for that one time where I was 9 months pregnant and even my maternity pants weren’t fitting anymore), they’re pretty versatile. I still need to fix the teal ones I made at the same time, since that particular ponte just didn’t have the vertical stretch needed to make it work, but I’m hoping to add to that waistband sometime before the end of the year. We’ll see if I get to it.

3. The award for “cutest project” definitely goes to the boys’ Halloween costumes. I mean, come on. I’m also gratified that Hobbit still pulls out the scarf sometimes to play with, since that was the most time consuming part of his costume.

4. The “best salvage job” goes to my Wonderland Matcha top. Even though it started out ridiculously huge on me, I’m very happy with the finished result and wore it quite a bit when the weather was warmer. I’m still hoping to get the sizing on this sorted out, because I really do like the style and want this pattern to be a go-to.

Incidentally, here’s a couple of projects I never got to blogging– I made a quick infinity scarf with the leftovers of this top, and a second one from a fun print I purchased specifically for this purpose. (I mean, tiny horse plaid!) I haven’t gotten to wear these much, since I spend a lot of time with a baby carrier on right now and they would just get soaked in drool, but I’m looking forward to mixing these in more soon.

5. And the best “just for fun” project goes to my Norwegian Wood Rae skirt. The Sewcialists blog recently did a series on TNT patterns, and while it’s a little embarrassing to admit that my current TNT skirt pattern is an elastic-waist beginner pattern, it’s nice to have one thing that I can just whip out with fun fabric and know it’ll fit.

Now, for the not so good projects…

1. The “fabric fail” award is a 3 way tie. The first is my nursing-hacked Renfrew. The concept was good. But the rayon jersey just drapes too much for having that kind of opening in the front, and at this point, it’s pretty much unwearable until I sew those nursing openings shut. Which pretty much defeats the entire purpose. I think that the sizing on this was also off– I made the largest size because nursing chest, but it’s just too long and saggy and baggy all over. I would like to do some more work on the Renfrew and figure out my new size, since this used to be one of my TNTs and I miss it.

2 & 3: My black and ivory nursing camisoles. (Ivory only pictured, because the other is the same pattern. Plus bonus Padawan photobomb.) This was another fabric fail. It was the same rayon jersey as the Renfrew, and the weight of the elastic pulls it down past the opening band. I still wear them under other things, but I have to tuck the elastic under my bra band to hold it up. It’s definitely a fabric fail and not the pattern, though, because I made a grey one from a different remnant, and it has much better recovery, and works great.

4 & 5. The “bad fit” award goes to both pairs of shorts that I made over the summer. I’m only showing the print pair here, since the solid was in the same picture as the Matcha top. At the time, the issue was that the largest size of the shorts were still too small for my postpartum body. By the time the summer ended, I’d lost enough weight that I could wear both pairs. But since the drafting still left the knit and solid meeting halfway down my butt and it always felt like the shorts were falling off, I really don’t think this is salvageable. The print in particular makes me sad, because I like the fabric for this one.

I have one bonus project that I’m not really sure which side it falls on.

So, my Jalie Vanessa pants. On the one hand, first successful pair of pants I’ve had since I started having babies! On the other hand, I’ve been kind of stuck on how to style them, particularly since the weight of the fabric and the bagginess mean they really only work for warmer weather. Any suggestions on shirt patterns or silhouettes that might make these more versatile? I mean, I’d hate to toss out a pair of pants that actually fit just because I’m not sure what to wear them with at this point.

Matcha madness

Now that it’s December, I figured I’d better do a little bit of catchup on some unblogged things. After all, it’s Top 5 season!

This make is actually getting close to three months old! It’s just been really hard to get pictures of it, and I’m honesty still on the fence about whether it was a success. But here goes.

I liked how my last Matcha top turned out in the end, in spite of my sizing issues. So I decided to give it another go. I traced two sizes smaller than the original top, and pulled out a lightweight silky print that had been languishing in the stash for a decade or so. Long story short, a) I really need to find some finished garment measurements for this thing, and b) bad fabric choice. It was still huge, and boxy, and just didn’t have the drape that this shirt seems to need.

I played around with cinching it in, and toyed with the idea of making a belt with the scraps that are left, but decided against that, because the silky fabric would shift out of place and into unflattering territory fast. I actually did find a wide belt elastic that’s nearly a perfect match, but haven’t successfully located a suitable buckle to make that. So since the tied fabric belt made me look like Robin Hood anyway, I decided to err on the side of art teacher chic and turn it into a kimono style jacket. I guess that means this counts as the second piece for my Refashion Redemption Project. (The only picture I actually have of me wearing this is an Instagram selfie. But it’ll have to do. Incidentally, I’m also wearing one of the nursing camisoles I was never able to do a modeled shot of because I was super pregnant at the time.)

I’m really glad I’d taken the time to finish all of the insides with a bound seam allowance, since they’re visible now! I should have cut the strips wider, but live and learn. The bias strips were actually a recycle from an old bias cut, pull on skirt that I sewed ages ago. Refashion bin success!