January was a bit of a blur. Not only were we coming off of the holidays but I was out of town or had a full schedule every single weekend of the month!! I had originally planned to do a post for each item sewn and then a Sew the Year January recap post, but life got the better of me. So that means I am going to go ahead and cram it all into this post and promise to be better next month.
With no specific plans for the month that would dictate my sewing I decided to take Sew the Year February as a chance to tackle patterns that have either been sitting around partial finished or patterns that just never seem to get cut out.
We all have mental or written lists of patterns that we want to work on and in many cases even have the fabric and notions. But for whatever reason those projects just sit untouched. The flip side is the patterns that are a work in progress. For me the works in progress usually have something that bothers me to the point of knowing I will never actually wear them.
Winter has officially hit Seattle and I knew a vest would be a perfect layer to get me through these cold months. While I love a plaid vest or even a down vest, sometimes you want something that is a little bit more of an elevated look. Let me introduce you to my newest free pattern, the Bell Town Vest.
Every time I go back to make my first pattern, Ravenna, I remember just how much I really like it. While the original version has such fun and flirty details my style has evolved over the last 2 years and so today I wanted to share with you my new favourite version, the Simple Modern Ravenna.
In order to get the simple modern look I was going for I knew it would mean leaving off all the additional details from the original pattern. That means no zipper, ruffles or sleeve cuffs. Pared down to clean lines I find myself grabbing for this top all the time.
Sometimes in sewing what feels like an epic mistakes turns into the happiest of accidents and so much better than you could have ever imagined. My tencel twill cheyenne is just that an unexpected surprise from an epic cutting mistake earlier in the week.
Any sewist can look in their stash and find fabric that they are just waiting for the perfect pattern. Whether the fabric has special meaning or maybe something you splurged on, you just want the garment to be perfect when the fabric is finally used. But many of us get really nervous when the pattern has been picked and you have to actually cut into the fabric.
Somehow I became the 30 something mom who sees a trend but by the time I get around to it all the ‘cool kids’ have moved onto something new. I am pretty sure that is exactly the case with this cold shoulder Montlake.
I had no real interest in making one for myself but then I went and saw this cold shoulder Bellevue remix by Becca of Free Notion and just had to give it a try with my Montlake.
A sleeveless cheyenne is where it’s at!
After a very successful first attempt at the Cheyenne pattern from Hey June I was confident that the popover version of the pattern would be all kinds of amazing. With 3 yards of this ocean blue Japanese chambray from Indiesew it absolutely had to be made this weekend. There was no way I was putting this project off any longer.
One of my favourite things to do is take one of my patterns and make a couple changes to get something new. The Carkeek that I am sharing with you today is really filling a hole in my wardrobe, lightweight layer for cool summer evenings. And with just a couple changes to the pattern as written you have what I am calling my Carkeek remix.
As you hopefully already know, the Carkeek dress is a free pattern available in 4 sizes that is available for download here.
Since participating in Me Made May this year I have been finding all kinds of clothes that I sewed up over the last 6 months that never made it here on the blog. It has been fun to rediscover everything and actually take the time to photograph it for all of you.
This Marigold Dress by Blank Slate Patterns is a sample that I sewed up for Indiesew and knew almost immediately that I was going to love it for the spring and summer. The fabric is such a lovely rayon that flows so it will be great when it starts getting warmer.
A button up shirt is pretty much a wardrobe staple and I have been dying to make one forever! I just knew it would be a wonderful layer to take me through the spring, summer and fall here in Seattle. My conclusion is that everyone also needs a chambray shirt in their wardrobe.
I originally made this shirt for the photoshoot of my plaid Wedgwood skirt and then never actually took it off long enough to blog about it. Seriously, I would probably wear this every day if I didn’t start getting looks.
