Wanna know the last time I posted my sewing plans? March. Sounds about right, doesn’t it? Like everyone else, I went into 2020 with bright eyes, excited for change and personal evolution. I thought about my career. I wrote lists of goals. I felt confident that I could make some of my dreams come true.

And then…. My world has been rocked by Covid-19, how about you? I think I’m doing OK right now, today. But I’ve had some dark periods of night terrors, crying, and anxiety. I have not had work, which feels terrible and leaves me with idle hands. It’s probably obvious that I’ve turned to sewing for self soothing and distraction. I’ve been extremely productive, even when I haven’t been in the mood. I’ve tricked myself into it by allowing myself to make whatever I want, and giving myself an assignment when I’m not in the mood to make anything at all. This has lead to surplus of spring dresses. There are worse things that could happen! But my wardrobe has some holes in it, and I’d like to plan for them.

So now I’m planning. My goals are to use fabric and notions from stash, and to balance whimsy with practicality (i.e. keep myself interested and entertained but also clothed as temperatures drop).

PRACTICAL: I sewed myself a pair of Closet Core Patterns Carolyn Pajamas out of quilting cotton as a “wearable muslin” and damn, now that temperatures are dropping, I am in love. I think I’ve only posted them to Instagram stories, I’ll have to get a good photo. Jason calls them “Country Camo” because of the fabric I used. I also made a shorts & short sleeved version; I wear that top as a shirt (worth making one with the intention of wearing it outside) and have confirmed that I think wearing shorts to sleep makes no sense (Team long pants or nothing). I also sewed my mom a set for her birthday! So this will be my fourth time using this pattern, it’s great. These will be long sleeved/long legged, and worn until threadbare. I might taper the pant leg a bit, we’ll see.

WHIMSICAL: A pattern & fabric match made in heaven. This pattern is crisply factory folded, I haven’t even opened it yet. I knew immediately that I wanted to make View 1 with this very lightweight cotton voile with a metallic stripe. I bought this fabric on eBay maybe 3 years ago, in a fabric lot from India. All of the fabrics were white, and I have dyed and sewn up most of them. I have one more piece of white fabric left. Do I need another blouse? Not really. I’ll allow myself this one as treat sometime.

PRACTICAL: Black overalls. I’ve looked far and wide for a good overalls pattern, and I’ve found a few. But nothing can compare to my 1940s era J.C.Penny’s men’s painters overalls. They’re perfect. I’ve been saving a cut of black bull denim for a pair, and I have all the hardware required. I just need to rub off a pattern. Ha! “Just.” It’ll take me a while to work my way up to doing that, but I know it will be worth it.

WHIMSICAL: This fabric is impossible to photograph, and who knows what I had in mind when I purchased a whopping 4.5 yards of it (56” wide). At least it was a great price! This fabric has a very subtle shimmer to it, the product of being printed with some kind of foil. It’s very subtle. Lovely. Ok here’s where I’m going with this one:

Both photos are 90s Anna Sui runway shots. I already know this is a great pattern, I sewed it up in cherry print silk charmeuse almost exactly a year ago. I want to make a mini version, with an exaggerated bust ruffle. I’ll leave off the ruffled collar and maybe draft a simple Peter Pan collar. I have not decided on sleeves. I love the look of short puff sleeves but layering is a concern (I say as I scheme to make a see-through dress). This is the stuff of my high school dreams. I used to love wearing thrift store dresses with a tiara and shredded black tights.

PRACTICAL: I need pants. Easy to wear, comfortable ones, with ease of movement that my RTW skinny jeans do not provide. I bought a few patterns in the last Something Delightful* online sale. Patterns with the new logo (why?) lack envelope descriptions, a weird thing to remove, so I’ll need to unfurl the tissue to see if it’s “loose fitting”, etc. But based on the envelope photo, M8100 would be perfect in this black sandwashed stretch silk charmeuse that I bought at Fulton Fabrics about a year ago, for a shocking $5/yard. This pattern is sized numerically, unlike the next one I’m going to show you….

*Tangent: Y’all I am a Big 4 enthusiast! I say so all the time! But are any of the Big 4 instagram accounts going to address their website name change that came with being acquired by another company? It’s a very odd branding move. Do they expect people not to notice? Is anyone else curious? I’m not wild about “Something Delightful”. Also, I am going to continue using pattern numbers, not names, because they only gave names to McCalls, not the other brands, and I prefer the numerical system. I get that names are more of an Indie pattern thing, and they want in on that, but Big 4 is not lacking in tags on Instagram. The absence of explanation irks me. I’ll continue to be a customer, but I needed to get that off my chest.

PRACTICAL: M8099 is sized S-M-L-XL (that’s 8-22), all in one envelope. I like when they put all sizes in one envelope! Whereas M8100 calls for drapey fabrics like charmeuse and challis, M8099 is designed for Cotton Blends, Denim, Poplin, Twill. Great! This looks like a cute, easy, pull on trouser. Delete the cargo pockets, say yes to the cuffed ankle. I’ll be giving this a try in some cornflower blue cotton twill I purchased in Osaka last year. I’m a little concerned about the difference between my waist an hips - to get a pull on trouser over my hip, there is sometimes too much bulk at the waist. I can see myself adding a functional fly front to these to get a better fit at the waist…something for me to think about.

PRACTICAL AND WHIMSICAL: Let’s end with a perfect blend of the two. M8046 is so cute! Because I know I am size 12 on top, but need to grade to around size 18 through the hips, I will only purchase jumpsuit patterns on sale (or, Big 4, you could put all sizes in one envelope), because I require both envelopes, unless I want to get really annoyed grading up the bottom. Now, I know I should make this in basic black, and maybe I will (I don’t have any black fabric in an appropriate weight in stash). But as a Purple Person, I want View C in this gorgeous lilac pinwale corduroy. I can’t remember where this fabric came from, either eBay or Etsy….actually, I’m not sure I have enough, taking nap into account. Cross your fingers for me! XO, Martha