Blue Lilly’s Sewing Page

Nah, I still haven’t cleaned up my sewing “attic”. I’ve been too busy with freelance contracts on the side, that occupied my evenings and my weekends of the last 2 months. But now that I’ve started my sewing lessons (more on that later), I think I’ll have to take some time to clean up my attic! I need to put the patterns back into their envelopes, WITH their instructions. I need to take a look at my pattern inventory to see what I could make in the coming months. I’m now 12 kilos lighter than in June, I’ve dropped 2 full dress sizes and that opens up a whole new range of sewing opportunities! I have patterns in many sizes, so now is the time to try them… before they get too big.

As I said, I have started with my sewing classes, every Monday. Of course, the classes are aimed at beginners, but the teacher said that sewists of all levels are welcomed and I see these classes as the perfect place to learn how to make a jacket or vest that fits, or how to put an invisible zipper properly (I still can’t do that… shame on me!), or in my particular case, how to adapt existing garments to my everchanging weight… Last Monday, we learned how to make a simple pincushion… erm, I’m a bit further than that, but anyway, I went with the flow and made a nice pincushion I needed one anyway!! Perhaps next week I’ll skip the baby pants lesson and start straight away with the winter jacket I’d like to make. I’ll have a look at the fabric in my stash during the weekend and dig in the mess in my attic for the pattern I’m looking for…

Everybody looked at me in utter shock when I mentionned that I signed up for sewing classes at one of my local neighborhood centers. “Sewing classes? Why? You can make a wedding dress, you don’t need classes!”

Well, I still think I need classes. Because there are so many techniques that I don’t master yet, and it’s never too late to learn them. Plus, improving what you already know is always good. And it’s a nice way to getting to know people who love sewing as much as I do!

Classes start at the end of September, I can’t wait!

If you’re wondering, I just don’t have time to do any sewing lately, let alone blog about it. Freelance contracts are taking up my free time, and the tiny bit of free time left is spent trying to relax!

And just to add insult to the injury, the weather is horrible and we cannot go cycling! Grrrrr

Next time I get a bit more breathing room, I’ll start by cleaning up my sewing room or should I say “sewing attic”. It’s a mess up there and I need to get a grip back, or else it’ll just get worse. Pattern sheets out of their envelopes, lonely instructions scattered all over… *sigh* Then only I’ll be ready to sew again.

Until then…

Nothing to do with sewing, but gosh how wonderful my vacation was! We went cycling in the Loire valley in France, visiting gorgeous castles and enjoying the peace and quiet of the French countryland. Somehow I’m glad I didn’t spend hours making shorts because all I wore were cycling shorts, with padding. I think I saw a Jalie pattern with cycling clothes…? Ah yes, here it is: Cycling jersey, shorts and tights pattern. I guess I’ll have to add this pattern to my wishlist, especially since my husband and I seem to get into cycling more seriously. Too bad it’s for men though I think I’ll write an e-mail to Jalie and suggest they make a pattern of that type for women as well! Although I’m sure I can adapt the pattern to fit my body…  I see that ConnieB has reviewed the pattern and adapted the shape for a woman body, I’ll be sure to follow her advice!

Kwik Sew seems to have some patterns as well, including this one. Ugh! The guys on the drawing look soooo horrible, I completely overlooked it when I first saw this pattern, I thought it had nothing to do with cycling! It might be interesting for the shorts, because I will certainly NOT make the tank tops…

And thanks to Google, I have also found women patterns! The Green Pepper has patterns for cycling shorts AND cycling tops, for men and women!

Ok, some more patterns to add to my wishlist I guess… And you see how I turn a post from a non-sewing topic into a sewing topic?

*gasp* There’s just not enough time in a day to do everything on my to-do list. I’ve been trying to fit sewing in my schedule for the last 2 weeks and it’s been absolutely impossible. So much that I have now scratched the “making shorts for the vacation” item, there’s just no time! I bought some items for cheap at H&M and M&S Mode, 3 cargo-ish pants in capri length and tons of basic t-shirts. That should keep me “clothed” for a few days! We are leaving in 10 days, next weekend will be spent buying and preparing everything that we need for our vacation and in the evenings… well, I’m just so dead tired (it’s really busy at work at the moment) that I just cannot find the energy to sit at my sewing machine

On top of my to-do list are now the 2 new Jalie patterns: 2787 (criss-cross top – how original!) and 2788 (a great variation on the twist-top). Wow. I really can’t wait to try these patterns! Too bad no one has reviewed them yet on Pattern Review, I’m really curious about the fit and how they look…

Another current issue is my weight loss. I’ve knocked down 2kg, many many more to go, but that’s a start. And this makes me shy about making clothes. After spending so much time to get the garment to fit properly, if I need to redo the whole process when I’m 2 sizes smaller for example, I don’t think I’ll ever have the courage to do so. Anyway, I’ll see how it goes over the course of next month. A good motivation: all the clothes I made in the past years and that don’t fit anymore… happy happy joy joy, I’ll be able to fit in them again!

… or ‘miscellaneous bits’ in English.

I need to lose weight. It’s obvious from the pictures, it’s obvious from a health point of view… so that’s what I’m going to work on during the course of the next year. I do have an objective, which is to lose 30kg, but I prefer not to emphasise on it totally: I’ll see where I’ll go. If I manage to achieve my goal, great! If I go beyond it, even better! If I even only lose 25 kg, that’ll already be 25kg! I guess I’ll be doing a lot of alterations to my clothes. I will sew less than I do now, because spending a whole weekend on a garment that will fit only for 2 months is a bit counter-productive! 

 But nevertheless, I have a camping/cycling trip planned for next month and I better get in gear to make shorts and capris! I love skirts, but on a bicycle in the middle of nowhere in France, I don’t think they are the most practical! I will most likely use the Simplicity KA 3768 pattern, and make the shorts. I really like the skirt (that reminds me that I need to review it, I made it twice already!) so I’m sure the shorts will be great! The length looks perfect and I have great fabric that would suit perfectly. I need to make 3 pairs, that should be enough for one week, with washes in between! They will inevitably get dirty so I’ll try to avoid colors that are too light. I think I’ll do a pair in olive green, one in brown and one in a lighter shade or brown (not quite beige). That’s the plan for the next weekends!