Summertime! I’m sewing up a storm! Except… none of it feels blogworthy.
Here’s what I’ve sewn lately:
A beige bra. Dyed the elastic with coffee, and forgot to use different pattern pieces for right and left, therefore, it’s quadraboobing on one side. Whatever. Wearable.
Underwear. Two pairs with elastic lace which isn’t strong enough, and therefore they give me a wedgie. 4 pairs with fold-over elastic that turns out to be more stretchy and less elastic than the FOE I’ve bought in the past… came out all wobbly. Wearable.
Hudson pants. Made with a stretch woven which in no way has enough drape for this pattern. Realised immediately after finishing that they look like the horrible polyester work pants I had to wear at fast food jobs in the 90’s.
Sallie culottes. Used a crepe double knit to make mid-calf culottes with the pants from the Sallie jumpsuit. The crotch curve is not suited to a more yoga-pant fit at the waist, and the length makes me look shorter and wider.
3 projects for Cali Fabric’s blog, which I love but can’t blog yet.
How exciting, right???
I’ve also been sewing samples for my t-shirt class this weekend, and thinking through how best to explain things… breaking in 2 new pairs of Croc sandals, including the leopard ones above. (My husband asked yesterday when I decided to like leopard, and I think we all have Jungle January to blame/thank for that! My current thought on leopard is that, like khaki green, it works perfectly for accessories because it complements the colours in my palette without actually being part of my colour palette. Therefore, it will always “go”, but never be too “matchy matchy”!)
I even went fabric shopping with a budget to binge-buy fabric, and left 2 stores empty-handed before buying some not-amazing $4 knits. When you immediately try to gussy up a fabric with Sharpies, it probably means you shouldn’t have bought it! Oh well.
None of that is what I meant to blog about today… but turns out my brain really likes to blog sequentially! Now that these less-then-thrilling projects have been recorded, I can blog about my next dress, which I quite like. Also coming up is an update on Sewing Dares and who has finished what!
How’s your sewjo and blogjo? Going strong or faltering mid-season?
Crafting A Rainbow 
My sewjo is firing on all 8, but acreage reporting season means that I don’t have time to do any actual sewing (being a WAHM can be tough sometimes). Boo! My blogjo is terrible. I have a backlog of projects that I haven’t mustered up enough enthusiasm to post. Oh well, the non-exciting stuff doesn’t need showcased anyway, right?
Elastics are a pain in general. That lacy stuff is especially terrible though. I like the FOE that is either really thin and smooth (only in black, and I haven’t seen it in a while) or the stuff that is white (dyeable) and has a shiny side.
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I didn’t realize what a range there was within fold over elastic until this order! So annoying!
I’m curious: what is acreage reporting season???
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Acreage reporting is when farmers send me forms that I process and submit to an insurance company so they know how many acres each farmer has planted to each crop so that the insurance company knows how much they are covering.
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Like you, I’m sewing up a storm. I’m making more Megan Nielsen Briars, PUG bras for which I’m perfecting the fit and also, figuring out which panty pattern I like the best. This is the time of year when I can sew for hours, however, the weeds in my yard are also calling my name!! The weeds will just have to wait.
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Let the weeds wait!! What’s your fav underwear pattern so far?
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I like the So Sew Easy lacy underwear http://so-sew-easy.com/make-your-own-lace-undies-tutorial-and-free-pattern/ and I’ve cut apart a tired pair of underwear and used them for a pattern.
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Hello! Wow, that is a lot of stuff. I don’t know where you find the time. I am up here on my own all week and by the time that I have got in from work and phoned home it just seems to be bedtime. The weekends are flying by in a haze of housework and travelling back. I have been buying fabric and tracing patterns like crazy but both the Blojo (i had better be careful when I type that) and my Sewjo are in slo-mo. 🙂 I love that dress in the leopard print fabric and very nice shoes. Leopard is definitely a neutral. Xx
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I’m on summer holiday – that’s where I find the time! 😉 during work, like you, I just come home and collapse!
