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| Walnut is not impressed with the bow he has to wear for back-to-school pictures. |
Well, with last year's successes and failures in mind, it's time to make a new list of projects! This school year, I would like to make:
- More cake. I'm leaving this vague on purpose, so that I don't have to feel bad if I don't make some arbitrary number.
- Something with bound buttonholes.
- Jeans. I think this technically falls into the cake category, but jeans are so huge (in my head, at least) that I think they deserve their own item. Specifically, I want to make skinny jeans with topstitching and fancy back pockets and everything.
- A coat or jacket of some sort; really, I just want to make some kind of outerwear. I've got some red wool, but I may save that for when I actually know something about tailoring. I've also got some coral twill that is a bit light, but would make a fantastic summer blazer. I know, I know, by the time I get around to it, it won't be summer anymore and coral will no longer be in.
- A set of 1912 outfits, specifically a day dress, a suit, and an evening gown.
- Something to wear for the Gatsby movie. It's time to conquer bias-cut chiffon and all those interesting points and seams!
- Costumes for myself and Elaine for the OneRing.net's Hobbit party. They'll actually be LOTR costumes, but I don't think anyone will mind, right?
- A Loki-inspired cosplay outfit for Thor 2. Something along the lines of these pins.
- A steampunk-y leather arm bracer like this, to hold all my little sewing tools.
- A more or less 18th century gown with panniers. Kind of The Duchess-inspired. Notice that these items are getting more and more impractical/involved/unlikely.
- Heck, as long as I'm at it, I would like to learn to build furniture so that I can make either an AT-AT or dinosaur-shaped raised cat bed for Walnut.
I'm terrible about finishing project lists (so I don't seriously make any) because I will change my mind about fabric or pattern at least twice with everything. Most fabrics go through about 3 ideas before I end up really using them.
ReplyDeleteI do better just picking a project and focusing on it until completion.
Hope you have a good class and great school year this year!
Thanks, Brooke! It looks like a good group of kids this year, but then it's always hard to tell in the first week...
DeleteI think I probably go through an equal number of iterations for all projects, which is why I had to make this list more non-specific!
It's funny you should mention sewing jeans - I've just finished my first pair (a frankenpattern of 3 Burdastyle pants patterns) and they were quite easy to sew (with top stitching and coin pocket and proper button and widgets and everything) and they actually look really great (if I may pat myself on the shoulder)and I'm very proud. My advice: go for it!
ReplyDeleteOooh, congrats on making jeans, and thanks for the encouragement!
DeleteWoodworking isn't too hard, we've built quite a few things for our house that were surprisingly simple and look fabulous--like my son's storage bed. I don't know what an AT-AT is though....but you might find some plans for it on Ana-White.com if you search for it using it's full name.
ReplyDeleteAs for sewing plan lists, that's pretty much a surefire way of jinxing myself into not making (or at least not finishing) something. However, jeans aren't too hard, they are just time consuming. There's a lot of switching between jeans thread and topstitching thread, and unfortunately, there's just no way to do big batches of it together. :-( I would start with your shorts pattern to help tweak the fit too, so you have less hassle and are more likely to do them. :-)
Good luck!
Heh, considering that an AT-AT is an all-terrain automated transport from Star Wars, I doubt Ana White has plans to build one! I've seen her site before and have it bookmarked for the day I have a garage to do all that stuff in. I certainly hope I haven't jinxed myself by making a list, but considering that last year's list was actually somewhat completed, I think it's safe :)
DeleteYes yes yes for Loki's Army love!!!! I wish I had somewhere to cosplay but I'm too afraid to do it any time except Halloween. But I do have one or two geeky sewing projects planned before the end of the year.
ReplyDeleteGood luck accomplishing your list! You can do it!!
I couldn't stop drooling over Loki in Thor and Avengers, and I've got long black hair, so obviously I should do a Loki cosplay :) I don't think I have anywhere specific to wear it to, but I am of the opinion that I make the costume first, then figure it out later!
DeleteI think that lists are great! I usually write a list of goals every year around my birthday. If I'm turning 25, then I'll make a list for the following year called "25 Things To Do Before 26." I credit it with the reason why I get so much done! Love your list - especially jeans!
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a great idea, Madalynne! Although I imagine that by the time one turns 50, the list might get a little overwhelming...
DeleteI love making lists but totally lack the wherewithal and follow through to complete said lists! You list seams (see what I did there?) totally doable!
ReplyDeleteMadlynne--I'M TOTALLY stealing that idea!
I think as long as I don't say that I'm going to work through my stash, it's doable ;)
DeleteYay! I'm so posting some now! I love the idea!
ReplyDeleteOoh, another teacher! Glad that you like the idea!
DeleteI'm literally just about to do this for the start of the school year (I'm going back to school! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!)
ReplyDeletestrugglesewsastraightseam.wordpress.com
Yay for the proper use of the word literally!!! And yes, you are going back to school!!
