Today's gift/poop is an overview of the garments completed for the Deep Stash Sew-a-long challenge. I don't expect you to remember what that was all. I'll just put a link to the particulars if you're interested. With the help of my trusty sewing helper Froggie, we were able to finish about 2 garments a month and complete the challenge on time. We might have had a cake celebration about about it...just like we do about everything else. Cake, it's not just a dessert, it's a lifestyle.
Most of that productivity was due to TNT's. Even Froggie can't muslin and sew 8 new garments in a four month time period. How would we fit in our cake celebrations if so much time was devoted to sewing? Anyway I'm pretty sure none of you are derisively shaking your heads while muttering, "How dare you sew more of a pattern you like Heather! What kind of monster are you?" (A monster who likes cake obviously.) I'll link to my review blog posts for any of the TNT patterns in case more detail is desired. So let's get on the photos shall we?
Garment #1 - Wearing History Smooth Sailing Trousers (4th pair of these) in some tencle denim we have at EOS.
Garment #2 - My hacked Grainline Studio Lark Tee pattern in some cotton jersey from Marcy Tilton.
Garment #3 - McCall's 3242 in some wool plaid that my father got me as present last year.
Garment #4 - Hollywood 1214 in wool coating from Gorgeous fabrics many years ago. You'd remember this one since it was my last blog post in......February.
Garment #5 - McCall's 4265 in washed silk. Also a very old Gorgeous fabrics purchase. This was my first time making the long sleeve version and as some of you know I had to make the sleeves twice. On this pattern the single notch on the sleeve head was the back of the sleeve. (Which I didn't notice) Thanks to my standard forward shoulder adjustment I couldn't just rip the sleeves out and swap them. At least there was enough fabric to fix my mistake.
Garment #6 - Hollywood 1032 (Skirt Half) in some black wool suiting from Mood Fabrics.
Garment #7 - Hollywood 1025 (Blouse Half) in an cotton sateen which was an old EOS purchase.
Garment #8 - Mae Blouse from Blueginger doll in some cotton oxford. I got this from the brick and mortar Steve's Sewing. (Holy crap, my photography skills have improved since that last Mae post.)
A couple of good things came out of doing this sewing challenge.
- All of the fabric used was from the stash. Sure 3 pieces I bought in late December before the challenge started but It Got Sewed. ;) You know how planning garments doesn't necessarily mean they happen.
- The challenge got me to sew a few basics that have come in handy. The trousers, back skirt and black knit top weren't exciting to make but I've been thankful to have them in the closet.
- The challenge got me to sew a few projects that have been "bucket list" items. I stole this term from Crystal in the stash busting group because it perfectly describes those garments that have been on your "to sew" list for years. The gray coat and green blouse were my bucket list items and also used some deep stash fabrics. Feels good to clean out some of that old stash layer.
On the flip side after 3 months of sewing only stash fabric and patterns my sewjo died. In early April I even posted in the group I might be tapped out at 6 garments. At the start of the challenge sewing those long planned items felt good. After about two months I started to itch for something new. A new pattern to sew some long stashed fabric would have been fine. Or some lining to make any number of jacket patterns I already have wool for. (Poor planning on my part here. Could have gotten the lining during the last minute December buying spree.) You can see that I had to psych myself up at the finish by digging out the fun prints. At least it did the trick!
In case you're wondering, after this challenge I bought 7 yards of various linings. In May I've been lining all the things which I'll hopefully blog about before August. In fact I'm hoping to do my regular "review format" on the new makes of McCall's 3242 and Hollywood 1025 sometime in June. Maybe Froggie could plan a cake party for me if I complete them? Let's hope so.
