this year's sewing, revisited

Now that I've been using some of these baby-related things for several weeks, I figured it would be a good time to look back at the things I've made this year, and see how they're working out in the real world. If you follow me on Instagram, I apologize that you've seen some of these photos before, but it's the only way I can actually show these right now.

First off, the maternity clothes that I made hoping they'd also work after. I haven't had a chance to try out the Megan Nielsen top again, because it is way too hot and humid for polyester right now. But the two maxi-dresses (pictured here, and the solid black one), and the tie-dyed maxi skirt are all working out pretty well. There are things I do wish were a little different about each one. The yoga-style waistband on the skirt was a bit too wide even when I was pregnant, and I have to fold it over pretty far now. But it does fit without falling down, which was my main goal. This blue dress still feels a bit wide in the upper back, and I am debating whether to add a faux back seam just to take in some of that extra fullness--I'd hate for a print this lovely to feel frumpy! As for the black dress, the fit is still really good, even minus the bump. But I do need to hem it a little shorter. It was on the verge of too long before, and now I have to be really careful to avoid stepping on it when I walk. I just haven't had the time to do so yet. On the plus side, the zipper nursing access, though not perfect, functions pretty well.

If you have no interest in reading about the more baby-specific makes, here's a good place to stop! Otherwise, moving on to...

...the gender-reveal outfit! Along with Hobbit's very skeptical expression. He's not a small baby by any means--he's only 6 1/2 weeks old, and we've already had to take the newborn insert out of his car seat, and several of his 0-3 month sized clothes are beginning to feel a little tight when snapping them closed. I say that to show just how ridiculously oversized this is on him! I think I may have misread the pattern. I thought it was a 0-3 month size, but I'm looking at the sizing chart on the website, and it looks like this may be more of a 6 month size. Which leaves me wondering if I should go back and add some length to the legs, since these are shorts and that would mean he won't fit into these well until it's cold. The thought of him not being able to wear it at all is mildly heartbreaking, and I do still have some of this denim left. But would that look dumb to have that seam there?

Next up: the diapers.

He's modeling the smallest of the three sizes here. For the most part, they're working out really well so far-- we've been having to do laundry at least every other day because of them, but we haven't had to buy a single diaper yet. (We were given some disposables at the shower, and have been using those occasionally, but for the most part, it's been almost exclusively the sewn ones since I was recovered enough to start taking more stairs around week 3.)

At the risk of being TMI, for the most part, the messes have been contained well. I think we've had maybe 3-4 blowouts the whole time so far--granted, I try to change him pretty quickly as needed, but still. The kid really does eat like a hobbit (i.e. a LOT), so I suspect we'd have had a lot more otherwise. The only issue, other than frequent laundry, has been that the really wet diapers soak through the front where the velcro stitching is. They're not constructed in a way that I can really go back and waterproof those seams, but I think it will probably only be another month or two before he outgrows this size anyway, so it probably isn't worth the effort. It'll be interesting to see what happens when I switch to the next size with the pocket inserts and snaps. The bulk of these has also occasionally made it hard for him to wear certain shorts and pants, but honestly, it's been so hot here that we usually have him in just a onesie or a t-shirt anyway, other than when we're in the icebox that is my church.

I don't have pictures of me using the next three things. I've gotten some good use out of the nursing cover, including one incident where I had to feed him in a restaurant parking lot. Suffice to say, I thought initially that maybe it was too big, but I'm glad it's the size it is. I'm still getting the hang of maneuvering him underneath, but I'll figure it out. The diaper bag is also working out well, though it's usually packed very full due to the bulk of the cloth diapers. The matching changing mat does the job, though the snap stopped working after the first time I washed it. I guess I messed something up when setting it, but I just fold it up and stuff it in the bag. It's easier to maneuver with one hand that way, anyway.

So the last thing I have to review at the moment is the play gym.
As far as I can tell what's going on in a baby's head, he really seems to love it! We've been using it almost daily as a mat for his tummy time, and once he starts getting fussy, I'll flip him over and let him bat at the felt animals. He's gotten pretty good at aiming for the lowest-hanging ones, and has also figured out that he can make them all shake if he hits the hula hoop instead. I've tried him with a few other toys here and there, but so far, this one holds his attention the best. So I'd say it was well worth the effort to make it. Yay for Pinterest wins!

Otherwise, I have been sewing a little, though I'm pretty much limited to when I can get him to nap. I've finished a skirt, but haven't had a chance to photograph it yet. I've been going through my wardrobe and weeding out things that won't work anymore, including several me-mades, and am debating whether to do the same with my sewing patterns. I'm helping my best friend with a DragonCon costume, which is taking all of my sewing time at the moment. I've got multiple other quick projects lined up for myself, mostly of the refashion type, and am hoping that I can get to them soon! I'm also taking part in the #sewphotohop meme on Instagram, which has been fun so far. (I have my account there set to private, since I post a lot of baby pictures there these days, but if you want to follow me on there, just send a request. It hasn't been hard to figure out who sews on there, I'm just trying to block random strangers from getting access to the kiddo! At least, as much as is possible when posting occasional pictures on something as public as a blog.)

Evaluating the mini-wardrobe

Now that I'm getting close to the end of my pregnancy, and in lieu of my participating in Me-Made-May this year, I thought it might be useful to take a look back at how I did with sewing for  myself in this transitional period. After all, I'd decided to make this more fun/interesting for myself by treating it as a capsule wardrobe, a la Wardrobe Architect. And I did learn some things about what worked/didn't work for me. Also, in case a second baby comes along down the road, it'll help me to have a reference of what I might want to consider adding!


Things I think went well:

• Overall, I'm quite pleased with how well various alterations I made to several non-maternity patterns worked. Especially since pattern hacking is not my strongest skill, and one I'd like to keep working to improve. I would further tweak my Renfrew hack, but the dresses and maxi-skirt went quite well. As did the actual maternity alteration to the Manila leggings, even if the rest of it was a fail. So maybe there's hope for me yet!
• I also think I did pretty well at sticking with a cohesive color palette. 
• I was able to surprise myself with occasionally being able to pull out non-maternity clothes to fill in some gaps. Namely my Plantain top and a couple of buttondowns worn over tank tops.
• Also, aside from the first trimester, I think I did a pretty good job of sucking it up and plowing through sewing to fulfill needs that I had, even though I've still been nauseous at some point(s) every single day of this pregnancy. So go me.

Things I wish I'd done differently:

• More vivid colors! Even though I did stick with the palette pretty well, I felt like things ended up being a lot heavier on the neutrals--the black, navy and grey in particular, just due to what I was able to find in thrift stores or what I had on hand that was working. By the time winter was wrapping up, I was sooooooo bored and wishing for cheerier, brighter things. (Ok, so I do that every year. But it was definitely worse with the much more limited choices I had.)
• More prints! Especially tops. Because even with the things I found/made that were in brighter colors, I just haven't felt quite like myself while wearing so many outfits that were just solids. I've tried livening it up with accessories, but a necklace can only take you so far on that, and I was honestly afraid to wear scarves for the first half of the pregnancy because of all the sickness. (Plus, having things close around my neck during the worst of that was really, really uncomfortable for me.) The couple of print things that I've made near the end are helping. A lot of this was really just me trying to work mostly with the stash that I had, but I think that, once I make some space on the shelves/if I need maternity wear again, I may specifically treat myself to some new fabric to expand this wardrobe.

