Category Archives: Planning

2019 Make Nine and plans for the year

After reviewing 2018, I thought it would be natural to do a little post on planning my sewing and crafting in 2019.

I’ve decided to give Make Nine another go as it was kind of helpful for me to plan my makes for last year, though I didn’t finish everything. I have added the 4 things I didn’t make onto the list again – and I think for the 3 Closet Case Patterns this is the 3rd year they’ve been on my make nine, so this year I really have to make jeans and pyjamas!

(Clockwise from top left)
1. In The Folds Acton Dress
2. Helen’s Closet Blackwood Cardigan
3. Papercut Guise Pants
4. Closet Case Ginger Jeans
5. Close Case Morgan Jeans
6. Sugardale Evelyn Trousers (or overalls)
7. Closet Case Patterns Carolyn Pyjamas
8. Helen’s Closet Elliot Sweater
9. Tilly and the Buttons Agnes Top

I have all of these patterns and I really want to stick to the Acton being the only ‘every day’ dress I make – I’m going to the Dressmaker’s Ball in March so will probably make a dress for that.

I want to do some more tailoring next year. As I mentioned in my review of 2018, I kind of want to make another coat though I’m not sure I need one. I definitely want to make another jacket, probably using the Joe Jacket by Ready to Sew again, based on this one worn by Claire Foy:

(image source)

I also want to do some more knitting this year – I’ve rediscovered knitting this Christmas break and I’d forgotten how great it can be to do in front of the TV. I’ve almost finished a jumper for myself which I cast on 3 or 4 years ago and then I’ve promised to make my partner a jumper from some yarn I had in my stash. I’ve also bought a couple of embroidery patterns so I can do those over the course of the year.

I also want to make a couple (or a few) more projects for my Hundred Years Wardrobe. I’m going to see the Dior exhibition at the V & A and I’m so tempted to make a Dior outfit to go in but I suspect I won’t have time.

To help me to be organised this year, I’ve signed up for Trello, as recommended by Helen on Love to Sew and by Jen from Gingerella on her Instagram recently. I’m already in love with it and have probably planned out at least a year’s worth of projects, if not 2 years!

Are you making plans for the coming year or are you more a ‘fly by the seat of your pants’ kind of sewist?

2018 in Review

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Another year is over so I’m recapping what I’ve made in the last 12 months. I thought I hadn’t made as much in previous years, but I made 5 dresses, 4 sweatshirts (2 for my friend’s daughter), 2 Cleos, 4 Pairs of trousers, one of which was part of my Socialite Soiree suit, 4 shirts, and a coat. Plus I made a Freddie Mercury outfit and refashioned a bunch of things into a Miss Fisher outfit. Phew!

Here is my final Make Nine 2018 progress – I made 5 of them, which I think is the most of any Make Nine I’ve come up with. I still didn’t yet make jeans. 2019 will definitely be the year I finally tackle jeans! I made my Honetone Coat, Carnaby Dress, Ebony Dress (twice), Blaire Shirt and Portobello Trousers.

The thing I’m proudest of making this year (as I mentioned via the #myproudestmake hashtag) is my Honetone coat. I really took my time over it in February and I’m really glad I did. Apparently there is some really cold weather coming in January so this will still get lots more wear this Winter. I kind of want to make another coat, but I probably don’t need one.

My second favourite make from this year was the suit I made to wear to the Sewcialite Soiree. I made it in record time, (unlike my coat) because I left myself, like 3 full days and 3 evenings to make it in. The Joe Jacket came together really easily and I definitely want to make another one, in black and white houndstooth – if anyone has any ideas where to buy some suiting in houndstooth, let me know!

One of my favourite makes was my cropped Kalle shirt. I definitely want to make more Kalles. I did wear it quite a bit this year as we had an unusually long Summer.

2 things that I wore way more than I anticipated were my 2 Cleos. Though sadly I wore the mustard one to work a lot and when unloading a delivery from a van I got a big black mark on it, which hasn’t come out yet. Happily I have loads of mustard corduroy left over from my suit so I’m going to replace it – I think that will be one of my first makes of 2019.

Pretty much my only refashion project (except adding a hem band to a cropped Inari tee) was to make my Miss Fisher outfit for The Rafashioners. The coat will definitely get lots of wear in Spring and Autumn when it’s not too cold.

My love affair with shirts continued – I made 4, 3 of which were from patterns I hadn’t used before. (Clockwise from top left: Blaire, Honeycomb, Melilot, Kalle)

I also made 4 pairs of trousers – and I have lots more plans for more trousers in 2019. (Clockwise from top left: Persephone Pants, Simplicity 1696, Portobello Trousers, Mercury Trousers). I really want to make more Persephone Pants next year so I’m on the lookout for good fabric.

