RTW fast journey

Hello everyone!

Today I had a dear sweet friend/running buddy tell me that she liked reading my blog, and she has been looking for updates on Burda 7625 (my current project) every 2 to 3 days, but still has not seen anything. Her comment got me thinking that there may be other readers out there who are wondering the same thing. So, let me explain...

Since starting this journey to sew all of my own clothing, I have been a lot more discriminating about the end result.  After all, I will be wearing this, and my optimistic goal is that I don't walk around looking homemade. In fact, when I first started sewing four years ago, I used to think it was not possible for fashion sewing to be just that...fashionable.  But then I discovered a lot of amazing bloggers in the sewing community, (and some on patternreview.com) who sewed clothing that looked like they bought it from the store.  So why not stretch myself to dig a little deeper, dream a little higher, and unlock my own potential?  Why not me?

Well, I am discovering that "Why not me" takes a lot of hard work and dedication--and that is precisely where I am at.  I am working hard, and dedicating myself to this passion of sewing.  The mistakes make me laugh, or whine, yet the successes make me rejoice and keep me hopeful for the future.

After taking almost a year off from sewing, I have found my skills to be quite rusty.  For me, it has not been like "riding a bicycle" again.  Yet the one thing that has remained constant is my love of the whir of my machines!  My sewing closet is where I am put at ease, as my daily tasks and responsibilities disappear, and time rolls by in the blink of an eye.

So as far as Burda 7625 goes, it is coming along.  I tried it on last night, showed my hubby, and got the response "It's...interesting."  Uhhhh, interesting?  That is not at all what I was going for, but I think he has a point that this shirt just may not be my style.  You win some, you lose some right?  Well, I still have the tab to put on, and some minor issues to work out before I show you how "interesting" it looks.

I also picked up a boatload of books from my library in order to help with sewing construction and FIT!!  Actually, I already had some fitting books, I just added some more to my collection.  I probably have most of all the ones my library carries!!  Here are the ones I got:

I think this is a great reference because I am a VISUAL learner!!  I often need to see it to get it.  We'll see how useful it ends up being.

This is easily becoming one of my favorite fitting books.  Why?  It even has a section on fitting knits, something I have not seen in a lot of fit books.  Since I have been sewing mostly knits, I am quite aware that the fitting challenges are different because of the stretch of the fabric.  Some of the tips in here have been invaluable to me in learning to fit my figure.

I have used this resource before, and you really can't go wrong with Nancy Zieman.  Her fitting adjustments are basic and easy to understand, while producing great results.  She does a lot of the pivot and slide method, and has a unique way of figuring out what pattern size to sew.

Lastly, I checked this one out.  It is my absolute, most favorite, most comprehensive guide I have ever used!!  It is so helpful for providing clear, concise explanations to basic techniques, and it takes you from pattern/fabric selection all the way to the finished garment!   There is an excellent troubleshooting fit guide in here, and there are also various Simplicity projects included.  You buy the Simplicity pattern, and it gives you more of a breakdown for how to sew it up!  I will DEFINITELY be adding this one to my sewing book library!!

I am open to any other fitting resources, if you know of any.  I remember Vogue Sewing being another good one, but my library no longer carries that one.  I like having options--it allows for different perspectives.  

Stay sew-filled!