How To Decide What Patterns To Buy

Otherwise known as My Pattern Wishlist...
I blame Gillian for her post on cold weather Inspiration and seeing photos of her cute winter style. I want cute winter style! Plus the time is quickly approaching when I may actually have to go out in cold weather and look decent. So I rounded up my pattern wish list. Buying patterns is a big deal for me so maybe talking through it will help...

Named Dakota Dress
Thanks to pinterest I stumbled upon this plaid version and was surprised to see what pattern it was actually from. I like this much more than the company's version because I didn't even give that image a second thought.

Yuki's Plaid Version

Then I saw Rachel's Winter Dakota in my favorite color and really really liked it!

Rachel's Winter Dakota

So how does it measure up?

PDF Price: $15. USD

Versatility/MMP (multiple make potential): It could be made up in different fabrics for different looks with the CF sewn open or closed. I can see tunic potential in this as well.

Layerabilty: I could wear multiple tops underneath it and my Espresso leggings. So warmth and cuteness!

Style: I have a feeling this could be dressed up or down depending on fabric choices and what I wore with it. Definitely could wear it to teach sewing classes!

Lola

Another less than compelling pattern illustration but I have really liked all the versions I have seen made up. Plus it's a favorite of Gillian's who I've officially decided is my cold weather muse.

PDF Price: $16.40 USD

Versatility/MMP: This really changes depending on fabrics used! There are super color blocking possibilities.You can leave off the pockets and bands for a dressier look and I don't have a knit pattern for princess seams. 

Layerabilty: I have the leggings and I think this might work with skinny jeans. You can make this from sweatshirt fabric so it would be warm and cozy! I could probably throw on a tshirt underneath if I wanted.

Style: Casual but could still be presentable as long as it doesn't look like I made it from pajama fabric. Could I teach in this?

Deer and Doe Bruyere!!!

I am not a fan of button up shirts but I LOVE THIS!! It is so pretty! I love the waistband and the skirt bit that makes it like a tunic and all the buttons down the front. So lovely! Classic shirt without being a classic shirt.

Paper Pattern Price: $16.21 USD

Versatility/MMP: Um this looks like a statement piece to me so I'm not sure how many I could get away with making... No brilliant hack ideas are coming to me either...

Layerabilty: Pretty sure I could wear this over jeans and throw sweaters over it just like a normal shirt. I think it's more of a fall/spring piece anyway.

Style: OODLES!! LOADS!! I love it so much!

The Mary Knickers

I've finally been bitten by the unmentionables bug. How can we resist all those cute patterns Measure Twice Cut Once put out?

PDF Price: $9.00 USD

Versatility/MMP: Obviously these could be made up a bajillion times and none of you would be the wiser! ;)

Layerabilty: I think they should layer with my other garments nicely. I'm also wondering if the boy short leg will get rid of the every present VLP issue..

Style: Never worn Boyshorts. Want to try. 

With all the wonderful and new independent patterns out there I have to have some criteria to decide where to best spend my limited funds. I also consider if I have something similar in design already in the pattern stash but these all passed that preliminary test.

What do you consider when you're pattern shopping? Any criteria I should add to my list? Any other great winter/fall patterns out there? Which do you think I'm going to spring for?? 

PS. The Bronte Top! I want that too...

October Stashbusting Theme Announcement

Oh Hey There!
  Look at all you ambitious stash busters! I think I say this each month but I'm so proud of all of you using your resources responsibly, putting thought and effort into your fabric collections and sewing up a storm! While things have conspired to keep me from my sewing machine I continue to be inspired by what you are creating!

So... October's theme... anyone taken a peek at last year's? Let me give you a hint..

Source: Christmas Countdown Clock

That's right friends! Christmas is coming! October's theme: Christmas Creating

Before things get too crazy let's get a head start on our Christmas Lists! What do you want to sew this Christmas? How can we cleverly use up the stash and make special gifts for those we care about?

Or do you? Do you believe in making Christmas gifts?

I usually stick to those who I know will appreciate the handmade goodness. Since the family has started to fly the coop and spread out I've been thinking for a couple years it would be neat to make ornaments each year. Something small to not add to the clutter but special. Mostly I'm going to try to rein myself in and not get the Christmas crazies!

