What happened to July? Clothing and Wearables.

What happened to July? – I sewed… (and knitted)

At the beginning of July I had a hankerin’ for new clothes. But being totally broke because of “no teaching in the summer” I only had one option - pull out fabric and patterns from the massive stash.  So in no particular order here are some of my new wardrobe:

Pink blouse:

I have been trying to sew this blouse for over 7 years. I cut it out the wrong size, then I tried to put it together, didn’t like it, tried something else and finally this summer I’ve decided – time to finish the darn thing no matter what. And phew – finally. Here it is!

I ended up liking this pattern so much I sewed another blouse from fabric one of my amazing students brought back from Ghana. 

She had received a fellowship to travel there and work with a fabric making collective. I asked her to bring some fabric back for me and she more than obliged. This one is one of my favorite designs. Cotton – perfect for the summer.

There is one more blouse cut in this pattern but from stretchy fabric. Fabric I purchased a few years ago and had made into a different blouse. But that blouse didn’t look so hot on me.  I took it apart and have cut the new blouse out. But now I need to get myself in gear to finish it.

Dresses…

I made two.

This one was just supposed to be an experiment.  I also wanted to sew this pattern with vintage fabric which didn’t actually have enough for the sleeves. I wanted to see how it would look without sleeves. It looks fine! But I still haven’t sewn the one from vintage fabric.

The other dress is made from fabric purchased back in - November with Melanie? And because it was a splurge at the time I was bound and determined to sew a dress out of it this summer.  

And I love it. It is very hard not to wear this everyday. Once a week seems like pushing it.  I've received lots of compliments. Not only is it incredibly comfortable but I like how I look in it! Every time I pass something reflective it makes me smile.

Also in the “clothing” section, I think this is a good place to update on the shoes.  

The shoes have lost steam. I know I have to finish them. I do.

 The thing is, I don’t think the leather I used is strong enough to be shoes for very long. I might get a few wears out of them and that is very discouraging. It took so much work.

But I must learn the hard way.  I’m chipping away at this project and I will finish it – even just to spite my instincts, and prove them right. 

And finally, of course I knitted! I knitted a pair of socks for Erin M. Erin is/was one of my grad students. She gave me some lovely cotton left over from one of her projects. She had dyed it herself and it was such a perfect Erin M. color! I decided it was high time to try my hand at some lacy socks.  Did I take pictures of them? Of course not! I forgot.

Then it was time to knit for Jessica. Jessica is due in August  - the 17^th – a little boy Kenneth… and Kenneth needs a cute little hat. 

I knitted it a little large so that hopefully by the time the winter rolls around it fits. I also knitted a cute vest for little Kenny, but (looks sheepish) I forgot to take a picture of that one too.

For me I am knitting a pair of socks out of some yarn I’ve been saving for a while.  I am sort of stalled at the heel though – been stalled for about two weeks… I’m not worried though - cold weather is around the corner - I'm sure to finish then.