Sewing Plans

Lauren and I have dubbed this upcoming weekend, a sewing weekend! I really want to be able to participate in Me Made May this year, so I'm hoping to make a lot of progress on my handmade wardrobe this weekend.

In the past two years I've bought a ton of fabric with the idea to sew a lot of garments. Sadly, I've only made several pieces for myself since then. Being optimistic, at least I have seemingly infinite yards of fabric to work with which should be plenty to carry me through May. However, a lot of this hoarded fabric are knits and I've been terrified of using it. I know I just need to power through it and eventually I'll get used to it, but it's so daunting! I'm hoping to get tons of practice sewing with knits this weekend though. With both of our sewing machines running, I'm thinking we'll be having a mini sweat shop in our apartment.

My favorite patterns are definitely Grainline patterns. I have numerous Scout Tees, Tiny Pocket Tanks, Lindens, and Hemlock Tees already planned out in my head. Relatively speaking, these should be fairly quick sews. If I can get over my fear, I plan on living in these tops sewn from knits. Even though it definitely won't be happening this weekend, I also hope to eventually make a few Alder Dresses as well.

I already have a few garments cut out that just need to be sewed. So, my number one goal for this weekend is to sew up all of these projects and get them to the wearable stage. If all goes well, I'll also cut out several additional garments. This encourages me to keep sewing, and it makes sharing the cutting mat/rotary cutter with Lauren so much easier.

I've been reading lots of posts about other bloggers' wardrobes, many of whom are using a capsule wardrobe. While this concept is so interesting to me and I think it's a fantastic idea to live as minimally as possible, at my current stage in life (no storage space, way too many clothes, unpredictable weather patterns), it's not for me. But, this has made think a lot about my own wardrobe; what I own, what I always tend to grab from my closest first, what I need, what colors I wear most often. Because I have so many clothes that fit and I love, I've been trying really hard to not buy any new clothing items that I don't need or can't make. I'll purchase work out clothes (when needed) without hesitation because I don't want to challenge the chaffing issue. I also don't mind buying jeans (always from Gap) because they fit me so well, and basic tank tops/camis for layering under other tops. Because I enjoy sewing and it's one of my hobbies, I'm okay with making myself new garments and expanding my wardrobe even more in this way. In the not so distant future, I'm planning on doing a major closest clean out and only keeping the items that I truly enjoy wearing. If it makes me look or feel funny, it's got to go! Please hold me to this task; I have the hardest time parting ways with things. One of these days, I want to be able to open my closest and see a bunch of handmade items staring back at me. Tops are fairly easy to make so I'll start there, and I think it would be fun to also try sewing my own undergarments from scrap knits. Hopefully this all works out well and I get a good start on my Me Made May wardrobe!