Mini-Wardrobe progress: Week 1

Well, we're one week into the Pattern Review mini-wardrobe contest, and I have been steadily executing against my planned 5-piece wardrobe:

Planned 5-piece mini-wardrobe

 

At the end of my first week, I haven't made quite as much progress as I would have liked to at this point, but I've at least put a dent in my wardrobe plan.

Over the weekend, I did mange to finish my HP Daytona hoodie, made from a white cotton-lycra jersey:

HP Daytona Hoodie

As I've mentioned in previous posts, my dress form isn't padded to my current measurements, so that's why the hoodie looks big/baggy. Trust me, it fits as well as my last Daytona hoodie and will be a great addition to my summer wardrobe.

I've started work on my McCall's 6966 maxi-skirt, and wow, was that a pain to cut out. It's cut and pieced together now. I still need to sew the side seams and add the yoke/waistband. Here's the front half, draped over my dress form:

McCalls 6966 WIP

Now, you'll notice that much to my frustration, the stripes don't entirely line up. I'm not sure if this is by design or a drafting issue, but that's just how it is with this pattern. Check out the envelope photo--the stripes on the model's skirt don't match up exactly, either:

McCalls 6966 envelope picture

I think this is by design. If you lay your pattern pieces out on your fabric according to the pattern piece markings, the stripes will meet at different angles. This layout will give you the zig-zagging stripes that you see in my skirt and the envelope picture, but it won't give you nice, neat chevrons, if that's the effect that you're going for. The detail-oriented part of me is irritated by this, but in reality, I think it will be a nice, wearable skirt, and I doubt if my husband or any of my coworkers will care that it has zig-zagging stripes instead of chevrons.

I just haven't been able to put in the sewing time that I had hoped I'd be able to this past week. It's a lot easier to get up 30 minutes before everyone else in the house than it is to get up 60 minutes early. I am trying to grab 15 minutes here and there to pin or stitch a seam, and that seems to be helping. My big concern is not having enough time towards the end of the month to properly muslin, fit, and construct those ikat pants in my plan. My current game plan is to get my other four garments finished by the 20th, which will give me 10 days for the pants. If I don't have everything else completed by then, I'm switching to plan B for the pants, which is to do a drapey rayon challis track pant in a fun print. The backup pants will still be very on-trend for this summer, but should need much less time for fitting and construction. I'm keeping an eye out for the right challis, but if I don't find it and do need to fall back to that plan, I have a gray and black floral print that I can use.

From the looks of everyone else's blogs, it looks like everyone else's wardrobe plans are coming along nicely! I can't wait to see the final storyboards/photo shoots!

Planning: Mini-Wardrobe Contest 2014

As I think I've mentioned in previous posts, although I'm an active member of PatternReview, I rarely enter the monthly contests that run there. I have several reasons for this:

• The contests rarely align with my sewing goals at the time for a given month.
• When I do give it a go, I rarely feel like my finished garment is worth entering in the contest (see my Lekala wadder from the New To Me pattern contest).
• Most (but no, not all) of the contest winners tend to be young, slim, and are either masters of a tripod and a self-timer or have much more willing SO's than I do to do a semi-professional photo shoot.

However, the annual mini-wardrobe contest is running this July, and that does happen to align with my current sewing goals, so I think I'm in for this one. I'm also going to use this as motivation for knocking out another four garments that will be entries in my neglected-but-still-in-progress 12-piece capsule wardrobe.

The contest runs from July 1st-31st and has the following rules:

• Participants must sew 5 garments, one of which may be a "wearable accessory", such as a scarf, belt, or hat.
• The 5 garments should combine to create 6 different outfits or looks.
• You must take a photo of each of the 6 looks (my husband is going to love that one).

I've picked out the patterns that I'm planning to use, going with a theme of "Seattle Summer Style". These are the types of garments that I see being worn by a lot of women around Seattle right now:

• Colette Moneta dress (in a peacock blue or galaxy print jersey)
• Grainline Archer blouse (in white cotton shirting)
• HotPatterns Weekender Daytona hoodie (in white cotton jersey)
• McCall's 6966 maxi-skirt (in blue and white striped French terry)
• HotPatterns Weekender Boyfriend jeans (in turquoise denim or an Ikat-print twill)

Note that these are all fabrics and patterns that I already have on hand, so I don't need to worry about hunting any of these down for the contest. Many of them are already pre-washed and ready to go!

