Top 5 Inspirational Bloggers for 2013

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inspirational bloggers, sewing, sewing bloggers, sewists, Top 5 of 2013

2013 turned in to a year of lots of blog reading for me… I truly enjoyed so many bloggers and seeing what they were up to and the beautiful things they made. I also enjoyed learning new techniques and found quite a bit of inspiration in other peoples makes. I was challenged and inspired, and choosing just 5 is TOUGH but I decided to go ahead and do it anyway!

1. Gjeometry– I love this lady and her kitty sidekick. (Although maybe Kitty would say that Catja is the sidekick!) The items she has made are divine. I can tell she puts a ton of thought in to every make. Not only does she put thought and care into each and every project, but her posts are stellar and well written. She researches and shares a plethora of knowledge about the garment and what she has done… and I read every word she has crafted! One of my favorite posts this year from her is from The Great Gatsby Sew Along… Read it and you will see what I mean! Not only well written but LOTS of photos! If I could take a moment to gush a little more about Catja? Well, I am going to anyway. I find her to be one of the most supportive bloggers out there. She comments, encourages and helps so many other bloggers! Whenever I think I have found a new blogger to read, invariably I see Gjeometry has been there first and has made a comment. I LOVE that!

2. Handmade by Heather- Heather is such a prolific sewer! I follow Heather on Instagram and she is ALWAYS whipping up some fantastic garment. She must have a closet full of fantastic dresses, jackets and pajama eaters lurking throughout her home. She is a self professed pattern addict, and frankly as a pattern hoarder myself I see nothing wrong with that! (I can also usually hear her shouting for MOAR fabric! Again I find nothing wrong with that!)  I love the amount of detail she shares on her blog posts about each garment. She knows her body and makes the necessary changes to a pattern, and shares with the reader everything she did. I am never able to share that much detail and it is one of the things I appreciate about Heather’s blog. Her detail has helped me with makes of my own!

3. Sew Busy Lizzy– Sew Busy Lizzy was one of the first people to comment on my blog over a year ago when I joined the blogging world. I confess I was thrilled someone made a comment… and even more thrilled when I clicked over and saw her blog. She makes the most fantastic beautiful clothes and her pictures are stunning. When I grow up I want my blog to be just like hers! If you have not seen what she does with fabric, patterns and a camera be sure and check out her blog. You too will fall in love!

4. The Amazing Taracat– Taracat is another pretty prolific sewist. She too must have a closet full of dresses. One of the things I LOVE about her is the energy and vibe evident in her blog posts and pictures. If she isn’t dancing she is either sipping beer or off wearing her handmade garment at some fun event. I really enjoy reading about WHERE she is wearing that dress and learning about other places. She lives across the pond which makes it even more fascinating for this American girl. I want to make a list of the places she has been and go have me some fun across the pond too!

5. Sew Dixie Lou– I just love Clare because frankly she seems like an adorable, fun loving, amazing gal… She is a part of the Minerva Blogging Network and her latest “submission” is divine! She makes some pretty terrific outfits and blogs them in a way that makes you want to read more. Her fascination with Elvis, Don from Madmen, Nashville, Dolly Parton and Joan Collins make her a fun read. Honestly, I am pretty sure she “bleeds” fun… I hope to some day share a few IPA’s with this lady!

I want to add that I could only pick 5… I have so many blogs I read and so many fantastic sewists I get to interact with via Twitter, Instagram and more. Social media has made it easy to belong to a virtual world of sewing friends and I love that… So I’d like to mention a few more inspirational sewists- Gillian- (Fun, friendly and makes some really great every day clothing) Lelia-(Awesome costumes and beautiful clothes!) Brooke -(an amazing seamstress she makes things I doubt I would ever tackle), KatieMD– (Super prolific and fabulous sewist), and Anne B– (love her Wearable Wednesday and hilarious posts, and she makes great stuff too!)

I hope some day some of you fine sewists will find inspiration in me! I want to take a bit from each and every one of you and incorporate it in to what I do in 2014… I wanna be prolific, funny, a fantastic photographer, detailed, challenging, fun, a great writer and more. Yep… Not too much to ask right??

Laurie xo

Top 5 Misses of 2013

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easy sewing projects, fabric, fabrics, patterns, sew, sew exhausted, sewing

As I look back at the things I made in 2013 I find there are sadly some items that are definitely never worn. Initially I may have thought I liked them but when you don’t ever choose to remove them from the hangar and put them on your body it must mean something.

