The Great Module Sew Along Wrapped Up

Hello everyone!

I made it to the finish line!  I completed and entered the Great Module Sew Along with these six pieces:

Here are my original plans:

It came down to the wire finishing up my second pair of Ginger Jeans, but in this case, my TNT pulled through!

Let me give you a rundown of each piece of my wardrobe

• Simplicity 2339 Button Front shirt in a lightweight denim
• Mccalls 7975 Twist top in a poly knit
• Ginger Jean in stretch dark denim

• Simplicity 8393 Cardigan in poly knit
• Sewaholic Renfrew in cream sweater knit
• Ginger Jeans in an olive gabardine 

I really wanted to convey a theme that centered around my first completed piece, the olive Ginger jeans.  I didn't have much olive in my wardrobe and I knew I wanted to make a way to wear this color more often.  As I began to do some research on coordinating colors I discovered that olive is not the easiest color to incorporate.  It IS treated as a neutral, however, I struggled to find a combination that suited me.  

Overall I found that I liked photos that used creams with olive the most.  This helped to guide my sewing, and in the final stretch I threw in some blue too--since I like it so much.  Moving forward, I have plans for more creams, golds, and blues.  While this wardrobe is a good reflection of Late Winter/Early Spring, the pieces I will add are going to be for Spring. 

Of course this wardrobe had a few hitches here and there.  I cut my twist top piece backwards (ha!), attached the cuffs on my button front backwards (is there a theme here?), and cut my dark denim jeans a bit too short.  But you know what?  I rolled with it, and really like how all my pieces turned out in the end!!  Even more, I know what I will do differently next time.

Lastly, this challenge was SO MUCH FUN!!! I struggled with my summer wardrobe pieces from last year, but I think this wardrobe was a bit more cohesive, and my approach more relaxed.  I imagine that sewing this way is a bit like a muscle that you have to exercise.  As you sew more and more, your sense of style and choice of pieces becomes stronger and clearer.  

If you would like to see more inspiration, see  #thegreatmodulesewalong on IG.  It is amazing to see all of the fantastic wardrobes people are creating off of this 3,2,1 concept.  I am definitely going to use this concept some more this year.

Thank you so much for reading! I really do appreciate all of the feedback you have given me in the comments, and I love seeing the things other sewists are working on and finishing as well.  

Stay sew filled! 

Great Module Sewing

Hello everyone!

What a difference there has been in the world since my last post!  All around the country the Corona virus is hitting hard, and people are doing everything they can to deal with what seems so surreal.  Here in Georgia I have been home with my kids as my older two participate in online learning.  It has been a learning curve for sure, but something we will have to get used to since it may be weeks before anything changes.  For now we are taking things day by day and doing what we can to remain hopeful.  Being able to sew has come in extremely handy, and has brought a sense of comfort for me too.

That said, I am here today to talk about my plans for the Great Module Sew Along challenge.  The deadline for posting your completed module is March 24th, and I am racing to finish, as always!  If you know me, then you know I seem to like the last minute pressure of getting things completed.  I plan and plan, but still experience the squeeze in the end.  

Here are the plans I came up with:

Now please don't panic, I fully admit that I have been sewing since February, and have all my pieces completed except two.  I have finished my Renfrew, S8393, S2339, and 1 pair of Ginger jeans.  I am currently working on my second pair of Gingers in a dark wash denim, though I may have cut them a little too short while up late last night.  It will be a make it work moment for sure.

I love M7973, and made it last summer as a muslin.  While it was easy to construct, I wasn't a fan of the way the lower twist hung.  There have been some great versions of this top, including a recent one I saw made by Nakisha from  Dressmaking Debacles, who recommended tacking the twist.  I plan on revisiting this top and hopefully making it work.  But if I can't, I will probably switch the pattern out for a short-sleeved Renfrew so I can finish it all.

