Start making my own clothes again

and I loved making my own clothes and customising shop bought stuff when I was in my teens, as I didn’t like to have the same as everyone else. I’m going to start doing it again, and I’ve got my eye on some really sweet vintage sewing patterns. All I need now is a sewing machine….

I am generally moving away from pre-fab patterns—purged a bunch last year, but I did snag several Vintage Vogue patterns on deep discount the other day. I also got a couple of pattern drafting books.

I have pulled a bunch of fabric out of storage and stacked it neatly on a shelf where I can see it and match it with appropriate patterns. Although this sounds kind of simplistic, one of the issues I am always coming up against is not being able to remember what I have. Now I can scan the inventory and choose the best available fabric instead of dithering about whether there’s a better material for a specific project lurking in a box somewhere.

Bad light, I know.

The image of the skirt does it no justice. I love that pattern! Also, the screen print on the tote bag isn’t very clear; it’s an image of the Buffalo Savings Bank.

I started making a short-sleeved blouse with a bib the other night. It’s only partly done, but here’s a progress photo; no sleeves, no buttons, no collar, no bib. (Yet.)

I’m getting ideas, and I think I may start an Etsy shop to sell my creations. Added to this incentive is the fact that I live in a creative neighbourhood, where local boutiques often sell local designers’ work on consignment. Time to sew!

I’m getting frustrated because every time I come home with the intention to sew, something else comes up and distracts me. Not stupid things, like television, but obligations. Time needs to be managed better.

Well, I didn’t sew a single thing tonight, but I did disassemble the desk (which was taking too much room, and besides, we’re getting rid of it), put up the shelf, throw out a bunch of useless crap, and finish the wind-chime Steve had started oh-so-long-ago. Quite a productive evening. The room is still a bit of a mess, though.

I plan on cleaning out the sewing room tonight. I hope to get a few small repairs out of the way, which in turn should whet my appetite for a bigger project. The last real project I worked on was my friend Matt’s Jack Skellington costume – which I made for Hallowe’en 2003!