My Lost Sewing Groove

Does anybody else stop at the lost and found after every school concert you attend? I do, and almost always collect some sort of treasure. Usually a glove or hat to complete a matching set. You know the one that mysteriously disappeared even though nobody will admit to actually loosing it.

The same thing happens with my sewing groove. I don't remember misplacing it, but somehow it's just not there anymore. Maybe I should check the lost and found.

The Steps I Take to Find my Groove

1. Give yourself permission to take a break

Usually when I loose my groove I stop sewing for a little while, but I feel guilty about it. There is no reason for that. Sewing is my hobby, not my job. I don't owe it to anybody to sit down and sew every day.

According to ProBlogger, creative minds crave rest. So take a break and let your mind rest. Whether you need a day a week or a month is up to you and nobody else.

2. Read all about it, but not to much

If you are a sewing blogger, you most likely have an email inbox or RSS feed that is overflowing with blog posts to read and comment on. I am sure that they are 100% worth the effort, but they can wait. At the moment you are on a sewing vacation, so pick out a list of  your top 5 blogs to read daily. The ones that you look forward to the most. These are your pleasure reading blogs. For me they are:

Coletterie - It's like hanging out with a sewing mentor
Sews and Bows - She shares my love of sewing doll clothes and incredibly friendly
Melly Sews - Tons of inspiration and tutorials
Simple Simon and Co - Great to read, excellent writing style. It's like having a laid back conversation with a friend about sewing, and mothering, and life in general.
Karen Mom of Three Craft Blog - More doll clothes and crafts. All things doll related

3. Clear away the clutter

There is nothing I hate more than cleaning my house. I can't think of anything worse. But it is a proven fact that a creative mind can't function as well in a cluttered environment. Spend a day decluttering your creative space. Even a small improvement in clutter can give you a big boost in creativity.

4. Find the perfect jump start project

Your criteria for a perfect jump start project will most likely be different than mine, but there are a few things that will work well for most people.

• Fun and not to frustrating
• Include a new skill (new experiences cause the brain to create dopamine) 
• Something that you want to make and not something that you were asked to make
• Can be completed in less than a day and provide instant gratification

A few more criteria that are specific to me

• No fitting required
• Includes hand sewing
• Small enough to fit in a bag and take with me

This time I chose to make a travel sewing kit from Sew for Home. I just loved how well it fit with all of my criteria, and it was something just for me, so I didn't worry about imperfections. In fact I think imperfections add character to this project. 

How do you find your sewing groove when it gets lost?

Tough Choices

Browsing Etsy is a perilous hobby. I could easily spend a month's worth of income and still wouldn't be able to order everything I want. The latest risk to my financial stability comes in the form of window shopping indie patterns. I could fill a book with my wishlist. With a significant amount of effort and only a tiny bit of pouting, I've managed to narrow it down to just two shops for now, but I still can't choose which patterns to try from those shops.

What do you say? Could you help a girl out? All you have to do is choose your favorite pattern from each of the poles below. Then I'll do the rest.

First up is the Handmaiden's Cottage

I need the petticoat dress pattern. I am planning to make Bella's birthday dress with it. But there are two options to buy to get a little something extra with it. I could get the dolly and me version and make a matching doll dress, or I could go with the Petticoat and Pinafore and make her birthday dress a little more special. Which one would you choose?

Handmaiden's Cottage
	Petticoat and Pinafore
	Girl and Doll Petticoat
pollcode.com free polls

Genniewren specializes in doll clothes patterns and has a fun whimsical feel to all of there items. I want everything from this store, but for now I'll settle for the top choice (or maybe top two choices)

Genniewren
	Dora Girl and Doll Dress
	Sorrell Dropped Waist Dress
	Carla Coat
	Knit Basics
	Rosie Romper
pollcode.com free polls

In order of appearance: Dora Girl and Doll Dress, Sorrell Dropped Waist Dress, Carla Coat, Knit Basics, Rosie Romper

Please help me decide. It's just to many choices. Thanks a lot. I'll check the results of the poll at the end of the month and show you what I made from the patterns soon after!

Signature Style : Casual Romance

Bella's style, and my favorite style to sew is romantic. But of course, flowing dresses and skirts alone, only make up a small portion of her wardrobe. The rest of the time we have to put a more casual spin on things.

I also managed to check floral shorts and a ruffle front tank top off of Bella's Spring/Summer 2014 sewing list list. 

I used Greenstyle's Baily Tunic pattern for the top. The pattern includes a bib, but I decided not to use it. I also changed the ruffle up a bit and took in the armholes which were a bit droopy. The fabric is Vivacious Pink Solid Cotton Spandex fabric from Girl Charlee. It was my first time ordering from there and I was ecstatic with the results. The shipping was fast and quality was extraordinary. Customer service was incredible as well. I will definitely be ordering from them again.

The shorts were made from a stretch woven fabric in my stash. It was gifted to me a while ago with a few other stretch wovens and some quilting cottons. I used Oliver + S's sketchbook shorts pattern, shortened by about 4 inches. I used a flat front and elastic in the back with a faux fly.

My favorite part is this little bird by the pocket.

I'm always a little sad to see Signature Style Week on Project Run and Play because it means another season is at an end. I can't wait for next season to start, but in the meantime I'll be getting ready for Project Sewn.

