Oh hello! I’ve been wondering what to do about this blog for a while now. 2016 has not been the best for me (and I think a lot of people seem to feel that way), and it’s led to a lot of soul-searching about almost every area of my life. In the end, the decision about the blog was this: I miss it, and I miss forcing Ben to take 12,000,000,000 photos of me for each post. So it stays, and I am going to take advantage of Ben’s kind nature, and work through my backlog of unblogged pieces.
Overall, while it hasn’t exactly been my favourite year, I can take a lot of positives away from it. One of which is that I’ve been offered a new job, which, crucially, doesn’t start till 2017. While I’m not completely sure what the office dress code is, I’m fairly sure it will be slightly smarter than my previous company’s ‘wear what you like’ code, and certainly smarter than my working from home uniform of jeans and a hoodie.
After looking through my wardrobe, I’ve come up with a list of 12 items that I think I’d like to make this year, and which are currently in both my fabric and pattern stash. I’m not going to force myself to stick to this list, but I wanted to put something together to spur me on next time I’m feeling overwhelmed with choice. These are all fairly simple pieces that I think will fit nicely into my wardrobe and lifestyle – both for the office and at home.
Striped Skirt Refashion: Refashion may be a slightly grand term for this. I bought a size 22 skirt in a charity shop and I would like to reduce it to my size (about a UK 10/12). It should be fairly straightforward, but I’m dithering.
Colette Selene: I’m going to make this from a brown poly-wool blend which I unearthed during another charity shop rummage. Not super exciting, but perfect for looking smart in the office. I think the pocket options add a bit of interest.
Colette Beignet: I made one of these in stretch denim this summer and I love it, so I will be hoping to squeeze another out of the brown poly-wool. Again, not very inspiring fabric, but I think it will work nicely with the pattern.
New Look 6346: I found a pattern similar to this while exploring my auntie’s sewing room recently, but as I’d already helped her unintentionally downsize her book collection, I didn’t think I could ask to take the pattern off her hands, too. Luckily I found this in the New Look Black Friday sale. I’d like to make view A in some grey linen which I have leftover from my Miette skirt if I have enough.
Grainline Archer: This pattern (without ruffle) is exactly my style, so I’m really keen to get stuck in with this polyester I found during the closing down sale at my local fabric shop *sniffle*. I reckon this could turn out to be work-appropriate, too.
Seamwork Addison: I may change my mind about this pattern, as it looks quite boxy, but this fabric (which I won from Dragonfly Fabrics a few years ago) is so drapey, it could work. Worst case, it’ll look nice tucked into my new skirts.
New Look 6428: I’ve got a breton striped rtw dress in this style which I love, so when I found this purple ponte in a local charity shop I snapped it up, wanting to make a copy. I’m not especially confident about copying though, so I’m going to use this pattern as a base to work from.
Tilly and the Buttons Bettine: This is a stalled work in progress. I’ve put on a bit of weight, and it’s not going to fit as things stand. Luckily my new years resolutions involve exercise and healthy eating. I hope to finish this once I’m back to my old size.
New Look 6567: I think view H of this pattern in this tulip print is as close as I’m willing to go to the 90s trend currently terrorising the high street.
Simplicity 2317 x2: This is no longer available on the Simplicity UK website, but I bought it because it had so many great options for cosy nightwear. First on my to sew list is a set of sushi-making cat pyjamas. I might actually use my go-to pyjama bottom pattern (T&TB Margot), and then take the view D shirt from this pattern. I’m also thinking that I could customise this to make a nice short sleeved shirt and shorts pattern for some summer jammies, using this fox/wolf print I bought it Tokyo.
Niizo Simple Day Casual Backpack: Lauren recently posted a review of another of the Niizo bag kits, and after checking out all of their kits, I decided to treat myself to this one as a present to celebrate my new job. I’ve gone for black canvas, and I cannot wait for it to arrive!
Do you sew your wardrobe with a plan, or just make what you feel like, when you feel like it?
First of all, I took photos of all the fabrics in my stash, and then set up a notebook in Evernote to store this information. For each piece of fabric, I created a new note, where I entered the picture, as well as the size, and any other useful information I could think of. I also included tags with the size, colour and fabric type. You can search by tags, which makes it easy to find only pieces which are 2m for example. There is text recognition within pictures, but I think this is only available if you upgrade to pro membership. I took out a subscription for a year for £35.
