Monthly Roundup - August '10

Although I can't believe it is already September, and August seems to have flown by too fast with not enough sewing in it, I am reasonably happy with what I accomplished this month.

1) Simplicity 2907 dress for Myra
2) Another Simplicity 5695 dress for Myra
3) A second pair of New Look 6816 pants for me
4) Simplicity 2563 Cinderella dress for Myra
5) Another BWOF 02/2009-124 dress for me

I took it pretty easy and only two patterns were not previously sewn by me.  No new techniques, just simple fun sewing.  All of the pieces have already been much worn and loved, so I think that is success!!  I sewed a total of 9.25 yards of which 6.75 came from my stash.

My current WIP is another pair of New Look 6816 pants, this time out of 2 ply silk crepe lined with habotai.  I was very nervous about cutting up all of that silk (a total of 5 yards!), but it is done now and the pants are on their way!   I'm starting with the lining, since it is less of a loss if I mess it up!

I have to say, I am really enjoying sewing with silk.  Usually lining fabric is slippery and annoying to sew, and while this habotai is soft and silky, it  has actually been a pleasure to sew.  I wish I couold sew with silk all the time!!  I want these to be finely crafted - pants I will wear a long time.  I'm sewing all french seams and planning to try my first hand rolled hem.  These won't be a quicky project, but they will be satisfying and hopefully will help me move back into more challenging sewing.

This month I will be starting my self-imposed sewing, as I mentioned in this post.  This month's project is...

lucky #3, Vogue 8322.  I have loved this pattern literally for years, but for some reason, just haven't sewn it.  I think this houndstooth charmeuse will make it nicely.  I am a little nervous about the fitting, since obviously I can't fit it to myself at the moment.  My dressform really isn't as accurate as I'd like (duct tape stretches out over time), but I do have some good pre-pregnancy measurements and a few well fitting blouse patterns for comparison, so we'll just work with what we have.  My last couple of fitted Vogue blouses have been big in the shoulders and armholes, so I'm going to start a size smaller and do a larger FBA, then work from there.

I'm also hanging with the Cool Girls, so we're drafting our own trousers.  I'm going to start with my pre-pregnancy measurements, and then add a maternity panel with the help of Kwik Sew 3324, which includes instructions for adding a maternity panel to RTW pants.  I'll blog along as I go - it should be fun!

That sounds like enough planned sewing, but I'll probably work in a few other projects here and there.  I just reorganized my knit fabrics, and found some yummies I had forgotten.  Maybe you'll get to see some...