I think in the beginning of the year, when I actually made MYSELF something, I got so excited I just started making random things without really thinking about what I was making. I am still not sure why! I chose a few simple items so I could whip them up. Now don’t get me wrong! There is nothing wrong with simple and I totally LOVE the 2 simple Renfrews I finished in December of this year. But I made some things I NEVER wear… and that means they are misses in my book.

1. This skirt is a 90’s pattern- Vogue xxxx. I like the fabric- a nicely flowing challis. I like the length and I like the cut. What I don’t like is the side gathering on the yoke. I don’t even know WHAT I was thinking! I could have left the side gathering off and with MY hippy hips and thighs I did NOT need any gathering in that area. I have considered taking it apart and redoing it but I just don’t think I have the energy! I have NEVER worn this skirt…

2. I like my “David Bowie China Girl” shirt but I never wear it. I like the print but I don’t like that it is a quilting cotton. I do not like the way it feels and I do not like the fact that I feel decidedly plump in the shirt. Yes, I am decidedly plump but I don’t want to feel that way. I think if the shirt had been 2 inches longer it would have worked better. I would still like to make this top and wear it. But I want a chinese looking print in a knit and I want to lengthen it. (can’t find the perfect fabric tho. 😦 ) So this may end up as a refashion. Maybe a tote bag cuz like I said I DO like the fabric… just not on my body!

3. I really wanted a great costume to wear to Carnivale this year. But from the beginning things went wrong. I had an idea and theme in my head but when I went shopping I was having no luck finding that “idea.” Mainly the color I wanted was no where to be found. So I compromised what was in my head and some how I ended up with this green and brown. I don’t EVER wear brown. EVER… NEVER…It was a very lovely brown brocade but not for me. And the top besides being pretty cool? You can see my bra straps! I wore this to the Carnivale celebration at my favorite brewery but I was uncomfortable. Thankfully I had a mask on. This year I am making a red and black steampunk inspired dress… hopefully.

4. There is nothing wrong with this dress and I like it. But I never wear it. Oddly enough I have not worn a dress that shows my legs in years. I don’t know why. I am pretty sure I used to but somewhere along the way I drifted away from them and now when I think about wearing one I think my legs look weird. So I wear maxi skirts and dresses and slacks and jeans. And that’s it. I am pretty sure my kids have never seen me in a pair of shorts. (I really do not want to frighten them!) I am going to hold on to this dress because like I said I DO like it. I am hoping in 2014 I can get past this weird fear I have of showing my legs and wear it a few times.

5. I hate this shirt. I like the fabric- it is a sweater knit. BUT the cut of this top frankly sucks on my body. It does NOTHING for me! And I thought when I initially made it that I loved it and made 2 more- a dressy black and blue one and a white eyelet one. I have not worn either of those. EVER. I have worn the one below because despite the fact I feel like a dumpling in it it’s quite comfortable. Sighhh… I am probably never going to wear it again though.

And those are my TOP 5 misses. Thankfully I feel like I have learned a lot from my hits and misses. I realize it is like when I used to go shopping for clothes. You know how you just really want to buy those super cute things you know you normally don’t look good in because of the cut or color? So you grab a TON of those items and styles and go and try them all on. And realize when you look in the mirror you were right. No matter how cute they may look on someone else they don’t look good on you. So you drift back to colors and styles that do. That is sort of what I did with my sewing this year. I made some things I HOPED looked good on me despite the fact I had a feeling they wouldn’t. For 2014 I am going back to what I know works with me and my shape. And I am sticking to it!

Laurie xo

Top 5 Hits of 2013

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Anna Dress, By Hand London, daughters, easy sewing projects, fabric, fabrics, patterns, sew, sew exhausted, sewing, Top 5 Hits of 2013

I have had a crazy few weeks! From Thanksgiving on I feel like I have been a busy girl! Which means I was very lacking in the sewing department. I only managed a few handmade gifts. I guess I need to start sooner! I did make a second Renfrew though. A 3/4 sleeve cowl necked one I wore to work and out for our Company Christmas party. (no pics yet!)

Then more craziness. I decided to do all of my shopping at night after the party and because the girls were actually still up I left everything in the car. Someone broke in and stole it all, including my coat and phone charger! 😦 Don’t leave things in cars! Not even in your own driveway!

Last Friday I went to Boise to see the Potato Bowl game with my brother and drink craft beer at 8 different breweries. (LOTS of fun) And then Christmas week my brother came here to San Diego where we enjoyed 75-80 degree weather and 11 more breweries.

I am back to “business as usual” now and thought I would attempt to post some of the Top Five of 2013 Gillian started so we could look back and look forward!

1. I made this dress for Holly, my middle daughter from vintage Simplicity 4432 for Fall for Cotton in September. I love the bright contemporary fabric in the full skirted dress (that I shortened a bit) and Holly loves it too. Wherever she wears it she gets compliments.