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Gillian, I must thank you for alerting us to your fails – it makes us all feel so human! Blo(g)jo (will that catch on?) is at an all time low. I’m sewing constantly but it’s tedious and boring so I hate boring others with it. It’s winter here and daylight is so precious when sewing black. By nightfall I’m too pooped to pop! Look forward to your dress and the Cali fabrics makes. X
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I totally agree that it’s nice to read about less successful projects! Because we all have them, and it’s lonely if you feel like everyone else has nothing but wins! 🙂
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Sew jo is back on after a rather long hiatus, I blogged about fixing it here: https://drpmakes.wordpress.com/2016/07/19/sew-jo-sew-go-sew-no-pattydoo-susie-pouch/
But as soon as I get it back the overwhelming sewing list tries to suck me back down. But this time I’m prioritising 3 projects: finishing the jeans, restoring a mannequin and making a wallet. One good thing about blogging is it gives me some accountability. …even if no one else really cares!
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I love your rules for getting back Sewjo! Especially the part about it taking less than an hour, and giving it away to some. Brilliant!
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You’ve been so busy! I’m sorry it’s not all turned out perfectly. Like sewniptuck, I find it reassuring that not everyone is turning out perfect projects all the time. It encourages me to practise, repeat patterns and choose fabric wisely. Which, looking at my stash, can only be a good thing!
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I think it’s so important to have fails! mine usually come around when I’m recklessly experimenting with a TNT pattern, like the Hudsons or Sallie culottes above… but sometimes those experiments turn out amazingly, so I think it’s worth the risk and good for the brain to be experimental!
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Ah, all the little things. Those never seem to get done around here. My sewing mojo is only so-so this summer. I don’t get to take vacation during the summer holidays (and the week over my birthday was taken up with family), and my free time gets taken up by other projects at the moment… But I guess slow and steady does it, and I’m looking forward to a week of vacation in September.
I think I still have a bit of almost that exact torquoise polka-dot fabric. Maybe the dots are a bit smaller. We should do coordinating dresses (or undies 😉 ).
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That turquoise fabric makes me think so much of you! If you sew yours up, let me know!!!
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With me, it’s the usual: no lack of sewjo, but struggling to find child free time to sew! I do have two projects I need to blog. Nothing exciting, just two t shirts, and I had to get pictures of one of them on my phone. Telling myself that phone photos are better than no photos. As far as my dares go, I’ve gotten as far as looking up the D&D pattern but not ordering it yet, and plotting potential ideas for elf-inspired clothes that I can actually wear while chasing my Hobbit. I do have one jacket idea that I’m pretty excited about, if I can pull it off!
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And it is pretty frustrating when you’re stuck with necessary basics and projects that don’t turn out as planned. I hope you get something done that you’re more excited about soon!
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You’ve done a great job of making time to sew with baby in tow… I wish i could come over and watch him while you whip something up!
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I’m in the lucky position of being between contracts, which means I have all the time in the world to sew, blog, or anything else I want. I feel like I’ve been dipping in and out of things without much focus, until yesterday when I made loads of progress on a jacket, and hopefully I’ll be up to date on wriing blog posts by the end of today. I have written five posts so far and have three more left to to catch up back to Nov 2015, when I last posted about a make … should I post them all at once or drip feed them? I’ll be back dating them to completion dates either way. Jx
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Drip feed them! Make that stuff last! 😉 And good luck with that jacket!
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I got a bit over excited last night at being up to date with my blog and just posted them all in a giddy haze. My next challenge is to write my posts and photograph my makes before I move onto the next one.
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Gillian, talk to me about these Crocs sandals… I’ve been watching them… My regular size is 8.5 but I have to end up buying 8 in some crocs styles and then 9 in others.
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Sounds like we have similar size feet! I wear an 8 in crocs, but in regular shoes I buy a 8.5 or 9. I have quite wide feet. I find the footbed perfect on these Crocs in an 8, but the elastic is quite tight. I really hope it stretches out – right now they are a bit too tight to be comfortable for a long time, but once the elastic relaxes they’ll hopefully be perfect.
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My sewjo has come back with a vengeance but my blogjo is not really there. Actually I think it’s more of my photography-jo. So many joes!! Honestly all I want to sew at this present time is bras. I have some other projects that I could be working on, but I’m obsessed with bras!!
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Is the 50mm lens still giving you trouble? I don’t think I ever got back to you on that.. because it’s got such a wide lens opening, I find it works best in shadow/morning/evening light. And the farther you stand from the background, the more it will get that nice blurry effect. Hope that helps!
And your bras – amazing!!!!!! I”m love the lingerie that is taking over my IG feed this month – It’s all so inspiring!
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Blog-jo kicking up, sew-jo not quite catching up but once I clean my sewing space I think I’ll feel better. Needing to learn my coverstitch for my next project is what is really deterring me lol
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