2017 Sewing Goals- Capsule Wardrobe

 Last year I had a baby and was just happy to get any sewing done at all!

I always feel I don't get enough sewing in, but when I look back at the year, actually I have! I sewed all these outfits (just the fur wrap for the Cruella costume) and also two curtains, a plain black shirt, a blanket repair, a refashioned button up dress, a baby doll basket, a blessing outfit for my son, a red gingham bombshell swimsuit (yes! a swimsuit!), a red polka dot Sorbetto top (it looked great on the dress form but terrible on me!), a Franken-pattern two piece gingham nursing dress (another flop), three pillow case dresses, and a Christmas Nativity Sorbetto top. I even won second place in the Vintage Pledge Competition with my lemon dress pictured above (side note, that dress is NOT "a lemon"! It's one of my most favorite!).

I did do a lot of work on the Wardrobe Architect series in 2016 and found it fascinating! It really gave me so much direction and clarity about what I want to do with my sewing. Now I can walk through the fabric stores and instead of coveting everything, I can discern what is a good color/fabric/style for me!

However, I am very unsatisfied by the colors and outfits I chose last summer. I bought the Craftsy Class Sew to Flatter and it was amazing! It had awesome tips about how to pick the right colors and styles to flatter one's body and draw attention to one's face, which I didn't realize should be the goal of fashion but it makes sense!

From what I learned, I am very sure that I need cool colors and silver jewelry to really accent the coloring I have (dark brown hair, olive skin, blue eyes). I kind of already knew that but it was good to have it reinforced! I've decided the above colors are what I want to aim for (but I might also go for a emerald green, black, or light yellow!).

 These colors in particular I want to focus on. They seem like winter, berry sort of colors. Is it too cheesy that I think of them as "Winter Berry" in my head?

In the class, the teacher also mentions a formula for having the fewest amount of clothes but getting the 96 different outfits out of them. 

Here is a basic sample of what she suggested while adding some specifics that I want to make for myself (these also correlate to my #makenine2017 found on my instagram account):

 So I am sticking with navy, maroon, grey (darker than the photo), light purple, and a light pink floral for my colors and fabrics. I think they vibe with my need for cool colors, comfort while chasing after kids, and the vintage/romantic/feminine style I hanker after. Wish me luck!

Day and Night Dress Challenge

Elizabeth from Elizabeth Made This has put together a really cool sewing competition called the Day and Night Dress Challenge. To be apart of it, one must sew a day dress of any color and a night dress that is all black (I double checked with Elizabeth just to be sure!). I really enjoyed this challenge, and yes, worked really hard too! My house is a disaster and I will probably have to take a week off of sewing just to catch up on my chores! 

 I call this my Zooey Deschanel moment ;)

 I wanted to take pictures outside for this "Spring time" dress, but my whole town is covered in snow and ice!!!

 Daisies are one of my favorite flowers!

 ~Shoulder bows are so hot right now~

 The before mentioned Elizabeth took photos of her night dress with her violin so I had to as well!

Yes, I can play violin. Once upon a time I thought I was going to go pro! But I didn't and I don't regret it at all.

 I am a big Project Runway fan but only in the last couple years figured out what the judges mean by the word "cohesion". To put it plainly, it means the same kind of person would wear all the clothes in one designer's collection. Well, from watching all the amazing entries that have come in for this competition, I must say everyone has their own "cohesive aesthetic"! I hope mine does too! I love vintage, French style things and maybe my dresses won't come across like that to everyone, but I certainly am reminded of those things when I wear them! I love these dresses and plan on getting a lot of use out of them! I used a Frankenpattern hack of Butterick B6259, McCalls M7087, and the sleeves of Simplicity 2444 to make my day look dress (a more modest copy of a Forever 21 dress from long ago that I couldn't afford at the time but I never forgot). I straight up copied the picture on the envelope of Butterick 6582 for my night dress. I've always wanted to just take the artist's cues for fabric on a pattern and I'm glad I got the chance to this month! I also used Simplicity 2444's sleeves for the night dress, I just cut them a little shorter. Also, I am very proud of myself for yet again trying French seams! I love how they look!

Thank you Elizabeth for putting this together! 

Happy Halloween!

 I made the executive decision to do a 101 Dalmatian theme for our family this Halloween, and it was a hit! The kids loved dressing up as puppies.

It was a very light sewing costume year for me, and I am okay with that! I sewed the faux fur white wrap that I wore and I tried to sew red gloves, but they were a major flop! I bought my wig, baby's costume, and three white shirts. I painted spots on the shirts for my girls and made them masks out of felt, elastic, and glue from my hot glue gun! 