2. The By Hand London Anna Dress With a Twist. I made 3 of these this year, all in knit. And I have worn them all more than once. I love them. They are comfortable, flattering and the solid black one I made I dressed up last minute to wear to a Christmas party. They can be casual and dressy! This one is my blocked one because I was short on fabric! I wore it for my birthday lunch. 🙂

3. Simplicity 2250- The Millenium Falcon dress. I made this for Juliette. She loves it and she wears it which was quite a feat. Great fit, pretty fabric, and fully lined. 🙂4. Jungle January robe and PJ’s. Animal print meets silky satin.I felt very decadent in these!

5. Hip Hop Pants. I have made many pairs of these. They started out for my eldest daughter Kadi who is a Hip Hop teacher/ choreographer/ dancer. She asked me to make her a cool pair of “harem” style pants so I did. And then she wanted 10 more pairs. And then people wanted to buy them. So I have just listed a few pairs on Etsy. I love them because they are pretty simple and look pretty darn cool if I do say so myself! Kadi does not wear them just for dance. She dresses them up with a pair of strappy heels and wears them out!

And that is my Top 5… I looked back and found I did not have that much to choose from and hope that in 2014 I will do better!

Laurie  xox

Sewaholic Renfrew Delight

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clothing, easy sewing projects, patterns, renfrew, sew exhausted, sewaholic, sewaholic renfrew, sewing

Confession… When I first entered the sewing blog/ twitter/ social media world I saw lots of sewists going on and on about the Sewaholic Renfrew and rolled my eyes. Yes, it is a nice top, but there are LOTS of nice tops out there. And because there is a part of me that does not like to jump on the bandwagon (unless I am one of the first- snicker), I decided I would never buy it. But I kept seeing it and hearing such good things, and because I decided I really needed some well made basics to add to my wardrobe I took the plunge.

I am very happy I did. I love it!

Initially I had this UGLY tannish color FREEBIE fabric I was hoping to use as a wearable muslin. I was going to dye it a prettier color if it looked ok. Well, the first time I tried it on for fit- which was pretty darn good- it itched so much within a minute or 2 I decided I would NOT be wasting dye on it as I would NEVER wear it.

So, I dug around and found 6 yards of this nice black jersey I had and decided to make one for my trip to Texas. A cowl necked one because I was COLD. I started it that evening and was finished within 2 hours. 🙂

I am very happy with it. It is actually PERFECT for me. It is black- which is my “uniform.” When I leave my house, 90% of the time I am wearing black. Black top and blue jeans… Black top and Black slacks… Black top and black skirt. YEP… That’s me. I am gonna get a TON of wear out of this baby! I am double happy because some of my black tops were starting to look a bit ragged after all the washes and wears I was putting them through! Now I have a new black top to add to the rotation! (One I have already worn twice!)

Anyway, here it is.  I would like to mention these are pictures taken in a rush by my 17 year old daughter who decided the tree looked better than me and to make it her focal point despite knowing I wanted pics of my top!

There are a few issues with the pattern I would like mention. (These were MY issues- not to say everyone had them!) I just want to try and be as honest as I can when I do a write up.

The long sleeve- Is BAGGY around the wrist. I need to take about at least an inch in on the wristband piece and taper the sleeve in as well.

The sleeve pattern piece- I was very surprised when I was sewing the sleeves on and I realized the sleeve head did not have a front and a back. In my experience it should? I can fix that though on my next attempt.

The underarm- Wow… I guess ALL my issues have to do with the sleeve! The underarm area seems slightly tight. Possibly due to the fact there is no sleeve front and back? Not sure but I am going to try and fix it on my next one.

Despite my sleeve issues I will be making a ton of these! I LOVE the fit… I love the finish… and I love the way it looks. I will most likely stick to v-necks and cowls as that is what I look good in but I can make all kinds of sleeve lengths depending on the time of year.

Definitely a good, solid basic pattern and one I am happy to have added to my wardrobe! This is the 4th Sewaholic pattern I have purchased. But the first one I have sewn up. Next year I am hopefully going to conquer the Thurlows (insert nervous giggle here). In the Spring I am making my Saltspring dress(Excited about this one). And I have everything for the Robson Coat. SHEESH- I need to get busy on that one!

And that is my Renfrew… Can’t wait to make more- And maybe break out of my “uniform” mode!

Speaking of uniforms these were taken before I left for work… And just for fun I took a pic of my lunchbox. I have a small collection of them and like to use them now and again when I go to the office. Today I carried one of my Beatles boxes. 😀

Laurie xo