Mid-winter project catch-up

I wanted to post some of my more recent sewing projects. The projector has made sewing so fast and easy since I bought it almost a year ago. It got bumped a couple times this winter by my kids or myself, but re-calibrating it wasn’t very difficult. Looking back at my sewing projects since my last post, most have been Christmas stockings, but there have been a fair amount of clothes too, including several new projects for myself. I bought fabric to make new winter clothes 2-3 winters ago and finally used it!

First, I’ll show off some of my stockings from this last season. I had my best stocking season yet.

I made several shirts and a jacket for my daughter, who had broken her arm. She needed tops that could easily slide over her soft cast. That led to my looking for new patterns. Many of her new tops are patterns from Petite Stitchery, which is a new company for me. Her jacket is the Dauntless Jacket from Pattern Niche.

Speaking of the Dauntless Jacket, I also made one for my son. For both of them I sized up and used minky as the lining.

One of my most fun projects was making Christmas pajamas. I generally just buy them, because I am always very busy at that time of year. However, with my projector, I knew that it would be a faster project, and I found a sale in August of Christmas fabric. So I went ahead. It turned out that even after stocking season was done, I didn’t have the freedom I thought I would have to sew, because all my kids were sick and staying home from school! Finally I managed to cut them all out one evening, and then when I just had one teenager home sick, I sewed all of them up in one day! I teased her later on about how oblivious she was, since she was about fifteen feet away laying down while I was sewing all day, but truthfully, my kids are so used to me sewing that they generally ignore it. However, some of them do ask what I’m making if the fabric looks cool, so I did have to hide it. I had enough extra fabric and time that I could also make pajamas for our dog.

I cut out nine projects for myself in January. It took my most of the month to sew them up, but I’m really happy with most of them. Seven of the nine are patterns from Sinclair Patterns. I love their petite option! The eighth was a self-drafted pants pattern, and the ninth the Knoxville Tee from Pattern Niche.

I made my mom a simple crossbody shoulder bag to wear at the temple since her dress doesn’t have pockets. It needed to be all white. She’s really happy with it.

My next projects are some more clothes for my oldest daughter. We went on a shopping spree recently intending on buying her more winter clothes, and ended up with pants, a jacket, and a couple hoodies. Plus we saw a great clearance sale at Joann’s and bought her some fabric to make short sleeved clothes. I thought she was in okay shape for her wardrobe at that point, but then she came down in the same ratty sweater she alternates with a similar ratty sweater and I decided she needs a few more tops. I cobbled together fabric from my stash, plus grabbed one of the new fabrics, and was able to cut out six new projects—three tops and three hoodies. The hoodies are what she wants! But the ratty sweaters really need some replacements, so that’s my next project. Plus, I’ve been showing her some of the process with the hope of teaching her how to make her own.