I also made 5 dresses last year, which is a lot considering I don’t wear them super often now I work hulking fabric around all day. Dresses aren’t the most practical of garments. I love the Laurel I made – definitely a good rediscovery of a forgotten pattern in my stash. (Clockwise from top right: Inari Tee Dress, Carnaby Dress, Ebony Dress (blue and gold))

Also this year I ‘launched’ my Hundred Years Wardrobe project – to sew something from each decade of the 20th century. I also completed the first project – this 70s Freddie Mercury Zandra Rhodes outfit. Sadly I didn’t dare wear it to the cinema when I saw Bohemian Rhapsody, which was amazing!

This year I joined my local brass band, and a swing band, playing the cornet/trumpet which I played for 10 years while at school. I went to their big Christmas concert last year and the year before and last year I finally plucked up the courage to talk to the band leader and then I played at the Christmas concert this year! I also spent rather a lot of money on a set of mutes so I made some storage bags to keep them from getting bashed and scratched.

The other thing I wanted to do in 2018 was to do some knitting and to make my partner some clothes. I basically didn’t do either of these for 51 weeks of the year – I have actually done some knitting over the Christmas break. I’ve been finishing a jumper I cast on probably 3 or 4 years ago!

All in all this was a pretty good year for me – I did plenty of sewing, played lots of music and got a new job which I don’t hate. My partner turned 40 and we went away for a weekend. And I’ve tweaked some stuff in our flat so it looks nicer and works better – and I’ve been clearing out cupboards this holiday season, which has been really satisfying! I finally renewed my passport and went to visit one of my best friends, with my other best friend, in Germany finally, which was really brilliant. I always feel stupidly pleased with myself when I manage to fly somewhere on my own!

I’ve also had quite a few periods of feeling low and uninspired this year but I tried to be kind to myself and not get annoyed at myself if I didn’t sew for a couple of weeks or blog as regularly as I might have liked. Sewing and blogging should be fun hobbies so if I didn’t fancy doing them, then I didn’t and I feel good about that.

Autumn 2018 Plans

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I can’t believe it’s already October!

But with the weather definitely getting colder (I’m currently cuddling a hot water bottle, something I will do for probably the next 6 months!) I’m starting to think about my Autumn sewing plans, so I thought I would share them with you.

As usual, I’m probably being overly ambitious, but hopefully I’ll make most of these things:

I’ve got these 2 lovely sweater knits, which were really difficult to photograph so the colour came out correctly. The one on the left is a lovely mustard yellow and was from Tilly’s pop up shop for her new book, Stretch. The burgundy one on the right was from the Bull Ring market in Birmingham at last year’s Sew Brum meet up, which means it’s been in my stash almost a whole year! I think they will both become cardigans, but I don’t have a pattern in mind – let me know your favourite cardigan pattern if you have one.

Next on my list is another Kalle Shirt – I still really love my first one, though it’s a bit cold to wear it now as the fabric is a bit thin. With this one I think I’ll make the tunic length, and I’ve bought the sleeves expansion pack so it will be more cool-weather-appropriate. I love this fabric, so I think this will become one of my favourite makes!

Not content with making one shirt, I’m planning a second! I have already made one white shirt using the Archer pattern, but I could really do with another one as a white shirt forms part of the uniforms for both bands I now play with, and you can never have too many white shirts! This time I thought I would make a Melilot, but maybe with a pointed collar instead of the rounded one. I haven’t decided whether I do a hidden placket or not. The fabric is from Clothspot and was bought with a voucher I won in the Sew Brum raffle.

And talking of Clothspot, the stripey fabric here, which I’m planning to use to make the Papercut Guise trousers, was bought with the other half of my voucher. The fabric is quite shiny, but I’m hoping it will be a bit toned down by using a fairly casual pattern.

The rest of my plans consist of jeans, jeans and more jeans – I just need to bite the bullet and make my first pair, it can’t be that scary! First up will be the Morgans as I’ve already cut them out, from this fabric I bought from a Birmingham shopping trip probably 18 months ago!

I also got this denim for my Ginger wearable muslin in Birmingham, so they will hopefully be next.

And then, assuming the first pair of Gingers works okay, I’ll make a black and a navy pair (probably without the contrasting topstitching or hardware) from these stretch denims from Fabric Godmother.

This month, however, my main focus will be 2 outfits not mentioned above – I want to join in with The Refashioners this year and I already have my inspiration and all the garments I’m going to refashion – now I just need to do the sewing…..

I was also lucky enough to get a ticket to the Sewcialite Soirée on November 10th, so I need to make an outfit for that too. I’ve got an idea of what I want to make, but I need to buy fabric and possibly a pattern so I’m not totally sorted yet! Are you going? Have you decided what to wear yet?

