Seasons of Sewing

There’s just something about the changing of the seasons that gets me all excited about sewing and cooking and doing new things. It’s the excitement of a whole new crop of fruits and vegetables to enjoy (apples and pears! butternut squash!), and a whole new wardrobe of clothes to sew and wear (jackets! long sleeves! corduroy and flannel!), and a chance to visit and hike places that are just too deathly hot in the summer (Mt. Diablo! Pinnacles!). Even here in San Francisco, where many argue there are no real seasons (oh, but they are wrong!), I’m starting to feel the season turn and I am ready. I made an apple pie for Labor Day weekend. Now I’m planning my fall sewing in earnest. But before I move on to next season…

Here’s a look back at summer

Believe it or not, I did a lot of sewing this summer, in between field work in Crested Butte, CO and many weekend trips to the mountains. Most of my summer sewing projects were pretty simple ones.

For The Boy

I made a few more pairs of comfy pants for The Boy, who has sprouted a couple inches again and outgrown all his old pants…and I made a couple pairs of comfy shorts too.

click through to see a few more pics of these on my flickr feed

I used the Parsley Pants pattern (Made by Rae) for both of these, and just chopped them off to make shorts (I eyeballed it, then had him try them on and hemmed to fit). Both are made out of sweatshirt fleece; the green was a bit leftover from my all-time favorite comfy pants (and there wasn’t quite enough, so I made a separate waistband from a bit of navy blue jersey). The red and grey striped pair are a little bit funky – especially with the stripes on the pockets going the opposite way, but they are still cute in their own clownish way.

For Me – a summer of tee shirts

Aside from the giant blue IKEA beach/gym bags (which came in quite handy for trips to the pool and lake up in Truckee), and the chambray Hollyburn skirt, I think I spent the rest of the summer sewing t-shirts. I made a few Renfrew tees, and this self-drafted Dolman-style tee:

A few more pics on flickr…

I’m particularly fond of this fabric. It’s a beautiful rayon spandex blend I got from Stonemountain that looks like rippling water – and the color is soooo rich and perfect. I think I could have made this top just a bit bigger to take full advantage of the drape of the fabric, but it still makes me happy to wear it. I’m trying to keep this out of the dryer to prolong it’s life a bit.

And now…bring on Fall!

Unlike last year, when I laid out my fall sewing plans with patterns and fabric all figured out, this year I’m taking a more lackadaisical approach. I’ve got a few ideas of things I want to make, and a couple pieces of fabric I’m aching to sew something with…and even a couple things I’ve already started, so I will ramble my way through my fall sewing plans this year instead.

I’m ready to branch out in my tee shirt patterns with the Lane Raglan. I’ve made one already and LOVE it, and have another one or two in the works, so hopefully I will get this up on the blog soon.

I did a marathon day of cutting last weekend and prepped a bunch of (small) projects so that they are completely ready to sew. This is an idea I’ve seen floating around on the sewing blog-o-sphere. After spending a good hour clearing off my sewing table to make space to cut out a single project, I figured I’d better cut out a bunch of stuff while I had the space. This may have been one of the most awesome ideas yet! It makes it so easy to start sewing even if I have just 30 minutes to spare in the evening. The project I’m most excited about in that pile is a pair of brown corduroy Parsley Pants for The Boy. I’m still looking for the perfect scrap of fabric to line the pockets and knee patches…maybe a nice plaid flannel for the pockets?

…and speaking of brown corduroy…I sooo want to make myself a brown corduroy blazer. I used to have a store-bought one that I absolutely loved and I think I need to make a replacement. But I have no idea what pattern to use – I haven’t seen any in the indie pattern world that are quite right (although the new Seamwork Delavan may come close, check out this version), so I may end up with a big four pattern instead. It shouldn’t be too hard to find – just a simple one or two button casual blazer. Any suggestions?

I was browsing at Stonemountain a few weeks ago and found this cotton spandex knit:

I couldn’t resist. Apparently I have a thing for large scale floral prints. I bought the last bit off the bolt – there’s not quite enough for a Moneta dress (according to the chart at least), so I’m not sure what I will do with it. I may try to lay out the Moneta anyway to see if I can squeeze it out (because wouldn’t it make an awesome knit dress!!)…or maybe it will become a tee shirt or …?

And lastly, I’d really like to make myself a button-up shirt. You know, one with a proper collar and a button placket and cuffs…the whole nine. I’ve dabbled at this with the Mila shirt (but never blogged it), which has a half-placket (“popover” style) and a collar. Having successfully completed that one, I’m ready for a ‘real’ shirt. I will probably use either the Sewaholic Granville or the Grainline Archer…the two have different seaming and slightly different shapes (Granville is more fitted with princess seams in the back). Dare I try it in plaid??

That’s it. Ready, Set, SEW!