Things I'll need if this ever happens again:

• More bottomwear. Especially of the pants variety. I refashioned 3 pairs of pants, outgrew one of them by about mid-March (which had been a little small around the waist/hips to begin with anyway, so I could only make it expand so much), and had to pretty much give up wearing the other two by mid-April because they were corduroy and therefore getting uncomfortably hot when spring weather actually arrived. Which has left me with only 2 pairs of jeans to get through the last 2 months, and I will admit that I do feel a little unprofessional when doing music lessons in jeans. I wouldn't mind another knit maxi-skirt or two either, because the tie-dye one is sooooo comfortable. (I've tried wearing some of my older elastic-waist ones over the bump here and there, and they kind of dig into my ribs and gather weirdly under my tops. So it hasn't been helpful.)
• Pajamas. I got through the latter part of the winter with an older pair of PJ pants and an oversized thrifted top--but those got worn so much that the top has several holes in it now. Once things started warming up is when things got really tough--I had to resort to buying a shorts and tank set from Target, because I didn't have anything that fit. (Note to self: Tofino pants do not make good maternity pants. Though I love them as a non-maternity PJs pattern.) 
• Another pair of leggings or two wouldn't hurt, if I have another cold-weather pregnancy. Or at least some more stylish knit pants (and casual tops) to wear around the house that aren't fleece sweatpants that I used to wear under other clothes to keep warm on backpacking trips. That's what I ended up resorting to on Saturdays/weekdays when I didn't have to go out to save my jeans for nicer wear, and I felt so frumpy. Which is not the feeling you want when you're already feeling like a nauseated whale.

Biggest hits: 
Honestly, aside from the refashioned corduroys (so useful) I feel like the best things I made were the ones that I'm hoping to continue wearing after this is over-- particularly the black maxi-dress and the tie-dyed skirt. I may need to do a follow-up post later this summer on how well they actually work for post-pregnancy/nursing.























Biggest misses: 
1. The Manila leggings. Though I'm still hopeful that I can successfully revisit this pattern, now that I know that I really need to check the stretch before diving in. And probably add at least 4" to the legs. But I really just didn't feel comfortable wearing them very often--the color meant it didn't work as a tights layer under the two shorter skirts I had (one black and one denim), and I really only wore them twice. One of those was to keep warm under the black dress for a cooler-day music performance at church, and the other was just around the house. And I have to confess that I threw the denim skirt on over it anyway, because even when alone in the house, I just didn't feel fully clothed when wearing leggings as pants! I'll probably keep these as a layering piece, but definitely not as a stand-alone.

(I still have to try out my Cake Espresso pattern sometime, too. If that one works out better, I might just transfer the belly alterations to that pattern if I ever need to sew maternity leggings again.)

2. The Ariel skirt. I actually only wore this one once, aside from the photos--I didn't want to wear it over the winter because of the cold, and when I finally pulled it out in the spring, it just didn't work well. I had to tie the drawstrings under the bust, which made the length kind of strange, and left a lot of weird wrinkles under the belly of the maternity top that I paired it with. Fortunately, it didn't take me that long to cut and sew. And since it's essentially two big rectangles and I still have almost 3 yards of the fabric left, I think this will be a good candidate for a refashion. Or at least a wearable muslin of some other pattern.

On the other hand, I did wear the top quite a bit. Though, as I stated before, I think the pattern hacks would need some tweaking for this to work well in later pregnancy. It fit fine for well over the first half, though.




Other things I won't be keeping/need to rework: 
1. This isn't one I made, but I bought this cream-colored maternity sweater at Target. I'm blaming this on poor fabric choice on their part--the structure itself is fine, but before the winter even ended, the color of the sweater just looked dingy and sad. I may just try to overdye it to extend the life.

2.This top. Though it wasn't a maternity top, it actually worked well to get me through the winter, since it was roomier in the waist than a lot of my usual tops. And it's not a complaint about the pattern, since I used the same one to make my sparkly knit top from earlier this year. It's just that since this one was already several years old, the fabric was starting to pill to begin with. And with all the extra wears and washes it got this winter, given that I was pulling it out at least once a week (if not more), it's just unsalvageable now. I do hate to just throw clothes away, even the worn-out ones, so I'm thinking I might just cut this one up and use it to stuff a toy or something. Stuffing is expensive, anyway.

So, that's my little wrap up of how my me-mades have been working for me during a period of major physical changes. I already have a mental list of patterns I want to tackle once this baby comes! Now if only I could figure out a way to predict my bust size so I could start tracing or cutting...

dressed to the max(i)

That's right, I finished another maxi-dress! No camouflage baby bump for this one. It kind of looks like I just have no waist at all. (I guess I don't right now, really.) Honestly, I don't really feel like there's a whole lot to say about construction, since this is the third time I've used the Tiramisu bodice and the exact same skirt modification that I made on my last dress. And I already detailed the nursing-friendly alteration in my last post. Really, the biggest issue I had with putting this one together was my iron--it had been acting up for awhile, and I finally hit the last straw with it while trying to press the skirt seams the other day. After all, an iron that keeps turning off while you're actually pressing with it at the moment, and then taking forever to turn back on (and usually some unplugging and replugging--really annoying when the power strip is on the floor and you're 7 months pregnant!) So I ordered a new iron. Hopefully this one will hold up better, since the one I'd been using lasted me less than 2 years. It's supposed to arrive today, and none too soon, because it really shouldn't take me half an hour to press a hem because I have to keep waiting for the iron to turn on!

Isn't this print fun? It's one of the pieces I treated myself to when I visited Mood in NYC a little over a year ago. I'd gotten 3 yards with a maxi-dress vaguely in mind, though I certainly wasn't expecting that it would have to be a baby bump-friendly one at the time! But I do expect that I'll be wearing this one a lot over the coming summer. Even though the two patterns didn't quite come together as smoothly as I'd hoped. The back seems pretty loose to me in comparison with the black dress, and it is so tempting to try to take it in around the empire waist a little. Or fake in a back seam with the serger. Or something. I have to keep reminding myself that I still have the rest of this pregnancy/the belly only getting bigger to go, I have no idea what's going to be up with my bust size after that, and it would be better not to over-fit. I can always try to take it in a little later if needed, though it might be nice to have a looser dress when the Mid-Atlantic summer humidity kicks in. (I did tweak the sleeve/underarm area, though.)


This will probably be the last garment that I make for myself until after Hobbit arrives, to be honest. I've got less than 8 weeks to go before my due date now (yiiiikes), so despite the fact that I have nearly no pants that both fit and are weather-appropriate, it seems a little pointless to take the time to sew any more maternity-type clothes. I am starting to think ahead to just straight-up nursing-friendly, or things that will work with another period of my figure changing around on me, and I do have some patterns in mind for when I'm feeling up to trying to sneak in sewing time post-baby. Is it weird that after so much time sewing knit garments over the last several months, I'm really starting to get the itch to dig into my wovens stash? But since that has to wait until I have a better idea of what size to sew, any projects that show up here over the next several weeks will probably just be a big babypalooza. I know that's not the most interesting thing for a lot of people, but honestly, this blog is pretty much just my personal craft journal anyway, and this is the stuff I need to be making right now. So, sorry not sorry, I guess?

On a slightly related note, I've decided that I'm going to be sitting out of Me-Made-May this year, though I will happily follow along with what others are doing! Honestly, pretty much everything I've made that fits right now and works for the season has already been shown on here in the last couple of months, I really only have enough of that to do about one outfit a week, and there's other things I need to prioritize over stressing about outfits and taking pictures. Like continuing to stuff the freezer with as much pre-prepped food as possible, the mental list of baby sewing projects that I'd still like to finish in advance, and getting some music together for a couple of my flute students to work on while I'm out of commission for teaching. Not to mention that by the end of May, I'll be in the range of "could potentially pop any time". Hopefully I won't go that early, especially since a couple of my students are participating in a recital two weeks before my due date, and I'd like to be there to support them. Plus, the only date that worked for everyone involved in planning my baby shower is the last Saturday of the month, and I'd really like to not miss that due to being in labor!

I also have to admit that I'm going to be a little sorry when the Small Human Being Sewalong wraps up at the end of this month. It's been fun getting to know a couple of new-to-me bloggers, and helpful to follow along with the discussions of what ends up being useful vs. not/how to find sewing time after baby, and so on. But I'm super-close to finishing another project for that, and may be able to knock out at least one more. In the meantime, I'll just enjoy this dress and all the pretty, swirly blues.

Tutorial: Nursing dress adaptation with an invisible zipper

I was so pleased with how my last maternity/nursing maxi-dress turned out that I decided to make a second one. This time, I made a tutorial for how I did the zipper part, in case it helps any sewists who may be expecting in the future!

You'll need:

• A knit dress pattern with a seam under the bust. I'm also intending to wear this during the remainder of my third trimester, so I'm using the top of the Cake Tiramisu dress with the midriff band and skirt of the out-of-print Simplicity 3678, since I already adapted that skirt pattern both for extra belly room and a maxi length. But if you're making this just to wear for nursing and have an idea of what size to do the waistband, the Tiramisu or Red Velvet dress would be a great option as is.
• An invisible zipper that's long enough to fit across your ribs from one side seam to the other. (A few extra inches probably won't hurt. Mine was a 22" length, and I ended up chopping off somewhere around 2" at the end.)
• Clear elastic
• I used both an invisible zipper foot and a regular zipper foot to do this portion of the construction. 

Before beginning the zipper (these three steps were completed before I started taking pictures, and you can see the results in the first picture):

1. Sew the bodice pieces, including side seams. Depending on the pattern you choose, you may need to alter the order of construction. (Normally, the sleeve and side seams of the Tiramisu are sewn all at once after the front and back of the dress are constructed flat, but I went ahead and finished the sleeves/sewed the side seams together before taking this picture, since constructing the side seams around the zipper would be much more difficult than the other way around. It may take a little more effort to get the side seams to match up between pieces this way. For my current fitting needs, the big advantage to this was that I was able to put on the mostly-finished bodice and adjust the gathering and the overlap of the neckline to the larger bust size that I'm currently working with.Which meant that I was able to use my already-sized pattern from before I was pregnant as-is.)

2. Sew the midriff/waistband pieces together at the sides, or skirt pieces if your pattern does not have an extra band. Depending on the length of your dress, you might be able to do the waist and skirt pieces together. I'm only working with the midriff band for mine, since I'm doing a long skirt and don't want the weight of it to distort things as I sew. (Plus it's a lot easier to take pictures that way!)


3. Finish the lower edge of the bodice and the top edge of the waistband/skirt. I know knits don't unravel, but it does add some stability to the edge. And since we're working with stretchy fabric and a non-stretchy zipper, that is never a bad thing.

To add the zipper:

1. Sew one long side of the zipper across the bottom of the bodice, as you normally would for the right side of a vertically-inserted invisible zipper. I started the teeth at the side seam on the left side, because I'm right-handed, but you could easily flip this around if you're left-handed. I also brought some of the extra length past the right side seam and into the back, just to give myself a little more give for opening. I probably could have done this for the left seam as well to make the whole thing more centered, but I really don't want to have to be reaching behind me with one hand while trying to wrangle a squirming baby with the other! Better to leave the zipper pull where I can more easily see it.


2. Baste the other side of the zipper onto the waistband, being careful to align the top edge of the teeth with the correct side seam. Close the zipper, check to make sure both seams are lining up on either side of the zipper, and adjust if necessary. Once you're satisfied with how the sides are lining up, stitch over the basting line. When opened, the two pieces will look kind of like this.



3. Sew the back of the bodice and the back of the waistband together. I added clear elastic here, both to help support the weight of the maxi-skirt and to allow it to bounce back if I need to stretch the dress to get it on over my chest later. (I had to do two rows of stitching here--to get the seam closed as much as possible, I used my zipper foot on a longer stitch length. But my machine doesn't have a stretch stitch, and I can't zig-zag with my zipper foot, so I added a second row of a narrow zig-zag close by, just in case some of the straight stitches pop. I know it looks a little ripply when it's flat on the table, but the other dress is like that too, and it's not really noticeable when wearing.)

4. Shorten zipper if necessary, and press back seams up towards bodice.

5. Continue on with the dress from here-- I still need to add the skirt pieces and hem it, but that's it!

When the zipper is closed, it looks like a normal seam, except for that pull tab...











...and then once you open it, easy breastfeeding access without having to stretch out your neckline!

Hopefully that was clear enough--let me know if I need to clarify anything! And for those of you who are moms that sew, I'd love to hear if you have any other nursing hacks you like to add into your clothes.

Pattern review: Simplicity 1469

AKA, the Megan Nielsen nursing/maternity top. Though I'm linking to the Simplicity version, since that's what was available to me, and therefore what I used. Not quite so stealth maternity from the front as my last two makes for myself, is it? I'd originally planned to draft a pattern for this fabric from this thrifted/refashioned tunic, since I've had that for years and it's been working very well as a maternity top. I think it would work well for nursing, too. And I was hoping that if it worked out, I'd be able to wear this fabric anytime, pregnant or not. Well, I did draft the pattern, but ended up not having enough fabric to try it out--I wouldn't have been able to do any length sleeve on this. So this was plan B.

It's been awhile since I've done a good old-fashioned pattern review, and this is the first thing I've made for myself in awhile that didn't involve some kind of DIY maternity hacking. So here goes! For the record, this is me modeling at 29 weeks, according to my phone app. (Just shy of 11 weeks left--whaaaaaat? Also, I'm still having trouble wrapping my head around the whole week-to-month conversion. But hey, I'm in the third trimester now! Which is why I look tired in every single picture, I guess. I tried.)

Pattern: Simplicity 1469

Description: From the website: "Stay comfortable and stylish during your pregnancy in this flattering maternity top and dress. These items are just what you need for discreet nursing once your baby arrives, just pull down v neck to reveal opening."

Pattern sizing: XS-XL. I made a medium, since that was my pre-pregnancy size.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing it? Pretty much, yeah. Maybe a little looser in the sleeve area than it looked on the model.

Were the instructions easy to follow? I thought so. Though I somehow completely missed that I was supposed to cut the midriff pieces twice, and didn't realize that until I was halfway through constructing the back. More on that later.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? 
Like: The styling. Since it involves pleats instead of gathers, it's a sleeker look than a lot of maternity tops tend to be. And hanging on Donna, it actually looks like it could pass for a drapier non-maternity top. Never mind that I fill up the bodice way better than she does right now.

Dislike: Since this originated as an independent pattern, though it's now officially licensed to Simplicity, I was surprised at how big the sizing ended up. Especially up top! I think that it may just be a case of being too big in the back for me, because I tried pinching it in a few inches and it seemed to reduce the front gapping quite a bit. Though I'm not going to do anything to take it in just yet, since this means there should be plenty of room to accommodate whatever happens to my general torso region over the next 2 1/2 months! (I may go back and add a back seam later to reduce the amount of fabric, if it really bugs me.)

I will also admit that I'm concerned about the functionality as a nursing top. They weren't kidding when they said "discreet". Obviously I'm not going to model this part on myself, and Donna's sizing is nowhere close to mine currently. So the openings don't sit as low on me as they do on here, but look how small they are! I don't want to deconstruct the entire front, since serging the 5/8" seam allowance means I undoubtedly lost the little snips I made to mark the pleats. But I am seriously considering going back and cutting those side openings a little bigger, even if I have to hand-stitch the edges. I'll have to see how it works once I'm actually attempting to use it for that.


Fabric used: An ITY jersey that my mom gave me for Christmas. For stashbusting tracking purposes, this used all but an approximately 11" long cut of 2 yards. I should probably just throw out those 11", but it's so hard to let go of prints I like!

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: Back to that midriff bit--since I failed to notice how many times I was supposed to cut those pieces out and was just skimming ahead on the directions when I started this, I decided to construct the fronts and backs flat to facilitate seam matching. I'm honestly not sorry that I did that, because another layer of jersey plus serged seams would have just made it bulky around the empire waist, and I really don't need purposely added bulk in my clothes right now! Plus, I really do think that made it easier to get the seamlines to line up. Even though it involved multiple rounds of basting and unpicking to do so.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? Let's put it this way: I don't think I'd sew it in this particular type of knit again. I'm not happy with the underlay neckline gaping--the polyester wasn't pressing that great, and I had to resort to wonder tape to stick it down long enough to stitch it. So I think that contributed a lot. Of course, my iron is currently either possessed or in the throes of death, and my sewing machine and serger both also weren't very happy to work with this fabric--I was fighting skipped stitches and serger tension issues the entire time, despite jersey needles and walking feet and such. All of this combined resulted in the edge finishings and hems looking a little more homemade-in-the-bad-way than I would prefer. Sigh.

All of this to say, I would like to attempt this pattern again, but in a more natural fiber that might have better stretch and recovery/get along better with my machines. I actually do have some of the patterned knit and a lot more of the solid teal left over from my Plantain top, and I think it would work great as a sleeveless version. But if I do make this again, I think I'm going to make the nursing openings much bigger! And maybe add some elastic in the crossover V-section to help it bounce back better. And probably take some of that width out of the back pieces.

We'll see if I get to it, since the window of opportunity on maternity sewing still having a point is coming to a close. Also, I have plans to make another nursing-friendly maxi-dress that will be taking priority over this pattern. I need something fun to wear to my baby shower, after all! And aside from that, my sewing plans for April are mainly centering around the Small Human Beings Sewalong that Cindy and two other new-to-me bloggers are hosting. Not that everything I've been sewing for months wouldn't qualify anyway, but the timing couldn't be more perfect for me, since it's early enough in this last trimester that I'm not dead exhausted (even if I look it), and I don't actually have to compete with said small human being for sewing time yet. More on those plans to come.

it's the time of the season

Happy spring, right? Here in the good old Mid-Atlantic, ours started with winter trying to get in one last sucker punch! I think it's time for a breakup with cold weather, because I am OVER winter clothes. I know I say that every single year, but with my currently limited wardrobe choices, it's even worse. I've been wearing the same 2 pairs of pants (with the jeans mixed in as I can) and the same 3 cardigans almost every single day. And my one purchased winter maternity top is looking rather dingy and sad. I guess that's what I get for buying a cream sweatery-looking top.

That being said, with the limited window I have remaining in which making clothes for myself to wear throughout the rest of this pregnancy still has a point, I'm trying to focus on things that will carry me through the spring and into the summer. And, hopefully, still be wearable afterwards.

Enter my new maxi-skirt! The fabric is a luscious-feeling bamboo-rayon jersey blend, part of the mini-stash of knits that my parents gave me for Christmas. It took me a lot of thinking initially about whether this fabric wanted to be a skirt or a top, but once I realized that I only have 2 pairs of non-jeans maternity pants left that still fit (I've outgrown the third, which were a little small on me when I first chopped them into maternity pants), and they're both reconstructed corduroy pants, a warmer-weather friendly piece of bottomwear won out.

This month's Stashbusting Sewalong theme is sewing with patterns that you already have. So I based this skirt rather loosely on Simplicity 7229, which I've used a few times before for skirts and capri pants. (I'm having to link this to my Pinterest since it's out of print, so hopefully it'll work!) The original skirt is pretty basic-- the two pieces for the front and back are the same, and it has a wide yoke with a drawstring top. I'd always made it in wovens before, but here's the changes (aside from knit fabric) that I made to make it more maternity-friendly:

• Added several inches to the length of the front/back pieces. Which I actually did the last time I made this pattern, because the original pattern was this awkward mid-calf length, and I ended up hating that and chopping off the previously made skirts to a shorter length.
• I did also have to narrow that at the bottom a bit, because my fabric wasn't quite wide enough to accommodate the extra width. But since it's stretchy, that's ok. Especially since I'm starting to get into the waddle phase and my steps aren't quite as big as they used to be.
• While I used the yoke/drawstring waistband pieces to get a general idea of how wide to cut it, I replaced that with a slightly skinnier but much longer rectangular piece. The idea is that I can use it to cover up the baby bump for now--the over-bump stuff sits on me way better than under-bump stuff, which just feels awkward and like it's constantly on the verge of falling down. It's a little loose at the very top of the band, around the rib area. But I'm not too worried about it.

It folds down into a yoga-style waistband, so I'm hoping that it'll be snug enough that I can wear this skirt once I'm a little smaller around the waist again, too! It's obviously hard to tell how that will work right now, but a girl can dream, right? 

Overall, I'm really pleased with how this adaptation worked out, and how fast it was to sew together! I did all of it, including cutting out, in 2 sewing sessions. Which is pretty speedy for me. Depending on how this works out to wear afterwards, this just may be how this skirt pattern ends up getting used from now on. It's so tempting to find more of this type of knit and whip out a few more! But I have several pieces of knit that I still want to make other clothes out of to wear in the meantime, so I shall try to restrain myself.

I used up pretty close to a full 2 yards on this. As an added bonus, I had just enough fabric left to make a little something for the Hobbit! We're actually doing pretty well with collecting baby clothes so far, largely thanks to my mother-in-law, who's brought over multiple bags of things that neighbors and acquaintances were getting rid of.  At least, we're doing pretty well with onesies and pajamas. What seems to be largely lacking is pants. Given his nickname, all I can think of is that old Lord of the Rings movie meme where certain words get substituted with "pants". The most famous being...

Which never fails to crack me up, but Hobbit is going to need some pants eventually. So I made some.

The pattern was a freebie that I found on Craftsy, the Go To Baby Leggings. I wasn't entirely sure about tie-dyed pants for a boy, but a few kind sewcialists on Instagram talked me into it, and I hope these actually end up fitting him because I think they turned out pretty cute! I made these in the 3-6 month size--partially because lightweight jersey pants going into the fall make sense, and partly because I literally did not have enough fabric left to make them any bigger. Doug was pretty impressed, I think--I cut and sewed these in their entirety on Thursday, along with finishing the skirt, and his instant reaction was that they were adorable and I should post them on Facebook. Always a good sign. I wish I knew how they were actually going to fit him, because I had these cut out and sewn together entirely in basically no time! But at least I have the pattern tested, so if it works out, I can always fall back on this as a quick project while he naps or something.

black is the new red

A little bit of selfish sewing in the midst of baby-sewing craziness! As it happens, I finished this dress just in time for my birthday tomorrow. But I won't be wearing it, because there's a chance of snow and it's only supposed to get up to 33 degrees, tops. That's .5 degrees for you Celsius folks, and I don't know how you live with that temperature scale, because that sounds even worse! And this isn't the sort of dress that would work well with close-toed shoes. February birthdays can suck like that.

Anyway. This is Simplicity 3678, now out of print, which I've actually made once before. I'm laughing because in the original post, I did specifically mention possibly revisiting it if I ever needed a maternity dress, because of all of the gathering that I needed to remove to avoid the preggo look! I'd kind of forgotten I'd said that, actually. I guess it's a good thing I never threw the pattern away. The funny thing is, at least in this picture, I seem to look pretty normal from the front, right?












Nope. Definitely a maternity dress. (I'm at 24 1/2 weeks now.)


Aside from lengthening and slightly flaring the skirt, since I really wanted a maxi-dress, here's the adjustments I made:

In some ways, I followed the instructions more closely than the first time. In the original dress, I stitched the pleats down into more of a pintuck, because it was kind of ballooning out funny. For this version, I figured I'll need the extra room and left those as pleats. I also sewed the facing more as it called for, though with a double row of stitching to try and give it a little more of an RTW look. (I wish I knew why my machine is occasionally skipping stitches for that, since I am doing a slight zigzag on a longer stitch length with a ballpoint jersey needle, just like I'm supposed to be! Any thoughts? My machine doesn't have that lightning bolt stretch stitch.)

I added a little more gathering in the front to accommodate the bump. Probably somewhere close to 2"--honestly, all I did was go out from the center front fold to the still uncut edge of the original pattern tissue.

I still had to cut the back in two pieces, which I apparently had to do the first time, too. With all of that extra skirt length, I was barely able to get the pieces to fit! I actually also had to cut the midriff pieces perpendicular to what it called for as well--but after the recent leggings disaster, I made sure the stretch would work for that before I cut it this time. 

• Doesn't look so V-neck now, does it? While that also would have been nursing friendly, my size has already changed enough that this would have been very mentally uncomfortable for me to wear in public. (Seriously--while I know there's a good reason for it, I'm actually kind of embarrassed at the size bra I had to buy recently!) So I improvised a bit of a faux camisole front for it, and even inserted some elastic in the casing that the stitching made to help hold things in place. It's not quite as snug as I would have hoped, but it should do the job. 

• For the bodice/midriff, I did slim down the seam allowances on the side slightly-- 1/2" instead of 5/8"-- just to give me a little extra room, since I'm not sure how things will go in the third trimester or if my ribcage will expand or anything like that.

• To make this nursing-friendlier so I can wear this for more than just the spring, I took a suggestion from Joanne and added an invisible zipper in the front of the dress! It's sitting right at the top of the waistband, which I'm hoping will also stabilize the weight of the longer skirt. (I also sewed some clear elastic in the back to help with that as well.) Because of that, I did somewhat have to change the order of the directions, as in sewing the side seams for the bodice/midriff separately instead of all at once. But again, I took a cue from the leggings issues and made sure to baste things first so the seams had a better chance of lining up. Overall, I'm very happy with how this modification worked, and will possibly be doing it again, since I'm hoping to make a second maxi-dress before Hobbit comes. It's just a case of deciding whether to stick with this pattern, since I already did the hacking, or to play around with modifying last summer's Tiramisu hack. If I do the latter, I may not need to add extra access points, since that one works better on me as a V-neck.

It'll be good to have something new to look forward to, if it ever warms up around here. If I've learned one lesson from the last month or so of trying to cobble together outfits, it's that I'm just not a wardrobe minimalist. I admire those people that can fully commit to the Wardrobe Architect-type thing of paring down her closet to a set of core outfit components that they can mix and match and accessorize to their heart's content. But frankly, I like having more options, and I've definitely been missing having more prints in my life, even if they don't necessarily go with everything! (I say as I show off a solid black dress, right?)

Oh, and the title? I'm still trying to play around with keeping up with some of the monthly themes/challenges for the Stashbusting Sewalong and The Monthly Stitch as I can. I can use this for the latter, since it's a solid color, but the only color specified in this month's Stashbusting theme was red, which I hardly ever wear or even buy. But Malkin was kind enough to sport a little red on his collar while photobombing me, so that has to count for something. Right?

fabric fail

I was so excited for this project. So to say I'm a little disappointed in the outcome is an understatement. But, since I believe that the fails should be documented along with the victories--mostly so I don't make the same mistake again later--I'm going to share the sad story of these leggings anyway. Slippers, ridiculously lightened photos since it was the only way I could show the seams, and all.

(Hey, from this angle, I don't look pregnant at all! Anyway.)

The pattern is the Manila leggings, from the current month's issue of Seamwork magazine. (Doug bought me a year's pattern subscription for Christmas, which made me very happy since the whole point is quick projects, and I'm going to need those in the coming months!) I had one pair of maternity leggings, which I've been wearing instead of tights under the few skirts I have that fit. So I was quite happy to see this pattern and give the leggings-making thing a try, given that I just wasn't in the mood to play connect-the-dots on my Espresso pattern to try and get a fit when I wasn't sure what standard to use for the waist/I'd have to modify it anyway. The pattern itself is pretty simple: front piece, back piece, cute petal-like cuffs for the ankles, waistband, done. I knew I'd be altering the top to add a panel for the growing belly, but aside from that, I thought this would be a quick, straightforward make.

But I made two mistakes right away:

1. I didn't realize that my chosen fabric--a cool denim-looking knit that I got on sale at Mood when I was making my last online purchase there--didn't have enough stretch to work for something like this. Honestly, why would you make a knit that stretches more cross-wise, when basically every single pattern ever made would have you cutting so it stretches horizontally? Especially for something that's pretty much screaming to be some kind of bottomwear. But still. I should have checked this more closely.
2. I also didn't realize that, even though there is a full-length view shown in the pictures, the only view included in the pattern was the cropped version. Leggings that only come down to my upper calves are absolutely useless for anything but exercise wear. Especially this time of year.

The result? Yeah, not quite so chic as I hoped. It took so much hacking to even get these to the point where I could pull them on all the way! (And sorry for the weird looking-down pictures-- I just couldn't get the seaming to show up well enough in the others.)

What I probably should have done with the legs was add the extra length around the knees first, and then add the extra width so the stripe would be unbroken. But I did still have hopes that once I managed to get the leggings all the way around my calves, the cuffs would add enough extra length that I could get by with my boots. Didn't happen. Neither did seam-matching, despite multiple efforts and a lot of seam ripping.  Ugh. It honestly got to the point where I was so fed up with them, that I didn't even bother with the cute cuffs (which I wasn't sure would stretch around my legs all the way anyway, given the way things were going) and just cut a strip to give them a sweatpants-like finish.

I was hoping that this would give me another color option to wear with skirts, though I'm not sure why, since the only skirts I have are black, denim, or that long teal one that would hide them anyway. (I'm generally of the school of thought that leggings are not pants, the fabric on my store-bought pair is way too thin for that, but for the sake of these photos, I'm wearing them as such. The things I do for the blog.) I'm not going to say they're a wadder yet, since I can wear them on days I don't have to leave the house, like today, and save my jeans for the days I do, but they're definitely not a project I'm proud of.

On the plus side, the maternity panel alteration seemed to work great. Especially once I went back and cut a new panel on the cross-grain so it would actually stretch. (Yes, I know it's not really a cross grain for knits.) It does make me feel a little better to know that, at least in this, my pattern hacking skills are beginning to improve.

I do have a decent-sized remnant of this left, which I think is probably just enough for some kind of babywear or undies, though I wouldn't even try the latter until things are back to more of a normal state. I.e. I'm not being told to put on a pound a week. But essentially, this takes 2 yards out of the stash, for a total of 6.25 yards out so far this year.


Speaking of kid stuff-- we had our ultrasound on Monday, and I know the gender now! So I cut out a simple baby outfit last night, am hoping to get it all sewn up today, and my next post should be me telling you all what we're having. Just warning you now, because this very well could be a double-post day.

One last, unrelated, administrative-type detail-- I've turned my Instagram into a private account, since it's at the point where more kid-type stuff will be going up and I don't want just anyone on the internet to be able to find it. I have still been posting a lot of crafty stuff on there, so if you are a friendly sewcialist (seriously, what other kind is there?) and want to follow, don't be afraid to send a request! My screenname there is different than my blog/Twitter handle, but I do have a link to the profile on the sidebar.

ooh, sparkly.

First of all, thanks for the advice offered on my last post! You gave me some great ideas for what to avoid (my entire wovens stash, I'm looking at you), and there were also some rather brilliant thoughts on how to make some of my ideas more nursing-friendly, and therefore able to be worn longer. Yay!

Today, I actually have two finished projects to show! Late last year and after I already knew about the pregnancy, I got lured into buying a couple of knits at Joann's while there for an unrelated shopping trip, because I knew that the bulk of my knits stash were solid colors and I was craving some printed goodies. Also, look how sparkly they are! My original intent was to get these done in time to wear for Christmas, but due to all the sickness issues, that obviously didn't happen. So I decided to get these sewn up quickly. I need some color in my extremely pared-down winter wardrobe anyway.

The cardigan is McCall's 6084, and the top is Simplicity 2852. For the cardigan, I didn't really change much of anything, other than add a little length to the sleeves to accommodate my monkey arms. I do that pretty much automatically for long-sleeved things now, but in this case, it looks like I actually didn't need to! So I just gave it a bit of a wider hem on the sleeves than it called for.

The pattern claimed it could be made up in an hour. It took me a little longer than that. For one thing, this knit was really awful about clinging to itself, so it took me awhile to smooth it out enough that I could cut the pieces well! I did construct it completely in one sitting, and it especially helped that I was able to skip a couple of awkward-looking steps due to having a serger. But then I let it hang overnight so the hem could settle a bit before finishing that.




The top is one that I actually have made before, though I did view E for that one. That's actually one of the shirts I already had that I've been continuing to wear anyway, and so far, it's worked. I do think that I'll have to toss that shirt at the end of this cold season, though, because the fabric is getting horribly pilled. Especially now that I'm wearing it at least once a week! I honestly didn't think this view was one I'd ever sew, especially because I hated that bubble hem trend! The gathered front made it look like it would give me some room to grow, though.

I made the sleeveless view so I could wear this into the warmer weather. I even already had another cardigan that coordinates! I did make a couple of changes to the pattern to maternify it even further--besides leaving out the hem elastic, because ugh, I added 2" width to the center front and 2" to the hem. I like this a little longer, actually--if I was the type who wore leggings as pants, this would actually work! I think I'll stick to wearing it with things that cover my lower half a little better, though.

Honestly, if I wore it with a belt to cinch it in, this top does have some non-maternity potential as well, I think. We'll see whenever I get a waistline back. (Actually, now that I'm looking at this picture, it probably needs a belt somewhere anyway, doesn't it? It really is kind of a sack. A sparkly sack in a fun print and a color scheme I love, but a sack nonetheless.) In the meantime, I had nothing but scraps left over from both of these pieces, so at least they didn't live in the stash long! Between the two pieces, that's 4.25 yards down.

The belt really highlights that the bump doesn't want to hide anymore, doesn't it? I have to keep reminding myself that it's ok to not suck my stomach in for pictures! The more exciting thing is that we have the ultrasound scheduled for next week, so hopefully we'll be finding out if the baby is a boy or a girl soon!

I think I also need to work on the camera setup--Doug's been working hard to get the former office/library ready to turn into a nursery, so all the furniture there has been cleared out and the room is repainted. So these pictures are in the sewing-now-slash-computer room. (At least I still have one!) But I think I'll have to experiment with where to put the tripod so I don't look like such a giant next to the door. I already feel like I look big enough!

maternity wardrobe building, part 2: what I still need

I apologize in advance, because this will probably be a long post. Last time, I showed what I'd managed to assemble for my wardrobe so far. And like I said, I was pleasantly surprised to see how quickly a palette started emerging!

Most of what I already had or was easily able to acquire was black, grey, cream, or teal. I threw in navy as a neutral as well, mostly because of denim. And with a few additions from thrift stores, clearance racks, and the knits in my own stash, royal blue, a brighter leafy green, and coral also showed up. I think this looks like a really good balance between neutrals and statement colors, actually!

Here's what I know I still need:

• Several tops, in both long-sleeved and shorter lengths. I know I'm going to need a few shorter sleeved things for May going into June, so I'm trying to keep that in mind and plan for layering in the colder months. I've already got one top done and a coordinating layering piece in the works for this, though I'll wait to photograph until they're both done.
• A couple more skirts. I've seen a tutorial for a maternity version of the Sewaholic Crescent skirt, which is a pattern I do already have. I'm also thinking that the Colette Monetta might be a good one to try, if I add some ruching or a panel or something. Color might be nice. And I do think a nice maxi-skirt could go a long way.
• Another pair or two of leggings. I've been wearing my black pair in place of tights under my shorter skirts, but I really could use another option. I have some denim-looking knit that might be perfect for this, if I can adapt a pattern sufficiently. There's also some black knit that I'd specifically bought for trying out the Cake Espresso leggings anyway, but I can buy black maternity leggings easily enough. So I'm debating whether to hold off and make those later for more regular wear--I'm actually kind of liking the warmth of the leggings in place of tights, since I'm usually wearing boots with that sort of look anyway!
• Dresses! I'll probably be mostly living in these once the weather warms up some more. I have two that I've found so far, and I have a pattern for a top/dress that works for nursing as well. For those, I'm going to try to plan the style so that they work for the end of my pregnancy and the remainder of the summer, if I can, since I know I'll need to be careful of necklines while I'm nursing and my stomach likely won't go back to what it was that quickly.
• One more pair of jeans. I have two, and I could have sworn I bought a third, but I can't find it anywhere! But now that I'm only working a few hours a week for my teaching, and I tend to wear jeans on weekends/days at home, I know that only two pairs of jeans will not be enough to get me through any given week. I'm just going to buy that, since it would be the most time-consuming thing on this list to sew and I have way too many other holes that I can fill quicker.
• Not to go TMI, but I think I'm going to have to suck it up and buy a couple of bras, because mine are all too small in the cups now! NOT flattering. I've heard you're supposed to put off buying actual nursing bras as long into the pregnancy as possible, so I'll probably just buy a couple of cheap ones a size or two up, and hope it gets me through the next few months. 
• Warmer weather PJs. I think I can get through the winter with what I have, but all of my summer stuff is mostly little nighties and such that I was given right before the wedding. So I'm pretty sure none of those will fit this year. I guess if all else fails, I can steal one of Doug's oversized t-shirts, right? But again, I think it might be nice to come up with something that will work for both the end of the pregnancy and nighttime nursing, if that's at all possible.
• Possibly a new pair of sandals. Pretty much all of them tend to buckle around the back of my heel, and I'm honestly not sure I'll be able to get those on by the time it gets warm enough for sandals! I do have one pair of black flat strappy sandals that I can pretty much slip on over my heel, so maybe I can figure out how to maneuver those on with my toes, or get Doug to put those on for me, or something. But if that doesn't work, I'll probably need to buy something to get me through the last 6ish weeks of the pregnancy/the first couple of weeks post-partum. Which hopefully would also be comfortable enough that I won't spend that whole time fighting blisters on my overly-sensitive extra-wide feet. (Dear God, please don't let those get bigger!!) Ugh. I hate shoe shopping so much.

On a happier note, I'm trying as much as is possible to use patterns and fabrics that I already have stashed. So here's what I've come up with that could work.

Patterns! Not pictured here are the aforementioned Sewaholic Crescent skirt, the Deer & Doe Plantain top, the Colette Moneta/Mabel (pdfs in manilla envelopes are boring to show in pictures), or any leggings, though I have two patterns I could potentially experiment with. (The Cake Espressos and the Manila leggings from the current issue of Seamwork.) I've already been experimenting with maternifying the Renfrew, as you know. Actually, the two on the far right are the only two patterns that are actually maternity! They're both Megan Nielsens, even though one is distributed through Simplicity.

Fabrics! All of these are knits--nearly all of the ones I own, save a couple in colors that don't quite fit the palette. If I do try the Crescent, maybe I can work in a woven, too? The top three on the left side of the pile are ones my mom gave me for Christmas, and I'm hoping to come up with something especially fun for that ITY print on top! And I know the two solids on the bottom of the right don't quite fit the palette, but I figured they're close enough.

So far, I've tagged the black for a maxi sleeveless version of that Simplicity Threads dress on the bottom (the one with the crossover v-neck), the denim-looking stuff (that looks charcoal but is really navy) for leggings, and that dark turquoise closer to the bottom, (which is darker and a little closer to teal than the picture), for a potential maternified Mabel skirt. It's the heaviest knit in this pile. That black and blue print, which I got at Mood last year, is also screaming maxi-dress at me, so I just need to figure out what pattern I might want to use--I'm considering maybe trying to adapt the Tiramisu for that, since it also has a crossover neckline and I know it works as a maxi. Maybe if I mash it up with the Red Velvet skirt? Or just add some gathering to the front after I narrow the waistband? Aside from those and the sparkly royal blue, which is already cut up into a layering cardigan and ready to sew, any suggestions of what I should do with all these solids that won't bore me to tears when I wear them? What would be the best pairing for that ITY? (2 yards, for the record.) Any other advice/pattern suggestions for making maternity and/or nursing clothes?

maternity wardrobe building

I really have been feeling lately like I have nothing to wear! But now that I'm finally feeling up to some sewing again (yaaaaay!), I thought it might be fun to do a little mini-series about trying to put together a cohesive wardrobe to get me through the next several months.

The big challenges so far:

• When going through the Wardrobe Architect series last year, I was reminded that the silhouettes I'm most drawn to involve a fitted waist. Which means that, despite actually losing weight overall due to being sick all the time and barely eating, most of the clothes I already had stopped fitting there before my first trimester was even over! On the plus side, I've long liked the look of empire waists, but not on me, because I thought they made me look pregnant. So I guess I have an excuse to rock those for a few months!
• I've mentioned this on Twitter here and there, but finding maternity clothes in the stores has mostly sucked so far. It seems like everything is either black, grey, red, or taupe. While black is a wardrobe necessity for any classically-trained musician, and I do wear grey, I don't really do red, and I loathe taupe. Also, I was having trouble bringing myself to spend money on clothes that didn't even fit right in my shoulders or left my wrists hanging out of the sleeves oddly. It's not like those are getting bigger.
• Also, almost everything I've been able to find are solids. Which are fine and actually very important for a real mix-and-match wardrobe, but I've missed my prints. I haven't had great luck finding clothes at Goodwill either, sadly, but I did find one ITY print top recently that will work as a maternity top. The first day I wore that was the first day I really felt like myself again, style-wise.
• It's winter. And while I'm trying not to do all long-sleeved tops/make sure I have layerable things, since this will go through the spring, I legitimately do need a few more long-sleeved tops. 

I have found that I do have a pretty solid color palette emerging, at least. So to wrap up this post, I'm going to show what I have managed to assemble so far as a capsule wardrobe.


So here's what I've got, top to bottom:
2 dresses: 1 thrifted, 1 purchased new on clearance rack
5 long sleeved tops. The Simplicity top and my Plantain aren't maternity, but are fitting ok so far. Hoping the length will stay ok until it's warmer. Also my maternity Ariel top, a thrifted empire-waist shirt I already had, and a purchased lightweight pullover maternity sweater from Target.
4 3/4-sleeved tops. The black and coral were purchased new on the clearance rack, the blue print is one of my previous refashions that I'm hoping will adjust for the bump, and the other print top is thrifted, and may also not fit the entire time since it's not specifically maternity either.
3 skirts: 2 thrifted, in denim and black, plus my Ariel maxi-skirt (not pictured).
3 pairs of "work" pants, all refashions, 1 in navy and 2 in black. (One not pictured, because I think it's in the laundry.)
1 thrifted embellished tank that I already had, but it's very flowy, so it should have plenty of room.
2 short sleeved tops: 1 teal purchased new on clearance, 1 thrifted tie-dyed in navy/gold/maroon.
3 maternity/long tank tops for layering. Showing the navy, but I also have black and teal.
2 pairs of jeans, 1 bootcut and 1 skinny. Both purchased.
Cardigans/sweaters: Camille shrug, thrifted green 3/4 cardigan, purchased black, refashioned turquoise, and my Roheline.
I also have 1 pair of maternity leggings in black, purchased, not shown. And that is all of it!

Next time: My sewing plan, as it stands so far.

The last little unblogged bits of 2014

The good news is, I think I'm finally starting to get better. The constant nausea is going away, at least, but it's kind of hard to tell--just when that started letting up, I got slammed with a virus 2 days before Christmas! The doctor at the clinic called it "flu-like", and while I wasn't actually having stomach issues from it, I did have to spend the next 3 or so days fighting off fevers. Since then, it's just felt like a nasty cold. And hopefully without going TMI, when I'm really stuffed up, I easily get nauseous anyway. So I still haven't had a nausea-free day, but I'm hopeful that it's coming soon. At least I'm slowly able to start expanding my diet again--I can actually drink water and a little tea now, and I've been eating fruit in the form of smoothies. I may even be able to start cooking dinner again soon, and while I know that takes up time, when you've been living off of chicken noodle soup and cheerios for a few months, that's pretty exciting!

All that to say, I wasn't able to do much sewing for those first couple of days after I finished up at my retail job. Because that ended the day before I got sick, and I was feeling so progressively lousy that day that I couldn't even finish cutting out one of the projects I do have to show. But I did get that done on Monday, and then sewn up yesterday.

I'm going to start with some knitting today, since I recently finished this fairly quick project. The pattern is called "Magic Hat", and it's supposed to be so stretchy that it can fit a variety of sizes. I used some leftover bamboo-blend yarn that I already had, and knit this up in the 4-12 month size, since Hobbit will probably be about 5-6 months old when he or she will need a winter hat. I also didn't quite use up all of the yarn, and I'm rather tempted to see if I have enough left to add some Yoda ears! But the yarn is so drapey, I'm kind of afraid it wouldn't work.

The hat looks a little cone-head on the table, so I had to improvise on a model. My parents gave us a few Christmas presents for the baby, including this little stuffed German shepherd. So its ears seemed to be enough to make the approximate shape. Cute, right?







I do have a little sewing to show. I stitched up this first one back at Thanksgiving, but never posted it here. Just a quick refashion--my mom was getting rid of some unwanted pants, so I picked the zipper out of these corduroys, scooped out the front and stitched up what was left of the fly, and then added this stretchy panel. I know it looks kind of distressed brown in the picture, but these pants are actually black. I have another pair all cut up and ready to sew, save the panel, in navy blue. Hopefully I can knock that out soon, because I literally have two pairs of "work" pants (both black), and two pairs of jeans right now. And that's it. I swear I bought 3 pairs of jeans, but the one pair seems to have vanished without a trace!

And then yesterday's sewing project was these burp cloths. I promised Doug I'd make some hockey-related things, so I found this flannel print that has the logo and colors of one of his two favorite teams. I managed to use up about 2 yards of flannel on this, between the one yard of Penguins fabric I bought, and the solid black that I partially got for this and partially to back one of the geeky bibs I made earlier in the month. There's a total of 9 burp cloths here, and I know my mom has a stack of others for us, too.

I do have one more bib to sew up, since Doug also really wanted to help make one! So he cut one out yesterday and I'll be sewing it. I also need to fix a pair of pants for him ASAP, but then I'm hoping I can start sewing some clothes again! 

I did some quick looking over my spreadsheet to see what my final tally was for stashbusting this year! It looks like I started 2014 with about 340 yards in...and ended with 375. Oops. Granted, I did just buy about 20 yards of stuff to make diapers with, which will get used up in the next several months and accounts for the bulk of the overage. On the plus side, it looks like I sewed up close to 72 yards this year. And I did manage to use up about 27 pieces of fabric altogether. I think that's pretty good, considering that I spent the entire last third of the year unable to do much at all, between traveling and pregnancy sickness!

2014's top 5, part 3: Reflections and Goals

 

Finishing up my series today, with what I've learned this year and what I'd like to accomplish next year.

Reflections: 
1. I am not the fastest of makers. This is especially true when it comes to knitting, but it's true for sewing as well. I looked back at last year's reflections, and this was actually the first thing on my list then, too! I think the difference this year is that I'm more ok with it. Looking at my top 5 makes for this year, aside from the Tiramisu dress, everything on there was projects that required more thought and detail-- welt pockets, underlinings, linings, bound seams, etc. But they ended up fitting really well and getting a lot of use. Yes, I know two of them are coats, but still.

2. That being said, I've also learned that I really like having a quick "palate-cleanser" project between the more detailed stuff. Usually some kind of knit project.

3. I feel like I've kind of rediscovered how much fun refashioning clothes can be this year. I didn't really do any last year, but I've definitely picked up on that more this year. I've ended up wearing these zipper leg jeans quite a bit, as well as my Amy Pond shirt. (Generally minus the tally marks, though.) I've definitely been doing more of that lately, since I'm literally running out of things to wear! So I've been maternifying unwanted pants. Since one pair I'd had since college wasn't fitting so great anymore anyway, and the others were pants that my mom was getting rid of, it's been gratifying to be able to get some much-needed maternity pants into my wardrobe for just the cost of a half-yard of black knit.

4. The Wardrobe Architect project was really an invaluable process for me to go through. Even though I was trying to buy less fabric overall anyway, and I'm pretty sure I succeeded, I feel like what I bought will mostly fit in well with my existing wardrobe. It's also easier to weed out some of the new patterns now, since I have a better idea of what I actually like the look of on me. Of course, this is all subject to change now, since I also have no idea what sort of a waistline I'll have when this whole pregnancy thing is over!

5. I've actually developed some self-control on adding to the stashes. Though I sort of fell off the wagon at actually tracking pieces of stash used up before buying more, as stated in my Stash Diet pledge, I did a good job of sticking to my plan! Aside from pieces of fabric that my mom gave me because she didn't want them, almost everything I bought this entire year fell into one of three categories: a) Fabric I bought on vacation, b) Fabric I bought because I needed it for a specific project and I literally did not have anything else that would work (i.e. Thinsulate for my coat, yellow knit for the minion costume, etc) c) Stuff I would categorize as the "extenuating life circumstances" exception--mainly buying a few pieces specifically to make things for the baby, or the 3 things I've bought specifically for maternity clothes. I also didn't buy much yarn at all this year--I think the one skein I bought in Paris may have been it--and I didn't really buy many new patterns this year, either. Maybe 6 total, and 3 of those were ones I won in a Pattern Review drawing because my Robson coat randomly got picked when they were highlighting Sewaholic. So yay me?

Maybe not. I just looked at the numbers, and I actually added 10 more yards to the fabric stash than I started with at the beginning of the year! But it does look like I used about 70 yards overall this year, and I'm already in the process of using up those baby-related fabrics. So not too bad.

Goals:
If you had asked me this three months ago, I probably would have said "learn to make bras and/or undies". I don't think that's going to be happening this year, lol! Especially the former. So here's what I think will be the best things for me to focus on for 2015...

1. Finish a capsule wardrobe that will get me through the first half of the year. I've quietly been working on this anyway, between my most recent makes and things I've bought. I'm attempting to use the Wardrobe Architect principles for this, and I do have a definite palette emerging. But I definitely need more clothes, since I didn't have too many things in my wardrobe already to get me started. That's definitely a downside to favoring styles that are more fitted at the waist! So once I sort out what I need to survive/see if I get any fabric for Christmas (a safe bet, knowing my mom), I'm going to see if I can sort out a decent plan of attack.

2. On a related note, I need to work on my pattern hacking skills. I've noticed that there really aren't that many good maternity-specific patterns out there. I have managed to acquire Megan Nielsen's wrap top pattern, also this pattern that can double as a maternity and a nursing top. The latter sounds like a really good use of my precious sewing time. But aside from that, I really haven't found anything that looks interesting to me, so I guess I'll have to create my own. I've got my Renfrew hack to keep tweaking, and I did pull out several other patterns from my stash that looks like they might be useable for this purpose. If I can figure out how to do a couple of other things that will be good for both pregnancy and nursing, great.

3. Get as much sewing for "Hobbit" (what I've been calling the baby while we don't know the gender) done as possible, before June. Obviously, though I may sew a few outfits, I'm not going to make every little piece of clothing. They'll get too small too fast. But I will need to do some things like curtains for the nursery, and I have some bibs that I'm already working on (which will hopefully be done by the end of December, since I'm using them for The Monthly Stitch's current theme). I have a piece of printed suedecloth that has stumped me for a couple of years on what to use it for, but I think it would make an excellent gender-neutral diaper bag. And my mom and I are planning on working together over the winter to make cloth diapers. I know it'll be a lot of laundry, but it's cheaper to make cloth diapers than buy them, and it'll definitely be cheaper in the long run than buying all disposables. More money saved means more money to spend on fabric, right? I still need to get most of the supplies for that, but I did get some of the waterproof outer fabric already. Because there was one yard left on the website and it has TARDISes on it. Seriously. I couldn't pass it up.

4. Since basically everything I'm going to be able to sew for myself for awhile is knits anyway, I might as well work on things like finishing techniques and getting my serger tension right. Right?

5. I think probably the biggest goal for after Hobbit comes will be finding time to make things. I know it'll be a challenge, and probably impossible for at least the first month while I'm a sleep-deprived zombie cow. (Not the best time to work on a hobby that involves sharp cutting/pinning implements, I'm guessing.) And I do also need to prioritize music time, since I do plan to continue teaching lessons. I've been following Cindy's blog with a lot of interest lately, given that she recently had a baby herself, and I think what jumped out at me the most is the idea of doing one thing a day that lasts, since so much of caring for a newborn is laundry and feeding and changing over and over again. Practicing music can also feel repetitive and like it's never done, since you spend so much time working on the same passage or the same piece for days or weeks in a row. So hopefully I can find a way to make that happen. Even if it's just sewing one seam, or knitting one row, or sticking just one picture in a photo pocket. I guess it's a good thing I've gotten more ok with being slow, right?