We had a blast this Halloween and hope you did too, if you happen to celebrate it of course!

Latest Projects

 Hello! It has been awhile since I posted, not because I didn't want to, I have just been SO BUSY. Being a mom is no joke. It's completely worth it and I ADORE my babies, but that also means sometimes life gets a little fast paced and non-essential things get left in the lurch.

 However I am so happy that I sewed a swimsuit! Good thing I got it done in September when it was starting to get cold and all the pools closed (I never seem to get something done in time for the right season)! Sewing a swimsuit was definitely a goal I was excited to check off my bucket list and I am pleasantly surprised by how much I like it! I used the Bombshell pattern in case anyone was wondering. A gingham vintage style one piece is a must in my opinion!

As I have posted before I adore holidays and I got a crazy idea to make a shirt for each one! I decided to give the Sorbetto top a try (it's from the Colette blog and it's free!). I added sleeves from another pattern and I love it so much! The fabric was a lucky find that I think is perfect! I love a cutesy, vintage Halloween look.

Years ago a friend wore and adorable Minnie Mouse-like top to a party and I thought it was amazing. She told me where to buy it and of course it wasn't there by the time I went looking for it. I never stopped thinking about how I could make it and I hoarded fabric for it for years. Well I finally decided to try a similar look with the Sorbetto top and I love it! I drafted the Peter Pan collar myself and now I want to make twenty more in all different colors! Also can I give a shout out to fashion fabric! Yes, I have finally grown up and discovered how fantastic it is to use fabric meant for clothes on clothes! I'm using fashion fabric from now on and not looking back (for the most part)! ;)

Have a great week!

(Belated) Fourth of July Shirt

 Everyone has a strange quirk right? One of mine is the love of celebrating every holiday to its fullest, at least the major ones. Like Buddy the Elf for Christmas, but also Halloween, Easter, Valentines, and don't forget St. Patrick's day! Anyways, I always see these adorable seasonal fabrics and want to use them but really don't feel like making a quilt. So then I had a brilliant idea to use one of my favorite patterns, The Sassy Librarian Shirt, and make a subtle or not so subtle (depending on the cuteness of the fabric) shirt to wear!

 I really tried to get this shirt done in time for the Fourth of July, which is kind of like the Christmas of summer (I would know, being a holiday connoisseur). I thought this "Sommer" fabric was a nice nod to the red, white, and blue and would be a good summer shirt. Then life happened and I could not for the life of me make any progress on it, simply from a lack of free time.

 Then the Olympics rolled around and I thought maybe I could get it done in celebration of that!

Nope.

 Finally, the planets aligned and I got this blessed shirt done! I surprised myself and made the shoulder seams larger.

 I also made the executive decision that although this pattern is precious and lovely, it is a time consuming one. Free time is something I don't have a ton of so I am going to stick with my crazy holiday shirt plan, but use a less complicated pattern.

 

 Happy Fourth of July! I love my home country.

Lemon Dress

 It's summer time! That means I finally have some time to sew.

 

 When I saw this fabric I fell in love! The lemons are perfect and the teal color is so fun. Then I saw a dress on a "Dapper Day" photograph that looked like the Simplicity 1459 pattern. I decided to try and copy it! I love how it turned out.

 I did French seams and a full lining inside. I have never made anything so nice (even though it is not perfect).

One has to have a drink of lemonade with a dress like this! It all makes me feel so summery and happy.

I'm linking this dress to the 2016 Vintage Pledge and Allie's Social Sew.

A Belle Dress and other Happenings

It's birthday season at our house! I always try to make a "dress up" for each of my kids. I usually try to make something I would've wanted as a kid, which isn't always something a parent should do, but it's worked well for costumes so far.

 This dress is like buttah! I think I want one in my size! To wear to the live action Beauty and the Beast next year! I'm not a nerd or anything.

 I found a dress I really liked for $3 (yeah!!!). It was just a bit too short for me so I bought another dress just like it and then cut off the skirt from one to add to the other. Voila! Magical longer skirt!

 Me Made May was difficult for me to be apart of this year. My body just doesn't want to snap back from having a baby! So therefore I don't fit into many of the clothes I have made in the past. I did my best to get this simple, loose top finished but it didn't until June 1st! Waaa! A day late. :(

I had to take in the sleeves, but otherwise this is an awesome, easy pattern!

I have lots of birthday sewing to do but man, I need to do some more selfish sewing soon! ;)