Blog hopping across the Universe

I’m pretty sure EVERYONE has seen the Blog Hop that is doing the rounds of the blog-o-sphere. If you sick to death of them then move along folks…but if you want to learn a smidgen more about me then read on!

And thank you to Michelle for Buttontree Lane for nominating me for the blog hop. I was beginning to think noone was going to nominate me *sad face*! I was lucky enough to head to Canberra over the October long weekend where I met up with the effervescent and super fun Michelle and a bunch of the other Canberra Spoolettes. I just LOVE how friendly and welcoming other sewists are...it really is a great, welcoming community.

Why do you write? The answer to this is pretty simple, because I want to. I like the idea of interacting with others in the sewing community and I hope through my blog I will make some new connections and new (IRL) friendships (which I already have - see above). I also want to start recording some of the pattern details/changes for my make as I think the blog will serve as a good “reference” for when I want to go back and remake a pattern. I don’t do that at the moment and it’s something I’ve noticed on some other blogs that I think would be really useful.

What are you working on? I have a rather large list of things I want to make that is only thwarted by lack of time (working 9 to 5 puts a serious cramp in my sewing plans) and lack of energy (aforementioned 9 to 5 makes me tired, so often when I have the time to sew I just have no energy or sewjo). All of that aside, this is what’s on my list for the next few weeks/months:

• A Mabel skirt made out of stretch denim;
• Another Casual Lady Dress with armholes that hopefully fit my arms this time;
• A Clover dress made from some lovely fabric I bought in Malaysia this year. Woven garments are normally not my style (I like the comfort of a knit) but I’m going to give this one a whirl;
• I have fabric for both a Moneta and a Myrtle and I hope to toile them both and then make them from their “proper fabric”…if I don’t botch the elastic at the waistband of either of these dresses that is;
• Another Tokyo Jacket in a more sheer type of fabric;
• A pillow case from some great cat fabric I bought in Tokyo earlier this year. I love the fabric too much to waste it on a singlet top I probably won’t ever wear;
• A Pia dress with the shoulder modified to be more “tank” style. I’d like to make this in Chambray; 
• A perfectly fitting Peplum Party Dress. I have SO many darn version of this dress that don’t fit quite right and I think I have narrowed down the final changes to make myself a wearable version. I’m just not sure if I have the energy “to go there”;
• A Mabel skirt using some fabric left over from my “yum/yuck dress”; and I’ll include the button placket this time too.

So, as you can see this is L-O-N-G list. The items at the top of the list are the things I am super gung-ho keen to make ASAP. The stuff further down the list may or may not ever happen. I call this “meh territory”. I also already plans in the back of my mind for some cooler weather clothes (yes, I know we’ve not even hit summer yet and I’m already thinking about Winter 2015). This would include a few Mandy Boat Tees, Our Favorite Top, a cardian of some sort and perhaps even a cape. I also have a class coming up soon with Tessuti on how to modify a pants pattern so I WILL soon have a pattern for the Anita Ponti Pants that fits me.

How does your blog differ from others of its genre? I honestly don’t think it does. I sew a garment, take photos and then write about it.

I suppose unlike some people I post nearly all my makes…whether they are a hit or a flop. I learn a lot from blogs were people write about a failed garment – knowing what went wrong from them and why is SUPER useful information for beginners. Some people think it’s whinging to talk about “issues” and “what went wrong”, but I just think it’s being honest. Sewing is not easy, and it’s specifically not easy when you are bigger than many of the Indie patterns on offer – I’ve had a lot of fails and I’m not going to pretend otherwise. So there.

How does your writing process work? I sew something, take photos of the garment and then write my post. I’m a fairly quick writer so I don’t take long to knock out a post. It’s basically just a brain dump that I then “try” to proof read and spell check but I’m basically unable to check my own work, so sorry to all the grammar (etc) nazi’s out there.

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The blog hop is now moving on from The Colonies and back to the Motherland as I'm nominating Rach from Rach Against the Sewing Machine (what a GREAT blog name).  I enjoy reading her blog as I think Rach is fairly new to sewing like me (and she sews Coco Dresses) ...us newbies gotta stick together! Yo!