Top 5 Misses of 2019

I did not have many misses this year. I had to dip into the sewing-for-kids section to round out my top 5! So I guess that's a good thing.

Top 5 Hits of 2019

When choosing my top five this year, I focused on ease of dressing, number of wears, and satisfaction with the garment's fit. The following makes are ones that I have reached for over and over again, and that have no fit issues that bother me when I wear them. Making this list has reinforced my identity as someone who enjoys to sew wardrobe staples that I will wear many times.

Can you do a narrow shoulder adjustment in place of a full bust adjustment?

As someone who always has to do a full bust adjustment (FBA), I've long wondered whether it would be possible to replace this adjustment with the simpler narrow shoulder adjustment. If choosing a size based on your full bust results in a too-big shoulder, wouldn't doing a narrow shoulder adjustment on that size fix the problem? I decided to try it out.

Brother 2340CV coverstitch machine review

Do you know what a coverstitch machine does? Have you been thinking about purchasing one? It seems they're not that common in the online sewing community, and I didn't find many reviews when I was researching mine. The machine I bought, the Brother 2340CV, remains the least expensive coverstitch on the market. Read on to learn what a coverstitch machine does and to read my review.

Self-drafted jungle trekker shirt

I am somewhat ashamed to admit that the Amazon rainforest was not on my list of places to visit in Colombia. Although I love hot weather, I like that hot weather in proximity to a sea or an ocean. But last year, after we studied South American geography, Z announced that she just had to see the pink river dolphins in the Amazon. In October we finally made the trip.

Colombia has a tiny slice of the Amazon River, something like 50 miles of the Amazon's 3,977 miles, and 10 percent or the Amazon rainforest. We stayed in the town of Leticia, which is right at the corner where the borders of Colombia, Brazil and Peru meet.

<a href="http://www.noticiasser.pe/index.php/opinion/trapecio-amazonico-tierra-de-nadie">Photo credit</a>.

Simplicity early spring patterns review

This is a new thing for this blog. I've read other bloggers' reviews of Big 4 pattern company collections for years, but I've never felt drawn to post one of my own until today, when I saw the new Simplicity collection.

The new collection contains 20 patterns, most of which feature new branding. It looks like Simplicity might be taking some cues from indie patterns in both branding and style with this release. I wondered whether they might also be modernizing their fit standards (aka less ease), but it seems that is pretty hit or miss.

I'm not going to talk about all the patterns in the release, because that would be an insane blog post. I'm just going to review some of the pattern collection's standouts (good and bad).

November 2019

I did a lot of traveling in November (see my travel wardrobe capsule posts here), which didn't leave much time for sewing. But I also managed to refrain from buying fabric, so that was good at least.

Projects Completed:

One of my flights was a red-eye, so the morning of the trip, I quickly made a velvet sleep mask from the Tilly and the Buttons free pattern. I can't really claim any fabric used since the project is so small though.