Hello my friends! Welcome to Crumpets, Tea, & Sewing. Today, I am blogging about my January sewing makes. January is a very tough month for me to start sewing projects. It is the beginning of the year; you’re reminded throughout the month that making New Year’s Resolutions is something everyone should strive for.
Although I agree that we should always look for ways to resolve to be better, I am of the belief that everyday is a day that we can resolve to do better! Besides feeling totally distracted by this New Year’s Resolutions commitment that everyone feel compelled to participant in… I also lack motivation to start new projects in the beginning of the year with Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations being so close to the New Year! I am often exhausted by the time the New Year comes around.
Nonetheless, I did persevered and was able to make several projects in January. I only recently made my Make Nine 2018 sewing list. To be honest, I didn’t know that this challenge existed until I happened to come across a YouTube video of a fellow sewist vlogging about her upcoming Make Nine sewing projects. I felt impressed to do a little more research on the subject and after researching several vlogs, I have decided to create a Make Nine 2018 sewing list as well. You can learn more about my Make Nine 2018 Sewing Projects here.
My sewing makes for January 2018 are:
- A Winter Laurel Dress for my eldest daughter. The pattern I used for this project is the Simplicity 1873 from the Cynthia Rowley Collection. The pattern was relatively easy to sew; however, the finished garment was little too loose fitting in the center front, and the instructions for the pleats were a little hard to follow. I will make certain to transfer pleat markings more carefully and legibly, if I were to make this pattern again. Regrettably, I did not adjust the waist or bust area of the garment, and I did not use a muslin for a mockup. I would certainly suggest doing a mockup for this pattern. At the time, I felt like my daughter’s measurements were close enough to the measurements listed on the envelope and decided not to do any alterations. This was a huge mistake on my part! The garment does not fit poorly on her body, but it could have been much better had I took additional time to make the necessary adjustments. I needed to subtract about 2″ from the bust, and add about 2″ at the waistline. Things I love about this pattern… I really like the sleeves! The pattern instructs you to make 4-5 darts on the sleeves. It is a very cute and simple design that adds detail to the finished garment. Secondly, I love the tabs on the dress placed under the bust line and above the waist. I think it also adds detail to the dress. The pattern didn’t call for bias piping on the tabs, but I thought it would make the tabs stand out more. Lastly, I really like the pleats on the skirt. Although they were a pain to work with, the pleats make the dress look very elegant. Overall, I am very happy with this make, despite the fact that I did not make the necessary adjustments to the bust and waist lines.
2. The second sewing project I made in January is this winter pinecone dress for my youngest daughter. I used Butterick 4443 to make this dress, and it was a very simple and easy pattern. It only has 4-5 pattern pieces, depending on which view you make. The finished garment fits looser on her than I’d like, but that is the design of the pattern. The only alteration that I had to make on this dress was at the hem. It was a little longer than expected; I probably should have brought the waistline up a tad. The waistline of the dress sits just beneath my daughter’s waistline, but it really isn’t noticeable. I just shortened the dress at the hem.
3. The third project I made in January was this beautiful black, green, and white butterfly spring dress (I will update this post and add pics of this dress later). I made this dress for my friend’s daughter. I am very excited to give it to her. The pattern I used for this dress is the McCall’s M6875. This was also a very easy make having only 5 pattern pieces. I did run into a little trouble with the sleeve portion of the garment because it was my first time working with cap sleeves. But it was not too difficult. Although the dress pattern only calls for lining the bodice part of the garment, I lined the entire dress, making the skirt part of the dress look full and flowy. I really like the look of a full skirt/dress.
4. The fourth sewing project made in January was another little girl’s dress for my friend’s daughter. I used an old pattern I had in my stash since my girls were little toddlers. It is the New Look 6335 pattern. This dress was particularly easy to make because it is a jumper dress pattern, which does not call for sleeves or a midriff like the previous dress pattern do. This dress pattern has only 4 pattern pieces, the front and back bodice and the skirt front and back. I purchased this beautiful teal green and peach quilter’s cotton fabric sometime ago last spring for about $2 yard. Normally, I would not use quilter’s cotton fabric to make dress apparel, but this fabric is thick enough to make simple apparel designs. Since I used this fabric for little girls’ dresses it shouldn’t be problematic.
5. I started on another little girl’s dress using the Simplicity 8025 pattern (inspired by project runway). This projects is not quite finished, however. I plan to finish this dress before March. Once I finish this last little girl’s dress, I am going to deliver the three dresses to my friend. I will post a picture this dress when it is completed.
6. Finally, I made a purple and teal print blanket for my daughter, and gave it to her as a birthday gift. I didn’t use a pattern for this blanket, I just went with standard size measurements for a fleece type blanket and cut the fabric out with those dimensions leaving about 2-3 inches for seam allowance. It turned out really nice, and my daughter absolutely loves this blanket. I regret that I did not do any quilting on the blanket to secure it in the center. I think I will go back and do some minor quilt work to secure the blankets position, next month
So, that’s all of my sewing makes for the month of January. I was supposed to make a winter dress for myself as well; I never got around to doing so. I really want to start focusing on making vintage clothing for myself anyways. I have been researching a lot about 1940s – 1960s styles and buying a few patterns from that era to help me get started vintage sewing projects. I am excited to start on February’s sewing projects, and I am also excited to share and blog about February’s sewing makes. Until then, I will keep you posted on my progress. Thanks for reading.
Best wishes,
Tea
Crumpets, Tea & Sewing 