What are your plans? I want to see your lists! Cause we're all procrastinating on those Halloween costumes and anything we get done now will seem like a bonus when we hit that Christmas rush.

I'll stop now before you shoot me for using the word Christmas a million times before it's actually here!

Stripy Fall Stashbusting

Yippee! I finally got to sew something fun! It fits into my FESA plans and it is Stashbusting! Win Win Win! Do you want to see it?

 There are those mornings when you drag yourself out of bed and don't want to fight with your clothes. I was spoiled with all my easy throw on summer dresses and wanted something for fall and winter. When I found this gorgeous teal and grey strip remnant at a thrift store I thought it would make a nice cropped sweatshirt or something. Then I got it home and realized it matched perfectly with a remnant of gorgeous cotton interlock in my stash!

Yes, I'm feeling full of sass in this!

I used Cake Pattern's Hummingbird Top for the bodice lengthening the sleeves as much as I could with the yardage I had. As you can see it wasn't much. I cut 2 inch wide strips for the bands for the neckline and sleeves. I really like the neckline on this top. 

For the skirt I kept it simple. I serged all the remaining fabric into a tube, quartered it and pleated the front and gathered the back. I just eyeballed the pleats and kind of like how the five little pleats turned out. Easy peasy.

I didn't hem the bottom and the sweatshirt fabric had enough body that I didn't need to reinforce the waist seam. I sewed it on just my serger and it took about an hour. I can't tell you how delighted I am with this color combo and comfort. I think this will see a lot of wear with my Espresso leggings and sweaters!
How's your fall sewing going? How often do you reuse your patterns? I find myself often reaching for this top or the Cabarita pattern when I'm wondering what to do with my knits.

Thanks & Sneak Peeks

Hello Sewing Friends,
  Before I left for the summer I won some giveaways and was never able to say thank you properly. I have all my lovely loot surrounding me now that I'm home and decided it was high time!

I entered Sew Mama Sew's big giveaway extravaganza early in the spring
and one this lovely fat quarter bundle from Bear Creek Quilting Co.
I LOVE this color palette and really want to quilt something now...

Squee! My first piece of Liberty Tana Lawn from Sewbox UK! I love this print
and was delighted when I won it! But I don't remember if it was So Zoe
or Handmade Jane's giveaway but I'm so thankful and trying to dream
up something special for it...

After I left I received a lovely bit of loot from Sanae Ishida! Such fun stuff
But I might have been most excited when I saw...

THIS Drawing! One of my favorite things about Sanae's blog is her
lovely illustrations and her note happened to be one! I immediately put
it up on my sewing wall!

Speaking of my sewing wall, I'm loving the way it looks these days. Bits of practical and bits of inspiration and fun..

Things have been pretty busy around here and you can see all the patterns and wool getting thrown around! We're starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel and I have high hopes we'll finish in time!

Finally, there is a lot of stuff going on behind the scenes right now and I'm giving myself permission to only blog once a week. I know the world goes on and I don't really need to announce to you what I'm doing but I love this community and want to keep myself accountable as well. I'll still be reading all of you and doing the Stashbusting Announcements. So... stay tuned... 

To end, I was going through some boxes and found one of my first quilt attempts. I think it's funny because I have been pinning small square quilts the last couple weeks. I guess my tastes haven't changed very much... My question for you is what would you do with this? I want to keep it and use or display it but I'm not sure how. It's 13 x 10 inches. 

A Sewalong to Get Me Sewing

Readjusting to home life after a crazy amazing summer has been difficult. I walked back into my room and the fabrics started screaming at me for my long neglect. There are things I have to sew and things I want to sew and things I should sew. But I haven't known where to start so I've just been sitting on my bed cruising the interwebs instead. Until I read Heather B's post today.... It was the kick in the pants I needed.

I do make lists to keep myself from being overwhelmed or distracted so the categories offered here are very appealing. I'm also going to try to not write everything I could make and keep it to a more realistic amount...

Fashionable Foundations

• Brown Corduroy Maritime Jeans Hack... I've got a couple more fabrics for trousers as well, I'm just not ready to tackle them again...
• Green Wool Skirt of some sort. Today I found out I'm entering SD Make It With Wool Contest and showing my garments on the 18th. No panic...