Here's how I'm planning to pair these garments to create my six looks:

1. Moneta dress (alone)
2. Moneta dress + Archer blouse (worn unbuttoned like an overblouse)
3. McCall's maxi skirt + Archer
4. Boyfriend jeans + Archer
5. McCall's maxi skirt + short-sleeved pullover Daytona hoodie
6. Boyfriend jeans + Daytona hoodie

I'm still on the fence with fabric choice for the dress and the jeans.  I was originally going to go with all blues and whites, but am a little worried that might be a bit boring, so I threw in the galaxy print as an option to make things a little more interesting. (Plus, isn't everyone in the blogosphere making a galaxy print skater-style dress this year?)

My main hesitation with the Ikat-print jeans is that I really love the fabric (and it was a little pricey, but not horribly so) is that I'm probably not going to have time to truly muslin the jeans (plus, I want to enter the jeans in the Pattern Stash contest), and I'm a little hesitant to cut that fabric without muslining first. On the other hand, HotPatterns pants have historically fit me pretty well with minimal pattern alterations, so it's not as big of a risk as it might sound like. I do want to make up those Ikat pants (and a galaxy Moneta) even if I don't make them for this contest.

I will need to muslin the body (at least) of the Archer blouse. I am hoping that a standard FBA with a bust dart (I will leave the dart in for shaping) should give me a decent fit.

I'm thinking that maybe I'll leave the jeans to be the last thing that I sew, so that I can see if I have the time to do a proper muslin or not. The turquoise denim is a really gorgeous color, but it was also fairly inexpensive, so if I don't have time to muslin, that might be the way to go.

Thoughts?

Update (28-June-2014)

After reading the comments here and on Pattern Review, I think I really want to concentrate on making the ikat print pants the "star" of this wardrobe, so I'm simplifying a bit to have more time for those. Here's the revised wardrobe mood board:

Revised mood board

This wardrobe plan will give me time to properly muslin the ikat pants and make fitting tweaks.

• If the jeans muslin is a disaster, depending on the amount of time that I have left, I'll either go with another pant pattern (the ikat fabric is a lighter bottom weight stretch twill--it's really perfect for summer pants) or will go with Debbie's suggestion of a skirt. I certainly have a few patterns in my stash that would work for a straight twill skirt. 
• The hoodie can still be worn over the dress, so the number of looks doesn't change.
• I'm debating between the Torque top (which looks better on a person on the ones I've seen made up than it does in the line drawing) and the La Strada top. The Torque (on a real person) appears to be similar to that draped asymmetric hem BurdaStyle top that everyone was making a few months ago. I really like the La Strada, but I'm not sure how well that will go with the maxi-skirt, although I could always belt it if I made it and it seemed like too much volume.

Trenchcoat update: 04-April

The trenchcoat now has sleeves!

Yes, my sewing room really looks like this. You can now feel better about yours.

It also has a self-fabric belt!

Constructed & top-stitched self-fabric belt

I'd already finished constructing the lining, and I plan to insert that this weekend. I do need to buy more thread, though, before I'll be able to get much further. Amazingly, I was able to find the thread and buttons that I'd originally purchased/began using on this project from when I started this coat 2 1/2 years ago.

Assuming that I get the lining inserted this weekend, then over the next week, I'll just have to do my buttonholes and buttons, and then I'm done! The end is in sight! Even better, I'm (currently) on track to complete my coat by April 15th end date of the trenchcoat sewalong.

In other news, I'm disappointed in how I've been doing in fabric in vs. fabric out this year. I hadn't realized how "off pace" I was until I revisited at my goals for the year the other day. I'd wanted to have twice as much fabric "out" (either through sewing or donation) as I purchased this year. I'm pretty much flipped on that goal--slightly over twice as much "in" as "out". I plan to remedy that somewhat this weekend by going through my stash and pulling out enough stash fabric for donation to bring me into stash parity for the year. I already had ~12 yards pulled aside for donation, so I think I can pretty easily bring that total to at least 25 yards.

