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New Vogue Sewing Patterns! (+ a survey)

Hey everyone! I’m finally home from Egypt and nearly settled back to normal life. I will be writing a post about my trip after I finish sorting through the photos – in short, it was AMAZING and I had the best time!!! – and I also have my monthly MSN project to share! But in the meantime, I wanted to give a shoutout on behalf of my friends at the McCall Pattern Company.

As you likely already know, MCP is responsible for McCall’s, Butterick, Vogue, and Kwik Sew sewing patterns. They are a small-ish company (smaller than you’d think, especially considering the massive number of patterns they publish each year) headquartered in NYC (which I visited a couple of years ago and it was pretty freaking awesome!), and make up 3 of what we consider the Big 4 when it comes to sewing patterns. I’ve sewn on their patterns for a long time – the majority of my sewing career, which spans a couple of decades – and the Vogue patterns especially are a key part to getting me where I am now in my craft. I learned so much from those designer instructions, and have made some really cool stuff! I know we – well, I, anyway haha – looove to poke fun at the ridiculous and awful Vogue offerings. It became a regular thing on my blog for a while there, and the only reason why I stopped writing those posts was because the patterns stopped being really terrible for the most part haha. It’s like, I dunno, they actually listened to us or some shit :P. Anyway, two things for this post today.

First, the McCall Pattern Company is currently on the manhunt for some feedback, for their on-going efforts to better support the sewing community. They want to know what you love, what you hate, and how they can better serve the people who are purchasing (or stopped purchasing, for whatever reason) their product. They reached out to me to see if I would share their survey with y’all, my readers, in order to expand their reach to a more diverse audience (and thus give them more data to work with that will result in – we should hope, anyway – a better product that delights all of us!). As much as I like to pick on them for the lols, I do truly love and respect this company, and I appreciate everything they do to keep those sewing patterns in rotation every season (and give us something to laugh at if said sewing patterns are terrible). I want to see them succeed and I selfishly want those products to get even better bc, duh, that absolutely benefits me (and you!). So with that being said – if you have 5-10 minutes and feel like talking about yourself, do us all a solid and fill out this survey. We all love talking about ourselves, this should be easy 😉 Click here to take the survey, and we all thank you in advance! ♥

On a second note – how about we talk about those new Vogue sewing patterns? Because they just released a new batch, woohoo! As I mentioned before, I stopped writing these posts because honestly the patterns stopped being really terrible. Which is great for us – and the company, ha – but not really conductive to those quarterly bouts of entertainment. Fair warning, the majority of the stuff in this collection is actually quite nice, but there are a few wtf ones thrown in there for good measure. Ah, Vogue, always keeping us on our toes.

Vogue 1537 / Kay Unger
LOVE this cocktail dress / jacket combo. It’s like a modern version of those vintage ones that I’m always drooling over. I love dresses’ shape – fitted, high neckline, interesting back view. And I like that the jacket is a slightly more modern shape than being straight-up vintage. The whole ensemble is just beautiful.

Vogue 1536 / Tom & Linda Platt
Love this one too. Simple dress, somewhat of a statement jacket (looks normal from the front, with a party in the back. Wait. Did I just describe a mullet?). Although I’m not sure if that jacket would look fucking stupid with anything other than that dress, but, it looks AWESOME with that dress so let’s just enjoy that small victory.

Vogue 1539 / Nicola Finetti
I want to like this, I do, but I also want to hate it. I think it’s the print on the print, which is a good idea in theory (I’ve always loved a sheer layer atop a solid layer of the same print, its interesting, dimensional, and beautiful), but not with that particular print. Also, those shoes are just awful. Go ahead and fight me over that.

Vogue 1535 / Badgley Mischka
I LOVE THIS AND I NEED AN EXCUSE TO MAKE AND WEAR IT ASAP OMG. I’d be the most elegant superhero in the entire fucking ballroom, y’all.

Vogue 1533 / Bellville Sassoon
I almost hyperventilated when I saw this dress, holyyyy shit. It is absolutely breathtaking. Ever since I crept hardcore on all the designer clothes at Bergdorf Goodman earlier this month, I’ve a brand-new appreciation for really interesting and artistic garments. This dress falls square into that category, and is exactly why I love Vogue Sewing Patterns. I wish I was fancy enough to justify an excuse to make and wear this. Hell, I might do it anyway, and figure out the event later haha. I don’t use this term often, but homegirl looks fierce.

Vogue 1534 / Badgley Mischka
Ok, so the pattern for this dress is reasonably simple – it’s just a lined halterneck bodice with a contrast waistband, and a floor-length skirt. There’s nothing really spectacular about it. But I do love the fabrics that were used for this garment – its an absolutely beautiful dress. This is a great example of fabric choice making or breaking a garment. The sparkles are really appealing to my magpie tendencies.

Vogue 9241 / Kathryn Brenne
Katheryn. What the fuck is this shit. What the fuck are you doing.

Vogue 1531 / Julia Alarcon
I came here all riled up to hate this dress, but honestly, I really love it. It can definitely go terribly, horribly wrong depending on how that cowl gets worn – but when it’s good, it is real good. I love that giant collar and all the ways you can drape it around your neck to make the dress look completely different.

And while we’re talking about horribly wrong things…

SORRY, PALATE CLEANSER:

Vogue 1530 / Sandra Betzina
Ok, who’s brilliant idea was it to use auto upholstery fabrics to make this dress?

Vogue 9239
Hey look, another example of fabric choice making or breaking a garment. In this case, broke as fuck. Those bell sleeves look absolutely stupid when sewn up in a fabric that has that much body.

Vogue 9238
I just hate this so much.

Vogue 9246
GUYS WHY ARE THESE SHOES BACK IN STYLE, DID WE NOT LEARN OUR LESSON THE FIRST TIME AROUND?

Vogue 1540 / Sandra Betzina
Ok, Sandra, fine. You win this one. This one is nice. I’ll give you that.

Vogue 9245
Yikes.

Vogue 9243
I call this one, ‘Birthday Cake Couture.’

Vogue 9249 / Ta Fa
Is… this a pattern for a rectangle of fabric? Really? We’re doing that now?

Vogue 9248
Finally, a version of Trump with hands that are proportional in size to the rest of his body 😛

What did you think of the new Vogue patterns? Anything grab your eye and skip to the front of your queue? Anything make you cower in fear? Did you remember to take the survey? Let’s talk about it!

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Tags: lol vogue, McCall Pattern Company, sewing patterns, vogue, vogue patterns

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Categories misc

2016: A Year In Review

31 Dec

I can’t believe this year is nearly over! 2016 was such a weird year for me – it seems so brief when I look back, but also like it lasted FOREVER.

As with my wrap-up last year, I’m not going to post every single garment I made in 2016 (part of the reason being that I STILL have unblogged pieces lol whoops), however, I do want to touch on my hits and misses of the year! As always – if you’d like to see everything I made during this year, you can always Lurk my Closet. I can’t always guarantee that page is up-to-date, but it is as of this posting 🙂

First, the faves:

Agnes Dress

I am surprised at how much I LOVE this little dress! It’s comfortable thanks to the knit fabric, it’s easy to accessorize to change the look (lately, my favorite way to wear it is with combat boots and a denim jacket, but the look in that post is good, too!), and I just feel pretty when I wear it! When I made it, it was definitely one of those “I have this fabric/pattern lying around, I just feel like making something” situations, but it ended up being one of my favorite things to wear during the fall this year. I made this dress at the end of 2015, so technically it’s not a 2016 make – but that’s when it’s blogged, so we are counting it as so.

Sparkly Brocade Circle skirt
Another surprising make (and another from 2015 – I actually wore this to ring in the new year haha). I really just made this skirt to wear out on New Year’s Eve, but it has seen a lot of wear during the holidays this year! The metallic makes it look all festive and shit, and the fact that it’s grey means it looks good with lots of different tops (current favorite pairing: with a white collared shirt and a black v-neck sweater). My friends are all in different social circles, which means I totally wore this to every single holiday party I was invited to haha no regrets.

Mustard Corduroy Rosari skirt
Might as well call 2016 the year of the Rosari skirt – I made this one, a black one, a denim one, and a plaid one. I fucking LOVE this pattern, if you can’t tell.

McCall’s 7351
Probably the dress I wore the most all summer (other than my Chambray Hawthorne, which still gets TONS of love). It is easy to throw on, super comfortable in the heat thanks to the rayon (and doesn’t show sweat, thanks to the dark color + pattern), and also it’s just super freaking cute. I got stopped and complimented a lot while wearing this dress – and introduced a lot of people to the idea of making your own clothes haha 🙂

Sewaholic Pacific shorts
These are the best little shorts for running! The back pocket is big enough to hold my phone, and the zippered top keeps it secure so it doesn’t bounce out. I wore these all summer while running on the greenway behind my apartment building. The Dunbar sportsbra did not get worn as much – it’s just not as secure as I’d like in a sportsbra. I think this could be fixed by going down a size, or using a firm powermesh across the whole front, but I haven’t gotten to the point of testing this theory as I already have tons of sports bras as it is. Maybe next year! It is cute, though, and fine for practicing yoga.

Birdy Scout Tee
I am SO glad I finally cut up that birdy fabric and made it into this top! I loooove this tee and actually wore it on Christmas! That fabric makes me so happy!

Rainbow Travel backpack
I did a lot of traveling this year, and this lil’ guy was soo handy for that! Since making that pack, I made a much nicer/sturdier waxed canvas backpack (which I haven’t actually carried out into the world yet, so I can’t really review it for it’s usefulness!), which I’m also pumped about. I don’t normally like sewing bags, like, at ALL, but both of these projects were super enjoyable.

Augusta Hoodie + Anima Pants
These two also surprised me. I made the Augusta hoodie with the intention of wearing it around the house for loungewear, but quickly realized the snaps and super thick fabric made it feel more like a lightweight jacket. I ended up wearing it a lot this fall, it’s a great transitional outerwear piece. And those Anima pants are amaaaaazing when it’s super cold outside! They look way too ridiculous to wear outside of my house (seriously, they are straight-up Santa pants), but I love them for lounging on the couch as they are incredibly warm and very very comfortable. And no, since taking those photos – I have not worn those two pieces together haha.

Chambray Tencel B5526
I am all about that B5526! The Chambray Tencel one was my favorite, though. It just gets softer the more I wear and wash it, and it really does go with everything.

Melilot Shirt
This shirt makes me so happy, I don’t even mind that I have to iron it every time I wash it.

And now, for the misses of 2016…

Bias silk cami
Love black camis, love this silk, do not love pleats over my boobs.