Deleteim excited to see yoru LOTR costumes and walnuts bed! but, it's hard for me to think so far ahead in the future, so if i make lists it's usually short term, like this month i will...blah blah blah. this past year was a bit different i made a list of things i wanted to get done before my husband comes back from deployment. and no, not thinking in school years anymore haha.
ReplyDeleteHeh, I doubt most people think in school years anymore, but I've been involved in school either as a student or teacher for 20+ years, so yeah...
DeleteI don't know if I'll get around to Walnut's bed, but if I do, you can bet I'll be posting it!
Looks like a lot of exciting things you will be making this year! Or, at least thinking about. I always come up with my list of sewing goals at the END of the school year (in June) as that is when my sewing anniversary (of teaching myself to sew) comes around. However I totally still think in school years (and hope to keep thinking that way in the future). Actually, when I was little I didn't understand why we celebrated New Year's in January - because wasn't it obvious that the new year started in July or August? Took me until second or third grade to really figure it out...
ReplyDeleteYes, thinking about might be more accurate! I think June is my sewing anniversary too, but August is always about fresh starts for me...and yes, I was confused as a kid about New Year's too!
DeleteYou're going to be really sorry when your cat learns how to pilot (drive?) that AT-AT cat-cat bed.
ReplyDeleteOh, don't I know it! :)
DeleteOh, boy, resolutions. I always have too many, but this coming year I'd like to get my sewing room decorated and furnished (formally a child's bedroom)so that I don't clutter the dining table, and just DO MORE SEWING (preferably a lot faster too...). The past months I've been soaking up anything and everything from blogs to Threads magszine to the Craftsy Couture Dress course and I'm just itching to put this more into practice and make skirts, dresses, blouses, (sailor) pants - just so disappointed with the fit and execution of ready-to-wear, so it will be marvellous to get those right.
ReplyDeleteHappy new sewing year to you all!
Monique
How's that for being broad, unquantified and vague? :-) This way I'm sure to end on a positive note next year.
Monique, that sounds like an excellent set of resolutions! That way you can be sure of finishing :) And I love the idea of making sailor pants!
DeleteI don't think in school years now that my kids are done school. I do keep lists but usually because I get project ideas by the dozens but don't have the time/money/drive/energy to crank them out as fast as I come up with them. The lists help me remember what those ideas are and how excited I was with the idea when I came up with it. The lists may get me going again when I am done a project and looking for something new to inspire me.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I find that lists help keep me focused, since I buy awesome fabric sooner than I can turn them into clothes!
DeleteI'm so glad I'm not the only one measures time by school years. In fact, I even remember events by what grade my stepson was when they happened. I love the idea of making a list of school year resolutions, and I'm impressed by your ambitious list. I'm going to start with one: Make a Jackie O. Dress from "Fabulous Frocks" which I bought at the blogger meet-up. After that, we'll see. Lovely to meet you there, and I look forward to following you via your blog.
ReplyDeleteI'm waiting with bated breath to see your Jackie O. dress! I love the idea of that book, but haven't seen anything made up from it yet (aside from what we saw at the blogger meetup!).
DeleteI admire your ability to stick to last years list (with a few adaptations of course). I write to do lists all the time but when it comes to crafts it takes me ages to finish a project (baring a Spyro the Dragon costume I made which was miraculously finished in time)!
ReplyDeleteBUT just this week I started making my own pair of jeans. I'm a fiddly fit so I decided to unpick two existing (but very old and ripped to bits) pairs of jeans (one flared, one skinny) and armed myself with my stitch ripper. Hopefully I'll have finished them later this week! If I pick up any hints and tips along the way I'll be sure to pass them on!
I love the idea of picking apart jeans that fit so that they can be used for patterning, but gosh that sounds like a lot of work! Let me know how it goes; best of luck!
DeleteThis is the first time since ten years the beginning of the school year doesn't concern me. It's weird! September still seems special. The first four points would be on my list, too, if I were to make one! The jeans are huge for me too, but luckily we have the queen of jeans Tanit Isis for some guidance. Maybe we should just set a date an SEW THEM. I mean, what´s the worst that could happen, right..?
ReplyDeleteHmmm, maybe we should do a jeans sew-along. I'd host one, except that I don't know anything about sewing jeans! And I think Tanit-Isis is moving and such, so pestering her to host is out :)
DeleteSure I'm still thinking in school years, only mine begins on September 1st. Even though the semester actually starts on September 17th this year, and nominally summer extends over that, it ends with August. Period.
ReplyDeleteNo sewing resolutions, though.
My school year start date is always changing, but lately it seems to be moving up earlier and earlier in August! I remember starting in late September when I was in college, but now it's the middle of August!
DeleteTo all the people wanting to make jeans, I highly recommend the Kenneth King Craftsy course. I did the whole thing, including copying a pair I already have, but I found the videos on the construction the most helpful. I actually have the famous Jalie Jeans pattern, but the KK course was so inspiring, I made the jeans just from the videos.
ReplyDelete