I look forward to checking back in once everything is complete. If you get a chance to participate in the challenge too, best wishes on creating (or having created) a wardrobe module that you love!

Stay sew filled!

February Recap

Hello everyone!

Today I will be sharing the things I made in February!  Let me start by saying that I ended up with a mixed bag, lol.  In fact, I even have two unfinished garments I want to share too.  You can believe that everything has a story, and I will be sure to tell it!  Let's begin with my basics...

This is Kwik Sew 3766 in an animal print fabric from Boho Fabrics.  I got it as a part of one of their bundles, made this top, and it is easily one of my favorites!  I have worn it twice already, and it's a TNT, so all my usual adjustments are the same for this one.

Here is the top on me.  One of these days soon I will get back to proper photos, but in the meantime, I did get a chance to snap a quick pic to show.

My second basic is KS4069 The fabric is a waffle knit from Boho Fabrics.  In fact, it was also a part of the bundle I purchased from them.  Sadly, this fabric was not my favorite for this pattern.  It is translucent, and while I thought I could wear a tank top underneath, I am just not a fan of how it looked when I tried it on together.  For now, this will be relegated to a pajama top until I find a better suited black fabric.  By that time, I am sure turtleneck wearing season will be over, lol!

Speaking of pajamas, I did get a chance to squeeze this project in.  The top is OOP Simplicity, a really cute Raglan sleeve PJ top.  The bottoms are Simplicity 8268, a great jogger pant. This ensemble was not on my plans list, but I decided to add them after I ran into a snag mid-February.

I needed a pair of cute PJs for Pajama Day at work (I work in a preschool), and rummaged through my stash in order to find something really quick. The fabric is cotton lycra from Fabricmart fabrics from YEARS ago, and I thought the black hearts were cute with last month being Valentine's Day.  

While I only made these because I didn't have suitable ones to wear, can I tell you how much I love these?  Loungewear/PJs is something I haven't sewn for myself, but 

I thoroughly enjoyed having a coordinating outfit that fit well.  I will definitely be making this combination again for myself and my daughter.

Next up is a cardigan that turned out much better than I thought it would.  Given the fact that I love stripes, I wanted to incorporate it into my sewing plan.  I am thinking this will be one of my entries for the Great Module Sewalong.  I will do a planning post in the next couple of days for that.

For Butterick 6388 I have good news and I have bad news.  The good news is that I agree that this is a wonderful pattern, and rightly deserves it's award as a PR best for 2019.  I love the seaming, the collar, and the overall details of the dress.  The fabric I used is a French Terry, though a bit more structured than other French Terrys I have worked with before.  It still wears well, and I have worn it once so far.  

The bad news is, once I washed it, I noticed little bleach spots in various areas of the fabric.  I am not sure what happened.  At first I thought it was just on the collar, and thought about re-sewing it to fix it, but nope, it is on the entire tunic.  I am disappointed, but will definitely remake this one at a later date.

Now to my unfinished items...

Oh, this lovely jacket!!! 

I hit a snag when I put in the pockets and they gaped open. Ah! I hate gaping pockets. For my muslin I didn't have an issue because I left the pockets out.  So, I let out the side seam a bit, and will probably do the same at CB.  I hope this fixes the issue, because it really is coming along nicely.

Once I lost steam on the jacket, I started working on my button front shirt from Simplicity 2339.  My thought was "I will take a breather, I have done button-ups before, and I will return to my jacket once I finish this shirt."  Well, I began coasting through this project until I got to the cuffs.  I have not done those before, but the instructions were not difficult at all.  It just took me so much time fiddling with one side, I decided to take a break from this one too, lol!

Hmmm, breaks on breaks on breaks do NOT lead to finished garments!

But, don't worry, I will get the other cuff on, add my buttonholes, and be done with this one soon...

Overall that adds 2 tops, 1 pair of pajamas, 1 cardigan, and a dress that will have to be remade.  Like I said, it is definitely a mixed bag, but I had a lot of fun sewing this month so that is all that matters!  

