Tomorrow is a big day – I’m visiting my family in PA this week, and tomorrow we’re trekking out to Amish country so I can buy a new Bernina! I’m very excited since this is something I’ve wanted for a long time (about five years?) and the timing couldn’t be better as I start to sew my wedding dress. My OG machine above, the Bernina 1005, will be going in for a check-up and cleaning and will hopefully have a new friend to come along on the car-ride back to Boston this weekend.

I had to explain to Chris the concept of having more than one machine, he didn’t understand…oh grasshopper, you have much to learn! I tried to put in terms he’d get: “you have your twelve-string guitar, your electric, your mandolin…”

Here are the three models I’m considering. Of course, price will really be the determining factor:

530 – probably as basic as I’d go. All of these have an automatic button-hole feature, which is a HUGE deal for me, but I like that this one doesn’t have all of those fancy embroidery stitches (don’t need), has needle up/down, can wind a bobbin while sewing, etc. Pretty much all of the modern functions of sewing machines out there that I’m dying to have!

560 – this one is a little fancier than the 530. It stitches faster, has a touchscreen, automatic thread cutter, tutorials, and a USB. Not must-haves, but nice-to-haves.

710 – ooo baby, this is a Cadillac of a sewing machine. What’s nice about this model is the longer arm, which would allow me to try some machine quilting without bunching up the project too much, or would just be helpful with a bulky garment. It stitches 1000 stitches/minute, has all of the fancy features of the above machines with LED touchscreens, stitch memory, and adjustable presser foot pressure. What really takes the cake is the Bernina Dual Feed – essentially, it has the capability of a built-in walking foot. How cool is that?? One of the reasons for upgrading to a new machine is that it’s virtually impossible to find a walking foot for my model (nope, don’t want one of those generic “converters” off of eBay). This would be so great to have…but it really comes down to price and what deal I can get. When I called the store they said they had this, but it was a floor model and was being discontinued…so maybe I can get a deal!

Do you have any of the above Bernina models? Wish me luck tomorrow!

Before I get into my post, I want to thank everyone who left kind words about my engagement, as well as encouragement about making my wedding dress.  After thinking it over, I’m going to do it!!  That will definitely be an upcoming post once I start making muslins.  Thank you to everyone who left links to their posts on wedding dress sewing, I definitely have some reading to do now.

I’m going to be moving in with Chris towards the end of the summer, and after living on my own for almost three years now, I’ve acquired quite a bit of “stuff” in my apartment that will need to be downsized.  As I started to switch over my closet this weekend from late winter/early spring clothes to summer, it seemed natural to start purging the clothes that I own and don’t wear anymore.

When it comes to getting rid of handmade clothes, it can be hard to make the firm decision to part with something that you spent precious time on.  For me at least, there’s more of an attachment to handmade clothes vs clothes you buy in a store: creating a wardrobe is a journey from picking out the pattern and selecting the fabric to actually making it, whereas buying something at a store and plunking it down on the counter is transactional affair that only has a monetary investment.  As I went through my closet and reflected back on what handmade garments I wore the last twelve months, I asked myself these questions:

When is the last time I wore it?
Does it fit my current style/lifestyle?
Is there a sentimental attachment to this?
Am I proud of this garment when I wear it?

As it turned out, I had quite a few things I was hanging on to that I wore maybe once or twice in total since I made them, some garments I didn’t touch in the last year, and quite a few that just don’t jive with how I dress on a daily basis now.  There was even a cardigan I made that had a hole in the middle of the back that I couldn’t fix!

I even have a small section of my closet that holds a few garments I need to finish or projects that didn’t turn out right and need to be tweaked.  The reality is that even though I have every intention of getting back to these projects, they’ve been hanging in my closet for almost two years and I probably won’t get around to them.  It’s worth determining whether or not I get rid of them.

It can be a liberating feeling to free yourself of things you’re hanging onto.  Every garment I ever made is something that advanced my skills further and served a purpose at that time when I made it.  And now, I have room to move forward with adding in new garments that fit my personal style and life, and I know each time I look in my closet I will only see clothes that I love and wear regularly.  With Me Made May in full-swing right now, I encourage you to take a look at what doesn’t work in your closet and lifestyle anymore and free up some room!

April is turning out to be quite the month this year so far – my birthday is in two weeks (big 2-9!), I just became an Aunt last week (yayyy!), and I read plenty of these magazines on the flight to Las Vegas for work a few weeks ago:

I’m engaged, you guys!!!!

