Thursday, January 12, 2017

2017 Sewing Outlook - Tower of Sewing

Last year, and for a couple of years before that, I've had fairly ambitions crafting plans. Also for those years, and probably pretty much every other one before, I've been wildly disorganized in spite of my best attempts to use about 3 billion different organizational systems. I always end up with a pile of supplies surrounded by good intentions, and only a few finished projects. This year, I also have ambitious crafting plans, as well as other life goals such as returning to college, but I'm feeling optimistic that maybe this is the year I'll get a few more of them done than usual. I won't say all, but maybe most.


Why the extra optimism this year? Last fall, I was diagnosed with ADHD. It took until my 30s to put the pieces together, and now? With help, I'm finally able to make some of those organizational tools and skills work, and it looks possible that I can make a plan and execute it with fewer hiccups and without leaving everything until the 11th hour. I ordered the 110 Creations: A Sewist's Notebook, found a free printable blog planner that I changed slightly for my own use, and I even made a spreadsheet to organize my projects by month. So just maybe this will be the year that I am actually successful at getting my shit together.

Collage Credit @selfassemblyrequired
So first, I joined Project #SewMyStyle. The goal is to sew one piece each month for a year, focusing on slow sewing to end up with something of a capsule wardrobe. A couple of the chosen patterns I already own, or have looked at buying. Several of the patterns are not necessarily styles I would typically choose, or projects I would decide to take on, but for now I'm planning to stick with them as a way to push out of my comfort zone. My bigger problem is that, right now, I'm outside of the size chart for a couple of the patterns, and I'm currently undecided about how to tackle that.

From top left: Closet Case Morgan Jeans, Love Notions Pemberly Tunic, Patterns for Pirates Cocoon Cardigan, True Bias Hudson Pants, Colette Sorbetto Top, Mouse House Julia Cardigan, Sew House Seven Toaster 2, Simplicity 8231, Kate & Rose Zsalya
Additionally, I decided to be part of the Seasonal Sew Wardrobe: Deep Stash challenge. This one is a minimum of eight items in 4 months, all sewn with patterns that were acquired before January 1, 2017. It's also encouraged to pull fabrics from your stash, but much of my stash isn't readily accessible to me right now. I've managed to choose a few things that will use stash fabric, but I've had to buy some new to match the patterns that I think I'm going to make. Of course, since this goes through the end of April, there's a good possibility that I'll wind up changing my mind, and already have at least once during the planning phase. Since I now have the fabric that I plan to use with each pattern, I will try very hard not to go too far off of my plan.

Image credits: Jessie's Girl, Saffron Cosplay, Upcycle PJs, Flannel Shirt Dress (unable to find original image), Morgan Jeans, Jasper Sweater, Skyrim Logo, Pajama Eaters, Chain Maille Bracelet
Lastly, so far, I joined 2017 Make Nine. I had trouble deciding on nine projects, and not all of them are sewing. There's a knitting project, and at least one jewelry project, as well as a cosplay that will involve multiple craft media. Most of these don't have any specific deadline, so I'm currently sorting out how best to space them throughout the year. These are mostly direct "make this pattern" or "follow this tutorial" ideas. Exceptions: I plan to make a Tilly and the Buttons Fifi camisole to go with the Colette Madeline Bloomers for my (probably not upcycled) pjs. The Skyrim image is beads, but I'm actually planning to try making a small quilt. It will retain a geeky theme, but may or may not stay Skyrim inspired. And the Saffron cosplay depends on a number of things. There will hopefully be some sort of cosplay, but the exact one may change. I've done costumes and cosplays for everyone else, but for one reason or another I've never quite managed to commit and make one for myself, so I'm aiming to do that this year.

It remains to be seen how close I get to making everything on these lists, but regardless it looks like a full, fun crafting year ahead!

Thursday, January 5, 2017

It's Four in the Morning, the End of Dressember

It's not really four in the morning here, but it is somewhere. For some reason, when I was titling this as "End of Dressember", I got Leonard Cohen's "Famous Blue Raincoat" in my head, so y'all can get it stuck in yours too. You're welcome.

I didn't start this to write about song lyrics, though. Dressember wrapped up a few days ago, and I'm glad to have participated. Over the month of December, more than $1.3 million was raised, and donations are still rolling in. Fundraisers are open through the end of January, but no more having to wear a dress everyday. So far, over $1.4 million has been raised, enough to fund 222 rescue operations. No one deserves to live in slavery, so if you can, please donate to help reach the $1.5 million goal!

For those who don't follow me on IG, here's a quick and dirty roundup of the second half of December's dress selfies.





I won't lie, I was sooo happy to wear jeans and no dress New Years' Day! But I am planning to participate again this year. If anyone else is interested in joining me, we can be a team! So consider wearing dresses next December to end modern day slavery. And remember.
 #itsmorethanadress