Plaid Flannel Robe
I love this robe in theory – it is really beautiful and quite cozy – but in practice, the arm holes are way too low so the whole thing shifts when I move my arms. Also, the way the robe is made means you have to keep it tied, and sometimes I just like a little breeze, you know?

Silk polkadot Bra
Real talk: I cut this bra up the other day. It’s REALLY beautiful, but I pulled the silk too taut when I was covering the cups and one of the boobs ended up flattened. Totally noticeable from the outside, too. After several months of it languishing in my drawer with me pretending like I *might* wear it someday, finally just took my scissors to it and salvaged whatever bits I could. MOVING ON.

Silk Chiffon Archer
I still have yet to wear this shirt, even though I really love the way it looks. Maybe once the weather dips enough to warrant wearing a sweater, I will try it as a layering piece.

Silk shorts
One of the few true fails of this year. These shorts were fucking stupid. Bad combo of pattern to fabric, looks awful, blah blah.

* * * * *

I really cut back a lot on sewing this year, and it’s definitely reflected in my wardrobe. I’m at a point now where pretty much everything I have is handmade and I don’t have a lot of holes to fill in my closet. As a result, I have really slowed down my sewing – mostly in the form of taking the time to rip out mistakes and do things correctly, or alter/repair pieces that I’ve made and loved to death. I’ve also stopped trying to ~power through~ major sewing sessions. If I feel myself start to get frustrated (which is usually when major mistakes start happening because I start getting real careless), I will acknowledge that I’m not enjoying the process anymore and just stop for the evening. Sewing is my hobby, and I want to keep it fun and happy. Stepping away from a project has been immensely helpful in that I have a chance to cool off and re-assess at a later time.

With that being said, I still really really love to make things, and I’ve had a serious struggle with finding that balance between indulging my creative side vs not having a closet full of shit I don’t wear or even need. As I don’t have a lot of wardrobe holes anymore (other than underwear that’s not all ratty – I still can’t bring myself to spend precious sewing time making panties haha), this means that a lot of what I’m making these days is a nicer replacement to things I already had – whether they were starting to wear out, or they weren’t right begin with but I wore them anyway. This has been a good compromise, as I get to continue to make awesome things but don’t feel super wasteful making a bunch of crap I don’t need and won’t wear (except that prom dress, I DON’T REGRET THE PROM DRESS). Slowing down the process has also been going for this – while I can make an entire top in a couple of hours, there’s really no need to. Also, I will make that underwear next year. This is my promise to myself.

Blog-wise, I feel pretty good about where I am currently. Blogging less gave me more time to work on projects – without feeling like I needed to rush to finish them so I could throw them on the blog. Less posts means I also have more time to respond to comments, which always bothered me that I didn’t do in the past. I don’t blog all the stuff I make anymore – some of it just seems too redundant to warrant it’s own post (tbh, you probably won’t see that underwear ever get posted, so don’t hold your breath or anything haha) – but I will admit that I do miss having a catalogue to look back through. A lot of it did get posted to Instagram – not all of it, but a lot of it! – and moving forward, I’m going to start tagging my makes #madebylladybird so I have that catalogue, albeit on a different media source. It feels weird to give myself my own tag, but, whatever haha. I started doing this the other night and it’s fun to scroll through the tag! Of course, Instagram flagged me once I got about 2 years back and I’m currently blocked from tagging (lolwut) so getting back to the beginning might take a while!

I started out this year with a partnership with Spiegel sewing machines, and did that for about half of 2016. As you’ve probably noticed, I am not working with Spiegel anymore, and it’s been a few months since those posts stopped. The reason for this really doesn’t have anything to do with Spiegel or the machine itself – it just ended up not being a good fit in terms of my available time to commit to it. I have been asked by a few people about this, I did want to mention it just so we are clear!

* * * *

On a personal note, I know 2016 was a really terrible year for a lot of people, and probably even for the world in general – but it was actually a really, really good year for me. Growth-wise, this might have been my best year yet. I had a lot of baggage that I carried over from 2015 – I was right at the beginning of a break-up and about 6 months into working through all my personal demons that had come up while I was on that ayahuasca retreat. I really feel good about the challenges that I not only faced head-on – but really charged through them and came out triumphant on the other side. I am proud of the person I’m growing into, although there is still a lot of work that I need to muddle through.

Some notable highlights from the year:

I traveled a lot this year! I visited a few new places (San Francisco, Charleston, St Louis, Newport, Exeter), a few old favorites (Portand Maine and New York!), and made plans for next year as well. I taught bunches of sewing classes and retreats (both during my travels and locally), and also assisted at Camp Workroom Social for the first time. I promised myself when I left my corporate job back in 2013 that I would budget more time and money for traveling, with the goal of going *somewhere* (even if it’s just to a neighboring state for a day trip) at least every 3-4 months. So far, I’ve been sticking to it! I even got TSA Pre-Check so I don’t have to stand in that line and take my shoes off haha!
I’ve been single for pretty much all of this year, and it’s been… interesting. Definitely met some incredibly awesome people, and definitely navigated my way around some real creeps (if you ever meet me in person, please ask me about my date that involved the pigs. It’s really the kind of story that needs to be told in person, and it’s great.). Don’t get me wrong – I actually really enjoy being single (more time for meeee, fuck yea), but having previously been in a relationship for nearly 5 years, there’s been some adjusting to do. Let me also say that Landon really disappointed me this year – our split last year was amicable, but we are not on good terms anymore. He stole several hundred dollars from me and disappeared off the face of the earth. Pretty much the only retribution I have at this point is to publicly shame him, so, there you go. On the flip side, glad I dodged the bullet. He’s the one who has to spend the rest of his life with his shitty self, not me.
I bought a car this year! This was pretty exciting, and I’m still super thrilled about it. I have always owned very old/shitty cars – the kind that you’re afraid to drive more than a couple hours away from home, lest you break down on the side of the road – and my last one was so basic, everything was manual and it didn’t even have a tape deck, just a radio. I have been saving my money for the past 2 years to buy something nicer, and spent a few months researching what was available in my price range. In February, I became the proud owner of a cherry red 2012 Prius C. I’ve never bought a car by myself – my dad always found them for me and I just paid him for them – so that was a new experience, but I did it all myself (although I did buy from Carmax, so there was no negotiating or anything). I got a killer deal on what was practically a new car (less than 20k miles) and I am so so happy every time I drive it. It’s the nicest thing I’ve ever owned – there’s a fucking tv in it and sensors on the doors that lock/unlock when you touch them – and it’s all MINE. And his name is Ricky 😉
After living out in the ‘sticks with my BFF for over a year, I decided it was time to move back to the city. Honestly, I did love living in the woods at first – it was quiet, it was serene, and every single night was BFF night. But I hated the 45 minute commute that was required to get anywhere (even buying that new car did not make the drive more enjoyable), and it became very isolating after I broke up with Landon. It was really hard to make myself go out and do anything, knowing I’d have to make that drive – and understandably, no one really wanted to come out to me, either. I also realized that I really wanted to be alone in my own space, and not have to share it with someone else. So I found a 2 bedroom apartment in West Nashville and moved out here in June. I cannot even tell y’all how much happier I am being back in the city. I love being close to everything – whether it’s a short car ride, a bike ride, or a really cheap Uber. I can order food (or Amazon Prime Now) and have it delivered RIGHT TO MY DOOR. Having my own space all to myself is awesome, especially after nearly a decade of living with someone else (be it a roommate or an SO). Plus, I have all these amazing windows and my apartment is right next to a beautiful greenway! I love it so much!
A big part of what afforded me the opportunity to move back into the city was a change in one of my jobs. I was working for Elizabeth Suzann as one of her production seamstresses, and I loooooved that job. I’d just come in, put on my headphones, and sew my way through a stack of pre-cut pieces. I had the most amazing coworkers and a seriously, seriously incredible set of bosses who did everything in their power to make their employees feel valued and appreciated. I still love everyone there and do my best to visit when I can (and when they’re not too busy with orders!), but I was offered a much more lucrative job at Craft South and I couldn’t do both. At Craft South, I am the Education Coordinator – so I plan, schedule, and promote the classes, and handle everything related to them. It is a part time job, which puts me in the store 2 days a week (I also work part time as a personal assistant, which I’ve been doing for the same woman since 2014. I don’t talk about her much on this blog bc it’s completely unrelated to sewing, but I absolutely ADORE my boss. She’s an amazing person and I’m so lucky to be in the position I am. She moved to Newport this year, so now I’m remote and I work from home!). I’ve always wanted to work in a craft store, and I really love it! They are also super accommodating with my travel schedule, so I can take off whenever I need to for my workshops. Its pretty great- I have a wonderful new set of coworkers, an inspiring place to be surrounded by other makers, and an excuse to get out of the house a couple times a week. Plus I get to sew on those $10k Janome machines, which, is a pretty sweet perk 😛
On a more somber note, we did have a big scare with my dad towards the end of summer. He got very sick with pneumonia that quickly went septic, and he ended up on life support for a full week. It was a really bad time and the doctors didn’t offer us much hope. I was preparing myself for the worst – which, even when you know the inevitable is going to happen (my dad has been fighting colon cancer since 2013, and we’re not delusional here), you’re still never really prepared for it. He made this incredibly miraculous recovery, though, and bounced the fuck out of there the second they released him. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still an ongoing battle – he’s still quite sick, and we still have scares that make us rush back to the ER – but we are so, so happy to have him back for at least a little while longer. My dad is such an awesome person, and I’m so thankful that we got this second chance.
Speaking of colon cancer, I did finally get that colonoscopy that his oncologist had insisted I do a few years ago. The procedure was completely uneventful – it’s really the prep that’s bad, and yes, it’s as awful as everyone tells you haha – and everything was benign. So yay, no cancer! I also just found out the other day that I don’t have any cavities either, so I’m basically on a roll of awesome here right now hahaha.

* * * *

What’s on the table for 2017? Beats me if I know – but I’m ready for whatever it throws at me! I don’t like to make resolutions as I’d rather just jump right into positive changes than wait for a specific date to start – and I hope 2017 brings me more creativeness, positivity, and growth (both personally and professionally). And I guess more handmade underwear, too 😛

Much love to you all, and wishing everyone a wonderful new year! ♥

Tags: 2016, 2016 Year in Review, completed

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Categories misc

Review: The Janome AMH M100 Sewing Machine

19 Dec

Good morning, everyone! I have a review post today (if you’re not into reviews, no worries – I will have a ~normal~ post later this week, too! So much catching up on projects before the year ends!) – for a sewing machine! NGL, I am pretty excited about this little machine.

