Returning from an unplanned hiatus (aka blogging break)

2015 wasn't the best year ever, and some of those reasons lead to me taking an unplanned break from writing any posts ... even when I had things to share. I'm putting notes in a 2016 happiness jar so that on the less pleasant days I can look back at the good things of this year.

I'm motivated to do some non-costume related sewing - I have existing deadlines for costumes and seem to leave real life clothing on the side burner.

I really prefer wearing dresses in summer - and some wrap dresses in winter too. Plus I have plenty of fabric and patterns.  I look back and remember wearing dresses all the time, and can't quite figure out why I stopped making them for so long. 

So I'm hoping to keep myself productive and motivated by setting my own challenge for the year - making a new real life dress each month this year.

First up was going to be my new strawberry print fabric, which I thought will be made in a 70s retro pattern I bought on ebay about 3 years ago. BUT yesterday the eternal magpie within within spotted another 50s mail order pattern on The Ebay so bid for it and won it today. Now I'll have to wait for it to fly across the pacific to my grabby hands before I can use it for the strawbs print.

So, now I have to select another fabric and pattern for January.

 ummmm.

ummmmmm, I need to put my thinking hat on.

more 1930s vintage patterns

My 2 patterns from Woodland Farms arrived today, and I'm definitely happy with them. The Anne Adams is a good size for me, and I'm looking forward to trying it once I can get back to sewing. The good news is I meet the surgeon on Tuesday, and he'll be able to say where I'll get placed on the waiting list. I hope my living alone is a factor for speedy surgery, ie if anything went wrong at night getting help might be a problem.


The NY wasn't in a great match size wise, bit I'm sure that I can grade it without losing my mind.  The skirt section will be good on it's own too, as would the top.

a giant extra extra long photocopy pattern

Or so it seems.

The copy vintage pattern from the UK arrived today, and it's on a long continuous piece of paper - something like 2 metres or more. It looks like a photocopy, although not like office copies, if that makes sense. The instructions are copied in full & it comes with a notebook with pattern sizes, vintage fit alterations, a page to list your own measurements, a garment history page (ie for what you've made, a notes page and something else my brain can't recall.

I'm happy to buy from this seller again, although once I'd unpacked the pattern copy & realised how long it was, it was a chore to cut it up into manageable pieces. Cos it's just so big, impossible in my small place to work out how to refold it as it was,  and it started to tear at one point.

It's on my wish list for summer, maybe I'll even get it done before the end of this one.

not sewing, shopping

I'm not feeling very adult about not being able to sew for so long. Though I'm starting to have energy now I'm on holiday, and have slept all the regular and irregular sleeping times. So I need to get some small amounts of sewing done *before* I go back to work next Thursday. I'm hoping to get the skirts done for my hobbit, and maybe the chemise blouse cut out.

Anyways, it's true that as a consolation for not sewing I've trawled museum galleries for eyecandy to pinterest - so much so that I've used 80% of my interwebs data allowance in 66% of the month, so I'm not going to be doing that for the next 10 days.

I also bought fabric, which isn't supposed to be happening, but I did get this linsey-woolsey which is supposed to be a dark navy but looks more charcoal to me - which is just as useful to me thankfully.  I got 5 yards, which I'm hoping is enough  for something regency or georgian.

The sample wool challis arrived and I don't know if it's the comparison or the purple in it but it looks more navy/purple to me. It's very lightweight & floaty, so I'm seriously considering this for the seabathing dress - even though it's not purple/pink & green. Though I should order a sample of the cotton that I like - even lightweight wool can be overheating in Sydney.

The sample stripe is a 70:30 wool/cotton. I could justify a skirt length for work, the stripe is about a 5/8th inch repeat but I'll not order it now.

Yesterday I also bought a vintage pattern copy from the UK, a 1930s Marion Martin: