So Many Good Days and Why I Sew!

Last week was so interesting for me. Aside from this schizophrenic weather, I was having a considerable amount of good days!

Which one looks the most Olivia Pope-ish to you ??

First: I found out that I had won a giveaway! $25 to shop at The Smuggler's Daughter! And it couldn't have come at a better time because I was debating with myself about how I needed to budget money for fabric to sew things up for fall/winter  or whether or not I should just not buy any fabric for a couple of months just to keep some money in my pocket. Well, I guess you probably know what I did lol I bought way more than my winnings worth of fabric. BUT this time I bought specific fabric for specific projects in mind. I plan on making a nice collection of Nettie bodysuits.


I was noticing the small collection of bodysuits that I already own and absolutely enjoy wearing (all given to me by my mother) and I realized that through the colder weather, I don't go for dresses. I absolutely despise being cold. I'm usually in a long sleeve shirt, pants and boots in the winter. Even more layered with leggings underneath the pants and a huge sweater or two over the shirt. Probably 2 pairs of socks too lol. And I promise you I'm not over-exaggerating. Anyway, these are the fabrics I bought:

The wool and the b&w sweater knit will be for other things though. I have ALOT of fabric at home that would do well for pants so I didn't bother looking for that. Hopefully by the end of October I will have a basic understanding of how to adjust my crotch curve on patterns before cutting out my fabric. If you have any advice or know of any good tutorials PLEASE link them in the comments :-)

Second: I found out my monochrome dress was featured over at Mabey She Made It.
It's always nice to know that I'm inspiring someone in the way that sooo many sewing bloggers out here inspire ME! It put a smile on my face :-)

Third: The wonderful Melody of the blog Sew Melodic emailed me telling me that she wanted to tag me in the Blog Hop that's been making its rounds around these parts! That was exciting for me because I still can't believe people actually read my blog lol and Sew Melodic is one of the first sewing blogs that I found when I first started blogging. I didn't even know she knew I existed lol You can go on over and read Melody's take on the hop here. I'm going to do it a little differently and steal from Sally. Instead of blogging, though, I'm gonna talk about my who, what, when, where, and why's of Sewing :-)

• WHO: Who do I sew for?

I sew for myself 90% of the time. I sew for other people when I am inspired to. ex. I want to learn how to make ties so I will be looking for someone specific to make one for.  People just asking me to make things for them turns me off. I'm not down for all the pressure that comes with sewing garments for other people. I sew for my mom though lol I already use up all her electricity and what not. Plus, ya know, she's my mom :-)... oh! and babies!

• WHAT: What do I sew?

I make garments mostly. When I'm inspired to sew for other people, it's some type of accessory or a baby blanket.

• WHEN: When do I sew?

Since near the end of the summer, I've only really been able to sew 2 days a week. Between work, rehearsals, time at church, and keeping my relationship with my family and friends I have around 8 hours a week at this point. Kinda sucks but it forces me to slow down and not try to knock out something every week.

• WHERE: Where do I sew?

Right now I am sewing in the dining room of our house. We're basically not able to have family over for dinner because my stuff is EVERYWHERE lol. Very soon, though, I will be moving my things into our office and making my mother very happy that she will be able to decorate her dining room again lol I will be sure to take le pics and things once things are set up

• WHY: Why do I sew?

Honestly, I sew because it kills 2 birds with 1 stone for me. I went to school for engineering and sewing fulfills both my technical outlet as well as a creative one. I didn't start for the fashion and style and fashion definitely doesn't motivate me. I just have a serious need to build things and figure out how to do things. The numbers involved motivate as well.  And I'm totally a serial hobbyist, but the never ending list of things to learn about sewing construction will hold me for plenty of years to come.

• HOW: What is my sewing process?

I decide what I'm going to make by fabric most of the time. I very rarely shop for fabric with a project in mind so I just look for fabric that is weather appropriate and try to find a pattern to match the yardage to the fabric that I have. Usually I find 2 or 3 patterns that I want to make around the sae time. I pick a day to measure and cut all of the patterns out because it's the most boring and daunting part. Then on another day, I'll cut out the fabric for each project. Once everything is cut out, I usually work on one project at a time. If I get frustrated, I switch to one of the other ones. Once all of the currently cut projects are done I repeat the process :-)

If you've made it this far, I commend you lol I'm going to pass this hop to my make-up artist cousin Latoya and her blog From the Lips.

I have a skirt that I've been trying to blog for over a week but I haven't been able to get pictures.
I also have some unselfish sewing to talk about as well as some future fall/winter plans. Oh, and I'll be talking about my hair soon as well.

See you 'round here real soon!

xoxo, Tasha