Sewing WIPs and Plans - April 2020

I’ve been doing a good bit of sewing this winter, but only some of it has actually made it to my Instagram. Last year I started ordering PDF patterns online and having them printed in large sheets through PDF Plotting and it has been an absolute game. changer. No more fussy tissue paper patterns, no more spending hours tracing a size, then cutting the pattern pieces: instead I cut the pattern pieces out on sturdy printed stock and start cutting my fabric. I’ll usually order a few patterns at once to save on shipping and for patterns with multiple variations, I’ll spend the extra $4 to print two copies so I don’t have to re-trace or modify or reorder later, I just have a second copy ready to be cut differently the next time.

With this new system, I can cut and sew whole patterns in an afternoon. It feels AMAZING. So far this winter I’ve made the Ebony Dress, Wiksten Shift Dress, Wiksten Haori, two Gypsum skirts, and a self-drafted maxi skirt based loosely on this tutorial I found on Pinterest (it turned out so cute). If I’m not trying to do a marathon sewing session, I’ll cut out the pattern pieces and fabric one day, and construct it the next. Next month is Me Made May and I am really happy with the options I’ll have to participate based on the sewing I’ve gotten to do in recent months. And, it is motivating me to work on a few more pieces I would love to wear during the challenge.

In addition to all of the garments I’ve sewn, I’ve also totally caught the quilt bug. Going from garments to quilting has been such a fun and different type of construction and I have at least three quilted projects either in process or planned in my head right now, including a queen-sized quilt to use every day in our master bedroom. Here’s what is in progress this month:

Quilty Table Runner

I had a plan for a quilt top I wanted to construct last fall using some fabrics from Elizabeth Hartman’s fabric collection for her quilt pattern “Norm and Nanette”. It’s the perfect combination of bright, but sweet, and homey. Unfortunately for me, I ran out of the background chambray fabric I was using to construct these blocks of quilt stars and of course, I didn’t write the fabric label down, so I am abandoning my original plan for a lap quilt and turning it into a table runner instead. I still need to purchase the backing fabric (or figure out how to use the quilt block fabric for the back) and purchase batting for this project but if I am able to I think I can finish this up this month!

Wren Dress

I’m excited about the easiness of wearing more knit fabrics this spring and summer, and the Wren Dress is next on my make list for a knit dress. I have two potential knit fabrics that I’d like to make a Wren out of, and think that I will start with the pink floral that I purchased at JoAnn’s before diving into my beautiful Birch Organics blue floral knit (This weird cloudy day photo does not do it justice). I’ll definitely do the version with sleeves and may even try to make it maxi-length if I can finagle the patterning and have enough fabric to do so.

Coasters!

I have not historically been really interested in home decor sewing, but being at home for days on end has made me much more aware of all of the little projects that might be nice to have around while I work. The wood finish on my desk is rather delicate and between a coffee mug, water glass, occasional smoothie, and afternoon tea, I definitely need some more quality coasters in my life. I love this tutorial, and am also considering doing something in the log cabin style. I have a lot of small fabric pieces I could pull together for this which is great.

Queen Quilt planning

This may or may not actually count, since I’m not planning on actually starting to sew this quilt in April, but I would love to figure out how much additional fabric I’m going to need to assemble my eventual queen-size quilt. The plan for the last year has been to slowly collect tiny floral prints that I love to create a patchwork of florals on a plain background. My original thought was sawtooth stars, but I have recently also fallen in love with some simple nine-patch patterns that I think would be gorgeous too. I think finding a more specific pattern with guidelines on fabric would help, or just crunching the numbers on block size vs. finished size of quilt. Laying out all of the fabrics together was also helpful in seeing what additional colors I may want to add to make it feel more “rounded” and complete.

The start of a new season also makes me want to clear out a lot of the mending and re-fashion projects I have sitting waiting to be addressed, and I’d love to build in more time this month to get those off of the shelves and back into my wardrobe. For the amount of time that those projects have been patiently waiting to be attended to, it will almost feel like a new project getting done and new pieces getting added to my wardrobe. I also have the fabric all picked out and ready to go for a Roscoe dress and Hinterland dress but just realistically am not sure I’ll get to them this month.

What are you planning on sewing in April? Any plans for Me Made May? I’d love to know!

Building a wardrobe: 2018.5.20 Winslow Culottes

Feeling ever emboldened by my success with the Wiksten Kimono Jacket, I finally felt confident to consider sewing myself a pair of pants (!!), specifically, the Winslow Culottes. Let me preface this by saying that culottes are perhaps the most forgiving pattern one could possibly choose when it comes to actual sizing for the lower half of your body while still claiming to be pants, which for me was exactly what I needed. Pants and I have always had a difficult relationship, my hip to waist to thigh ratio being a bit...dramatic. For this project, however, the cut of the pants are so flowy that you don't actually need to measure anything but your waist! Curvy girls rejoice. 

I cut the second length of these and they hit almost perfectly at the knee, using a drapey fabric that I can't quite identify that I purchased a while back from The Scrap Exchange. The directions for this pattern were extremely straightforward, but for difficult moments Helen's Closet also hosted an incredibly helpful Winslow Culottes Sewalong that I highly recommend for anyone who is considering sewing the pattern. It was my first time using my invisible zipper foot and save for a slight issue at the beginning that was quickly solved with my seam ripper, totally doable! My only other regret was not using paper-backed interfacing. I had a bear of a time trying to incorporate interfacing that wanted to cling to everything it touched as soon as an iron came near and would recommend you use a good-quality, stiff interfacing for the waistband unlike what I chose. 

This pattern is extremely wearable and has already been a go-to piece for my summer wardrobe! They give me the practicality of pants while acting, and often looking like, a skirt. Win win win. For the fall I would love to figure out a way to cut a stretchier black knit version of these in a longer length, perhaps with the gathered waistband hack that Helen graciously provided as well. 

Building a wardrobe: 2018.2.20 Wiksten Oversized Kimono Jacket

For my birthday this year, my sweet husband relented from his desire to surprise me and I purchased myself a secondhand Janome Magnolia sewing machine to celebrate my 27th year of living. It's not an exaggeration to say that having a machine that runs as well as this one does, with the functions that it has and the possibilities that it opened up for my sewing life, was nothing short of a game-changer for my wardrobe this year. (Also, you know you're a nerd when you spend an entire night practicing making buttonholes on scraps of fabric just because you can DO that now. But we won't dwell on that.)

I decided to christen my beautiful new-to-me machine with a really challenging make (for me). I fell in love with the Oversized Wiksten Kimono Jacket from the time that I saw it on Jenny's feed in the most recent Making zine and had to have one. I combined a black semi-mystery, cotton blend fabric I purchased at the Scrap Exchange with some wonderful linen-rayon from Freeman's Creative and am so happy with this piece, even with its many imperfections. 

That "I'm just so excited I just finished this thing late at night" feeling

The only changes I made to the pattern were to shorten the jacket by about 5". I wanted more of a cropped, boxy look but I kept the pockets the same placement and size because I also LOVE a generous pocket. I made the size medium but for a more fitted fit would have gone for the small. All in all, the instructions were really clear and easy to follow, especially since this was my first fully lined garment!

We had such a weird, long winter this year that I have already gotten a great amount of use out of this piece, and the two neutrals have gone with a lot, including some darker prints I have in my closet. 

Since its debut in Making, Wiksten has also published a re-worked version of this jacket for sale as a paper pattern, so if you found yourself wanting this jacket with some modifications, check that out.