January Sewing Themes

I want to get back in the groove and get some sewing done. There is a group in Facebook that has a sewing theme each week. For January these themes are:

1 Jan 1-7 Clean your Sewing Space/WIP
2 Jan 8-14 Sew Your Newest or Oldest Fabric
3 Jan15-21 Sew Something for Comfort or Warmth
4 Jan 22-28 Sew Something with a Knit Fabric

My plans for this year is to not get everything done on the week, but to get the month done.

Week 1: Clean room

This was needed. I had paint cans in here from last March-ish. I put them away even though I do want to get some other cabinets painted this winter. Likely won’t happen until April though. It is as clean as it is going to get. There is only so “put away” I can get, but I did pull the machines off the table and clean it of dust. Even color coordinated my thread, which won’t last. At least it looks nice for a short time!

Later in the month I pulled most of the fabric out and reorganized by color. I needed to see what I had to work with this year. I am going to try to not buy more fabric past this month. I did buy plenty of fabric and leather in the last few months.

Week 2: Sew Newest or Oldest Fabric

As if I know my oldest fabric! Luckily I did buy a few fabrics last year. I actually went out the 2nd weekend to buy more fabric, as I wanted some more work pants. This is a stretch heavy weight fabric. I don’t think it’s ponte. I wanted to make a “suit” or at least a 2-piece outfit. I started with my stretch dress pants pattern, which is a quick sew.

Then I pondered and pondered on how I wanted to do the top. I knew it wasn’t warm enough to wear in the winter by itself, so it needed to be a layering piece. I decided to do an oversized short sleeved top. It looks awful on me, so HARD PASS. This is what it looks like laid out flat. I may rework it at some point, so I shall hang it up in my sewing room closet along with the rest of the sad, lonely unfinished projects I have in there.

Week 3: Sew something warm

I purchased this sherpa lined denim last fall to make a winter cape with it…or something close to a cape. I was limited in the amount of fabric as I got the end of the bolt. I spent many hours trying to figure out what kind of cape to make, poring over pictures on Pinterest. It had to fit within the confines of my yardage (length and width), but still be a nice warm cape. I also wanted the sherpa to show on the collar and cuff area. Pockets would also be a bonus.

I ended up with this design.

A few issues popped up.

• The original pattern pieces ended up with too much bunching on the arms. It still does have some limited movement, but it works.
• I was going to do buttonholes, but it was too fluffy for my button-holer to work.

I used this tutorial for doing the welt pockets.

The closures are leather scrap pieces, brass clasps, brass circles and brass screw rivets. I have lots of “stuff” in my cabinets, so just put together a bunch of stuff I had on hand.

This is the main pattern piece.

Me wearing the finished cape:

Week 4: Sewing something knit

This was easy as I had a knit outfit already cut out prior to the new year. I am trying to upscale my at home casual clothes, or I should say my old lady chic.

Animal print: check.

Elastic waistband: check.

Layers because hot flashes: check.

This is a really soft double knit/sweater knit that I purchased locally. The patterns are my own pattern blocks. I will need to think about the top yet. I didn’t have enough left for sleeves, so I may add some black knit or fleece on the sleeves. Otherwise, I will just wear a black cardigan with it. I do tend to go from hot to cold pretty easy these days, so layers are pretty nice.

I also made another pair of pants for work in a ponte knit?? Not sure, just that it is stretchy. This is my main pattern for making pants, where it is elastic waist and no pockets.

That’s a wrap for Month 1!