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Text of the page (random words):
of a whirlwind tour of what i have been working on so far in 2023 my british son came to visit over the christmas new year holidays and as usual had a sewing project for me while this corduroy and flannel vest looks completely out of place in our palm tree lined back garden he assures me that it is the best vest ever for wearing while cider making in the english countryside it is always fun to see what he wants me to make and it is nice that he actually uses and likes the finished products you may recall that for the past few years i have given myself a creative challenge to keep my making spirit entertained throughout the year it started during covid when i really needed the creative nudge but it has become a bit of a tradition at this point my first challenge was to make a white shirt each month during 2021 in 2022 i decided i would make a variation of the same pattern each month and chose the tabula rasa jacket by fit for art as my starting point i had a lot of fun last year working with threads magazine and fit for art creating the garments and posting them as part of the threads insider online magazine 2021 2022 this year i am again working with threads to post my monthly projects but this time around i am calling it the year of re i realized that i really don t need many clothes at this point in my life but i really do need to have the stimulation and fun of making them so i am taking something that already exists like a garment that i made that was not all that successful or that i am not wearing or a tea towel or vintage linen of some sort and re something it i made 12 cards with re words that will be my inspiration each month and i will choose a project based on the word i pick from my cards so far in january i chose reinvent and took a linen jumpsuit that was languishing in the closet and turned it into a pair of shorts and a top i also reinvented a bias cut scarf that i wasn t wearing any longer and ended up with a halter top that is really great on warm days here in my southernmost spot in february i chose remake i started with a wrap top that i really liked but found too fancy and fussy for most of my days at this point i remade it into an easy to wear boxy top that feels much more like my style january and february have been posted on threads and march has been submitted hint hint i started with turkish towels and will be up soon i am very much enjoying revisiting some of these projects it is much more challenging than just starting with new fabric figuring out how to take the original thought and turn it into a new one is keeping my monkey brain busy for sure we ll see what the northernmost closet has in store as i make my way north this month here are a few other fun things that have been keeping me happily sewing this year bridgerton inspired outfits for a charity benefit baby mermaids outfits for a new little conch that s what we call folks who are actually born on key west a new travel tote bag because i can t not make a new bag for my first airplane trip since 2020 i went to a design outside the lines retreat with diane ericson and carol lee shanks in ashland oregon in march it felt really good to be among my tribe creating again i worked on a zero waste dress design that i did all by hand sitting and stitching with the group in ashland was just the therapy i was needing i m becoming more comfortable with our north south routine and do find that i love being in each place and miss each place at the same time right now i am ready to leave the too warm days in key west and head for the cooler springtime days in michigan i know in november i ll be ready to leave the snow and head back to my orchids and i think that means i am in the right place s for me right now posted by becky at 10 56 am no comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest 8 31 2022 bags hats and transitions i have been blogging here since 2016 it was the year i retired and my clever sons helped me start trial balloons to keep me out of trouble as i navigated the transition from working stiff to retiree i have shared my sewing room adventures and my journey to full fledged retired person which was not always a smooth ride but as with all my life transitions sewing has been the steady rock that keeps me connected to my creativity and often to my sanity i have been surprised at how much i have enjoyed writing and sharing my projects here and with threads magazine i wasn t sure if i would like it or be any good at it i have confirmed that i like it i ll have to let you all decide if i am actually any good at it recently i have been sharing my projects on an instagram feed i think that is the right name for it you can find it at beckysewsalot i am finding that by the time i have posted something on instagram and maybe written a post for the threads site that another post here feels quite repetitive i do try to share different things in different places but it s a lot of sharing and i need time to actually sew i am liking the instagram format and how quick and easy it is to post something i find that i am using it much more often than i have been posting here you may have noticed the lengthening intervals between my blog posts i have noticed that many of the blogs that i have followed along with are making the same observations and some have completely moved from the blog format to the instagram platform while i haven t decided yet if i will wrap things up here and move completely to instagram for my sharing i do want to recognize that i am not here as often as i used to be and hope that those of you who have been following along on this adventure with me will be willing to come on over and see how instagram works for now i will keep both but may not be as active here as before alright now for some sewing you all know i am a total bag lady i love making me a bag this past year i think i may have added a new accessory to my list hats yup i have been making hats mainly bucket hats my son likes to wear them for working outside and has asked for some and i love making the cute little ones as baby gifts i finally got around to making one for myself which i love it s not a bucket but i really enjoyed using the same techniques from the buckets to make a sunny hat version as with my bags i think there may be lots of tweaking and prototyping to get to the perfect hat but that s the fun here is the last batch of buckets for my son here is the latest baby version i have a little pea head but this is even too small for me just so you don t think i have completely abandoned my bag fetish here is the latest bag adventure my sewing buddy wanted to make her own version of my convertible back pack she was a trooper i can figure it out but writing the instructions is a whole other skill set maybe some day but she hung in and got a great little bag and my sunny hat i am also having a moment with a new pattern that i made for using jersey and woven fabrics together the dress in the picture with my new red bag is the long version and the shirt in the sunny hat picture is a short version it has cut on sleeves is finished with ribbing at the neck hem and cuffs and takes about a half hour to make there will definitely be more of these down the pike please also check out the threads magazine site for the series i have been doing this year riffs on a tried and true pattern i don t post those projects here until threads posts them so that s the best way to see them right away i am very grateful for the comments and thoughts that have been shared here and hope we can continue to share here though not as often at threads and on beckysewsalot thanks for coming along posted by becky at 5 50 pm no comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest 7 20 2022 two special dresses for special memories a friend called me that other day and asked if i was ok i m fine she said well you haven t updated your blog in a while and i wondered if you were still around ooops i guess it has been a while my sewing challenge this year is to make a garment each month starting with the tabula rasa jacket pattern from fit for art patterns it is going very well i am really enjoying the different things i have made and still have some ideas that i am excited to sew the tricky part is that i asked threads magazine if they would like to follow along and they did great but they ask that i not post something that will be on their site before they post it that means by the time they get the monthly challenge garment posted i am a month or two ahead of them by that time i have moved on and forget to go back and post the garments here anyway it s all good and i will try to remember to share them here my april project was an easter dress i can t remember the last time i actually got a new easter dress growing up it was a huge spring ritual the dress new shoes the hat the gloves and the coat all very proper many of my projects are inspired by a particular fabric and the minty green linen that had been languishing in my stash called out to be an easter dress truth be told it was basically a shirt dress pretty darn simple but the collar that i chose and the ceramic buttons really made the simple lines seem very special i spent most of an afternoon drafting a cut on facing that would hold the collar only to realize that there was no way i would have enough fabric to do a facing plan b i found a really lovely cotton batik that looked just great with my linen not only did i get the facings that i needed i was able to add pockets to the dress as well yeah for plan b s i am really pleased with the final dress easter parade here i come so that was april my may creation has just been posted on the threads site so i can share that one as well in may i made another dress this time it was an homage to my birthday i decided i would make a dress that referenced my birth year 195 ahem ok yes i am old it would have a fitted bodice with a cut on wing collar and a full twirly skirt it was a bit of a breech of protocol because i started with the design before i had the fabric this usually does not end well i figured that cotton broadcloth would be a great choice for the given idea and that i would have no trouble finding something i liked in one of several quilt shops in my area hmmmm think again i just couldn t come up with anything that had the 1950 s color vibe that was in my head another plan b i ended up finding a lovely tablecloth with just the right color quality and even came up with vintage buttons and a belt buckle to complete the dress the tabula rasa pattern worked really well to make the fitted bodice i was worried that the large scale print would be hard to match but it turned out just perfectly i think i have no idea if i will ever have an occasion to wear my birthday dress but it was so much fun to create an homage to the 1950 s would not be complete without a hula hoop so i will leave you with this happy birthday to me posted by becky at 10 04 pm 6 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest 6 10 2022 home is where the cat is yes i did make it back to michigan i am still feeling my way through this snowbird life that we are living i get my notes out to remind me how to hook up the outside shower and call the garbage service to let them know we will be making garbage for them again i know i will figure it out but it s still pretty new and i have to remember that i am on a steep learning curve like running out of white thread i didn t even know that was a thing this unlikely situation happens when you are quite sure that you bought two spools of white thread recently but they happen to have been purchased in the other state and please know that i am immensely grateful for all of these non problems that pop up in my very blessed life i do know how truly lucky i am the one member of this snowbirdy group who seems to take it all in stride is our amazing 22 year old cat i also didn t know that 22 year old cats were a thing she has learned to tolerate riding in the car not always her favorite thing and while she does have a cozy felted basket to ride in her preferred spot is right under my feet and she has no objections to hotel stays as long as there is a king sized bed to curl up on we re not sure but we think she might be immortal i have done a bit of sewing but some of it is for my threads online series riffs on a tried and true pattern i am making a garment each month starting with the fit for art tabula rasa pattern threads is posting them on their website but while i have just finished my may project they are just getting ready to post the april installment i ll share more of them once they are posted at threads i have been surprised at how much time i am spending on these projects it has been really fun but also means i don t have a lot of other sewing projects to share i did make a new shirt to wear on our trip north i have been trying to figure out how to use a cotton jersey panel that i got from marcy tilton s website it looks like a matisse painting i m not even sure if i have it the right way up i used my merchant and mills fielder dress hack and combined the panel with a turquoise jersey and a grey and white striped jersey to make the seam inserts it s a bit festive but i like it it was the final project of the southernmost season my first project of the northernmost season was a trial balloon of a skort i have a few skorts that i wear all the time and have had trouble finding new ones i decided i could probably figure out how to make one i devised a gored skirt with a wide stretchy waist band and hooked a pair of leggings to the inside this go is a bit rough around the edges but i think it is a definite proof of concept i ll try again with a few tweaks but i think this one is actually wearable and i couldn t have done it without my favorite assistant i am patiently waiting for the rainy weather to give way to the lovely michigan summer that i know is right around the corner i will be happily rooting around in my michigan fabric stash for a few more summer projects i might need to make a few notes so i remember where the white thread is posted by becky at 7 48 pm no comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest older posts home subscribe to comments atom becky s pinterest about me becky sewing became part of my life very early on and has always been my happy place now that i am retired i am enjoying the freedom of not having to fit everything into a two day weekend more time to savor each project when my kids helped me set up trial balloons i wasn t sure i would like writing about sewing as much as i like actually sewing turns out i do i love sharing with and hearing from people who love to sew as much as i do view my complete profile blog archive 2023 1 april 1 so far in 2023 2022 8 august 1 july 1 june 1 april 1 march 1 february 1 january 2 2021 21 december 1 november 1...