This sew-along is dedicated to a fall wardrobe with fun categories that include undies and pjs. I enjoy these kinds of sew alongs that are loosely defined and without restrictions! There are 7 categories and obviously you choose what you want to make from any or all of them. The sewalong runs from September 1 - November 30 and includes sewers, knitters, crocheters, all crafters! (gah how I miss knitting and crochet!)
The 7 categories are:
- Lower body garments (skirts, pants, leggings, etc)
- Upper body garments (shirts, tops, cardigans, vests, sweaters)
- Dresses
- Underwear
- Footwear (socks, slippers, tights??)
- Pajamas
- Cold weather wear (coats, hats, mittens, scarves?)
-I have shirts, tops and cardigans planned
-Hmmm, maybe a dress will be sewn
-Not sewing undies yet
-Grrrr, see "I miss knitting"
-I forgot I owned the Grainline Lakeside pattern! I think I will try to sew those up and if I love em, I might make them for my nieces for Christmas
-I *may* sew a coat. It depends on how far I go in the FM contest and how soon winter arrives in Minneapolis!
I posted a planning list not too long ago and some of the items are already scratched. I made a new list combining the FESA with my existing plans and it has 16 items on it! Hahahaha! And I marked EIGHT of them as "must have now". Uhmm...yeah. :-)
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This past Saturday, I had the pleasure of meeting up with 11 other sewers from Minnesota! IT WAS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We hung out at Caribou Coffee for a couple of hours and then hit up SR Harris. I was pretty intent on keeping to cuts of fabric for four projects; I ended up with 3. I bought some black cotton lycra intending to make leggings but I might make a top instead, some ponte to make a wearable muslin (fingers crossed) of the pieced V1411 pant. I'm going to try to get these sewn on Wednesday.
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Speaking of, a professional sewer and blogger (honestly don't remember the blog off the top of my head and had never heard of her before today) had some criticisms of the sleeve shape/fit/etc. on the Grainline pattern. Fine...we should be able to openly criticize pattern companies if we feel they are not providing a solid product. However, the comment section quickly devolved into making fun of the contestants and how "entertaining" our garments for this week would be because we're shitty sewers (slight paraphrase...only slight).
As a new sewer I have to say, I am glad to have a few people with WAY more experience than me to reach out to when I have a question. I am glad to have blogs and Pattern Review and other resources to turn to when I can't understand a technique or fitting issue. But I am not a professional sewer. In fact I don't think any of us in the challenge claim to be. I don't think any of us claim to be expert fitters or pattern drafters...I don't think any of us claim to be professional seamstresses...And I think it's quite catty to "nah-nanny-boo-boo" at people who are competing in a contest designed around the home sewer.
The sad part is, you see this more often than you'd think; with experienced/professional sewers deciding they need to "police" the sewing blog community. Really, most new sewers will hit that point, where they start to focus more on construction methods and fitting their garments, quite organically. If someone would have told me last January that I can't sew unless I am willing to perfect my fitting and technique well...I probably would've quit.
If you want to be a leader/mentor/trainer/tutor/guide/etc to the home sewer...Offer advice, offer constructive criticism, show methods and techniques on your blog or vlog...
--In case anyone is unaware: Constructive criticism is a well-meant critique intended to help someone improve.--
...But deciding that everyone who sits at a sewing machine needs to be a master at drafting, fitting, fabric selection and sewing is just silly and pointing and laughing is sillier still.
With that said, I ADORE my garment for this week. Now to run home, blind hem it and get ready for photos! Our deadline was bumped up!!!