One question to my followers? Do you count fabric used in a UFO in your stash reduction tools? The trenchcoat took about 4 yards of fabric, so it would be nice to count that towards my stash-busting goals. ;)

2014 Q1 sewing goals check-in

I'm sure that none of us can believe it, but the first three months of 2014 have already flown by, and with that, one quarter of the year is behind us. Back in January, I made a list of sewing goals for myself for the year. In the interest of holding myself accountable and maybe re-igniting some motivation for a few things, I thought I'd check in and comment on how I'm doing.

You can go back and read the original posts, if you're interested:

• 2014 Sewing Goals: Pattern Stash

• 2014 Sewing Goals: Non-stash related

Goal: Sew at least 15 patterns from the candidate pattern stash.
Status: On track (slightly ahead of pace)
Summary: I've been updating my spreadsheet with each pattern I've sewn, where applicable. Here's a snapshot of the current spreadsheet (highlighted patterns are candidates for my capsule wardrobe):

Pattern stash spreadsheet - 01-Apr-2014

So far, I've made 6 different patterns from this list this year. Of those 6, I've made 4 of them multiple times. I'm very easily on track to sew up 15 of these this year.

Goal: Sew at least 20 pieces of stashed fabric.
Status: On track (well ahead of pace)
Summary: I've been updating a different spreadsheet with my fabric stash progress. So far, I've used 11 pieces of stash fabric this year. Given that it's only the end of Q1, I'm thinking that I may have been a little conservative in this goal. On the other hand, this goal has definitely motivated me to sew from stash more and run out and buy new fabric less.

Goal: Sew a water-resistant jacket with a hood
Status: Not started yet.
Summary: I keep going back and forth on a pattern for this, but the bottom line is that I still need one and haven't sewn one yet.

Goal: Sew a winter coat
Status: Not started yet.
Summary: I thought that we were done with our big cold snap for the year when I originally wrote this goal (we weren't), so I figured that I probably wouldn't really start this until the fall, anyway.

Goal: Sew my daughter's Halloween costume
Status: Not started yet.
Summary: This is another distinctly fall-ish goal.

Goal: Sew a 12-piece capsule wardrobe
Status: In progress (slightly behind).
Summary: So far, I've sewn two of the twelve pieces that I talked about in my planning post. This means that I'm slightly off my planned pace of three pieces per quarter. I'm not too worried, though--if I sew four pieces in Q2, I'll be right back on track.

Goal: Get over my fear of fly zippers
Status: Not started yet.
Summary: I haven't tacked a fly zipper yet in 2014, but I do want to make several pairs of pants and jeans and possibly a jean skirt, so I am confident that I will accomplish this goal if I accomplish my wardrobe goals.

Goal: Execute a wearable set of welt pockets
Status: Not started yet.
Summary: Yeah, I haven't tackled these so far either in 2014.

Goal: Fabric out for the year should be 50% greater than fabric in
Status: *embarrassed look*
Summary: Right now, I'm at 47.63 yards IN for the year and 20.5 yards OUT. I'm way, way, way off pace here. I blame stress shopping and Fabric Mart sales.

Goal: Explore the functionality of my Babylock Evolve
Status: On track.
Summary: Unlike most of the rest of my non-stash-related goals, I am making nice progress on this goal. I've added comfort with a rolled hem and lettuce edging to my Evolve arsenal. I really love this machine and am very happy that I splurged on it a few months ago.

I can't say that I had really looked at these goals much since posting them, which was probably a bit of a mistake. However, the year is still fairly young, and I have plenty of time to get back on track with most of them. I'm a little disappointed with myself that the only area that I'm doing really well in is sewing down stash (although my sewing down fabric stash numbers are negated by my fabric purchasing numbers). I know that I can do better for Q2, and I intend to do so.

Finished Project: Ottobre 6-2013 Pretty Basic Jersey shirt

I sewed my first Ottobre! It's only taken me two years into my subscription to finally make something from one of the magazines. Granted, I wasn't sewing much for Eva when she was a baby because it didn't make sense to me to invest the time in making her clothes when she was growing into a new size every three months. Plus, I felt that most of the Ottobre designs for babies were pretty basic. But, now that she's into toddler sizes, the fun begins!

Since this was my first shot at an Ottobre, I wanted to keep things pretty simple. I've had my eye on this simple raglan-sleeved top with a ruffle detail since the 6-2013 issue arrived in my mailbox last fall:

Ottobre 6-2013 "Pretty Basic Jersey top"

This top presented me with several "firsts" to check off my sewing list:

• First time sewing ruffles. (Hard to believe, I know, but I'm not a ruffly person for my own clothing. I've done flounces, but never a full-on ruffle before. They were a pain, but they turned out cute.)
• First time using the rolled hem stitch on my Babylock Evolve. This step took a while, but I think it was totally worth it and produced a really nice result. I will definitely be using that again.
• First time doing a lettuce edge on my Evolve. I opted for this finish to make the ruffles rufflier.
• And of course, first time sewing from an Ottobre magazine.

I traced the size 92cm for Eva, and when overlayed on one of her 2T t-shirts, it's nearly an exact match. The Ottobre appears to be slightly longer and slimmer fitting, which is actually a good thing given that Eva has a long, slim torso, but that was the only difference. I just finished the top this morning, though, so I haven't had a chance to try it on her yet (or get pictures of her wearing it). Based on how close it was to her t-shirt, I imagine that the fit will be fine.

As a technical writer, I was really impressed with the Ottobre instructions. The instructions were extremely precise while being concise enough to fit into half a page in the magazine. I love that they acknowledged that a home sewist might actually own and use a serger and coverstich. I found it to be a breath of fresh air that they suggested finishing the ruffles with a rolled hem finish, rather than giving me convoluted instructions to do a baby hem or suggesting an overlock over a rolled hem.

The fabric for this top/outfit was left over from the Oliver + S Playtime Tunic and leggings that I made last week.

I think that the finished top is really cute:

My ruffles take up less space on the front of the top because I goofed and folded them over, so they're doubled up. I'm not sure why I thought I needed to do this--it wasn't in the instructions, and there was nothing confusing in there, so I think it was just a brain fart. This top would have been much faster to construct had I made it the way that I was supposed to make it. Still, I like it, and I think that the ruffle detail is cute and girly without being obnoxiously so:

Ruffle detail

I made another pair of leggings from the Oliver + S Playtime tunic & leggings pattern to go with the top:

Ottobre top and Oliver + S leggings

Edit (1-April-2014): I did get a picture of Eva wearing her new top last night:

Ottobre ruffle top, modeled by Eva

Speaking of the Oliver + S outfit, I rather unsuccessfully tried to get some better pictures of Eva wearing her new outfit, but I figure you can get a better feel for how it looks on a "real girl" here:

Front view

Yes, she draped that IKEA bag around herself like that. No, I didn't let it stay around her neck for more than a minute when I saw what she'd done. The tunic is long-ish, but it looks longer from this camera angle than it really is.

Back view

Apologies for the messy, toddler-ized and dog-ized living room.

Mid-laugh

This was the best direct head-on shot that I could get. You get the idea. ;)

Finished project: Oliver + S Playtime tunic and leggings

We think that my daughter, Eva, has recently hit a growth spurt because everything has suddenly very quickly gotten to be too short on her. Her size 18M leggings and pants are all capri length now, and some of her 18M sized t-shirts are dangerously close to showing toddler tummy when she moves around. (She turns 21 months old today.) We have a handful of 2T sized outfits for her, but with the way she goes through clothing, I felt that it was best for me to take a break from sewing for myself for a couple of weeks and beef up her 2T sized wardrobe.

I ordered the PDF download version of the Oliver + S Playtime Tunic & Leggings back when the pattern was released, but of course, didn't get around to making it up until now. Oliver + S have really nailed the PDF format for their patterns; patterns are placed so that there's a minimum of taping sheets together. If a pattern piece can fit on one piece of paper, that's how it's laid out. I think that this format lends itself really well to kids' patterns where you will probably use several different sizes over the years--you don't have to worry about preserving the original pattern tissue for tracing. When you need a new size, simply print the pattern back out again. I'm not affiliated with O+S in any way; I'm just really impressed with how they do their PDF patterns.

In any case, here's the envelope picture for the tunic and leggings:

Leggings and a tunic with pockets! What could be more of a staple outfit for a little toddler girl? There's also a faux peter pan collar option. Here's the line drawing(s):

This is one of those projects where I made a bunch of changes and more or less ignored the instructions. I opted to use a couple of cotton-lycra blend jerseys (purchased at Mill End in Portland on our Portland trip last fall) for both the tunic/dress and leggings.

Oliver + S Playtime Tunic & Leggings - front view

Oliver + S Playtime tunic & leggings - back view

Most of the pattern changes that I made revolved around my choice to make the tunic in a knit rather than a woven:

• I eliminated the back placket and instead worked a bound keyhole opening to provide extra room for getting the dress over my daughter's head. To do this, I stitched the two back bodice pieces together so that there was a seamline at CB. I stopped stitching about 1.5" below the neckline and then bound the opening. I'm not sure if this is the "right" way to do a keyhole neckline, but it worked:

 

Keyhole opening adaptation

• As you can see from my photos, I bound the neckline, since I didn't use the facings. I used the same fabric as I used in the leggings for contrast.
• I used the peter pan collar pattern piece to applique a contrasting peter pan collar to the tunic. In the future, I think I'd alter this piece to make it a bit larger. (The pattern piece is actually a template for topstitching.)
• I didn't bother topstitching the pockets to the tunic skirt. 

Sizing for both the tunic and leggings is similar to a 2T in RTW brands like Carter's, OshKosh, and Old Navy. Unlike some toddler patterns, the back rise on the legging pattern piece is a bit longer and nicely accommodates going over a diaper in back. (i.e. No diaper exposed plumber butt with these.)

I'll take more/better photos when I get a chance, but here's a preview of Eva wearing her new outfit. (For size reference, she's on the border of the 18-24 month & 2T height ranges on the O+S size chart, so I opted for the larger size.) Apologies for the somewhat blurry toddler-in-motion pic:

Given the hit-and-miss of kids' pattern sizing, I'd tell you that this pattern is worth the cost just for the leggings piece alone (I've already made up a 2nd pair of the leggings, which will be paired with an Ottobre top), but the leggings are now available as a standalone, "singles" pattern. The fabric chart says that the 2T takes 3/4 yard for the leggings, but mine only needed 1/2 yard, and I sewed them straight off the PDF. They also only take about a half hour to make up, so I know that the leggings pattern will be getting a ton of use from me. Note that for the top, I opted for the tunic length, and it runs a little long and nearly reaches her knees, but this isn't a big deal with kids' clothes--just something to be aware of.

Overall, I think that Oliver+S patterns are generally really cute, but sometimes they're not overly practical for a kid like mine who's always climbing on things, rolling around on the ground, etc. This pattern, however, is both very cute and very practical for an active toddler girl.

HP Kimono Jacket progress and a fabric haul

I do more than just ogle patterns on the internet! Sometimes I actually sew!

Cardigan/Jacket progress

I did manage to grab some time to sew over the weekend and made quite a bit of progress on the HotPatterns Fast & Fabulous Four Seasons Kimono Jacket that I've been working on.

 

I am working on this jacket (really a cardigan, in my case) to tick the box on the "gray belted cardigan" from the Capsule Wardrobe that I am working on. For my version, I am using a heathered charcoal sweater knit that had been labeled as a "wool jersey" that's been sitting in my stash for several years. This fabric doesn't have the drape that I'd associate with wool jersey and is fairly stable, so I thought that it would make a reasonable choice for this pattern. 

I was able to complete a fair amount of the construction over the past few days:

• Sewed the darts
• Constructed/applied the pockets
• Stitched the facing pieces together
• Constructed the belt
• Sewed the shoulder seams

You can see the progress on my not-padded-for-my-measurements dress form:

HP Kimono Jacket in-progress

Excuse the state of my sewing room. I still haven't gotten around to completely unpacking everything and putting it in its place since our move six months ago. I have managed to unpack everything that I might need to reasonably get to in the near future, but as you can see, I still have boxes stacked on top of each other, plastic tubs in the middle of the room, etc. 

See that blue metallic linen on the floor? That's there because my toddler daughter is OBSESSED with it. No matter where I fold it up and put it away, if it's visible and in reachable distance to her, she pulls it out and drapes herself in it and walks around the house in it. At this point, I'm just letting her play with it because it seems to make her happy. And isn't that the point of fabric--to make us happy?

