I am not an overly organised person. I like to think of myself as a free spirit, especially when it comes to creativity.
Back when I was a primary school teacher, I felt stifled by the classroom and endless planning. I felt so much more free when I began homeschooling, plans were extremely loose and sometimes we ditched it all to celebrate the snow, or read our new read aloud all afternoon!
Recently I have been a bit overwhelmed by all the things I want to make from my stash, all the fabric I want to buy and all the sewing offers and projects I’ve wanted to say yes to. I needed to take action, I needed not only to learn how to say no but I needed to make plans too!
I’ve been following s.is.for.sew on Instagram for a long while and watching her plan her makes and capsules was drawing me in. She suggested that I start with a mini plan list, so I did.
I bought the sewing and style planner from Sew So Natural and got to work. I decided on 5 items, not necessarily a capsule but garments I wanted to make using mostly fabric and patterns from my stash.
My first make was a hack of the Florence dress by Sew over it, a pattern I’ve had for over a year and not made. Sew over it very kindly gifted me with some gorgeous crepe. The navy fabric with the beautiful floral print was so lovely to work with and to wear. It really was the loveliest crepe I’ve ever worked with, soft and light with a beautiful drape and is not all clingy and static like other crepes I’ve used.
I styled my Florence dress on a RTW dress I pinned in pinterest. The changes I made to the pattern was extend the collar to long ties, change the sleeves for bishop style sleeves and add a tier. The pattern was very easy to make. I used this tutorial by Montoyamayo to make the sleeves. I’d been wanting to learn how to spread sleeves for a while and she made it all so simple. The gathered tier was very easy to make. I made the skirt from one back piece and one front piece, even though the pattern has two back pieces. I’m really happy with how this turned out. It’s a really pretty piece and fits so well.
My second make was a preview for Fibremood magazine and this was a scrap busting project.
The Isra is a shirt pattern with a hidden button placket. When I saw it, I had a strong desire to make it out of my denim remnants and turn it into more of a jacket. It was mostly a fun make but the pattern wasn’t really designed for denim and I had to sew through several layers for the placket, which was tough. Other than that, it was a straightforward make. It gave me great satisfaction using remnants from previous makes.
Next, I made a little co-ordinating set from a couple of pieces of fabric I bought earlier this year.
I used two patterns from my stash. The shirt was made from fabric from Lamazifabrics, a lovely off white cotton with black chalk lines. I used the Byrdie button up pattern from Pattern Scout, a pattern I’ve used a couple of times before. I hacked it into a short sleeve shirt. I also played around with the stripe pattern on the shirt front and pockets. I like that I have a neat little shirt that I can tuck in or, I’ve discovered looks cool tied at the front.
For the skirt I used some black cord and the Bobbi by Tilly and the buttons. I’ve used this pattern before to make the pinafore version. The skirt came together quite quickly. I lengthened it by 2 inches which is my usual adjustment for Tilly’s patterns. I also flat felled all the side seams. The skirt was a little big, I made a straight size 5 (UK 14). I should have made a 4 (12) at the waist and graded to a 5. So I had to use the little elastic trick I often use on my girls’ clothes – I inserted a piece of elastic into the back waistband.
The skirt and shirt make such a great, casual Autumn outfit that I think will be layered up and on repeat through till spring!
I’m not going to say much about my last make as I have written a blog that us up on the Simple sew website. It is the Babydoll dress, which could probably be renamed The Shift dress. Do go to the Simple sew website and read my blog there.
I’ll just leave you with this cute picture and tell you that I absolutely love it!
I have been really surprised by how much I’ve enjoyed this planning and making session. It was really good to spend time thinking about the fabric and patterns I already had and how I could use them for things I both wanted and needed. It has helped to calm me to know each time what I’m going to make next and what fabric I will use. It’s been satisfying to use up fabric and see patterns I’ve envisaged come to life. Yep, I love this sewing life, I love this planned sewing life! It’s certainly the way forward for me now 😊
Theunpickstitchpapers 