As you may or may not know, I started working for Craft South earlier this year. Craft South is an adorable little fabric/yarn/crafty store, located in the seriously hip 12 South neighborhood in Nashville, TN, and owned by our fearless leader, Anna Maria Horner. In addition to our sewing, fiber and other craft supplies, we also sell Janome sewing machines. Now, I am not particularly attached to any one brand of sewing machine – I have several different brands that I use at home myself – and I strongly believe that all brands are good brands, it’s just a matter of what fits best with your budget and needs. Whenever I have the opportunity to try out a new machine – especially one that’s perhaps a little more budget-minded than whatever I have on my sewing table at home (sorry, guys, but I LURVE me some expensive-ass sewing machine hahahaha) – I am ALL about that! This particular machine is especially delightful to me, cos it’s a branded Anna Maria Horner machine *and* it’s our future classroom machine for Craft South.

I will lead with a stock photo from the Janome website, because it’s much prettier than the pile of trash photos you’ll see in the rest of this post, lolz

This is the AMH M100 – designed by Anna Maria Horner, and manufactured by Janome sewing machines. It’s a reasonably basic machine – no crazy embroidery functions, a few decorative stitches – that is easy to use, has some fun features, and is just plan adorable! It’s a fairly small machine, and I think the floral design is so beautiful! There’s also a big honkin’ space that is perfect for having signed by Anna herself, and yes, speaking from experience here.

There are a lot of features about this machine – too many to put in a blog post (well, without making this post insanely boring), so I am just going to touch on the ones that I think are really cool, as a sewist and also a sewing teacher. You can always go to the website and get the full run-down, or, if you’re local – come in our shop and play with the machine.

The machine has 99 stitch designs – ranging from your basic utility stitches (straight, zigzag, button hole, etc) to some crazy looking embroidery stitches that are perfect for quilting and applique projects. They’re all based on Anna Maria Horner designs – so lots of hearts, swirls, girly things like that. I admit, I don’t ever use stitches like this in my projects, but they are REALLY fun to just sew samples on and ooh and ahh over.

As a sewer of garments, the stitches I use most are 00, 01, 04, 06, 07 & 18. That’s your basic straight stitch, the Lock-O-Matic stitch (it will automatically backstitch at the beginning and end of your seam, which I find especially useful for bra making), the triple stitch (which is what I use now for topstitching, instead of topstitching thread + straight stitch), zigzag stitches, and the button hole stitch. There is also a locking stitch (02, it’s the same idea as the lock-o-matic, except it locks the stitches by stitching in one place instead of backstitching), stretch stitches, overcasting stitches, darning stitches, blind hem stitches, the triple zigzag, and all those applique stitches. One thing I do appreciate is that there isn’t a mass overload of decorative stitches – just a handful. It’s not overwhelming, but there are a few cute options to play around with.

The little stitch card fits in a piece that clips to the machine, so you can keep it attached to your machine if you want to reference it. The clip also folds down, so you don’t have to stare at it if you don’t want to. Or you can take it off completely and lose it somewhere in your sewing space, which is generally what I do.

There are several feet and accessories included with the machine – a straight stitch foot (not shown in this photo, but it’s attached to the machine), a clear satin stitch foot, a 1/4″ foot (PRAISE), an overcasting foot, a blind hem foot (which I use as an edgestitching foot), a zipper foot, a button hole foot, *and* an Even-Feed Foot. The Even-Feed foot is similar to a walking foot, except instead of “walking”, it clamps down on the fabric and moves it. I am told this is more precise than a walking foot, since the pieces are held together when they are moved. At any rate, that alone is a pretty sweet add-on! Those feet tend to be pretty expensive on their own.

The machine also comes with boring but useful things, like extra bobbins, spool caps, a seam ripper, etc. The Organ needles included are a new thing for me – I’d never heard of this brand before I started working at Craft South, but they are just as nice as Schmetz and soooooo much cheaper. I can get a pack of 10 Organ needles for like $2.30, WTF. Janome machines are made to work specifically with Organ needles – they will work with other brands, including Schmetz, but the needle-threader is calibrated to work with the eye placement of an Organ needle. So you can sew on the machine with any brand of needle, but you may or may not be able to use the needle threader if it’s not an Organ brand. I haven’t tested this theory bc Organ is all I keep in my sewing room now (and it’s all we have at Craft South, too).

The front box opens up so you can store all your feet and accessories in one handy spot. This piece can also be removed so that the machine has a free arm – useful for sewing stuff with a small circumference, such as sleeves and pants hems.

Threading is super easy. For the needle, there are numbers and arrows to direct you the thread path (if you’ve ever threaded ANY sewing machine before, just know that they are all mostly the same in this regard), and then there is an automatic needle threader to pull the thread through the eye if you have trouble seeing / are lazy.

The bobbin winder also has a clear diagram. One thing I really love that about this machine is that the bobbin can be wound without the foot pedal – just unplug it and press the Start/Stop button on the machine. This is incredibly handy when I am setting up for class – sometimes I’ll have all 10 machines winding bobbins simultaneously and I feel like a little Sewing Machine Goddess hahahaha

The AMH M100 has a drop-in bobbin, which makes it incredibly easy to thread. There is a little diagram on the case cover to show you how it is threaded – just a head’s up, 9 out of 10 of my students always thread it backwards the first time (actually, on my old Janome – I had it threaded backwards for like the first 6 months of use haha). The threading feels counterintuitive to what you’d think, but it’s necessary for proper tension. At any rate, you’ll know if you thread it backwards because your stitches will pull out very easily.

To thread the bobbin, you drop in your spool and pull the thread down, with the tail pointing toward the left…

Then you pull it under the metal piece and up the channel, toward the 1…

And pull the thread down toward the 2…

Where there’s a built-in thread cutter that will clip the tail to the correct length. Then you just put the cover on. That’s it! No need to pull up the bobbin threads, it’s ready to sew.

A word about drop-in bobbins: I’ve used both drop-in and front-loading, and both have their merits. The front-loading bobbins will give you a more even, precise stitch. However, they are also prone to tangling and creating thread needs on the underside of your work. The drop-in bobbins don’t give you quite as beautiful of a stitch (I think this is negotiable, though, since very few people are going to be able to tell the difference just by glancing), but they are a lot more user-error-proof. These bobbins in particular are known for being really really hard to mess up. We rarely have problems with the bobbin in our classes, unless something else is wrong (such as a dull needle, or incorrect threading). Our Janome rep loves to do this trick where she throws a big thread nest in the bobbin and sews a seam – the nest just shoots out of the back and doesn’t affect the stitching. It’s kind of weird and also really amazing haha. I think this sort of bobbin is really ideal for the beginner sewer, or someone who buys a machine for their kid and doesn’t want to mess with fixing it when they inevitably screw something up. Like I said, it’s really hard to jam it up, even if you intentionally shove a thread nest in it.

Here are the buttons on this machine. The Start/Stop can control the machine without the foot pedal – you just have to unplug it first. I will admit I’ve never personally used this button except to wind the bobbin, but kids whose feet don’t quite reach the floor love it. ha. There is also a backstitch, locking stitch (again, same as the backstitch except it stitches in one place to lock. This is really useful for those embroidery stitches), needle up/down, aaaaand my favorite button – the scissors! Press that little dude after you finish sewing, and it will raise the needle and clip your threads! Argh I love that feature so much! There is also a slider to control the machine speed.

The stitch buttons are in the green section. From here you can select your stitch, move the needle position, adjust length/width, make a button hole, and there’s also a “memory” feature for the scissors button.

The throat plate has a ton of markings for measurements, which are especially useful for quilting and applique. This is my only beef with the machine, actually – I absolutely hate the guide markings. I find them really confusing to see which one you’re using, and I don’t like that they are only on one side of the needle. This is easily solved by slapping a piece of tape on the machine along the markings, which is what I do for my classes.

The machine also comes with this giant (removeable) tabletop, which is ideal for quilting.

Finally, here are some stitch samples:

Just your basic straight stitch. The top fold is the bobbin stitching.

Here is the straight stitch with a triple stitch underneath. These stitches used the exact same thread – just basic polyester Gutterman, the stuff you use to sew a garment. This is why I love that triple stitch – it’s sooo much thicker than the straight stitch, but doesn’t require a special thread or needle.

I also played around with some of the embroidery stitches.

And a few of the utility stitches (zigzag, triple zigzag, and stretch/lightning bolt stitch). Sorry the angles are so weird and artsy, it was really hard to take a photo without a huge shadow over it.

Here are some more photos of the machine working her glorious angles:

In conclusion, this is a fantastic little machine and I’m excited to bring these into the Craft South classroom! It’s very easy to use (as in, intuitive and user-friendly) and a solid little machine that doesn’t bounce around the table when you’ve got it on a high speed. It’s very similar to our current classroom machines, the Janome 4120 – the main differences that I have noticed thus far is that the AMH M-100 has less decorative stitches (and doesn’t have the stitch alphabet – which, let’s be honest, rarely gets used). However, the AMH M-100 does come with that Even-Feed foot. I love those 4120s and think they are wonderful machines, but I can’t wait to make our classroom just a little bit prettier 🙂

Note: I was not compensated in any way for this post (no, I did not get a free machine either). However, if you come to Craft South and buy a machine from me, I *do* get a commission. If you’re not local and are interested in this machine, visit your local Janome dealer!

Tags: AMH M-100, craft south, Janome, my sewing machine is my best friend, review

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New Workshops for 2017! (plus some workshop FAQs)

22 Nov

Hey everyone! Just a quick update to let y’all know about a few workshops upcoming for the beginning of 2017! Just in time for the holiday-buying season, ha 😉

Weekend Garment Workshop at Finch Sewing Studio
February 24-26, 2017
Finch Knitting & Sewing Studio, Leesburg, VA

Join me for another open sewing workshop, this time in beautiful Leesburg, VA at Finch Sewing Studio! This is the same concept as my other open sewing workshops – there is no set project, you just bring whatever you wanna work on! This shorter weekend means less time off work, as well as a smaller price tag 😉 We will start on Friday evening with a meet & great, snacks and shopping, then spend Saturday & Sunday working on our projects! Whether you want to start a coat, focus on fitting, learn how to sew a perfect collared shirt, tackle your first bra, or just sit in a beautiful sewing shop surrounded by creative energy with a teacher on hand to answer any oh-shit-what-do-I-do-next questions – this is the workshop for you!

As of this posting, there are only 2 spots left for this workshop – so if you’re considering it, better act fast!