I hope February was a fun month of sewing for you as well! After all, if you sew, you should enjoy it!  I know there are some things that can hold  you up here or there, but the process should be worthwhile.

I will be back in a few days with my plans for the Great Module Sewalong.  I am about halfway through, but still so indecisive about how I am going to put everything together, lol! With the deadline being March 24th, I am gonna have to get a move on it!  

Stay sew filled!

February Plans

Hello everyone!

I am back to talk about my February sewing plans!  

Before I do that, I wanted to share a little about this past Saturday.  I got together with a few friends to sew, without knowing that snow was expected in our area.  Approximately three hours into sewing and chatting, we started to see the most beautiful snow flurries coming down! It was so pretty!  I don't think we could have planned a more perfect morning!  After that we all started daydreaming about getting snowed in so we could sew all day, but the snow was melting by the afternoon, lol!  Oh well!  It was still one of our most memorable Sew Days ever!

Focused on our craft

I got a few things accomplished at that Sew day, and look forward to what the rest of the month will bring.

Let's get started:

BASIC TOPS

Kwik Sew 3766

Photo Credit

I made this Kwik Sew top last month and I really like it a lot!  I made another one in a gray animal print, and think I will keep up this tradition of sewing a few basics each month.  They are always useful in all seasons and in different colors!  If I sew a couple each month I hope to always have what I need for my wardrobe.

Kwik Sew 4069

Photo Credit

I ordered this pattern last month and was elated when it came in.  I took a gamble that it would fit well, and be a good turtleneck pattern.  I was right! I made this at my Sew Day in a black waffle knit.  It will fill a category for my basic wardrobe challenge.

Speaking of challenges...

Photo Credit

I am stoked to be joining my first "challenge" this year!  It is the capsule wardrobe sewing challenge that I discovered on TomKat Stitchery's channel, and I decided to join in for many reasons:

• it consists of what I am sewing already, and I just need to choose garments that coordinate well from what I have sewn
• I sewed a capsule using this module formula last summer and would like a do-over, lol! 

If you are interested in joining, here are the details: from now up until March 24th, you must sew a 6 piece wardrobe consisting of 3 tops, 2 pants, and 1 topper.  The hashtag #thegreatmodulesewalong already has lots of great makes and planning photos from others who have joined in.  So, if you can participate, please do!  I will gladly reveal the pieces I choose once I am finished.

Okay, back to the rest of the plans...

TNT

Photo Credit

It's time for another cardigan too, lol! This time I chose a striped olive knit that matches my olive Ginger jeans.  Since green is not a colorway I usually wear, this additional is surely needed.  I started this at Sew Day and just have to do the hem, and decide if I want pockets.  

Butterick 6388

Photo Credit

This choice is a "love at first glance" sewing pattern.  Yes, as soon as I saw this dress, I just fell in love with the look of it!  I chose a french terry knit in sandy beige, and am midway through finishing it.  My surprise in constructing this came with the additional seam details that are hidden from the photo above, due to the solid fabric they used.  My fingers are crossed that I will still appreciate the style once I am done.  I will keep you posted.

Simplicity 2339

Photo Credit (out-of-print)

This last one is an OOP pattern in View A, the classic button front shirt.  It is on the list for my casual wardrobe, and I will be adding another chest pocket to the front. I have chosen a lightweight denim in a medium wash.  It will replace an older shirt from my closet that has a really worn out collar that has faded so much it is unwearable.  I am excited for this because I enjoy shirtmaking!  Everything is cut and interfaced for when I can get to it.

That wraps it up!  Of course, I am still plugging away on my Make Nine Jacket in the middle of all these plans.  I have been a bit stalled on it as I await the fusible tricot interfacing I ordered (Joanns was out of stock), but I plan on using the time I have now to work on other things.

If you have sewn any of the projects I have plans for, let me know! 

Stay sew-filled!