I Felt a Breeze....Fall Must Be On The Way

I'm pretty sure I felt a breeze this morning so fall must be on the way which makes me giddy since fall sewing is some of my favorite (except I say this about spring sewing too so I can't be trusted).  Either way, I'm looking ahead to the new season and with that trying to get a plan, even a loose one, underway, inspired by The Wardrobe Architect Series at Colette, of course.

Like all of us, I have limited time to sew so making pieces that work well together is the name of the game and color is a great place to start.  I started by looking at the Pantone Fall 2015 color chart which has lots of colors I like to wear (mostly jewel tones) but really my own sewing room was the place to go.  I pulled together some of the fabrics on my cutting table and a couple from my stash and found my fall wardrobe emerging from my sewing room.

Berry seems to be a favorite as with navy and I just finished making a blouse in the silk Liberty above from my Blue Dot Pattern that's next to be released (stay tuned, more on that later).  The solid fabric is a t-shirt I already have and the navy fabric is a lightweight wool that will likely turn into a Grainline Morris Blazer.

I'd like to keep black/gray as one of my neutrals since I have so much of it in my closet.  I'm setting aside the cream wool gauze with baby black sequins for a tunic and the gray toile crepe is cutout and ready to stitch.  It'll be my second sample for a BD dress pattern that's also soon to make it's debut.

The denims and chambrays will be pieces I wear the most and the tencel chambray will be perfect made up in Sewaholics Granville shirt (like the one I made here).  I'm not yet sure what the stripe and lace will turn into but almost certainly they will be inspired by Madewell. 

Sewing from my stash makes me really happy and now that I've made a list here,  I can see I'm further along in my fall sewing and planning than I thought.

What are your fall plans?

I'm a FabricMart Fabricista!

Good News!  I'm a FabricMart Fabricista!  The lovely people at Fabricmart have asked me to share my adventures in sewing on their blog once a month.  I'm very excited!  FabricMart fabrics, new projects, more inspiration....what could possibly be better?  Thank you FabricMart!

Fall Inspiration

It's only August, but already I feel fall is on the way.  The smell of freshly sharpened pencils always brings back fond memories of the excitement of going back to school.  Yes, I was that kid.  Even though it's still cookin' outside and I'm not going back to school, I can't stop thinking about cool weather clothes.

This week a box of fall inspiration came in the mail.  You never quite know what you're going to get when you purchase fabrics online and in the case of knits you not only can't feel texture and see color, you can't tell how much it stretches!  You can imagine how happy I was when I opened this box of knits from FabricMart fabrics and found cozy textures, accurate colors, and perfect stretch.  Ahhh...fall sewing is here.  I think I'll make two sweatshirts in the burgundy and teal/black stripe using my dolman sweatshirt pattern, I'm not sure what to do with the black and white textured knit (any ideas?) and the lavender knit is begging me to turn it into a sweater using McCall's 6796.  Can you hear it calling to me?

Come September....I dream in plaid.  I love plaid skirts, shirts and this year I'd like to find a plaid flannel dress in my closet.  

These flannels with lace and florals would be great made up in the "Archer" pattern by Grainline (for sure I'm the only sewer out there that hasn't made one....and yes, I'll match the plaids).  

I'm off to buy spiral notebooks, a new lunchbox and plaid fabric.  Fall is here!

I'm Getting Ready For a Party With My Cameo

I gave a graduation party for my daughter last weekend and my Silhouette Cameo helped make it really special.  The only thing she said about party planning was "No school colors....I'm so sick of red."  That left me with plenty of options so I picked some pretty girl colors and threw her a country party on our patio.  

Using the 3D Lori Whitlock design from the Silhouette Cameo Online Store, I made lots and lots of petals in different papers, layered and glued them together and finished with a vintage button.  I used them to decorate centerpieces, a photo collage, the drink table, lemonade and iced tea jars and the invites. 

I used the Rectangle Petal Card Invitation Set and made invite holders out of craft paper and sealed them with flowers and the tags for the drink jars were made from the Whimsical Layered Scallop Tag design.

The country party theme was a great way to keep everything relaxed and fun.  The kids had a great time refilling the Ball Jars with lemonade and mondo-sized straws.  It was a fun day and a great way to celebrate her big accomplishment.

I'm continuing to sew more dresses for summer.  Photos soon!