Jeans Making Sewing Intensive
March 2-3, 2017
Workroom Social, Brooklyn, NY

I’m coming back to NYC for another round of jeans and pants making (basically… I’m coming for your butts)! First up is the Jeans Making Intensive – where you will learn all the fun that goes into making a beautiful pair of professional-looking jeans. We will cover basic fit and alterations, construction, and all the finishing that makes jeans look like jeans. Think topstitching, setting rivets and buttons, flawlessly sewing a zip fly and perfect waistband. Like other Workroom Social classes, this includes pre-made muslins to try on (so you’ll know off the bat if those jeans are gonna fit!), use of all the sewing machines and tools (including separate machines threaded for topstitching, so you don’t have to re-thread your machine repeatedly), and really delicious catered lunches!

My workshops at Workroom Social tend to sell out pretty quickly – the jeans one in particular is quite popular! – so, again, if you’re considering this one, better snap that shit up ASAP 😉

Weekend Pants-Making Intensive
March 4-5, 2017
Workroom Social, Brooklyn, NY

I’ll also be teaching basic pants-making at Workroom Social, immediately following jeans-making! This class is similar to the jeans class in that they both result in a pair of pants – and that’s about where the similarities end. Where we focus on construction with jeans-making, pants-making is more about fit! This is a great class to get started on your fit journey for making pants that are perfect proportioned to YOUR body! You will also learn all the construction that goes into a pair of basic dress pants – perfect pockets and darts, sewing a zippered fly, attaching a narrow waistband, professional hemming, all that fun stuff! I have taught this class for a few years now, and it just gets better every time I come back! Yay for making pants!

I’ve gotten a lot of questions about my workshops and classes, so here is a compiled list of FAQs if you’ve got a burning one you’ve yet to ask!

Q: Why are these workshops so expensive?
A: I actually don’t have any control over this! Since I do these workshops as a guest instructor, it’s up to the owner to determine the price – which is based on a variety of factors, including the cost of getting me over there to begin with. In addition to my teaching rates, I also have travel and lodging expenses. Like, I really really love you guys and I love teaching these classes, but I can’t afford to do this stuff for free. All those fees go into the cost of the class, not to mention whatever the shop/studio needs to charge in order to keep their doors open. I understand that not everyone can afford to spend so much money on a sewing weekend, but, that’s part of the deal when you bring in a non-local instructor.

Q: Will you come to (my state) and teach a workshop?
A: I would love to! 🙂 If you have a local shop that is interested in hosting me for a weekend workshop, let’s get in touch and plan something!

Q: You should come to (my country) and do a workshop here!
A: As much as I would love to travel to another country to teach some sewing, it’s honestly pretty unlikely. Travel fees are quite expensive for transcontinental, and most shops can’t cover the cost of that. In the past (lol once), I squeezed in a workshop while I was overseas and that was awesome… but I’m probably not going to do that again, as I kind of want to spend my vacation… well, vacationing! 🙂 However, if you are an overseas shop and you want to talk some numbers, get at me! 🙂

Q: Please come to (somewhere that’s not Brooklyn) and teaching the Pants-Making Intensive!
A: I get this question pretty frequently, and unfortunately my answer is always no. Here’s the deal – the Pants-Making Intensive is a Workroom Social class. Everything that makes the class happen – including that giant stash of pre-made muslins that students try on the first day – is handled by WS. I just show up to teach the class 🙂 I can’t take this class on the road because it’s not really my class to run off with (yes, I understand that “pants-making” isn’t exactly proprietary here; it’s more about being respectful for what Jennifer has built and not moonlighting it behind her back) Also, Jennifer is my assistant in that class – I can’t teach it without her! Also, those muslins? Yeah, I’m not about to sew all those myself – or drag them around with me on a plane. Nope! Come to Brooklyn and take the Pants Making class, ok? You will LOVE New York City! 🙂

Q: Why don’t you teach these workshops in Nashville?
A: You know, I’ve wanted to – but for whatever reason, local classes don’t really get a great turnout! I’ve spoken to other sewing instructors about this too, and that’s kind of the general consensus. I don’t know if its the scarcity factor that makes the out-of-state classes sell out vs the local ones have empty seats, or if the locals here just don’t like me 😉 At any rate, I like traveling for my classes and checking out fun new cities/meeting new people/sleeping in weird beds that are not mine – so I’m not complaining!

Q: Can I hire you to come up and teach a private workshop for me and my friends?
A: Sure! 🙂 Bonus points if you live somewhere FUN! haha

I think that about covers it! As always, let me know if you have questions and I will do my best to answer them! I am excited for this next round of workshops – I love meeting and hanging out with other sewists, and sharing my knowledge (and picking up new tips and tricks from my students, too!). Are you taking any workshops next year? What’s your sewing goal for 2017?

Tags: classes, finch sewing studio, travel, workroom social, workshops

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OAL2016 Winners // Camp Workroom Social // Fabric Stashin’

5 Aug

Ok, seriously, LAST OAL POST for this year!
(OAL-skippers – there be more to this post at the bottom! Scroll on down!)

As with previous years, I had SO much fun co-hosting the OAL this year with Andi, and I loved seeing all the participants and their completed outfits! SO MUCH has been added to my to-make list as a result, ha! Thanks to everyone who participated! Y’all are the best! ♥

While we don’t necessarily consider this a contest (~we all have finished outfits, we are all winners~ etc etc haha) – that doesn’t mean we can’t still have prizes, yeah? 🙂 We had two sponsors this year – Indie Stitches and StyleMaker Fabrics. Our winners get a free pattern of these choosing from Indie Stitches, a $20 gift certificate to StyleMaker Fabrics, plus a free knitting pattern of their choosing from the Untangling Knots shop. For the drawing, we compiled a list of all the posts on the OAL Finished Outfits thread that were submitted on or before the deadline on 7/31 and included a full outfit. The names were put on a numbered spreadsheet, which we used random.org to pull the winning numbers.

So, onto those 3 winners!

Meg’s sparkly Hetty cardigan, purple Hollyburn skirt, and Eyelet Collared Top

Yep, right off the bat we have Meg here, making us all look bad 😉 (kidding!) She managed to not only sew her skirt and knit her sweater, but also sewed up that adorable little top with an eyelet collar to really pull the whole outfit together. I love everything about this, but ESPECIALLY the pretty ribbon she used for the button bands on her (sparkly!)sweater. Go on, look at it!

Irene’s Wiggle Dress + My Poodle is Blue cardigan
I love the combination of this wiggle dress with that incredible cardigan! The cabling is beautiful, and the dress almost makes me sad that I don’t work in an office anymore 😉 (I could really only get away with dressing like that if I’m gonna be sitting all day – which I don’t do anymore haha). My favorite part about this picture, though, is how happy Irene is! She KNOWS she looks good 😀

Helen’s Agatha and self-drafted dress
I have a massive soft spot in my heart for the Agatha pattern – it was the first cardigan I ever knit (a whopping 2 months after learning haha), and I still think it’s the best pattern! So maybe I’m extra biased, but I just LOVE Helen’s version! The color is perfect and it looks fantastic on her. I also love the self-drafted dress – hell, I’m just impressed whenever people draft their own instead of following a pattern! I definitely do not have the patience to learn that particular skillset hahaha 🙂

Congratulations again to our lovely winners, and thank you again to everyone who participated! I always look forward to the OAL every year, and so far I’ve yet to be disappointed 🙂 Thanks again to everyone who played along, I hope you had as much fun as we did! To see all the finished outfits in all their glory, check out (lurk, oogle, drool over, etc) the OAL Finished Outfits Ravelry thread, and the hashtag #oal2016:)

* * * *

Ok, couple more things while I’m here!

Y’all remember Camp Workroom Social, yes? (if you don’t, here’s a refresher highlights video to get you excited about it again!) Well, it’s back this year – and not only that, I’m tagging along! YESSSSSS!!! I’ve been matched up with Amy (of Cloth Habit fame), who I will be assisting in her Bra Making Workshop! I have been following Amy’s blog for a long time now, and have sewn the hell out of her Watson Bra pattern, so I’m pretty excited to finally get to meet her and bask in her lingerie-sewin’ glory 😉 Plus, talking about boobs all day? SIGN. ME. UP.

The bra-making class is already sold out at this point, but there are still a couple spots left for other classes – such as Surface Pattern Design, which is taught by fabric designer Elizabeth Olwen and sounds amazing (aaaaand I’m a tiny bit sad that I don’t get to take it! Anyone want to sign up for me and show me what they learned? :P). If the videos and photos from last year were any indication, Camp Workroom Social 2016 is going to be ridiculously fun. Not to mention, I am majorly excited to check out the Catskills in the fall! I can’t wait – October seriously can’t come soon enough! 😀

* * * *

Last thing! A fabric stashin’ app!

I am sure most of y’all have heard about this since it’s launch last month… but for those who haven’t, there’s a new fabric stash app making the rounds, and her name is Cora. I actually started using this app during beta mode (I was a tester) and it surprised me at how useful it has been. I don’t normally do well with digital filing – I’m a pen and paper kind of girl – but this app was designed by someone who actually sews and you can definitely tell. The app is very intuitive and easy to use – you take a photo of your fabric, and there are spaces to include where it’s located (should you be the kind of person who stores fabric in more than one place ;)), the yardage and width, the type/weight/content, where it originally came from – you can even designate whether or not it’s been prewashed! Once everything is loaded, it displays your whole stash in a really beautiful way that’s easy to scroll through and check out at a glance (see the above screenshot for a little slice of my personal stash. Yes, fake fur. Yep.). Like I said, I am not normally one for digital filing – but this is INCREDIBLY useful when you’re fabric (or pattern) shopping and can’t remember what you have or if you need to buy more yardage of something. I have been sharing this app with everyone who comes into Craft South because it’s that good! Again, her name is Cora and you can find her in the app store!

I believe the app is free for the first 5 fabrics you upload, so you can see if it will work for you – and then after that, it’s $6.99 to add unlimited fabrics. There *was* a promo when it first launched where you could upgrade for cheaper, but I’m an ass and didn’t get my shit together in time to mention it here. Sorry about that! I do think it’s worth the $6.99, but, again, I got mine for free because I was one of the testers. So take that as you will! At any rate, you should definitely download it and try the first 5 freebs to see if it works for you – personally, I cannot WAIT to take this shit with me next time I hit up the Garment District 😀

* * * *

I think that’s all for now! Tell me things:

Did you participate in the OAL? Did you make a bomb-ass outfit that you love? LET ME SEE.
Are you coming to Camp Workroom Social this year?!
How do you organize and keep up with your fabric stash? Don’t be smug and tell me that it fits in a small bin. Nobody likes a liar 😛

Tags: bra making, camp workroom social, cloth habit, cora, oal, OAL2016, workroom social

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Upcoming Classes: Let’s Hang Out + Sew!