Totes for Ta-tas

I was feeling kind of crappy this weekend. My old pain decided to flair up on me. I really wanted to finish sewing my a top for Project Run and Play, but the tracing and cutting was to much to take on. Instead I focused on a project that was already cut, and had been sitting in a pile waiting to be sewed.

MJ of  MJ's Lost Cause has set a goal of collecting 100 handmade tote bags by Mother's Day. She has asked for embellishments to be added as well, but in my current state I was only able to embellish one of my five bags. I plan to add a pretty pin to the other four before shipping them out. I also dug deep into my fabric stash to find the best stuff that I had been holding onto for something special.

Two of the Bags are reversible

 Reverse Side of Hearts Bag

Reverse Side of Pink Zebra Bag

It's very rare that my family agrees on anything, but we did make a unanimous decision that floral bag was our favorite.

If you happen to have some free time (the bags take less than an hour each to make) and some spare fabric you can make a couple yourself. For every five bags you make you can pick one free pattern from  Sew Like My Mom. You also get the chance to make someone who is feeling crappy (like me) feel a little bit happier. The bags are needed by Mother's Day (including shipping time to Texas) so you have a few weeks left. I could barely walk across the house this weekend, but managed to get five bags sewn. It really is an easy project.

If you are looking to do some other crafty good deeds check out my Pinterest board. I try to update it every time I see something new. If you know of any charitable crafting projects let me know in the comments section and I'll add them to the board.

Wardrobe Planning Spring 2014

I've been grabbing every spare second I can to get some sewing done this week, but sadly I still have nothing to show you. In the meantime I do have some wardrobe plans to share with you.

I use wardrobe planning to help me decide what to sew, and what to buy. The ultimate goal is to develop a functional wardrobe that reflects my own personal style.

First up is my own Spring Wardrobe. I've been following along with The Colleterie's Wardrobe Architech Series. Below are the results of weeks worth of planning. 

To Buy: 

• Black Velvet Flats
• Mint Sneakers
• Cream Art Sneakers or Sandles
• Oatmeal Crocheted Cardigan
• Princess Seam Denim Jacket
• Cuffed Denim Capri 
• Aqua V-Neck Tee (I could make it, but I really love the one I picked out)

To Make:

• Ombre or Tie Dye Hoodie
• Extra Large Print Sheath Dress
• Black Lace Embellished Camisole 
• Dark Blue Open Knit Hoodie
• Red Short Sleeve Wrap Top
• Aqua Camisole
• Aqua Trumpet Mini Skirt (My favorite!)
• Red Cuffed Shorts
• Denim Cuffed Shorts
• Black Wrap Dress

It seems like a lot of new pieces to add to a wardrobe in a single season, but I actually own very little that I love to wear, so I need a lot. Of course I probably won't get half through the list by the end of the season, but it is a place to start. 

I also designed a Spring Wardrobe for each of the girls. In the past I have had the girls pin items that the liked to there Lookbooks on Pinterest and used them to find inspiration when sewing for them. 

This time I took a slightly different approach. I had them each spend a day browsing the internet for their favorite things, an activity they both loved. They clipped hundreds of  items they liked to their own Polyvore collection. Then they were each able to pick one favorite item that would definitely be in their finished set. I used that piece as a starting point for their wardrobe and edited down there picks and added a few of my own ideas to make a complete collection.

Let's start with my girly girl Bella. Her wardrobe includes a lot of white, which makes me nervouse for a girl who loves to play in the mud. We'll have to save those pieces for special occasions.

To Buy:

• Aqua Sandles
• Tan Cowgirl Boots (Her Favorite)

To Make:

• White lace trimmed Cardigan
• Pink Blazer with White Trim
• Purple Ballerina Wrap
• Aqua A line T shirt
• Feather and Leather Pony Tie
• Pink Ruffle Tank - completed
• White Tank with Pastel Print
• White Camisole with Pink Lace Trim
• Purple Twirl Skirt
• White Capri with Aqua Ruffles or Bows
• Floral Shorts - completed
• Tan Equestrienne Leggings
• Purple Flowy Ruffly Dress

And Finally Ashley. She chose a girly punk rock style, with lots of animal prints. Since She doesn't wear dresses I added a few extra accessories to her wardrobe to dress it up a bit. 

To Buy:

• Leopard Print Flats
• Silver Sandles
• Unicorn Cuff Bracelet 

To Make:

• Open Knit Mint Crop Top
• Mint Panda High Low Top (Ashley's Favorite, might be moved to they buy list)
• Mint or Purple Slouchy Cardigan 
• Black Open Knit Top
• Simple Purple Fitted Tee
• Black and Leopard Heart Tank with Ruffles
• Purple or Black Camisole
• Zebra Print Yoga Capri
• Black Sequence Shorts
• Leopard Print Leggings
• Black Harem Pants
• Purple and Silver Fold Over Elastic Hair Ties
• Silver Hand Bag

So that's it for the girls in our family. I have never done any wardrobe planning for the boys, mostly because they don't have (or want) a defined style. I might attempt it in the future, but for now I'll just stick to planning for the girls. 

Have you ever planned out your sewing for the season, or do you just sew what feel like making as you go along? If you have planned do you find it easy or difficult to stick to your plan?