Dressed to Chill

The weather forecast says we're in for hot weather this week.  102 degrees on Wednesday!  Whoo!  So all I can think about are summer dresses (especially since I have a couple of cotton prints coming via Fed Ex very soon). And here are some styles that look really good....some are brand new patterns and some have been among the ranks for a while:

Simplicity 1354

The sleeveless version is so pretty.

Simplicity 1355

View D takes me back to the 80's....

Simplicity 1356

This dress wouldn't look good on me but I would LOVE to make it!

Simplicity 1418

Ahhh, to have the yellow dress.

Simplicity 1796

View C would be my go to dress on the hottest days.

Vogue 5781

I'd feel like a ballerina in this dress (don't worry I won't dance).

McCall's 6959

I have a cotton voile on the way that would be great.  I'll need to line it.

McCall's 6744

This is currently on my cutting table.

MCall's 6920

Ponte knit?   Yep!

Vogue 8993

In cream cotton lace this would be a Princess Kate dress.

I'm so inspired....I'm off to sew!

Fabric Mixer

It’s always been a little taboo to mix knits and wovens in sewing but with the comfort of knits and the fun of wovens, I decided to break the rules and realize the best of both.  I wrote this post for the Fabricmart Fabrics blog in the hopes that others would do some mixing too.

I’ve been drooling over this top from my Pinterest board for quite a while and I used it as my inspiration. I chose a super soft navy slub knit from Fabricmart Fabrics for the body of the blouse and rooted around in my scrap basket for the wovens for the yoke.  

I chose New Look pattern 6187 View C  because it’s a simple design with a yoke. When mixing knits and wovens, the wovens are best placed in the most stable parts of the top like the yoke, collar, cuffs and placket.  It helps keep the shape of the garment without losing the comfort.  For example, it’s nice to have a yoke that stays in place but a sleeve that stretches and moves.  

I made a few simple changes to the pattern.  

1.  Omitted the collar and lowered the neckline 1/2”, 

2.  Shortened the sleeve 4” and added elastic instead of a cuff.  

3.  Pieced the yoke out of scraps,  lined it in voile and added a fabric "tab" to the back of my blouse.

4.  Replaced the neck facing by lining the front yoke and binding the back neck with 2” knit strips (see the photo) and then sewing in the shoulder seam.

To make the hem lay smooth, I pressed 1/2" wide strips of knit interfacing to the hem, folded up the hem and used a twin needle to sew it in.

This was a fun project and it's comfortable and cheery.  I highly recommend breaking the rules and mixing it up!

Here are my reviews for Pattern Review.com and Kollabora.

Happy Mixing!

Christmas Sewing

I did quite a bit of Christmas sewing this year and one of the things I did was make new pillows for my daughter's bed.  She desperately needed new bedding so I thought I'd make some pillows to finish it off.  I was a little nervous to make her something for her room without her picking it out because what you live with is so personal but....there's Pinterest!  I went on her Pinterest board and was able to gain inspiration from photos on her board.  I know it seems a little stalker to look at Pinterest for gifts but it worked and she really likes it.  The dark pillows in the back are from Anthropologie (she loves all their bedding) so I used them as the starting point and added two shams, two rectangular pillows (I prequilted the fabric before construction) and one ruffled square pillow which is my favorite because the fabric has handwritten words in French and she takes French at school.  Her room is calm and feminine but not fussy and she really loves it.

Here's the inspiration photo from Pinterest:

Happy New Year....and New Blog!

It's 2013 and I'm excited for a new year.  I'm feeling creative and looking forward to working on the projects swirling around in my head.  I'm starting a new blog with a new name but I will continue sharing my sewing projects.  Since we have a new year it's a great time for me to state (in writing so you can hold me to it) my resolutions for the new year:

1. Sew 3 projects per month.  They can be anything but I mostly want to focus on garments and even more specifically on knits, pants and even some workout wear.  
2. Run 3 half marathons.
3. Give away my "Penguins on the Beach" pajamas given to me by my dear friend Carolyn.  They are so worn they have to go!  But they're so comfy I don't want to let them go......but I will......this year.....I have all year right?

I made quite a few things at the end of the year (I don't know how I found the time) so I'll be posting some reviews soon.

If you're here from my other blog....Thanks!

Happy New Year!