22 Jun

Hey guys! I have some new workshops coming up this fall – check it out!

Master Sewing Class at Pintuck & Purl
October 5-9, 2016
Pintuck & Purl, Exeter, NH

Join me for a super fun, pick-your-project sewing workshop weekend at Pintuck & Purl! Similar to my prior retreats at A Gathering of Stitches (which, btw, I will be back – but probably not until 2017, due to schedule conflicts. Wah!), this long sewing weekend is all about what YOU want to work on! Want to work on fine-tuning your fit so you can really nail that TNT pattern? Want to make a coat? What about a bra? Do you just want to hang out and sew with other awesome people who are also sewing and know that you have a teacher on hand for any last-minute oh-shit-I’ve-made-a-huge-mistake situations? I GOT YOU. This is *your* retreat, and you can spend it however you like! The class fee includes a welcome party, lunches, local excursions, signature drinks and a swanky dinner out on Saturday night. Turn that shit into a sweet-ass sewing vacation already!

Pintuck & Purl is a new sewing shop located in Exeter, NH, another gorgeous (well, so I’m told ;)) New England town that I am guessing is gonna be FUCKING AMAZING come October. The retail shop will be closed to the public during this retreat, so we’ll have the whole place to ourselves (who wants to join me for some pantsless sewing? Anyone?). Pintuck & Purl is also an authorized Bernina dealer – so if you’re hearing the siren song of the Bernina and want to spend some time sewing on one before you take the plunge – here’s your opportunity!

I love love LOVE these types of open-sewing workshops, and I am super excited for this one! You can sign up for the workshop here! There are a limited number of spots and I expect this one to sell out like all the others do, so register early 🙂

Jeans Making Sewing Intensive
November 3-4, 2016
Workroom Social, Brooklyn, NY

That’s right – I’m coming back to teach another class at my beloved Workroom Social, this time it’s all about the jeans!! Y’all have been asking for a jeans class, so we are here to deliver 😉 In this 2 day intensive at Workroom Social, we will be making a pair of Ginger Jeans (my fave jeans pattern, obvs) – including basic fitting and pattern adjustments, construction techniques, and everything you need to know about finishing (topstitching, installing hardware, etc). Jeans are one of those funny projects that look super intimidating, but are actually really fun to make. Not to mention – out of all the handmades I’ve ever made, jeans tend to top the list as far as what impresses people the most 😉 You can see my Gingers here – skinnies, Cone Mills 1, Cone Mills 2, gold denim, red stretch twill, and Jorts! The pattern that goes on forever, basically 😉

If you’ve never taken a Workroom Social class, you are in for a real treat! The class fee includes use of all the tools and machines in the studio (which, by the way, is the cutest little Brooklyn sewing studio ever), as well as a delicious catered lunch + end of day cocktail hour (both days!). We have all the sizes sewn up beforehand so you can try on a muslin before you cut into your fabric, which lets us jump straight into fitting and then sewing! These classes are LOADS of fun and an absolutely prime excuse for visiting NYC if you’ve been looking for a reason. Not to mention – you get to go home with a new pair of jeans THAT YOU MADE YOURSELF. Impress all your friends! Do it!

Weekend Pants-Making Intensive
November 5-6, 2016
Workroom Social, Brooklyn, NY

Like I’d go all the way to NYC without teaching a Weekend Pants-Making Intensive 😛 Are you kidding me – this shit is my bread and butter! 😉

So yes, we are running back-to-back pants classes at Workroom Social that weekend! After jeans, we will be immediately diving into our TNT basic Pants Making Intensive. Interested in making pants but don’t want to deal with jeans specifically? Then this is the class for you! In this class, we will be sewing a trouser-style pattern (don’t worry, it still includes all the fun details that make for a not-basic pair of pants – think slash pockets, front fly zipper, and a proper waistband – you can see the sample I made here) while going over basic fitting and pattern adjustments, construction, and the aforementioned trouser details. I loveeee teaching this class and I am so excited to be back for another round! PANTS!

As with the jeans class, this Workroom Social class includes all the same things with the fee – use of equipment and tools, lunch and snacks, dranks, endless giggles and crotch grabs (I hope you’re comfortable around me, lolz). T

Want to take a workshop with me but don’t know which one to shoot for? Here’s a breakdown:

Master Sewing Class at Pintuck & Purl
For those who want to sew, but hate being restricted to a particular class project – you get to pick your own! This will be a more intimate, relaxed sort of class, with fun excursions and lots of hangout opportunities. This is also a longer weekend, which means SEWING VACATION amirite.

Jeans Making Sewing Intensive
You don’t just want to make pants – you want to make JEANS! You all about those fun details and hardware that make jeans stand apart from a typical pants pattern. You can also take time off work – as this class runs on a Thursday-Friday. This also means you get an open weekend in New York City, should you choose to hang around for a few days! Again – SEWING VACATION amirite! Please note that prior pants-sewing knowledge is not necessary for this class – we will be covering all that while we construct the pattern – but it IS helpful, since you’ll then be able to focus more on the finishing and details.

Weekend Pants-Making Intensive
If you’re not particularly interested in making jeans, but you still want to get some pants knowledge crammed up in your head – this is the class for you! This class is all about PANTS, but is not restricted to jeans (so no topstitching or hardware, no sewing stretch denim, etc). We will still cover all the construction and fitting that you need to get you lookin super fly and pants’d, all while using a more traditional trouser pattern. You can definitely apply this knowledge toward future jeans, so don’t get too worked up if you’re having trouble deciding between the two.

For those of y’all who are asking about local classes here in Nashville – I do teach classes at Craft South, as well as offer private lessons (which you can sign up for on the website – please be aware that I *only* do private lessons on Fridays, and make sure you request me specifically if that’s what you want!). They are just 3 hour sewing basics classes, though – no big weekend workshops. Honestly, I use those as an excuse to travel 😉 So I’m not sure if that’s something I will offer in the future locally, but you are welcome to fill out a request form on the website – if there’s a demand, we are gonna fill it! 🙂 And if you are in another city and want me to come teach – get me in touch with your local sewing shop and maybe we can plan something fun! I am always down for checking out new cities! 🙂

Are you signed up for any fun classes this fall? Do I have anyone here crazy enough to sign up for two – or even all three! – of these classes? 🙂 If so… want to be my dinner and drinking buddy? 😉

Tags: class, classes, jeans making intensive, master sewing class, pants, pants making intensive, pintuck and purl, sewing class, teaching, travel, workroom social, workshop

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2015 – A Year In Review

31 Dec

Yay, I love doing these posts! It’s so interesting for me to go back to the beginning of a year and see where life was at vs life today, and I love reading these sorts of reviews and updates from everyone else, too.

Rather than make a big photo collage of every single thing I made this year (which is what I usually do, and honestly, just kind of over it at this point), I want to focus on a few pieces that did and did not get worn/loved. There was a bit of a shift in my blogging this year – even if no one else noticed it (which is quite likely), it definitely affected my output and the things that ended up in my closet. I participated in far fewer collaborations/sponsorships this year – no pattern testing, very few fabric freebies (other than my monthly MSN makes, which you will tear from my cold, dead hands), no blog hops, and only a handful of gratis patterns. Compared with how much I ate that shit up in the past, I really toned things down this year – and I absolutely think it was for the better. My wardrobe certainly reflects it, anyway.

Oh, and if you want to see *everything* I made this year in all it’s entirety – you can always Lurk My Closet 😉

* * *

So, here are some of my favorite pieces from 2015!

Ginger Jeans // 1
Ginger Jeans // 2

GOD BLESS MY GINGER JEANS. Both of these pairs have seen soooo much wear over the course of this past year – the first pair even went all the way to Peru with me (considering I traveled with only a backpack and minimal clothing, that’s a big compliment!). Whatever mystery denim I used for that first pair is super legit, and I wish I’d bought more of it. I can seriously wear those things for a solid 2-3 weeks without them bagging out and looking frumpy. And, of course, I’m happy to finally have a Cone Mills denim pair. These don’t fit quite as well as the first pair (I am thinking that I should not have gone up a size, and instead embraced the painted-on legs), but they are still light years better than almost all the pants I’ve ever bought retail (I won’t snub the OG I+W ones, though, because they are pretty good). Plus, they were fun to make with all the colorful topstitching.

Honorary mentions are required for my Red cotton twill Gingers and Ginger Jeggings. I was NOT expecting to love those jeggings as much as I do (and tbh, I rarely wore them at the beginning of this year), but they are super comfy and get busted out at least once a week now that it’s cold.

Butterick 5526 // 1
Butterick 5526 // 2

Butterick 5526 was, again, a big winner for this year. I just feel really good when I wear shirts made from this pattern, not to mention how much I enjoy making them in the first place. A collared shirt is the easiest way (for me, anyway) to wear jeans or shorts without being completely casual. Plus, I can layer them under sweaters in the cold months! Win!

Watson Bikini
Stretch & Sew Bikini

Super proud of both of these swimsuits. I really nailed the fabric selection (which sounds super dumb, but that shit can get overwhelming really fast when you are presented with practically every option in the WORLD so much that you forget what you actually like), and got a good fit that looks good and feels secure/comfortable. The Watson definitely got more wear, but mainly because I finished it much earlier in the season. I am looking forward to wearing out that paisley one next summer 🙂

Silk Crepe Modified Saltspring

I made a lot of little silk summer dresses this year, but this one is probably my favorite! It’s really easy to throw on when you don’t feel like figuring out an entire outfit, and the shape is perfect for wearing in the heat. Plus, elastic waistband. Yes.

Plaid Flannel Carolyn Pajamas

I am actually wearing these right now, as I type this. These are the BEST pajamas I have ever worn/made – the fit is perfect (unlike any RTW I’ve ever owned) and they are so warm and snuggly. I really love this particular plaid and it makes me happy every time I look at it.

Crazy Aztec Waver Jacket

This jacket was my favorite thing I worked on this year! From selecting the fabric, to planning all the little details, to starting construction and finishing with wearing it – I loved every step of the process. Not to mention, this jacket makes me so freaking happy. It’s definitely a loud statement piece, and it probably even borders on looking a little ridiculous, but I just love it so much. As a side note, for those of you who are curious to know what I did with the remaining fur – I made it into a pillow for my bed. It’s even more ridiculous than the coat and it’s awesome.

Hand-woven Sway dress

Another project that I really enjoyed working on! It was so cool to be able to meet with the fabric designer for this fabric, and to actually know where my raw materials came from. The fabric turned out absolutely beautiful and was a real treat to work with. I took my time and made sure to really appreciate each step of the process, and I am super proud of the finished dress – even if it’s a relatively plain/simple garment. Also, wearing it feels like wearing a blanket, which is basically the best thing ever.

