A sewing blog about building a functional, cohesive handmade wardrobe, one garment at a time.

Thursday, March 7, 2019

Cupro Cropped Calyers

French Navy Now Calyer Pant in cupro twill with an elasticized hem.

You guys, I'm really pretty excited about these pants.  They turned out almost exactly the way I planned/envisioned.  They go with a good chunk of my tops.  They represent an evolution in my style (I don't think there's any way I would have been caught dead in baggy, elastic-hem pants a few years ago).  And, they are the first finished item from my first-ever Make Nine.

Friday, March 1, 2019

February 2019

This month we hit the half-year mark of our stay in Bogota.  We're a quarter of the way through and it still feels like we just got here.  And although I was thrilled at the thought of no winter when we moved, I'm finding the constant temperatures to be a little bit monotonous. Don't get me wrong; I prefer this to what's going on in much of the United States at the moment, weather-wise, but there's something weird about trying to teach my kindergartener about seasons through pictures instead of through experience!

I only completed two projects this month, but they were both pretty involved.

PROJECTS COMPLETED:

Orange faille skirt sewn from the Simplicity 1369 sewing pattern.

Thursday, February 21, 2019

Denim Gallery Tunic

Denim tunic made from the Liesl and Co. Gallery Tunic sewing pattern.


Before we packed up in Virginia, I paired three cuts of fabric with patterns and put them into clear zippered bags (the kind sheets come in) along with notions and thread. The idea was that they would be the first projects I would work on when I arrived in Colombia.

Wednesday, February 13, 2019

Thursday, February 7, 2019

January 2019


January saw a return of the sew-jo, fueled both by an island vacation and the fact that I got to meet another IG sewist in person.  Actually, I had met her in person, and had a few good conversations, well before discovering that she was a fellow sewist - our daughters are in the same Girl Scout troop.  So funny that we never discussed sewing, but I guess that's not something I tend to talk about with people unless I know they are interested.  Anyway, after making the IG sewing connection, we got coffee and had a real sewing chat and I found myself invigorated and scrapping to carve out some sewing time for myself both before and after our trip.

Wednesday, January 30, 2019

The sea of seven colors (and Simplicity 1887)

A man and a woman standing in front of the Caribbean Sea on the island of San Andres, Colombia.

I'm a beach girl. Always have been.  I was lucky to grow up in a family that vacationed regularly.  Not anything fancy; we always drove, and it was pretty common that all seven of us would squeeze into one hotel room.  But we got to vacation, nonetheless.  For a period of my young life, we would alternate our summer destinations - one year by the sea, the next up in the mountains. At some point I convinced my siblings to make a full court press, begging for beach vacations only.  We were successful at some point in my junior high school life, and I've been going to the Outer Banks (on the Atlantic Ocean) almost every year ever since.

Thursday, January 24, 2019

Gelato on vacation

Woman standing on a sandy beach, wearing a turquoise linen tank top hacked from the free Colette Sorbetto sewing pattern.

We went on vacation, which meant that I got that have-to-sew-something-new-for-vacation itch. And it just wouldn't sit there and not be scratched.