A few thoughts on my cardigan/jacket so far:

• The finished jacket won't be so shapeless; the darts do add nice shaping, even if you can't tell on my smaller-than-me dressform. 
• The pocket gape is entirely my fault for not stabilizing them. The instructions do call for interfacing, but I omitted it because I wanted a slouchier look for my cardigan. In hindsight, I should have used twill tape or something else because the pockets did stretch out. I'm not going to beat myself up over it, though--I won't be the first person walking around in a cardigan with pocket gape.
• I've seen various complaints online over the years over HotPatterns not including enough notches and the size lines being difficult to distinguish (they include sizes 6-26 in every pattern). I am guessing to address these complaints, they've made the size lines MUCH easier to distinguish on this pattern--labeling them every few inches or so. There's more notches/markings, too. 
• I draped the non-side-seam-sewn cardigan over my shoulders, and I think I'm going to be pretty happy with the final cardigan, barring any late screw-ups by myself. It's going to be a true four season wardrobe workhorse. The elbow-length sleeves and wrap style will make it nice for layering over a number of pieces. I am looking forward to having this project complete so that I can wear it.

Merino wool knits from FabricMart

My first (and only) major instance of falling of the fabric purchasing wagon this year happened when FabricMart had their big sale on wool knits a few weeks ago. My wools (all merinos of various knits) arrived a few days ago:

Merino wool knits - FabricMart

My haul, starting at the upper-left corner, going clockwise:

• Merino wool knit jersey in dusty teal
• Merino wool knit jersey in "royal"
• Merino wool knit jersey in plum
• Merino ponte knit jersey in (something I can't remember) olive
• Merino ribbed jersey in heathered gray
• Merino ponte in cayenne
• Merino ponte in off-white

The olive and heathered gray jerseys are slated to be long-sleeved t-shirts (probably for layering) for my husband, so this isn't all for me. As you can probably deduce, I spent way too much money on this haul and will be refraining from unplanned fabric purchases for the forseeable future. The good news is that these are all solid basics and are likely to be sewn in a reasonable timeframe.

This box put me at 24 yards purchased for the year. Counting the in-process cardigan/jacket, I'm at 6 yards sewn so far for the year.  I have a bit of catching up to do.

Finished Project: SBCC 322 - Tonic t-shirt (version 2)

I loved my first SBCC Tonic t-shirt so much that I jumped right in and made a second one:

Striped Tonic t-shirt

 Remaking a pattern used to be a rarity for me. I'd have the best of intentions, but it used to be that when I was done with a pattern the first time, I was Done with it. That pattern might sit on top of my sewing desk for the next six months with the good intention that I'd make it again, but I rarely did so unless A) it was a quick and painless sew and B) I was in love with the finished garment.  I've gotten a lot better about this over the past year or so, although I'm not sure if it's so much that I've been "better" about it, or if it's been that I've been mainly sewing easy knit tops/dresses since my daughter was born 19 months ago.

I made a few minor adjustments:

• Raised the neckline at the center front (CF) by 1".
• Added ~ 3/4" at the side seams at the hip. (Note that my current measurements correspond to a straight 2X across the board on the SBCC size chart, but I needed a little more room than that for my large rear high hip.)

The CF alteration raised the neckline to a level that I'm a bit more comfortable with at work (not that it's bad as drafted).

The addition at the hip helped a little with the pulling at the back, but I think that to get a "perfect fit", I really need a center back (CB) seam back there where I can play with a sway back/large butt alteration. You know how a lot of women's hips are larger after having a baby? My hip measurement is proportionally larger compared to my waist/bust than it used to be, but everything redistributed itself to my butt. You'd never know from looking at me straight on that my hips measure 2.5" larger than my bust, but they do...and that measurement largely comes from junk in the trunk. I don't have a problem with it--it is what it is, but I am now dealing with some fitting issues that I did not have to deal with pre-baby.

Doggy photobomb!

In any case, I'm very happy with version 2, as well. This striped top will become the first piece of the HotPatterns capsule wardrobe that I'm starting. I'm psyched about this--I will be swapping out a few patterns for non-HP patterns, but for both patterns and fabric, I will be able to complete the entire capsule wardrobe from stash.

