After about a month of taking a sewing hiatus, I sat down at my sewing machine and serger today – hooray for the first day of summer putting me back in the mood again! I cleaned up all of my loose patterns, redid my bulletin board with patterns I want to sew soon, and organized my thread box – ahhhh. And the best part is that I already had a project cut out and ready to sew, which you can see in the front of the photo on my ironing board – can you guess what I’m making?
Boy, what a banner week it was for the mail! A new book on tailoring, a Fashionary, and watercolors to use with the Fashionary. Those weren’t the only things that arrived:
My slip kit from Gertie came yesterday, too! I can’t wait to try my hand at making undie-garments, now I just need to get the pattern on sale.
As much as I’d like to spend some time with my new toys this weekend, my sister is in town for the weekend visiting – we’re off to tromp around Boston on this beautiful day!
What are your weekend plans?
I don’t think there’s ever been a time when I’ve been able to walk out of Grey’s Fabric and Notions without something new, be it fabric or a pattern. This past Wednesday I went to my first Crafty Foxes Sewing Club at the store and had a great time working on my sewing projects and chatting with other local sewists. One of the girls that night was wearing a Charlotte skirt and it kind of sealed the deal for me on making one – it really is the perfect high-waisted pencil skirt and I HAD to make it. And of course, what’s better than a skirt with seahorses???
Chris took me down to the Cape this past weekend for my birthday (which is today, by the way!). Can you believe it, he’s lived here all of his life and he’s never been to Cape Cod?? The last time I visited the Cape was on a family vacation when I was eight years old; I remember going whale watching and sitting on the boat, very cold and bored for several hours. We had a much more fun this time – walked down the Main Street of Hyannis, ate fried clams, and looked at seashells on the beach. No, we didn’t run into any Kennedys, but there were JFK memorials everywhere around the town.
And of course, I needed an excuse to whip up something to wear this weekend! Since it was going to be a little on the chilly side (we ate outside and freezed our butts off when the sun went down!), I stitched up a cardi to wear a few hours before the trip.
It’s pretty much obligatory to wear Sperry Top Siders and nautical stripes when you’re down on the Cape.
I googled “free cardigan sewing patterns” and came up with this cardigan from iCandy Handmade. It’s a dolman sleeve cardigan with hem bands at the sleeves and neck (note: there’s no grainline on the front piece (wtf), it’s advisable to add one. I didn’t and my sleeves twist a little). I think this took me about two hours to make, from printing out the pattern to finishing the hem. And if I had a serger, it would look a lot more professional, especially on the inside…when there’s a breeze, it’s easy to see my raw edges inside the cardigan. It’s not my best work, but it was quick and easy to make as well as comfy to wear. I really need to get on the ball about making more wardrobe basics like this – they’re not as exciting to make as other garments, but I wear them a ton.
Did you have a nice weekend? Looks like the weather is going to be great here all week!
Well, I made it back to Boston from a whirlwind weekend of binge fabric shopping and yarn-y goodness in New York City with my sister. I’ll put it this way: I’m stocked up on fabric for the next few…months, ahem. We had a great time at the Vogue Knitting Live show as well, which I’ll post more about this week.
Now to get all of that fabric washed! How was your crafty weekend?