A practical skirt

The best thing about a new sewing machine is that even the most practical sewing project is exciting! I'm not saying that a useful skirt is not exciting but it does not have the great fabric and flounce I am used to in my endless array of dresses. Having said that, this practical, everyday skirt has been fun for other reasons.

Firstly I have enjoyed my new machine's endless array of presser feet but especially this one - presser foot number 5!

This foot is awesome at sewing super close to the edge for that beautiful edge stitch.... I love it! Not to get all sewing machine nerdy on you but there was nothing worse than trying to execute edge stitching and ending up with a wonky, wavering sewing line - nothing says "HANDMADE!" (and not in the good way) like a line of wonky sewing. Check out the results - the bottom line of stitching, not the top ones, I will talk about them in a bit.

This picture actually brings me to the next thing I am loving about my new machine - the different stitches. I am making a jean skirt so, what better than to use the jean stitch (yep, there is one)

And those, top two rows of stitching in the photo above - yep, jean stitching or stitch #6.

After all that, how's the skirt going? Well almost done. Just a few more adjustments before the final taadaa and reveal of project #1. I've already got my head around the next project... Why have one skirt, when you can have two!

Too many dresses

I guess the first place to start when I am thinking about what to sew this year is to look at what I like to sew and therefore sew a lot of - dresses! I love a floral dress, a backless dress, a formal dress, a throw on after a swim dress - there is something satisfying about creating a whole outfit in one item, of using fun fabrics and sewing something that suits my figure (cinches around the waist and full around the hips). However, if I am going to take this challenge seriously I cannot spend my time sewing dress, after dress, after dress. I need something that is a little less showy, that will be a workhorse for a number of different outfits. I need a skirt.

Rummaging through my box of previously drafted patterns I found this one. A knee length, denim style skirt - perfect.

I love it when I open a pattern I drafted a while back and find little notes to myself on where to add to the pattern and what to change - so thoughtful of me I think.

I have chosen some fabric too - a dark cotton khaki and some fun fabric for the pocket inserts. I find something slightly amusing about having my pockets lined with mini moustaches!

So to begin my first project of the year - nothing too flashy and possibly a piece that no one will really notice but a good foundation piece for my new handmade wardrobe.

A New Year's Resolution...

It began as it always does on New Year's Day after 2, maybe 3 (surely not 4, definitely not 5) glasses of champagne and a discussion about New Year's resolutions. In fact it probably started a week earlier when I unwrapped a massive box under the tree and revealed this... taaadaaa....

Yep a beautiful Bernina sewing machine, the one I have been coveting for a long, long while appeared under our Christmas tree - yay!

Fast forward to New Year's Day and a conversation around new gym memberships and diets, I quietly wondered aloud whether or not I could go a whole year without buying any new clothes, using my new machine to sew anything I needed. Did I say that out loud? It appears I did and loud enough for others to hear and repeat to more people! "A great idea!" "You should do it!" Yikes, what have I done. Can I do it? A whole year relying on my sewing and pattern making skills to create my wardrobe? Maybe.... Am I going to give it a go? I sure am!