Chic Chemises

• Finish Red Cabled Sweater I've got partially knitted. 
• Green Wool Crepe Top that should be drapey for MIWW contest. Any pattern suggestions?
• Pink & Blue Plaid Japanese Tunic Top
• Teal & Grey Sweatshirt Knit Tunic Top

Fabulous Frocks

• Something Pretty! I'm bummed I missed out on the summer stuff!

It's Cold Outside

• Schnittchen Mona Jacket in Turquoise Corduroy

Whew, just looking at that seems more manageable than what I was thinking. Maybe now I can move forward and sew on!

September Stashbusting: Children

Hello My Eager Stashbusters!
  I am so happy to be back sewing with you! It seems Facebook has been roaring away without much assistance, which makes me happy. There's nothing like accidentally starting a group that becomes self sustaining. We've had a lot of new people join so I thought I'd go over a few of the "rules" just in case...

The Only Real Rule is: USE YOUR STASH!

The themes are completely optional and only there to inspire or give you guidance if you so desire.

The goal of this sew along is to encourage us to consider and use the resources we already have instead of always getting new stuff.

Here's some helpful links to: Our Main Page (which includes links by month to our Pinterest boards) Facebook, Flickr

I do feel kind of bad for how little participation I've put in this year and want to say again how thankful I am for all your encouragement and enthusiasm for this project!

Now September's Theme! CHILDREN!!! Inspired by, or literally sewing for them, children or childlike is this month's theme. Will you make clothes? Toys? Quilts? Or add some childlike whimsy into your next make?

Let's jump in and get sewing!

Kathy's 100 Emerys Interview

Hello My Sewing Bloggy Friends,

 Long time no see! I've had a fabulous summer that I'm still processing but you will hear about it soon. I do apologize for so completely abandoning you but it seems everything has gone well and the FB Stashbusting group is consistently growing which is so fantastic! 

I've been sitting on this fabulous interview with Kathy of The Nerdy Seamstress for the whole summer and I figured it was finally time to share.

How long have you been sewing? 
I started sewing when when I was 9 and stopped some time in high school. I wish I can say I kept all the knowledge, but I had to relearn a lot of basic skills. I started sewing again only late January of last year because clothes never fit me and the style I like were out of my price range. I never looked back.

Blog Post

Do you have a fabric stash?
Oh my goodness! Which seamstress doesn't have a fabric stash. Right? My stash is huge it's ridiculous! If I'm in a sewing funk, I shop for fabric, which is bad! I realized that it is nice to give some fabric from my stash away.

Blog post

What was the first dress you made?
My first dress! lol!  It's completely laughable. It was a pattern from Joann's, I think it was one of those New Look patterns. It was a purple sheath dress, completely my style and color. That dress was all kinds of wrong because of the construction. I didn't transfer notches. I didn't use pins. I didn't alter the pattern what so ever. I'm sure there are countless other things I didn't do. It was basically a horrible because I made it straight out of the envelope. It was different from a RTW dress. After that incident, I stopped sewing. I picked it up again after stumbling upon Adventures in Dressmaking's blog. After that, I was hooked.

Why do you think dresses have such long lasting appeal?
I think dresses are timeless. Dresses that style icons wear are still relevant and gorgeous today.

Why do you personally love dresses?
I love dresses because I'm lazy. I don't have to pick or worry if my outfit looks okay. With one garment, I look dressy without the effort.

Blog post

Why did you fall in love with the Emery Dress pattern?I fell in love with the Emery Dress pattern because of the simplicity of bodice and really lends itself to many different styles. What I saw in the pattern is a great bodice slopper. From there, the option is endless.

What made you decide to challenge yourself with "100 Ways of Emery"?When bloggers mix and match patterns, it inspires me to try to think outside the box. I started the 100 ways of Emery because I wanted to challenge myself creatively. I wanted to see how many different patterns and designs I can create with one pattern.

How many have you made so far?
Wow! I don't know! Under 10 so far. Man, I have a long way to go! I took a little break from the dress, and I have a few ideas in mind that I'm really excited about.

Thanks Emily for inviting me to join on the July dresses theme for the stashbusting sew along!

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Thank you Kathy, for participating! I can't wait to see all your different Emery versions!