My Sewing Space

I tend to get my back up when I feel like I am forced to make a bad choice. Like I don't have any good options, but I still have to pick one. Hate that. It happens in all different parts of life, some easier to deal with than others. One of the places it happens quite a bit for many people is with clothing. Depending on availability and geographic location, options may be quite limited. There's not much choice to be had on price point, origin, style, fit, color, etc. I love it when I feel like I can use my sewing skills to subvert that. When I finish a project and want to point my finger and yell "Ha!" like I'm stickin'-it-to-the-man, I feel ultra successful. Such is the case with these denim shorts. My summer wardrobe was in need of another pair of shorts and I knew denim would work well. An attempt to buy a ready-to-wear pair turned out to be a waste of time and a somewhat demoralizing experience. Why did I even bother with that when I have a tried-and-tru...

Most of the summer clothes I've sewn for myself in the last couple of years have been dresses and skirts. I wear dresses and skirts more than shorts or pants, so that's been working out well, but there are times where shorts really are a better choice. And I don't know about you, but I find it even harder to locate shorts worth buying than pants. So, my delight with the success of these pants was compounded when I realized that the pattern would also work really well for shorts. When I made my son these pants , I was really impressed with the fabric and almost regretted not saving it for myself (but I'm trying hard not to do that "saving the fabric" thing). Turns out, the remaining remnant was enough for a pair of shorts for me. The stretch twill has a really nice brushed surface and from my son's pants I know that it washes and wears well. I did some triple topstitching on these also, just like his pants. Other than here on the front pockets, it ...

Four weeks ago, I started running. Those of you who know me might find this surprising.  But, believe me when I tell you that you are no more surprised than I am.  I've tried being a runner before and never liked it.  I'd even get to the point where I could do it without it being painful and I still didn't like it, so I never stuck with it.  For some crazy reason, right now I'm loving it.  I don't understand it at all, but I'm not fighting it. My initial goal was to run three miles in 30 minutes and I'm just about there. Everything about it feels good. NOW everything about it feels good because I fixed the problem of having nothing suitable to wear while running. I learned early on that sleeves feel like they are in my way and I don't like them.  I also learned that shorts that ride up are no good. (But, really they only ride up for the first half of the run - after that I'm sweaty enough that they stick in place.  Lovely). Since I was really on...