Silk Leopard print Boylston bra
Blue Lace Watson soft bra

I made quite a bit of lingerie this year, but these two pieces turned out to be my favorites and definitely get the most wear. The Boylston is so much fun – I love the leopard print, I love that it’s silk, and I LOVE the shape it gives me. I actually feel really really beautiful when I wear it, which is always good in my book. The Watson is equally beautiful, and also perfect for being comfortable and lounging around (not that the Boylston isn’t comfortable – but the Watson doesn’t have underwires, so, hells yeah y’all). Again, I feel beautiful when I wear it. Can’t argue with that.

Portside Travel Set

I use this every time I travel, and it has been INSANELY handy. It’s especially good for a back-up bag, to pack flat when I’m trying to travel light – in case I buy too much ~~shit~~ fabric and need to check something on the way home.

Now, for the opposite side of the spectrum – the pieces that did not get quite so much love in 2015:

Faux Leather-Paneled leggings

I don’t know if I ever actually wore these out of the house. I just feel silly in them. Shiny legs probably just need to stay a part of my past, I’m thinking.

Floral Francoise dress

I love how this one turned out – I think it’s a beautiful combination of fabric + pattern – but it just doesn’t feel like me when I’m wearing it.

Colette Myrtle dress

Super cute dress in theory, not so great in practice. Basically, every time I leaned over even a little bit, the entire front fell forward and you could see straight down to the elastic waistband. I tried to make it work, but that’s just a whole lotta nope.

Alison Swimsuit

I felt secure in this thing at first, but then I jumped around and decided it was a wardrobe malfunction waiting to happen. This suit frightens me.

McCall’s 6887 Ikat dress

Loooove this dress, but the fabric is really thick so it’s a little too tight in the boobs and difficult to move my arms around in. I am thinking I may cut off the bodice and salvage the skirt into a separate piece, though, because I really do love the fabric.

Gold Ginger jeans

Awesome, except there wasn’t enough stretch in the fabric, rendering them too tight to be comfortable.

My 2015 Best Nine, according to Instagram.

I feel like most of my makes were hits this year (it was REALLY hard to narrow down *just* my favorites – I loved them all, except for that handful of misses), which is a really good feeling. I focused a lot more on my tried-and-true concepts – both in pattern and fabric – and they certainly did not steer me wrong. While I did have a few misses, I can at least objectively point out *why* they were misses, which in itself is important and a good learning experience. I spent a lot less time this year chasing trends, and instead made things that worked with my lifestyle and fashion preferences. A lot of repeats, sure, but hey at least it makes getting dressed that much easier!

Another thing I’ve focused on this year is making the time for clothing repairs. I know I’m not the only person who hates the idea of opening something up to fix it – ugh! But I am all about that sustainability, and it’s pretty ridiculous to let something stay broken/crappy/ill-fitting because you are feeling lazy. Especially when the repair (or alteration) doesn’t actually take that long to do! So I’ve made it a point to do those necessary tasks – from replacing broken zippers, to re-fitting a bodice, to changing out buttons, even completely removing sleeves and adding a bias facing in it’s place. It never takes as long as I think it will, and I feel good that I’m giving stuff in my closet a second chance.

Last year, I mentioned that I wanted to take a step back from blogging so much, because I was starting to feel like it was controlling my life in a negative way. Blogging sucks up a LOT of time, and I was also starting to fall into that trap of sewing just for the sake of content. The amount of excess in my life has really made me feel hypocritical, not to mention the feeling of getting my self-worth via likes and comments. That’s just not the kind of person I want to be. Having been in the habit of doing this for years now (forreal, y’all, I think this blog and I are well on our way to becoming domestic partners), it felt pretty weird to essentially take giant steps backward, but I don’t regret my decision. It’s surprising how much more free time I have when I’m not tied down to a blog schedule.

Standing by the Amazon, with my bestie.

Hm, what else happened in 2015? Some highlights:

– I turned 30 this year! Yay!
– I traveled quite a bit this year, and that was pretty cool! Went to Philadelphia, New York (twice!), Florida, Peru, Portland, Boston, and Mexico. 2015 was a good year for travel! I taught 3 classes – 2 Pants Making Intensives in Brooklyn, NY, and one Long Sewing Weekend in Portland, ME. As always, I’d love to travel more next year – back to NY and ME (you have both stolen my hearts!), of course, and I’d love to check out some new places as well. I’ve always wanted to go west – maybe next year it will happen 🙂
– After a full year of living in color, I went back to a more natural tone for my hair. Having fun-colored hair was, well, fun, but I do enjoy the opportunity to blend in with the crowd these days 😉
-I had a major move at the beginning of the year – from right in the city of Nashville, to the tiny lil’ town of Kingston Springs, TN, about 30 miles west, population 2800. I live with my best friend and our house is in the woods. It’s pretty awesome, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss Nashville. I mostly just hate the drive – because I hate driving, period. So that kind of sucks, but it’s really the only negative part (and I’m looking into buying a new[er] car in 2016, so I may change my mind on that! Who knows, maybe driving is fun when you’re not operating a total piece of shit hahaha). It’s pretty neat to live in the middle of nature and have things like a garden and a pig (oh yeah, my roommate totally got a pig). And I have a pretty sweet sewing set-up here, so that’s always nice!
– I got a big tattoo on my leg. And I knit a sock while it was being done hahaha
– 2015 was the year I completely stopped using Twitter. The notification system was driving me CRAZY – either I got “ghost” notifications on my phone that wouldn’t go away no matter what, or I never got any notifications whatsoever! Fuckin’ Twitter! I gave up on it about halfway through the year and I’m sorry if anyone tweeted me, because I promise you that I did not see it. Haha! Pretty much the only non-blog social media platform I use these days is Instagram.
– On a more grown-up note, I bought myself a really fancy purse this year. As a longtime carrier of cheap/thrifted purses, this is a big deal to me.
– One of the biggest experiences I had this year was traveling to Peru with my best friend in June. This was less of a ~sewing-related~ trip and more of a personal journey of self-discovery and change, which is why I didn’t really discuss it much on this blog. Half of that two-week trip was spent in the city of Iquitos, where I participated in several ayahuasca ceremonies in the middle of the Amazon Rainforest. To say that shit was profound and eye-opening doesn’t even really scratch the surface. It caused me to take a hard look at myself in ways that I hadn’t before, and really think about things that I had previously been ignoring and pushing to the side. I came to terms with things that needed to be addressed, and overall it was a very very positive and life-changing experience. It’s kind of like, really really really sped-up therapy, haha. I’ve spent the remainder of this year processing through everything that came up during that experience, and making massive changes in my life. It’s been extremely hard, but it’s also been extremely worth it. If I’ve completely confused the shit out of you at this point, I recommend watching the documentary DMT: The Spirit Molecule, (also on Netflix) as it’s pretty fascinating and that’s what prompted me to decide to go to Peru in the first place. If you just think I’m a weirdo… cool 🙂
– One of the hardest things that I’ve dealt with this year is the end of my relationship with Landon. I don’t really want to discuss it on this blog, mostly because it’s personal, but I will say that it was amicable and we are still friends. We had a lot of issues that we could not work our way through, and mutually decided to part ways in November. We were together for nearly 5 years, so it’s been hard, but I know that ultimately it was the right decision. I have a wonderful support group here, and I know I’m gonna be ok.

Overall, 2015 was certainly a really challenging year for me. There was a lot of great stuff that happened, and a fair amount of bad stuff as well. I feel like 2015 was a weird – if not completely shitty – year for a lot of people – not just me! Overall, I’ve come out on top, despite all the negative stuff that was thrown at me, but lord, I so look forward to closing this year out once and for all.

Anyway, I don’t want to end this post on a sad note, so, here’s a picture of me celebrating my birthday with hot chicken and some aliens. You were ok, 2015. But now you gotta make way for 2016.

Tags: 2015, 2015 Year in Review, rev

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New Vogue Sewing Patterns: Winter 2015

5 Oct

If you haven’t heard, Vogue Patterns just released a new collection of sewing patterns a few days ago. I haven’t had a chance to really sit down and take a look at them as I’ve been out of town the last week (where I had a wonderful time teaching in Portland, Maine, and hanging out in Boston with Jenny. Couldn’t have asked for a better week! Hope to post more about it later 🙂 ), but man, this was a nice welcome back. Ha.

Surprisingly (or not, depending on your stance with Vogue), most of the patterns in this collection are relatively tame (and a few are even sorta tasty). I’m a firm believer that winter clothes are far superior to summer clothes (layers and cozy wools and tights and scarves and don’t even get me started on sparkly holiday dresses, wheee!), which may have something to do with my opinion on the new pieces.

Vogue 1475 // Badgley Mischka
Like this shiny piece of opulence. Ain’t no place in my life for a sparkly evening gown, but man, I really like this. I even like the fabric – I think it works really well with the style of the dress.

Vogue 1474 // Tom and Linda Platt
Or how about a bias floor-length gown made in a yummy silk charmeuse? Yes, please!

Vogue 9145 // Claire Shaeffer
YOU CAN JUST GET ON MY BODY ASAP.

Vogue 1468 // Nicola Finetti
Obviously there’s nothing particularly ground-breaking about this design (and I’m starting to get sick of the exposed metal zipper trend on EVERYTHING, sorry not sorry), but I like all the options for colorblocking and using different textured fabrics. Also, do I spy a new designer in the line-up?? YAY.

Vogue 1477 // Sandra Betzina
Love knit tops with interesting neckline detail like this.

Vogue 1479 // Isaac Mizrahi
I know these oversized coats are supposed to be really trendy right now, but they’re just a little too 80s-Power-Career-Woman-With-Strong-Shoulders to me.

Vogue 9160
“Excuse me! My eyes are up here!”

Vogue 1469 // Lia Lia
Even the skinniest model wearing the prettiest dress can’t escape a bad piping placement.

Vogue 1471 // Nicola Finetti
Really beautiful dress, but it should have been worn by a model with similar proportions. The waistline is way too high, yeesh. And if I’m way off my rocker and that’s the way the dress is supposed to look… double yeesh.

Vogue 9149
“We need to figure out a way to re-release this pattern but make it seem new.”
“What if we add a tail?”
“Say no more.”

Those were pretty tame. However, Vogue wouldn’t be Vogue without a little random fuckery thrown in.

Vgoue 9159
“You promised when making these pieces that you’d never wear the two of them together. The lie detector test determined that was a lie.”