It’s been a short amount of time since Chris “popped the question”, but I’m now in the throes of planning our wedding for sometime next year – I’m so excited!  Of course the first question anyone asks when they find out when someone is engaged is, “when’s the date?”  And honestly, we have no flipping clue yet, haha.  Somehow between his wacky work schedule and my meetings and travel, we’ll need to nail a date/venue down soon.  I feel like that’s the biggest thing to figure out, and then it’s all the detail-stuff.  I’ve been reading the blog Broke Ass Bride religiously for wedding planning ideas, those gals totally get what we’re trying to achieve – not breaking the bank on one day (I’d say I’m more cheap-ass bride than broke-ass, but whatever).

Every night now, I fall down the “wedding planning” rabbit hole instead of doing anything constructive – my sewing is definitely suffering!!

Which brings me to the next big question I’ve been asked: am I going to make my dress? 

I really don’t know yet…there’s so much to figure out in the next year that I’m not sure if I can take on that additional layer of pressure/stress.  After getting dress ideas on Pinterest, and then subsequently becoming sticker-shocked, the idea of making my own dress is appealing – I know what I want, what works on my body, and can make something for a fraction of the cost that they charge in bridal stores, but with much higher-quality fabric (helloooo I’m not paying thousands of dollars for a polyester dress okthanks).  Even JCrew and BHLDN, which have beautiful wedding dresses, are a little over-priced in my opinion because of the materials used.  I also got the idea from my Mom to think outside the box and look at non-bridal places – I found some cute white gowns with designer labels (Vera Wang, anyone?) at Bloomingdales and Nordstrom for a tenth of what the typical wedding dress goes for.

Making my wedding dress is the only thing I envisioned about my wedding, I never was “that girl” that fantasized about her wedding day.  But I feel like because I sew and make the majority of my clothes, it’s expected that I make my dress (and I want to!).  My Mom made her dress when she married my Dad in the 70’s, so I’d like to continue on that custom.  At this point, I’m thinking about it, but not committing to the idea yet…however, I did order some swatches from Mood and patterns from Etsy this evening.  You know, research…

So much to figure out in not that much time!  But when it comes down to it, what I’m most excited about is starting a life together with him – that’s what really matters, no matter what I wear or where we are.

So – did you make your wedding dress?  Advice for anyone thinking about making their wedding dress?

Whoa you guys, it’s almost April. Where did March go?  I think in the past month since I returned from vacation in FL, I sat down at my machine maybe two or three times.  Absolutely crazy, right?  And that’s kind of how it’s been around here lately.

This month I took a new position with my company and no longer work from home…which is a good thing, but also a big adjustment for me!  I’ve been spoiled these past two years working from home – I could pick up groceries on my lunch break, throw in a load of laundry at the laundromat between emails, and my commute was nonexistent (and living in yoga pants and hoodies all day everyday had its perks).  Now I have to go to bed at a reasonable hour so I can get up early for my drive to work (no more midnight sewing sessions), and weekends are the time now that I have to get “life stuff ” done like laundry, groceries, and chores.  I come home from the office and just plop down in front of the TV at night now, no energy to do anything other than cook dinner.  I know I sound whiny…but I’ve never had an office job with a commute before!  It’s an adjustment I’m getting used to, and I think I’m starting to settle into a routine now.  Once travel kicks up into high-gear, that’ll be another story…

And with a new job comes a need for more “office appropriate” clothes, even though our dress-code is pretty lax.  I have a pile of fabric from my last NYC trip and plans for everything I brought home, but it’s been difficult to find time to cut anything out and whip up some new spring clothes.  This past weekend I made two Renfrew tees and came to a realization that now that my time is so limited, I don’t want to make basics anymore – I’d rather spend the time I have making things I can’t find in the store, like cute dresses and pretty tops.  I’m also ok now with not having a completely handmade wardrobe, which I was striving towards this past year and really limited the clothing I bought – it’s just not possible to do now with the time I have.

But let me tell you – it’s been hard finding RTW things I like out at stores!  Just this evening I stopped at the mall to find some things for a long trip next week and I was non-plussed by the options out there.  Everything was so blah – the colors, the shapes, the styles.  It made me really happy that I don’t have to be a prisoner to RTW, but on the flipside, I don’t have the time to whip up a whole new wardrobe (I wish!!).  After avoiding retail for so long, it was a bit of an eyeopener to see what options are really out there.

Well enough with the rambling, just wanted to share what’s going on over here since it’s been pretty quiet this month other than my wrap dress sewalong stuff.  Oh, and I cut my hair, too this month – 5″ off and I don’t even miss it.

Hope your March went well, will it ever warm up???