Are you getting excited for Autumn? What are you excited to make now the weather is cooling down?

#2018MakeNine recap

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I’ve been meaning to write this post for a little while, and now we’re well over half way through the year, but I thought I would check in with myself to see how I’m doing with my #2018MakeNine.

I felt like I had made several of the things on my list of 9, but it turns out I’ve only made 3!

I’ve made the Marilla Walker Honetone Coat, 2 Closet Case Patterns Ebony dresses (1, 2), and a Nina Lee Carnaby dress (which I haven’t blogged about yet).

I sort of nominally planned one make per month and I was doing okay……until March apparently! I meant to make the 2 jeans patterns in April and May but I haven’t got around to either yet.

I’ve also decided to swap out the Victory Patterns Hannah Dress for the Style Arc Blaire Shirt. I have quite a lot of dresses in my wardrobe but I mostly wear separates, and mostly trousers and shirts (or other tops when it’s hot). And it looks like most of the last part of the year will be making jeans and trousers, which I do desperately need in my wardrobe.

I planned to join in with 3 of the Sew My Style projects and so far I’m not behind, as the bag and the bra are towards the end of the year. Although I did make my Kalle Shirt, I didn’t make it in time for the deadline, but I did make most of it in the right month.

How are you doing with your plans for the year? Are you as behind as I am?!

Summer 2018 Sewing Plans

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Since I’ve been writing fewer posts, and sewing at a slower pace, it seemed silly to write monthly posts outlining my sewing plans, so I’ve decided to do it seasonally instead.

Apparently in the UK we are going to experience a 3-month long heat wave, which some people would call ‘Summer’ but that’s not a normal Summer for us – usually it’s warm for a week or two, then cold again for weeks. So since it’s going to be consistently warm for a couple of months, I need some clothes to keep me feeling cool.

My first plan is to make an Acton Dress, probably out of this turquoise viscose I bought online ages ago. I slightly went off is as soon as it arrived, but I’m digging the idea of a floaty Summer dress. I don’t know which view of the pattern to make either, yet.

My other option of fabric for the Acton is this blue cupro which I originally ordered as a lining for my coat, but which was too dull a shade of blue to work with the wool.

But I’ll probably use the curpro for a pair of Nina Lee Portobello trousers. I think it will be perfect for a Summer pair of trousers.

And speaking of Nina Lee, I’ve got plans for a Carnaby Dress made from this deco-ish style fabric from Sew Over It. I bought the fabric on a total whim, because it was almost sold out, and I’m so glad I did! I’ve already got this dress cut out, so hopefully I will actually get this one made. And I can probably wear it with tights and a cardigan in the Winter too.

And speaking of shift dresses, I’m giving the Colette Laurel another go, with the ruffled sleeves, which I now like, a year after they were in fashion! I made a couple of Laurels a few years ago but I got rid of them both as they were a bit snug and uncomfortable, so I’ve gone up either one or 2 sizes, I can’t remember which.

My final Summer dress plan is for this turquoise cotton drill (I think) Inari Tee dress. I actually cut this out last year and never got around to making it, so fingers crossed it happens this year. The fabric is years old – I bought it on one of my first trips to Goldhawk Road, when I knew very little about fabric.

I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t plan to make another shirt. I bought this peach skin from Fabric Godmother a couple of months ago and I think it would make a great Blaire Shirt by Style Arc. I might try to play with the direction of the pattern in the fabric, given that the seam lines are begging for it, though stripes would work better. Maybe the next one!

One thing I definitely want to make time to sew is a kimono from this Simplicity pattern I got free with a sewing magazine, I think Love Sewing. I have this lovely cotton lawn from Sew Me Sunshine, which I snapped up as soon as she got it in stock because I had tried to buy it last year but everyone was out of stock. I think this will be the perfect Summer cover up for when it does get a bit chillier.

Another buy from Sew Over It is this navy blue checked crepe, which I think will be the perfect fabric for a pair of Mercury trousers.

If you’re still reading at this point, you may be thinking that this is a lot of things to make for a Summer which has already started, and you’re probably right – I wouldn’t be surprised if this Salle Jumpsuit gets bumped again to next year. It’s already been sitting around, cut out, for a year, with the Inari Tee Dress.

I’m going to end this post with a plea – what can I do with this beautiful crepe (I think) from Sew Over It? It has a gorgeous drape, but I don’t want to make another dress as I already have probably too many planned as it is. I fear it is too jazzy for me to reasonably wear as trousers, so maybe some kind of top? I’ve got 2m. Suggestions very welcome!