I seriously cannot believe that we are already four days into May. Time in quarantine is so very strange but I am excited for all that May is going to offer us. In honor of Me Made May and wearing handmade, I am focusing this month on mostly completing some garments I have had in my queue for a while, with a few home projects thrown in. This round up also does not include the fabric that I just ordered from Blackbird Fabrics a few days ago since I am not sure what the processing and shipping time will look like for their company right now, particularly since they are based in Canada and I’m here in the US. If that fabric arrives in time, I am excited to add a few more projects to this list for May and probably June.
Garments
AH! I am so stoked to cut into this fabric. I have plans for three garments to complete this month. I basically live in breezy dresses over the summer, and all three of these will fit the bill perfectly. From left to right in the fabric above, I’m planning another Wren dress, a Roscoe dress, and a Hinterland dress.
I sewed my first Wren dress last month (see my goals post and that fabric here) but I have shamefully yet to blog about that piece. It went pretty well, but as I am learning more and more with each project, the fabric matters so much as to whether I will love and wear the finished piece. This is, of course, such a “duh” moment, but it’s really sinking in the more that I invest in beautiful, quality fabrics rather than just picking out what’s on sale and hoping for the best. The floral fabric I sewed the first Wren out of is a really soft double brushed poly I purchased at JoAnn’s. It’s nice, but I had some issues with the fabric in the skirt being way too heavy and probably need to go back and fix it to be really happy with it. For the blue floral above, (purchased a few months ago from Freeman’s Creative), I am going to sew version 2 and lengthen the sleeves by a few inches like I did in my first, but I’ll keep the skirt around knee-length this time. This should also help with the drape of the skirt and prevent pulling on the bodice.
The Roscoe dress will be a new pattern for me but the instructions are incredibly clear and I have no doubt I will love this pattern. This is a berry-colored Robert Kauffman linen blend fabric that I have used for both versions of my Gypsum skirt and I know it will drape wonderfully. I have been really enjoying other sewists’ Wilder gown creations this year, and I think this long dress will be a good test to see whether I’m really into that shape or just like it on others. I’ll be sewing the View C.
The final garment I’ll be tackling is the Hinterland dress by Sew Liberated. I actually bought this fabric, a linen blend from JoAnn’s, a year ago to make this pattern but ended up running out of time over the summer and decided to save it to sew this spring instead. It’s such a great transitional piece for where I live (and Meg is also a NC resident!) and I definitely plan on sewing a version with sleeves later, but for now I think I will do the sleeveless version. I’m also toying seriously with the idea of making this dress with snaps rather than buttons. Something about this fabric just makes me think snaps would look really cool and I’d love to have that as an easy button-alternative for the future. Either way, I will be sewing it with a half-placket of buttons, not full, and will likely remove the bust darts as well.
The fabric I ordered from Blackbird will be destined for a few more exciting summer makes! I plan on sewing the Union St. tee, another Orchid Midi dress, and another pair of Winslow culottes (see my first pair here!) with what is headed my way. Will share more when it arrives.
Home projects
Even though this month’s focus will be primarily on garments, I have a few home projects I want to complete as well.
The first is to finish the second set of curtains I have picked out for my office using that tan and white gingham. I had an incredibly specific vision for what I wanted these curtains to be, and so of course I ended up ordering the fabric to make them myself. It’ll be simple to do, I just need to sit down and complete them! This fabric is from the adorable and appropriately dubbed Kitchen Window Wovens collection by Elizabeth Hartman.
The blueberries fabric from Rifle Paper Co is going to become a few face masks. I’m using the pattern by Ellie Fun Day which is really similar to the State the Label pattern I’ve seen a lot of folks making. To be honest, I am doing this as an act of love towards a few family members and coworkers, but I have had a real mental block with sewing masks. It makes me really sad to sew them and I can’t seem to get much energy behind making them. I think it has to do with using my creativity as a coping mechanism for this time, so I don’t think I will be making that many unless they are needed.
And finally, I am going to stop procrastinating and finally re-cover my sister’s backpack (which she legitimately gave me a year ago to fix, sorry Carrie!). The plan is to cover and/or remove the brown, stained portion of the backpack with this fun vintage upholstery fabric we purchased together while thrifting last year. Mostly I have procrastinated because I’m really intimidated to figure out the best way to approach this, so if you have any tips or tricks please leave a comment.
That is a LOT but I am very excited to have a clean sewing room floor and lots of time ahead to dive into these makes. Here’s to handmade!