My Sewing Space

It's been awhile since I've posted anything here and I'm finding that I miss it. This past year has been full of changes and transitions for our family and this blog couldn't be a priority. We're settling into a new community and I've returned to work part-time. Time has felt tight over the last several months, but I have been sewing when I can and continue to enjoy a dedicated sewing space in our new home. Sewing and blogging come from the same pool of "free" time. When made to choose between sewing and writing about sewing, I will always choose sewing. I appreciate having this blog as a record of what I've made, just to help me remember some of the actual articles I've made and also as keeper of notes, links, and details that are helpful for current and future projects. I also just miss the writing. My day-to-day life doesn't require a lot of writing, but it's a skill I value and think it needs to be treated like a muscle: use it...

When I think about what 2013 might involve as it relates to my sewing room, I'm trying to think in terms of dreams or hopes rather than goals. What I'd like to be sewing is jackets. For me! BurdaStyle Larissa Moto Jacket I would like to have more jackets in my wardrobe. I have a number of cardigans, but I'm finding that I prefer the structured look of jackets more. The traditional suit jacket doesn't appeal to me, but I'd love to make each and every one pictured here (plus some others!). Sewaholic Patterns Cordova Jacket The problem is that jackets tend to be substantial projects and I suspect 2013 is going to be a busy year (if it continues on as 2012 has ended). Part of me rails against setting unrealistic goals and I really hate setting a goal and not accomplishing it. Also, I have a hard time maintaining motivation when a project drags on and I want to enjoy my sewing time, not feel burdened by it. BurdaStyle Cropped Denim Jacket Also, ...

I wasn't going to do one of these wrap-up posts this year, but I really enjoy reading ones from others. I just scrolled through the last year of my own posts and felt pretty satisfied with what I have produced. Overall, it feels like I haven't been able to find as much sewing time in the last year, but actually the blogging has taken more of a hit than the sewing. When looking back at my posts, I found I was happy with different projects for different reasons and it seemed like some yearbook-style "awards" were in order... Best Wardrobe Addition Goes to my orange coat . I have really liked having an additional outerwear option and every time I wear it I get comments and compliments on it. Most Successful Vision Turned Reality Goes to my white denim trousers . I love these pants and they turned out exactly as I had envisioned. They also were the inaugural pair of a TNT (Tried-and-true) pants pattern for me and marked the learning of a new pattern creating p...

By far, most of what I know about sewing I learned from my mom. She taught me when I was young and guided me through many projects. I'm like her in many ways. But, as I get older I find that I share many personality qualities with my dad. As anyone who "turns into their parent" will say, some of these qualities I'm happy to have and some, well, a little less so. As I've been reflecting on this lately, I've noticed that many of the ways I'm similar to him show up in my sewing - both the process and the products. Here are the ones I notice most frequently... 1. Respect tools.  My dad had an enviable shop at home. Maybe I should say "shops" - a wood shop and a metal shop. These shops were organized and well-equipped. Tools hung on pegs on the walls and then they were outlined in marker, so that there was no confusion at all about what went where. Using a tool was not something that you did without permission. Permission was usually granted but ...

Do you read the Yarn Harlot blog ? If you are at all interested in (or even just aware of) knitting, you should. She's hilarious. Anyway, yesterday's post resonated with me. Just substitute "sewing" for "knitting" and much of what she says is true for me. So, this afternoon I ignored the dirty bathrooms, full laundry baskets, phone calls to return, school committee work to do, etc. and just sewed for ME! for FUN! I made a dress - start to finish. And - bonus! I really like the finished product! Now tomorrow I will have some catching up to do. But, it's all good. Because now I can be nice to people again.

It's been awhile since I posted anything here. Our household has been really busy and I've been pretty worn out. I was blaming it on getting back into the school routine and adjusting to the Preacher working more again (the summer workload is lighter for him). Having a cough and cold symptoms since the end of August didn't help, either. Earlier this week I was hardly able to make it through the day without laying down to rest and felt like things were getting worse rather than better so I made a mid-week visit to the clinic. The doctor thoroughly listened to my lungs and said I had "a bit of pneumonia." That was a surprise for me, but it helped explain why my cough would not go away, why I was winded so easily, and just so tired. He prescribed some "heavy-duty" antibiotic that should take care of it. Now I'm optimistic that I actually can handle this school/ministry year schedule and hopefully I'm feeling better and more energetic soon. Here ar...