My next entry in the capsule wardrobe will be the gray, belted cardigan. I am using the suggested pattern of the HP Fast & Fabulous Four Seasons Kimono Jacket. For fabric, I am using a firm, wool sweater knit that's been in my stash for around four years (I think). Remember a few years ago when fabric.com got in that lot of Vera Wang fabrics in that many of us ordered way too much of? This fabric was one of those fabrics. It was listed as a "wool jersey", but in reality, the hand/weight feel much more like a sweater knit, and it's been sitting in my stash since then. I am hoping that it will be a good choice for this project.

2014 Sewing Goals: Pattern Stash

I am going to blatantly rip off an idea from Lynn over at You sew, girl! and write my own post about my goals for pattern stash busting in 2014. She set stashbusting goals for herself by identifying a goal of sewing at least 10 stashed patterns and 30 pieces of stashed fabric in 2014.

I am going to do a similar thing with the following pledge:

"I, Michelle of happilycaffeinated, commit to using at least 15 patterns from the candidate pattern stash and using at least 20 pieces of stash fabric in 2014. Stash includes any fabric or patterns on hand/purchased prior to the date of this pledge, 8 Jan 2013."

If you'll recall, I wrote a post a few months ago where I was debating how best to add some focus and order to my sewing projects for 2014:

Thinking ahead to 2014: Seeking Balance

In particular, I was interested in finding a way to prioritize sewing up some of my stashed patterns that I truly wanted to sew but hadn't done so because I kept getting distracted by other projects. By using Lynn's challenge as an inspiration, I think that I should be able to accomplish my pattern stashbusting goals for the year but not feel like I'm locked into sewing only one company's patterns.

Here's how I'm planning to accomplish these goals:

• The fabric stash part is easy. I'm planning to try to shop my stash for most of my projects this year unless there's a pattern that I have in mind where I really don't have an appropriate fabric (Believe it or not, I do have a small handful of projects in mind where I don't have the right fabric. Probably not surprisingly, these projects are all either fleece pajamas or outerwear.)
• For the pattern stash part, I wanted to focus on patterns that have either been in my "to sew" queue for a while or have been and out of my queue several times. These patterns are the ones that I really want to sew but haven't gotten around to for whatever reasons. To create this focus, I created a spreadsheet of "candidate" patterns:
  

  
  

  

  2014 Pattern Stash candidates

  I won't be restricted to sewing from this list, but I will try to sew 15 of the 39 patterns on here this year. Given my sewing pace under normal circumstances, I think this is a reasonable goal that will leave me with some flexibility for new patterns and new project ideas.
  
  Also, lest you think that I have some sort of ungodly self control, note that my pattern stash is much, much larger than this list. In my early years of sewing, I hit nearly every cheapo pattern sale at JoAnn's and accumulated hundreds of Big 4 patterns, most of which will probably never be sewn, but that I can't bring myself to part with. (For some reason, I have a much easier time donating "what was I thinking" fabric than patterns.)
• My weight has fluctuated a lot over the past few years (getting pregnant, having a baby, taking off a chunk of weight, putting a little bit of that weight back on), so I've been really feeling like I need a wardrobe revamp, especially taking into account Seattle's cooler climate. I tried to put together a list of where I see the "holes" being in my current wardrobe and mapped that to the pattern stash candidates:

Stash chart 2014

 
I think that my goals/wardrobe holes line up pretty well together. This chart and my overall thought process does assume that some patterns will be made multiple times (I'm pretty good about making multiples of many of my knit top and knit dress patterns) and that there will likely be a few wadders in the group. However, I am hoping that by the end of 2014, I won't feel like I'm wearing the same 4-5 outfits all the time and will be able to mix and match things up a bit more.

You might also notice that the "stash plan" doesn't have many entries for Eva or David. The reason for this is that I'm pretty good about sewing things for Eva fairly soon within buying the pattern, so outside of a few Oliver + S patterns that were bought on sale, I don't really have a pattern stash for her yet. And I don't have much of a pattern stash for David because there aren't a whole lot of men's patterns out there, let alone patterns for larger men that don't require a ridiculous amount of grading. The first thing that I'll sew for him this will likely be the new HP men's t-shirt pattern, which I don't have in hand yet but ordered the day that it was released.

I have a few other sewing-related goals for the year, mostly related to refining certain skills and trying a few new things to step out of my comfort zone, but I'll save those for another post.