Seasonal Sewing Plans!

Hi everyone!

First of all, thank you for all your considered comments on my last post about high street shopping. I loved reading what you all thought and can see I'm definitely not alone in the way I feel. Our shopping culture across all areas, not just high street clothing, is really quite depressing. Moreover, by being encouraged to buy more and more and being able to get hold of poor quality, disposable fashion at cheap prices, is it any wonder that the charity shops many of us love are so full of total rubbish? Anyway, as Scruffy Badger commented, we are lucky to be developing skills to be able to take control over the way we shop and what we wear, and learn to really value our clothing. Nothing makes you appreciate an item when you know how long you've sweated over making it just right!

Moving on to my own sewing plans, I've joined the Fall Essentials Sew Along (FESA), hosted by Rhinestones & Telephones in order to structure my sewing for the next few months. You can find out more about this on Sarah's blog. The FESA is structured around several categories, and I am not making something for all the categories but have posted below with what I am planning to make over the next few months. I am also planning to use the sewalong to tackle some of my stash of fabric and wool. This isn't really too big, as I don't have a huge amount of storage space, but I'm keen to use materials I already have as far as possible. I will be making:

Fashionable Foundations for Frosty Weather (3 items)

• A -Line Denim skirt - using a pattern from the Sew What? Skirts book, denim to be purchased.

• Pencil skirt using this vintage Simplicity pattern, as inspired by Debi. I bought some GORGEOUS houndstooth lambswool in turquoise and black, but will make a wearable muslin first, to prepare myself for cutting into the beautiful wool. The lamsbwool was a recent vintage shop purchase but I will need to buy some decent fabric to make the muslin, probably in a plain colour.

Chic Chemises for Cool Climates (3 items)

• 2 Blouses/Tops - one to be black and the other using some green material, both from my stash. One will use the blouse pattern above.

• A sweater from a vintage pattern, also using stash yarn. Pattern to be decided but it will be some kind of vintage fairisle (Ooooh, I'm very excited about this one).
  

Fabulous Frocks (2 items)

 Rooibos fabric choice - green cotton drill and raspberry polka dot cotton

• Rooibos dress (delayed from Colette Patterns sewalong!). This is already underway
  
  
  

•   A dress to wear at Christmas/New Year. Possibly using the above vintage pattern or maybe the new Peony dress from Colette Patterns
  

Underneath It All (1/2 items)

• Slip, using Gertie's simple pattern. Materials to be purchased. I may make more than one.

Baby It's Cold Outside (1/2 items)

• Hat, probably a beret, made from green Rowan Cocoon wool, and perhaps a matching scarf/cowl. Wool is from my stash

In total this makes up to 12 items. All of this while fitting in various knitting projects for babies, sewing for friends and probably some Christmas crafting too. Easy, eh? Perhaps a tad ambitious, but we'll see how I get on.

As many of my projects use fabric, yarn and patterns I already have, this should mean that I won't need to buy much over the next few months. HA! As if! I'm sure I'll still be tempted by patterns, not least the 3 new beautiful offerings from Colette Patterns. I love all three of them, so can foresee a Colette purchase in the not too distant future, not to mention the ever-present lure of eBay. And vintage sewing and knitting patterns. And of course charity shops....


Well, at least I'm highly unlikely to be tempted back to my old haunts of Top Shop and New Look in the meantime!


K x