I don't really make New Year's Resolutions, but I do like to set some goals.  I find it pretty easy to set sewing goals.  There are still so many things I would like to make, techniques I would like to learn, patterns to try, etc.  In an attempt to be reasonable, but also give myself some direction, here are my goals for 2010: 1.  Go fabric shopping in Toronto. I live about 90 minutes from Toronto, but I have no idea what sort of fabric stores are there.  I'm sure there are some and I'd like to check them out. 2.  Knit the owl sweater . I have never knit myself a sweater.  Vests, socks, slippers, scarfs, mittens, etc for myself and several sweaters for my kids, but none for me.  It has always seemed a little daunting to me.  But, I thought this was a great pattern and in a chunky-weight yarn, so I think I can do it. 3.  Make a modern quilt for our living room wall. I love all the modern quilts people are making...

I wrote down these sewing goals for myself at the beginning of 2009, but never published them as I started this blog later in January.  Here they are... 1.  Less yardage in than yardage out. Ideally, sew two pieces from stash for every one purchased. Well, I wrote that before I knew I was going to NYC.  Purchasing nearly 50 yards of fabric there made it pretty hard to accomplish this goal!  But, after checking my totals, I was surprised that the in/out numbers weren't farther from each other.  I should note that I do a lot of rounding with my tracking, so these can't be considered much more than estimates.  For 2009 - Fabric In:  90 yards; Fabric out:  84 yards. 2.  Make a great white shirt. I didn't do this.  I bought fabric in NYC and used a pattern candidate for a different shirt, but never got around to actually making the white one.  I do have a white button-down shirt in my closet, but it isn't a great fit.  I'm...

Yesterday was just one of those days.  I started the day with a healthy to-do list, but ran stuck on nearly every single task.  No paper for the printer, couldn't find any tape for wrapping gifts, excessively needy kids, etc.  The only thing I managed to get done without hang-up was clean the bathrooms.  Yee-ha. Then I somehow managed to do this to my beloved Kitchen Aid blender: Shortly after that, the handle on the microwave broke. I left to run some errands in hopes of being able to make more progress on my list.  My first stop was Fabricland where I learned that the store was going to be closing March 31, 2010.  Whhhhaaaaaat?!?!?!  I do have a love/hate relationship with Fabricland, but this is really bad news.  It sent me into such a tailspin that I was largely unsuccessful at finishing the rest of my errands. Now, I know people that are experiencing real and legitimate crises, so I'm trying to keep this in perspective, but ...

I like to empty the garbage can from my sewing room. I'm not entirely sure why this gives me a bit of pleasure.  Some possibilities.... The fact that it is full and needs to be emptied means that I've been busy creating. As I dump out the contents, I see the scraps of all my recent projects and usually the quick "review" is nice. I have a bit of guilt about my stash, so I feel good when fabric is used up and moved out of the sewing room closet to somewhere else.  I don't hoard tiny scraps as some super-thrifty and resourceful folks do and seeing the little scraps in the trash helps me feel like I may have made a tiny dent in the stash. The striped fabric on the top in the picture is a sneak peek at my daughter's new dress (which is finished, but not photographed). Now there is mostly gift sewing happening, so not much to post about or time to post it, anyway.

...my life changed a lot.  My family moved to Ontario, Canada and my regular ol' husband became "the Preacher."  So many things to adjust to:  living in a different country (we're US citizens), a spouse's new career, being away from family and friends, becoming a full-time SAHM, meeting lots of new people, etc. I think this has been the toughest year of my life.  We have been confirmed in our call here and God has provided everything we need.  But it hasn't been easy. This has also been the most productive sewing year of my life.  This is no coincidence.  Sewing has really helped me cope with all the changes in many ways: 1.  I spend most evenings alone (after the kids are in bed).  The Preacher has a lot of meetings or work to finish in his office.  This is when I do most of my sewing.  I am thankful that I have something to do that I enjoy during these hours.  I find my sewing machine to be good company. 2.  The ...