Dreams of Spring and the Reality of Winter

3.02.2014

It that time of the year, all the stores/websites are featuring spring dresses, shorts, and hell even bathing suits.  Meanwhile outside it's 15 degrees and we're about to get another 6+ inches of snow dumped on us.  It's the kind of thing to give a sewcialist a split personality.

At least my sewing can have a split personality without causing my family any inconvenience.  Or any more inconvenience than they're already used to. (The dining room is my sewing studio, go eat your meals in front of the TV.) Right now I'm planning on splitting March sewing production into half winter clothing and half spring clothing.  That way I can have some "fun" with spring dresses, but not freeze my butt off every time I leave the house. If only you could reduce your butt that way.

I was inspired by Ginger Makes Coco post, specifically when she coined the phrase "secret pajamas." Mmmm french terry or sweat shirt dresses, I want some of those! I don't think the Coco pattern will work with my figure, but I already own Pattern Victory's Lola.  That would work perfectly with the black sweat shirt knit in the stash.  My stash also contains a few sweater knits that "could" be sewn into some sort of secret pajama.  They are a little itchy so some lining might be required.
The leopard print sweater knit is a jersey, so maybe a lady skater or hack of that pattern?  I could break out New Look 6097 again and do the longer sleeve version instead. The purple sweater knit is a rib knit so a simple pattern would work better. It's gonna stretch all over the place and I'd rather have a few seams to tweak. Maybe the new Maria Denmark Olivia shirt or something else with a kimono sleeve.

The Sew Dolly Clackett sew-a-long it gonna take care of all my fun spring clothing needs. I've got lots and lots of fabric candidates in the stash. So many that I might not be able to limit myself to one dress.  At least decisions have been made about the "first" project.   I'll be using this gorgeous border print which has been on my brain since ordering it late last year.
My pattern plan is to make the top half the By Hand London Anna dress and put a full skirt on it. You know like Dolly Clackett would. Then I might continue to channel her and buy some new shoes.  It's what she would want. ;)

15 comments:

  1. I love all of these plans! Lola is great - though I sometimes wish my versions had longer sleeves. It's an awkward dress to wear a cardigan with, so usually I just have cold wrists! :P I like that dress you pinned the other day with the pleats around the neckline - Have you got any patterns that would give you something similar?

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  2. Oh your poor cold wrists. Has Anne knit any finger less gloves to keep them toasty? (Look at me, giving her more knitting work.)
    I don't know of any patterns that mimic the pin you're talking about. I put it up there as a hacking possibility.

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  3. Oh man. If only one could lose part of their butt from freezing. I'd also like to be able to forget it on the bus or at home--sadly, it's attached, so I generally forget my purse instead.

    I've been seriously contemplating one of these sweatshirt dress thingys in lieu of a robe. I've been insanely cold this winter since le baby was born, I'm not sure if it's hormones or just a big fat "welcome to becoming your mother!" but either way I'm tired of freezing all the time. I've even got some super cute owl sweatshirt fabric to make it from. So now I'll just have to see how yours turns out so that I can decide whether to copy you or Ginger. ;-)

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  4. I love the idea of a full skirt on the Anna dress :) Your print looks amazing. I'm excited to see what kind of "secret pajamas" you make too!

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  5. WOW! That poppy fabric!!!!! It's GORGEOUS! I'm really excited for that dress!

    I have to say that this weather is really getting me down. I don't want to sew any more cold weather clothes, and I don't want to start sewing spring clothes, either. I kinda just want to lay on the couch watching Netflix and feeling really, really sorry for myself. I should probably turn off my drama queen switch and do something productive, but I'm just not inspired to sew anything the last week or so. :(

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  6. Ooh fun fabrics. I look forward to your pretending to be warm pictures :)

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  7. I'm tired of freezing all the time too. Sweatshirt dresses for all of us! I'm gonna be jealous of your owls and maybe try and steal them. :)

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  8. I've seen a few full skirted Annas out there in the blog world and just have to copy. :)

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  9. Maybe it's time to have fun with another hobby? No need to push yourself to sew if you're not in the mood. This weather does make it much more fun to watch movies instead.

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  10. LOL, I didn't bother trying outside pics yesterday when it was 15 degrees. Today it was 30 something and I figured "That's twice as warm." :)

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  11. It wouldn't be Dolly Clackett if you made just one dress. Mine are going to be Annas, too. Or mostly Annas. I love the idea of secret pyjamas. And I'm very tired of winter.

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  12. You're right about having to make multiple dresses. One must emulate Dolly Clackett to the fullest extent. I will be eagerly waiting to see your Annas.

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  13. I'm interested to see what you come up with for your secret pajamas. I have the Lola too, but I'm just not sure what fabric I want to use for it. Seems I have plenty of time to decide though since winter is apparently here until May this year. I love your Dolly Clackett idea and the fabric is just perfect! And yes - you definitely need new shoes to go along with the new dress (at least that's what I always tell myself).

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  14. Poppy fabric! Its too special!!!!

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