Vogue 9153 // Marcy Tilton
I swear to god, every Marcy Tilton pattern is starting to look the exact same.

Vogue 9156
I totally had a pair of purple fuzzy zebra print pants when I was in high school. I guess this answers what ended up happening to them.

Vogue 9162 // Kathryn Brenne
I guess buttflaps are also making a comeback this year.

Vogue 9163
“Bitch, be cool.”

Vogue 1478 // Sandra Betzina
“Well, at least I wouldn’t skin a collie to make my backpack.”

Vogue 9164 // Kathryn Brenne
“I wish this was a hamburger instead.”

Vogue 1473 // Bellville Sassoon
Bellville Sassoon gives you wiiiiiiiings!

Vogue 9165 // Mary Jo Hiney Designs
This has to be the weirdest accessory pattern Vogue has ever released. Custom decorative boxes – complete with a notions list that rivals the entire stock of your local Joann’s. Also, the 9 year old me in is amused that the designer’s name is “hiney.” That is all.

And SPEAKING OF FUCKERY – I saved the very best for last!

Vogue 1472 // Zandra Rhodes
Every single thing about this outfit is insane. I couldn’t tell if that was a skirt or really low-crotch harem pants, until I looked at the line drawing – and was delighted to also discover that the look includes suspenders (to keep the skirt up, I imagine. That thing looks heavy af). And in case you don’t feel sexy when wearing an entire bolt of fabric, there’s a lovely midriff cut-out – the perfect space to allow for a little post-holiday-dinner belly expansion.

What did you think about the new Vogue collection? Anything gorgeous that needs to be a part of your wardrobe? Any random fuckery that makes you want to tear your eyes out? How do you like them new designers? Ahh, Vogue, it’s like you’re giving me Christmas 4x a year. I loves you.

Tags: are you serious with this shit, lol vogue, omg wtf lol, vogue patterns, WTF

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Fall/Winter 2015 Sewing Plans

18 Sep

Well, I don’t know about where y’all are, but down here the temperatures have slooowly started dropping at night, which means I can finally start planning my fall/winter sewing without feeling like a total lunatic. I love this time of year – the change in seasons is a nice shift from the blistering heat (I feel the same way once spring rolls around, too, for opposite reasons. Change is good!), and, man, I love winter clothes. I love sewing winter clothes! Yay for wooly long sleeves and cozy necklines!

I don’t have a lot in the plans for this season – I want to focus on basic pieces that can be mixed and matched. I like the idea of having a more minimalistic approach to the way I dress – I already do this when I travel, and I’m working on dragging it into my every day life. I recently realized that I don’t really care if people see me wearing the same thing two days in a row. If it bothers then, that’s their problem, not mine. I want to spend my sewing time working on fitting and fine finishes and enjoying the entire process – not rushing to get to the next project. If that means making less as a whole, fine with me!

DRESSES:

Papercut Patterns Sway Dress

Ah! I made this fun tent dress in a summery linen, but I really would love to make a winter version as well. I have a really nice black boiled wool that I think would suit the pattern nicely. It would be so cozy with black tights and a long sleeved turtleneck.

Kitschy Coo Lady Skater dress

I make this dress every year, and there’s a good reason why – it’s an awesome dress! The scooped neckline with long sleeves and slightly flared skirt is basically my perfect dress. And it’s made for knit fabrics, so it’s super comfy as well. I have a rad star knit from Lillestoff (which I can’t seem to find on the website now, wah) that I want to use for those one. And maybe make another with a cowl neck (like my ikat print Lady Skater from last year). The green one above is made with an emerald wool knit, which is pretty awesome too. Lady Skaters rock!!

BOTTOMS:

Papercut Patterns Guise Pants

MAN. Ever since this collection was released, I knew I needed me some of these pants. My friend Carla gave me the pattern as an early birthday gift, so now I have no excuse! I’ve spent most of the summer looking for the perfect black flanneled twill to make these out of, and I think I’ve found it. Cozy black pants will be mineeee!

Closet Case Files Ginger skinny jeans

I can always use more jeans in my wardrobe! The Ginger jeans that I made last year are still going strong and wearing well, but it would be nice to have a few more pairs. I bought one of the denim kits waaaay back when at the beginning of the year, so I am really excited to use that stuff for my next pair!

Style 1559

Fuck yeah, there needs to be a 70s-style skirt in my wardrobe! Wouldn’t this be great in denim, with jeans topstitching and cut to a mini length? Wellllll, spoiler alert… I’ve actually already finished the skirt as of this writing (lolz), but it’s part of my ~fall plans~ so I’m including it here anyway dammit 😛

TSHIRTS:

Vesta Patterns Grail Tshirt

I always need more long sleeve tshirts! Really excited to try the Grail pattern – this one is drafted based on 3 different body shapes. I have a couple patterns to play with, and I promise to report back once I’ve made them up! Could be a nice staple for winter. And, as always, I have more Renfrews (especially the cowl neck!) and Plantains planned as well. Can’t ever have too many tshirts!

Named Clothing Geneva Raglan Tee

I also want to make some raglans – specifically, the Geneva looks pretty neat! The raglan seam is a bit different than what you typically see on a raglan – I have a similar vintage tshirt that I really like the fit of, so I’m hoping I can knock it off with this. For fabric, I got a bunch of swatches of the awesome merino wools from The Fabric Store – just have to narrow down my selection to something budget-friendly! Those things add up fast! haha!

OUTERWEAR:

Papercut Patterns Waver Jacket
I have SLOWLY been building up the supplies for this one! I ordered my coating a few months ago – this Dark Navy Aztec Print from Mood Fabrics, plus a matching navy silk charmeuse lining. And, of course, faux fur for the hood because yesssss. I am really excited about this little jacket! I think it’s gonna turn out really cool 🙂

StyleArc Stacie Jean Jacket

I’ve been meaning to replace my sad old Gap jean jacket for YEARS now, but it’s been really hard to find one that I like (or a sewing pattern for one!). I just discovered this pattern, and it’s almost like this shit was made for me. Such a nice design, and all the finished versions I’ve lurked look super legit. This one is probably going to take some extra finesse for me to work through, as the instructions are pretty freaking sparse, but I think I can manage it if I make up a muslin first. For my final jacket, I have a nice piece of denim from Imogene + Willie that I’m hoping I have enough of.

Colette Patterns Oslo cardigan

Is this considered a Colette Pattern or a Seamwork Pattern? Either way – cardi! Yay!! I have a couple of fabrics I’d like to make this in – a soft grey/black slubbed double cloth and a cozy mushroom wool sweater knit (purchased from Mood Fabrics, but I can’t find it on their site now!). Perfect for lounging on the couch, or running outside to chase the pig.

INTIMATES:

Closet Case Files Carolyn Pajamas

Oh yes – more pajamas! I love my linen pair, so of course I need a flannel pair for winter. My mom always buys me flannel pajamas for Christmas, but they never really fit quite right (the crotch is always way too low, or the legs are too long, or something else is wrong). So I’d rather make my own! I haven’t found a good source for cotton flannel fabric – any suggestions? Looking for something that isn’t super cutesy and preferably around $18/yard or less.

Tilly & the Buttons Fifi Camisole

A silk cami seems kind of silly for winter, but hear me out on this one! I always wear tanks under my sweaters – one, so I can strip down layers if I get too hot; and two, because it’s easier to wash a tank rather than a whole sweater. Rather than run to Target and buy some flimsy little knit tanks, though, I’d love to make some slinky bias-cut silk Fifis. Ooh la la!

KNITTING:

Graphite Sweater

This is kind of cheating, since I started this sweater at the beginning of the year (yeesh!). It went into UFO status for a few months, but I’m ready to finish it up and get to wearing it! Just need to knit the sleeves and the neck binding, and it will be done!

DownEast Sweater

Then onto a big, squishy, bulky sweater! I already bought the yarn for this one, so there’s no turning back now. Ha!

Whew! Looking at all that seems like a lot – but you know I’m up for the challenge 😀 What about you? What’s on your sewing plate for the upcoming season?

Tags: Fall/Winter 2015, sewing plans, wardrobe basics

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Categories misc

Time For A Sewing Room Tour!

29 Jul

Finally, a tour of my new sewing room! This post has been a long time coming – honestly, this room has been set-up and fully functional since the first couple of weeks after we moved (because I have priorities), but I’ve put off sharing the big reveal until I felt that the room was “finished.” As always, I’ve realized that this room will never really be finished – I still want to hang some more lights, make a new ironing board cover, get a couple more rugs, etc etc – but it’s as finished as it’ll be for now. And now it’s time to share!

Soooo – welcome to my new sewing room, the Kingston Springs edition!

This room is funny shape, so getting photos was a little difficult. It’s basically an L shape – there are two little nooks off each end, and the corridor between is wide enough so that you can shove furniture against the wall and still be able to walk through. Here I have drawn you a shitty not-to-scale diagram to give you an idea of the layout. I used Comic Sans as my font choice to make it extra obnoxious. So, as you can see – two nooks with a bit of a walkway. The hallway going off the photo leads to our bedroom and bathroom, and the diagonal line off to the side of the cutting area is a doorway leading to our private living room/Landon’s office. The rectangles are windows and doors – one window in each the sewing and cutting nook, and the door is to the side of the desk. Our apartment is in the basement of the house, so the stairs lead up to the main floor. I’ll admit that when Morgan asked if I wanted to move into her BASEMENT, I was like, “lol no fucking way I ain’t your kid.” But, forreal, this is a pretty happy basement – it has windows and a door that leads outside, so it gets a good amount of light. Although it was a little scary when I first saw it, and it definitely took some TLC to get it to the point that it is now. The room is quite smaller than it looks – my rough measurements put it around 130 square feet. My old sewing room was about 200 square feet, so there was some downsizing and furniture Tetris in order to get everything to fit. It was a little brain-bending at times, but I think it turned out pretty awesome!

Before we moved in, we had to fix the basement up a little. We were really lucky that Morgan moved into the house a few weeks before we did, so we could do this at our leisure (and not live in the middle of a construction zone). The basement is finished and was fully carpeted. We tore out the carpet in the sewing room area – it was completely soaked with cat urine and was beyond saving. The carpet in the bedroom and living room, as well as the stairs, was ok, so that’s still there. Since the unfinished concrete floors were pretty beat-up looking (although thankfully not stained with pee odor! THANK GOD FOR THAT) and nobody wanted to invest in flooring right now, we simply stained them with.. um, some shit from the hardware store haha. We also installed the screen door outside; eventually I’d like to replace the door with one that has a window, but I ain’t got the budget for that now.

