#2018MakeNine

Happy Monday peeps. I hope you all had a nice weekend. Mine hasn’t been the best. On Thursday night I had a phone call from my mum because my nan had fallen over while they were walking the dogs and she needed me to go and get them so she could go in the ambulance with my nan. I got there before the first responder, let alone an ambulance and when Mum called back to check how long they’d be they couldn’t give any indication so in the end we took her to A&E ourselves. It turned out she’d broken her wrist and then the next day we found out she’d fractured her hip too and on Saturday she had to have a partial hip replacement.

It all went well and she seems to be back to her old self already bar the pain and lack of mobility but it’s been a very worrying few days. We don’t always realise just how lucky we are that my nan is so independent and capable. She’s 90 years old and only gave up her job as a cleaner a couple of months ago. She was complaining about being on a ward with old people and we had to reassure her that she’s on the orthopaedic ward, not the geriatric ward and she tells every doctor or nurse who comments on her age that her mum got her date of birth wrong. So back to her normal self.

But anyway, I realised that I never blogged about my Make Nine plans for this year and I’ve been wanting to blog about something as it’s been ages so I figure it’s better late than never.

I was in two minds about whether to choose any Make Nine plans at all this year as I found last year that I did a lot of over-planning and put a lot of pressure on myself. When I mentioned that on Instagram loads of people told me that they hadn’t made all of their 2017 Make Nine selection and they were still making 2018 plans because they enjoy the planning so I did pick some after all and I’ll try not to beat myself up if I don’t make any of them.

1. Alina sewing + design co chi town chinos

I’ve already got these cut out that I planned to make last year but didn’t get round to. I wore my shorts version on my recent holiday and I really like them so I’m keen to get cracking with these as I think they’ll be a great trouser for spring. If it ever gets warm enough to stop wearing boots that is.

I’m making them out of a beige gaberchino for my first version and if I like them I want a navy pair too as I love the navy sample.

2. A knit pencil skirt

This is sort of carried forward from last year but I’d picked McCalls 7331 last year. The plan has always been to use a black and white striped ponte from my stash, which I realised won’t really work with McCalls 7331 as it has a curved yoke. So I’ve “drafted” my own from my hip and waist measurements and cut it out last week. I’m planning to copy the construction of my favourite knit pencil skirt and overlock some elastic to the top edge, turn it to the inside and stitch in the ditch at the side seams to keep the elastic turned under.

I’ve also got a Bibi skirt from Tilly and the Button’s new book Stretch cut out, which I could probably count too as I haven’t specified a pattern. I’ve pretty much copied one of the samples from the book and used some teal ponte scraps I had left over from the Manfriend’s first Paxson and some of the black and white striped ponte.

3. Jennifer Lauren Handmade Gable top

I suspect I may actually find the high neck on this a bit irritating but I love the way this top looks on other people and I think Jen’s block is a good match for me so I want to try it. I’ve also fallen for her latest pattern, the Ostara top and will be buying that at some point.

4. Sew Over It Eve dress

I’ve wanted to make the Eve dress since last year but I kept putting off tracing it. I’ve done that part now and I’m hoping it’ll make the perfect wedding guest dress for a wedding I’m going to in the Summer.

5. Gown

This year I’d quite like to have a go at making a big nonsense gown just for the pure hell of it. I haven’t really got a clue what sort of style I want, let alone chosen a pattern. I think I want godets, it’ll probably be off the shoulder and I’m leaning towards green or red.

6. Grainline Archer shirt

I have a few oversized checked shirts from H&M that I really like so I wanted to have a go at making my own. I’ve cut out a wearable toile version using some checked flannel and I did not enjoy it at all. Some people thrive on that sort of perfectionist cutting, I do not. It just filled me with rage.

It’s done now though and ready to be sewn up when I get a chance. I’ve got some buffalo plaid to make my “proper” version out of.

7. Grainline Cascade coat

I’ve realised that I only really wear my coats that have hoods so I’ve dumped my long planned Deer and Doe Pavot for a Grainline Cascade. I’m going to use the same royal blue gabardine that I was going to use for the Pavot but I might have to shorten the cascade slightly to get the coat out of my 2.5 metres of fabric.

I don’t really like patch pockets so I don’t know what I want to do about the pockets. I sort of want welt pockets but I don’t have a pattern that has welt pockets to steal the pieces. Maybe I could add a horizontal in-seam pocket to the seam at the hip on the longer version but I don’t know if that would be right either. I like pockets for hands so I sort of feel like they should be at an angle. I don’t know, I’ll have to think about it.

Normally, I quite like assembling PDF patterns but I couldn’t face the million pages Cascade would be so I got the A0 files printed with Netprinter. I’m sooo not tracing either, I can’t think of anything worse than having to trace all those pieces.

8. Deer and Doe Melilot shirt

This is another one carried forward  from last year. I still want my white crepe Melilot. I cut out what I’d hoped would be a wearable toile using the pattern pieces I’d traced yonks ago. Then realised that I’ve gained weight since then and the size I traced – helpfully, not written on the traced pattern pieces – will not fit these days.

9. Jeans

Urgh, jeans sewing. Why is fitting trousers so hard? Other people seem to do it fine. Am I just being ridiculous and picky? I really don’t think I’m being too picky because I’m not obsessing over a couple of crotch wrinkles. It’s bizarre weirdness that I have never had in RTW trousers. I can go into a clothes shop and try on a pair of jeans and the crotch will just fit. Other areas might not fit how I want them but I’ve certainly never had the weird-ass poofiness and lines from my crotch to my thigh. This post about crotch curves from Cindy at Cation Designs was really interesting and makes sense as the Lander short have the straightest front crotch curve of any short/trouser pattern I’ve sewn and my crotch area is definitely the least weird in them. (This one is also really good.)

So those are this years Make Nine plans. A bunch of them are already underway and as soon as my overlocker comes back from sewing machine hospital (or I buy a new one if it’s kaput) I’m going to get on with them. I’ve got too many things started and half made, I need to finish a few.

Are you a one at a time maker? Or do you have a few projects on the go at once like me? Have you made Make Nine plans this year? Crumbs, some of you may have finished already!