Bits and Bobbins: July-September

I can’t quite believe how quickly this year is whizzing away. It seems like only yesterday I was writing the first one of these round-up posts and now it’s nearly Christmas… (I know it’s not really but this year I seem to have mentally skipped spooky season and jumped straight to full on festive mode.)

So what have I been up to this quarter?

Projects finished

July

• Red Ogden cami
• Megan Nielsen Flint trousers

August

• True Bias Lander pants – blog post coming soon! Hopefully…
• Christine Haynes Rumi dress

September

• Grainline Archer shirt
• Ponte pencil skirt
  

Projects in progress

I’ve nearly completed my Deer and Doe Reglisse dress. All I need to do is level the hem and hem it. So obviously it’s been sat on Doris the dressform for a fortnight. I’ve tried it on and I didn’t love it as much as I was hoping I would, which is probably what’s stalled the progress.

I also started work on my Chi-town chinos that have been cut out for a year. I’ve sewn the pockets and started the fly front but that’s as far as I got.

Stashbusting stats

Fabric in (this quarter): 9 m
Fabric out (this quarter): 11.8 m
Stashbusted (this quarter): -2.8 m

I was doing really well this quarter and bought hardly any fabric and then I went to a sewing meet up with lots of other Welsh sewers and bought 3.5 metres of fabric. Oops. Oh well, I still got rid of more than I bought this quarter.

Fabric in (year to date): 29.1 m
Fabric out (year to date): 34.5 m
Stashbusted (year to date): -5.4 m

The stash is slowly shrinking so I’m happy. Goodness knows how much I’d added by this point last year so I’m proud to have gotten my buying under control by even this little.

Pattern buying

I was actually been fairly restrained this quarter and only bought:

• Simplicity 8339 sports bra
• McCall’s 7131 culottes/palazzo pants
• Sew Over It My Capsule Wardrobe: Work to Weekend ebook
• Jennifer Lauren Handmade Quincy dress
• Sew La Di Da Vintage Dorothy dress

I’ve already bought a bunch this new quarter (oops) but that’s for the next post.

Sewing related things I’ve liked

I bought a button sewing foot for my machine and I’m in love. Sewing buttons on is one of my most hated tasks. I’ve never been very good at it and I just don’t trust any button I’ve sewn on to stay on.

The foot makes it so easy. You have to drop the feed dogs and make sure you’ve got the stitch settings right – my machine has a button sewing stitch but I think just a zigzag will do the trick – but once you’re set up it’s easy peasy to whizz through.

I’ve since seen an Instagram post saying you can do it without a special foot so if you don’t have a (sewing machine) foot fetish like I do then I’d definitely recommend having a look into that.

There was also a great TV show on the BBC called Back in Time for the Factory where they recreated a clothing factory as it would have been in the 60s, 70s and 80s. A big group of Welsh women then went to work on the production line. It’s about much more than sewing and I did get a bit weepy at some of the parts about going on strike for equal pay. If you didn’t watch it then I’d really recommend watching it on iPlayer if it’s available where you live.

Meet-ups

I was lucky enough to take part in two sewing meet-ups over the last quarter. In August I met the lovely Ella (aka @sewistella) in Swansea for a mooch around Lee Mills and a coffee. Then at the end of September the fabulous Sara @saraknitsandsews organised a #walessews meet up in Cardiff.

It was brilliant getting to meet so many other sewers. I’m quite shy and a bit awkward when I meet people for the first time but the beauty of meeting other people who sew is that you already have something in common and things to talk about. It was a lovely day and I’m really looking forward to the next time. There’s talk of us having a Frocktails kinda thing.

What’s next?

As always I have far too many plans and far too little time/energy. I really want some autumnal tops but I also need to sew a dress for Halloween out of my Alexander Henry zombie pinups (officially called Beauties and Brains) fabric so it doesn’t sit in my stash for another year. 

I also need to start work on my dress for the Sewcialite Soiree in Bristol next month. I’ve bought a pattern (the Dorothy dress from Sew La Di Da Vintage) and it’s going to feature the shimmery green mesh from stash rainbow photo above.

I’d quite like to sew a coat over the next few months too. I put the Grainline Cascade duffle coat on my Make Nine list but I think I’m going to bump it for something else.

What are your upcoming plans?