I painted the majority of the room by myself – the color is “Aquatic Mist” by Valspar, and the insides of the windows is some color called “Blanket” (I don’t recall the brand, but I will fully admit that I bought the color based solely on the name alone. Who names a paint color Blanket?? Michael Jackson?). Well, majority except for the long hallway leading to the back half – that stayed unpainted for like 2 months, because I wanted Landon to help me with rolling and we kept putting it off. He actually painted it for me as a surprise while I was in Peru, which might very well be the best welcome home gift I’ve ever been recipient of. Ok, I think I’ve talked enough! I’ll let the pictures tell the rest of the story 🙂

Starting with general layout photos – here’s the desk area.

The hallway leading to the back of our living area. And that giant wall that Landon painted!

The top photo in this post is the sewing area – here’s a view of the wall behind the machines. That tiny nook under the stairs ended up being exactly the right size to fit my pattern cabinet.

The opposite nook is the cutting and pressing area, as well as my fabric stash along the wall.

The ironing station. I REALLY wish I’d been able to find a way to keep the ironing board closer to the sewing machines, but the room layout just wouldn’t work around it (and I wanted to keep my desk in the center of the room). It’s not so bad to walk to the ironing board, I guess – I tell myself that a little exercise won’t kill me haha.

More of the cutting area.

Standing behind the cutting table, looking back toward the desk.

Detail shots:

These bookshelves are below the wall shelves in the cutting area – I keep my collection of sewing books here, as well as my yarn stash (it’s ALL in that basket! I can’t keep my fabric stash under control, but I’ve managed ok with my yarn stash!) and embroidery supplies (in the 70s floral filing box). The blue metal basket up top is where I keep my lingerie sewing queue, and the wooden FL box is my regular sewing queue. I’ve found it’s easier for me to do all my cutting at once for a few projects, and then I can work through the bundles without having to stop and cut another project.

Over the bookshelf are these two wall shelves that I hung ALL BY MYSELF (like a boss). I wouldn’t normally get all riled up over hanging a wall shelf, however, these were heavy AF and I somehow even managed to get them level idk. Anyway, the boxes are for small notions/tools that I have masses of – mostly lingerie supplies and zippers. I haven’t filled all the boxes quite yet, but I figure that’ll happen in due time haha.

Oh, and the plants on top are fake. Obviously. They are the only fake plants in this room, though… for now.

I love this pattern so much, I hung it in a frame so I could admire it all the time 🙂

The wall at one end of my cutting table is where I have my cork boards and tools. One board is for general inspiration/love notes – just things that make me happy. The other board is my project board – I’ve found by having a visual running list with swatches and sketches out where I can actually see it (i.e., not in a book or lurking on the internet), I can more easily keep track of my make list. Sometimes I forget what patterns or fabric I have in my gigantic stashes, and this is really helpful!

Here’s the other end of the cutting table, and one of two windows! That plant is totally alive and not fake, btw.

This is the view from the window. Ahh! We are totally ground-level and I look straight into the woods. Amelia loves to sit in this window and watch the birds, and sometimes Turtle (the beagle) will come sniffing around when she’s outside and it always freaks Amelia out because they are eye-level haha.

A little more about the cutting table! I built this myself (well – I use the term “built” loosely; it’s IKEA furniture that I screwed together haha) and it’s pretty awesome! I used two Kallax shelves and a Linnmon table top (there is a whole list of links at the bottom of the post for the specific products I used), and 4 sets of Kallax casters to raise it to counter height/make it moveable. One end, I installed 2 drawers on top, and bought 2 little fabric boxes for extra storage (if you were wondering – one box holds swimsuit fabric, and the other holds a mass of vintage zippers still in their packages – too big for the cardboard boxes on the shelves). I also installed a rod to hold my scissor collection on S hooks. They do sit in front of the drawers, but it’s easy to slide them out of the way when I need to access the drawers (which isn’t terribly often). Due to the width of the rod where it screws in, I could only install it on that side.

Those of y’all who have seen previous sewing rooms of mine (we’re on #6 as of this writing… I’m a dedicated woman for sure. I also live in an area with a low cost of living. Yay!) will recall that I had a Norden Gateleg table as my old cutting table. It was ok for a cutting table – I liked the size and that it folded down to be very narrow. However, the height was always bad for me, even when raised on blocks (and, again, I’m 5’2″, so I don’t have extra height to deal with here). I also hated that I couldn’t fit anything under the table due to how the legs were arranged to raise the leaves. And the drawers were a funny shape that I never found useful. I like this table a lot better – it’s pretty much countertop-height with the casters, and I have lots of storage options with the shelves/drawers/boxes. Plus, if I ever give up on sewing (lol no), I can always disassemble it and use the pieces individually on their own. Or sell it – Nashville doesn’t have an IKEA (we have to drive 4 hours to Atlanta), so people here seem to think that shit is made of gold and will pay top dollar for it haha. Which is exactly what I did with the Norden. Bye, Felica!

The inner side of the cutting table has more storage boxes – silk scraps, leather scraps, craft supplies, knit swatches, and my dye pot.

This little cart fits perfectly under the table as well. I keep a bunch of weird stuff here – cutting and marking tools, pressing supplies, extra pincushions, my hammer and a spray bottle.

The ironing station is right next to the cutting table. My iron is a silver star ES-300, which is a gravity feed iron and it’s AWESOME. The one thing that seems to scare people the most about using a gravity feed (other than the sheer steam power behind it) is that it doesn’t have an auto shut-off, and they are afraid they’ll accidentally leave it on and burn the house down. I solved this issue by plugging my iron into a power strip that also has paper lantern lights running from it – so if the strip is on, the lights are also on (and, thus, the iron is on). It’s pretty easy to tell if the iron is on that way! That overflowing box of fabric houses all my scraps from cutting. I try to find homes for that shit as quickly as possible because the pile can quickly get overwhelming otherwise.

Next to the ironing board is my fabric stash – organized somewhat by type/color (jerseys/knits on one side, wovens on the other). I installed little cabinet doors on the bottom, to hide unsightly stash (fabric scraps and linings) and boxes for the unfoldables (interfacings and lingerie fabrics). The roll of paper on top is super handy for pattern tracing or if I just want to make a giant doodle of something. As far as *how* I stash my fabric – I used to fold, but now I roll. Folding looks really pretty, but I could never seem to keep it neat (mostly because my attitude went somewhere along the lines of “ah, fuck it.”). Now I roll my fabric and just stack it in the little cubes. It much easier to keep everything organized this way!

As you can probably tell, this area is also Cat Central. Amelia likes to hang here – on the rug, in front of the screen, all up in my silks – so I keep her scratching pad here, and there’s always at least one toy lurking around.

I like having my desk in the middle of the room, so I can easily hear music/videos while I’m working. It’s also close to the door (which is open 99% of the time, bc fresh air lol yay). I work from home a couple days a week, so it was important for me to have a nice workspace to sit at. I also hung those shelves above the desk, also by myself. I really love shelving. And boxes, for that matter.

To the left of the desk is the sewing area. This is where I keep my machines, patterns, and a bunch of notions.

And here’s the view out of that window, in case you were curious 🙂

On one table, I keep both of my standard sewing machines – I have a Bernina 350PE and a Pfaff 7570. The Bernina is my main machine, but it’s really nice having 2 when you are working on a project that requires a lot of thread changes (such as jeans). For those, I use the Pfaff for construction and the Bernina for topstitching. Above the machines are buttons, notions, and thread racks.

More thread racks, plus my favorite sewing room art 😀

The dedicated serger table has additional storage, which is handy. My serger is a Babylock Imagine, FYI.

Behind the sewing machines, in the weird little nook under the stairwell, is where I keep my pattern stash. On top of the cabinet, I have storage for trims and elastics, plus a running queue of the patterns I want to make next (before I cut them and put them in the cut queue box by the cutting tables. Man! All these systems!). That bag hanging on the lemon hook is my knitting bag.

Finally, here’s an Instagram panorama of the room!

SHOPPING LIST:
Most of the stuff in this room is either thrifted or from IKEA. I’ve tried to compile everything here, but feel free to ask if you are curious as to where I got something! If it’s not on the list, chances are I bought it used (like from the thrift store or flea market). Like I said, I’ve had an on-going sewing room in every house I’ve lived in for nearly the past 10 years, so I’ve had a LOT of time to collect stuff and learn what works best for my set-up and organizational needs. Oh, and one more thing, because I’m always asked this – yes, it does always stay this clean! “Messy” for me is if there is a project on the cutting table. I never lets piles accumulate and I’m pretty good about putting stuff away when I’m done with it. I can’t stand to work in a messy room, plus, this area is the walk-through to get to the rest of our basement suite, so I have to be mindful of that for Landon’s sake.

Wall paint color: Aquatic Mist by Valspar

Sewing nook
Serger table: thrifted + painted
Sewing machine table: family hand-me-down + painted
Pattern cabinet: thrifted + painted (for info on the boxes inside the cabinet, check out this post!)
DMC thread organizer: thrifted
Thread racks: given to me by Elizabeth, but here are some similars on Amazon- thread rack + serger thread rack
Turquoise hanging shelf: thrifted + painted
Chairs: thrifted
Sewing room art: Joanna Baker, via Madalynne giveaway
“I’ve Made A Huge Mistake” chalkboard sign: Custom made by Kaelah
Rug: Old Time Pottery

Desk area
Desk: Nashville flea market
Chair: Nashville flea market
Ceiling light: KNAPPA
Wall shelves: EKBY JÄRPEN / EKBY BJÄRNUM
Mesh drawer unit: LENNART
Rail/basket (above desk): BYGEL RAIL + BYGEL BASKET
Dressform: Professional female dressform with collapsible shoulders (also: full review here!)
Rug: Nashville flea market
Sewing machine print: Madalynne
Kitty Cat clock: gift from Landon

Fabric // Cutting area
Fabric shelf: KALLAX with 2 doors
Industrial paper roll: Given to me when my old job (advertising) was downsizing and clearing out the art room!
Paper lanterns: IKEA, like 10+ years ago
Rug: Nashville flea market
Wall shelves: EKBY JÄRPEN / EKBY BJÄRNUM
Bookshelf: thrifted
Cutting table: 2 KALLAX shelves + LINNMON tabletop + 2 KALLAX drawers + 4 KALLAX casters. Scissor rail is BYGEL RAIL + s-hooks
Tool baskets (under the corkboards): BYGEL RAIL + BYGEL container
Turquoise utility cart: RÅSKOG
Yellow storage boxes: DRÖNA
Large white storage boxes: IKEA, discontinued (these are similar)
Small white storage boxes: IKEA, discontinued (these are similar)
Fake plants: FEJKA