Firstly a big hello and welcome to all of my new subscribers!
I heard a lot of talk from other sewists saying that they felt like they had lost their “sew-jo” during January – cold weather, post Christmas lull and not much inspiration being the main culprits. I have to say though, that for me, it was completely the opposite. I had so much creative energy and was super productive.
I made a grand total of 13 items for me, along with some alterations and making a skirt for a client.
In summary, the items I made for me were:
- Rise turtleneck by Papercut Patterns
- Cosmic Cleo dungaree dress by Tilly and the Buttons
- Ginger jeans (highwaisted version) by Closet Case Patterns
- Disco leggings – Simplicity 8212
- Lovesick bra by Ginger and George (I made three different versions)
- Scrundies knickers by Stitch upon a time (I made four different versions)
- Rosa shirt by Tilly and the Buttons
- Moneta dress by Colette Patterns
As I have been freelancing in my marketing day job, and my last contract finished just before Christmas, it did afford me lots of time with my sewing machine during the start of January.
I was also bought the Maker’s Workbook by Creative Industry for Christmas, which I have loved filling out for each project – especially sticking in the fabric swatches for each project!
I actually managed to rattle through five of my Make Nine projects in January alone, so I have now decided that I will try and get the original nine made by the end of March and then set another goal of nine more projects for the second quarter of the year and see how I get on.
I have been looking for a good turtleneck pattern to see my through winter and wear with dungaree dresses and I spotted the Rise pattern on Instagram. It was a pretty quick make and I’m really pleased with it.
My second Cleo dress was dubbed the Cosmic Cleo due to the stars on the needlecord fabric and the sparkly topstitching thread. It’s such a great piece for winter and again, a really quick make.
I’ve made a couple of pairs of the low waisted Ginger jeans previously and I love them. I decided to try out the high waisted option using an indigo stretch denim from Fabricland. The fit out of the packet is pretty much spot on and I only needed to reduce the seam allowance below the knee to make them more comfortable and move the back pockets to make them more flattering.
My friend and yoga teacher Keren, was holding a 70’s disco yoga session to liven up a dull and grey January, so I decided to make some suitably disco leggings for the session. They are a little ‘out there’ but I love them and have been wearing them to my yoga and dance fit classes ever since!
I found a free pattern by George and Ginger for the Lovesick bra and it is so comfortable that I ended up making another two and have barely worn any other bras since! I made my first one in a swimsuit fabric and then made a disco one to match my leggings, along with a pug one from some scraps left over from my Linden sweatshirt.
To accompany the bras, I found the Scrundies pattern and it turns out they are the comfiest knickers in the world! I’ve made them to match all of the Lovesick bras and made another using scraps from my navy velvet Moneta. I see many more of these in my future!
I finally got round to making the Rosa shirt. Initially I was going to make the shirtdress but thought I would get more wear out of the shirt version in Winter. It’s such a pretty colour and a wonderfully soft and drapey viscose.
As the Moneta party is imminent, I busted out my pattern and made my fourth Moneta so far in a stunning midnight blue stretch velvet from Calico. Its such a wearable dress and it’s nice to have a more evening version of it.
I have focused on creating items for my handmade wardrobe that are really wearable pieces.