Monthly Roundup - January '10

Well, this month sure hasn't shaped up the way I planned!  In my head, I was going to do my own little solo Month of Tops, but I was distracted by a fun new pattern, and a beautiful fabric.  Still, I had a ton of fun sewing and learning new things this month.

Completed projects:
1) Kwik Sew 2881 bike shorts for Mitch, twice!
2) Kwik Sew 3570 zip front turtleneck for Mitch, also twice!
3) New Look 6816 sweater for me
4) Simplicity 4378 scrub set for Mitch
5) Simplicity 3765 baby pants, twice for a girl baby and once for a boy
6) Lekala 5674 top for me, nearly completed, currently considered a wadder...
7) Ottobre 03/2004-9 for a birthday girl
8) A bag for blocks
9) Sew Chic 7401 - the Myrtlewood dress for me

That totals up to 12 individual garments, one bag and one wadder, which I may yet rescue, so maybe I'll call it a UFO...

New skills I worked on:
1) Inserted, exposed zip placket - twice!
2) sewing Spandex
3) Inserting gussets in kimono sleeves
4) Drafting/sewing a lining for a faced dress with a classic skirt vent

I didn't really sew outfits except for the dress, but I made the top I did get done to go with items already in my wardrobe, which I think counts!  For my other 2010 goals, I didn't do quite as well.  I didn't sew from burda style this month, and way less than 50% of my projects were from stash fabrics, although I did sew several stash patterns, so that is a bit of an improvement.

For February, I think I need to start thinking about Easter.  I'd also like to finish up the tops from January.

But before Easter is Valentine's Day!  Mom plans to embroider some tees for the kids on her new toy.  A matching skirt for Myra is also in the works.  I offered to complete the look with pants for Logan with stash fabric and a pattern from one of my new Ottobre mags - 01/2009-21.

I thought topstitching in white would be nice for Valentine's, and Mom suggested that they'd be great for Independence Day as well paired with a ring striped tee in navy and white, which I also happen to have in stash!  Perfect!

On to my Easter plans --
For Myra -

New Look 6575, view A in white crepe with a blue floral overlay.  These fabrics are from my Mom's stash and according to her tags (she's amazing at documentation) were purchased in 2005.  Now that they are fully aged, they're ready to be made into a froufy Easter dress!!

For Logan -

Ottobre 04/2004-15 pants of navy twill and 04/2004-14 shirt of quilting cotton that I let him choose.  In a surprise move, he went for Thomas the Train instead of Lightning McQueen!  I was shocked!  I find that if I let him choose his own fabric he's much more likely to wear the finished garment.

For me -

McCall's 6024.  I'm still not sure about fabric for this one.  I'm not sure that I have anything in my stash that I love for this.  I would like a floral print in something floaty, I think, but I'm concerned that since both sides of the flounce will inevitably show, a print could be problematic.  I'll be on the lookout...

For Mitch -
He's recently lost a significant amount of weight and needs dress shirts that don't balloon around his waist.  I've gotten an excellent fit for him from vintage McCall's 3439, which is quite fitted in the body.  I'm not quite happy with how the collar is coming out, though, so I think that I will use the collar pattern pieces from McCall's 4530, which has a more modern size and shape.  I've some chocolate brown shirting on it's way from Fabric.com and I'll start there...

Goals wise, I am not using much stash fabric here, just for Myra's dress and both of Logan's pants.  All of the patterns except McCall's 6024 are from stash, so I'll call that OK.  Still no burda style, but seriously, y'all, I wanted to sew my dress from burda style, but out of the 10 issues I have, none of the dresses said Easter to me like the McCall's, and I've learned long ago not to sew something that I am lukewarm about.  During my perusal of my mags though I found some great tops and skirts that I'll be sewing soon, so it wasn't a total loss!