MeMadeMay at the Halfway Point

So it is already halfway through May! I can hardly believe it, just like always I wonder where the time goes.

I've been wearing a few favourites since my last MMMay update. And I've reached for a second wear of some of them already. Here's what I've been wearing:

Left Column:

Stretch & Sew 305

New Look 6299

Colette Moneta


Centre:

Simplicity 1593 vest (over another KwikSew 3559)


Right Column: 

Blue Mystery Dress (no longer a mystery; it's McCalls 7522, in Shelli Segal's 'Laundry' line)

Stretch & Sew 345

Butterick 5388 


I repeated a wear: Vogue 9329 (not pictured) And I also wore another favourite, though unblogged, KwikSew 3559 top twice - it's blue and faintly sparkly.


I haven't been taking photos this year very much; I keep forgetting. So once again most of these are older  pics from when I first made these items. It's kind of interesting that some of them are a few years old but still in regular rotation in my closet.

I've noticed that I am wearing things over again which are comfortable and flattering, and which feel like me when I put them on. The weather has been very variable so I still had a chance to wear one of my favourite colder weather dresses, the purple houndstooth Stretch & Sew.

But I also noticed how many nice pieces I have that I still want to wear. I'll have to get some laundry done and a batch of ironing underway so that I can wear all of my cotton dresses next week!

And I have one UFO now in process, and one fairly large mending project at least moved on to the sewing table, so I feel like I'm on track for my MeMadeMay goals this year.

Are you still enjoying MeMadeMay, if you have joined in? Are you meeting your own goals for the month?

2018 Sewing Begins...plus a teaser

As I mentioned in my most recent post about sewing goals, I've joined a couple of low-stress sewalongs over at PatternReview for this year, nothing with rigid rules or themes. I'll be sewing dresses, using up 50 metres of my stash, and trying to sew from some of my Burda magazines, too.

Something new for me in 2017 was joining Instagram, and there I've seen so many more sewing challenges and group sews and planning hashtags and just so much I could join in on!

Plus I've got these lovely sewing notebooks to plan in!

So I've decided to remind myself of my big goal for 2018, which is not to overextend myself. Stick to the challenges and sewalongs that I already have planned and just enjoy the others vicariously. For example, there is #makenine2018 in which people are choosing which nine items they wish to make this year. If I chose nine items I know I wouldn't make any of them -- I don't like planning ahead that far! I have more than nine items that are appealing and which I'd love to make, but I just can't put them on a schedule. I'll just gaze at everyone else's for inspiration. (share a link to yours if you've done it!)

There are monthly sewalongs and themes at the Sewcialists blog and the Monthly Stitch. I'll still keep my eye on those and try to join in when I can. And there are plenty of contests to jump into at PatternReview as well.


And of course there is the upcoming Literary Sewing Circle to look forward to! We'll be starting our first read of 2018 on Friday January 19 and the readalong/sewalong will run for 6 weeks. I'll be announcing the title on the 19th; it's a title that should be accessible to everyone quite easily. I hope to see lots of readers interested in this one.

Hello & Happy Christmas!

Hello all my dedicated readers who may be seeing this post, after long silence! It's funny how you may be sewing and reading about sewing but yet not posting and days and days go by....

Feeling like I need some of this festive magic potion to get moving!

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

I finished the Literary Sewing Circle in October, got really busy, started some non-garment related sewing, then Christmas loomed, and lo and behold, I haven't posted since the end of October.

Whew! I don't know where the time goes!

I do want to wrap up this year with some sewing chat, so my "Best Of" posts are in progress and will be shared after Christmas.

I also want to let any interested readers know that the Literary Sewing Circle was so much fun that we will reading another book together soon. Plans are to announce the title and reading schedule in mid-to-late January. Stay tuned!

What have I been keeping busy with? Oh, bits and bobs...like these embroidery pieces:

This is a self portrait I stitched, using navy blue
 Gutermann sewing thread over organza and cotton

And this is a Christmas gift I've just finished -- I can post it now
 because the recipient doesn't read my blog ;)

And I've actually made a few garments that I just haven't got around to posting about yet -- it's hard getting those darn pictures when it's grey and snowy outside!

In any case, here's to a wonderful sewing year ahead for all of us, and wishing you all a peaceful holiday season with some time to relax and enjoy the lovingkindness of fellow humans on this earth, something that feels like it's been in short supply this year.

I'll leave you with this. Merry Christmas!