Last month I took advantage of being between contracts to catch up on all of my sewing blog posts.  If you’re a subscriber, apologies for the number of emails you received.  Now that I’m up to date, and I’ve started a new contract, I’ll be posting much less frequently.

I also used last month’s free time to clear out my wardrobe and make a plan for what I really need.  I’ve been sewing haphazardly until now, which led to the Walkaway Dress I’m not sure I’ll ever get a chance to wear.  With this plan, I’m hoping that I’ll meet my goal of wearing 100% me-mades during May 2016 (excluding underwear), as well as reducing my fabric stash.

My first planned item was Burda Young 6950 (view A), using a pink paisley-ish fabric from my stash.  I need more tops that I can wear when I go out, but that feel comfortable.  I found the gypsy tops that I made recently were flattering, so this seemed like a good option.  I made the longer version for more coverage, and this length will probably work well for me as a dress too.

I decided to take things more slowly than usual, to try to improve the quality of my end garment and avoid silly mistakes.  I still managed to sew the top portion to the bottom inside out (I’m getting pretty good at unpicking), but other than that, it came together nicely and I’m really pleased with the results.

I’d be happy to wear this top/dress with jeans or leggings, and perhaps even as a dress with tights, as I kept it nice and long. I should get plenty of wear out of it.  I think I’ll be considering this as another TNT pattern, although this is the only one I’ve made and I probably won’t make another for a while.  I think I have enough gypsy-style tops for now.

One thing that I’ve started doing while sewing, is listening to podcasts.  I find that it helps me to keep my sewing speed down; if I go to fast I can’t hear the podcast.  This is especially helpful when I’m getting near the end of the project and I get the urge to rush to finish it.  At the moment, I’m working my way through ‘Happier with Gretchen Rubin’ on iTunes, which I would definitely recommend.

My next two projects will probably be PJ bottoms, to replace some that have worn out, even though the tops are still in good condition.  I’m not sure when I’ll get time for this though, now I’m back at work.  I’ll just keep trying to fit it in where I can.

Jx