What Was I Thinking?

I had a great idea that I was going to re-do my blog. I've seen so many cool blog backgrounds out there and wanted to really update the look of my blog. I found some great websites with lots of blog templates. Evening after evening I have worked on this. Not only have I not found a template that I am totally happy with, I have lost a lot of my information. My entire blog roll for example! Well, good thing I have it on bloglines, and I was intending on updating it on my blog - but not totally recreating it. Yes, I did save my blog before I made all the changes, but where does it save to? How do you bring back some of the information? I have not been in the mood now to spend even more hours looking up how to do all of this. After all, do I want to spend what little free time I have fooling around with my blog or sewing? Again, what was I thinking?

I'm not a big football fan, so I'm really glad we did not get invited to a superbowl party. I have no problem with Andy (or anyone else for that matter) spending the day watching football, I just don't want to have to do it. If we get invited to a party, it is rude to say "I'm not coming; I'd rather stay home and do something else." Also, Andy likes to listen to the game on the radio since they KNOW you can't see what's going on on the radio, so the commentators give a better description of the game. So, I'm hoping that I can do some sewing tomorrow while Andy is listening to the game.

Carolyn posted on her blog about how she is doing toward her resolutions and asked how we are all doing. Well, when I looked on the side bar of my blog to check my resolutions, I realized that that was one of the things that I lost from my blog. Fortuntately, I just looked back at my first post of the year, and there it was. It is now back in the sidebar where it belongs.

So, how am I doing? Well, so far this year I have made 2 pair of pants and am almost finished with my blouse. My first resolution is to make only things that I love. I haven't worn the first pair of pants yet, and the second pair I have worn twice. The fit is OK, but not exactly what I'm looking for yet. So, I'd have to say I'm not loving these yet. But, resolution #2 is to get a great pair of pants, and I'm definitely working on this goal with several muslins and two finished pair of pants. Each one gets closer to what I'm looking for.

Resolution #3 is to get a great white shirt, and that is exactly what I am working on now.

#5 is to sew more BWOF than last year, and the blouse is a BWOF.

#6, more TNTs. Both pair of pants were from the same pattern and I'm planning on making several versions of this white blouse I am working on now.

#4 is more out than in. When I finish my blouse, I will have put out on 6 yards. The only fabric that has come in is what Birgitte and I got in LA, so that's 5 and 1/2.

#7 - to make a vintage pattern. I don't plan on doing that until spring.
So, yes! I would have to say I am getting a great start on my sewing goals.

Oh, and for those of you who have not seen yet, I got my hair cut short. I'm liking it.

Under Construction

Sorry - You will probably see my blog being mixed up and a mess over the next couple of days as I update my blog.

Dog and cat eat

And I thought my dog and cat were fun to watch!

Neck Bias Binding.

The bias binding was a little tricky to sew, and on my muslin, it did not come out at all.  You make a bias strip the length of the neckline and fold it in half lengthwise.  The band and collar are sewn together onto the neckline, and the bias band is sewn into that same seam.  The bias band is then folded over the seam allowance and stitched down.  On my muslin, I didn't have enough width on the bias strip to cover the seam allowance.  This time, I trimmed the seam allowance to 1/4" before attaching the bias strip.  Now I had more than enough width.  I only wanted to stitch about 1/4 inch away from the seam edge, so the bias strip looks like it is stitched right down the middle.  It is on the  inside, and the edge is folded, so I'm not worrying about tacking that down any further.  It lies flat and is a finished edge, and all the raw edges of the seam allowances are enclosed.  It gives a smooth finish on the outside as well.

You could also finish this traditionally, by sewing only the upper collar and band to the neck edge and then turning under the edge of the under collar and either slip stitching it or stitching in the ditich to enclose the neck seam allowance.  This is the first time I've done the bias band and I do like it because it also gives a bit of support to the collar.

Thanks for asking!

Awards

I'm very flattered to be nominated for The Kreativ Blog award by Diana and Charlene.  Also, a month or so ago I was nominated for a couple of awards from Birgitta, which I never posted on my blog.  It's always nice to be recognized and don't we all love it?  I mean, if we never got any comments, would we blog as much or as detailed as we do?  I'm so appreciative that all of you take the time to read my blog.  Also, I really appreciate all of you who share your skills, talents, tips, tricks, and more on your blogs.  I have learned so much and improved my own skills tremendously from what I have learned from all of you.

As for nominating other blogs, I know a lot of you have already been nominated, but I will have to take a little time and think about this one :-)

BWOF blouse progress

Today after work I got to do a little sewing. I sewed the front bands, collar and made the sleeves. The collar is unusual but beautifully pieced together. The bands and collar are sewn to the neck edge and finished with a bias strip.

This collar was a little tricky, because the band sits inside the collar and has a tight curve.  THen both pieces are sewn as one onto the neck edge.  I caught the back fabric in the neck edge 3 times and had to unstitch it.      Other than that, I'm really happy with how this is turning out.

I finished one sleeve, but still need to finishe the other one. The hem is just turned up and zigzagged. I used an overcast stitch instead of a zigzag. There is also a casing for the elastic, which is made of self fabric and stitched on.


All I have left to do now is add the elastic to the other sleeve and set both of them in. Next, I'll make the buttonholes, sew on the buttons, and be finished - yay!

Today I cut into the good fabric.  Sometimes that's a scary thing.  Even though you've made a muslin, you still "hope" everything is going to be OK.  But, we can't hold off on the good fabric forever, and if we ever want to wear it, we must cut into it!  I wanted to show you a close up of this fabric.  In the photos it just looks plain white, but if you click on the picture below, you will be able to see that it has a pretty diamond design woven into it.  This fabric also has a wonderful hand and has been really nice to sew on.

From Blouse 108/9 BWOF2-07

Today I got all of the darts made, trimmed, and pressed, finished the shoulder and side seams and did the hem. Next will be the front bands, collar and sleeves. I wanted to show you the collar pieces because they are different than the usual collar and stand. The stand on this fits inside the curve of the collar, so in the front of the collar, there appears to be no stand, but the stand is there to support the back of the collar and keep it close to the neck. I like it, but like with all stands, it's a little tricky to get sewn and lie flat. I probably won't have a chance to work on it for a couple of days.

From Blouse 108/9 BWOF2-07

Working with a block

Here is a picture of my block.  When I first put the pieces side by side, I thought something was wrong.  First of all, the armhole on the back looked too long.  Also, the back seemed way to big for the front.  But, when you pin the darts and put it together, it all matches.  This means I DEFINITELY have a forward shoulder!  I don't really see it myself when I look in the mirror, but the block doesn't lie.  In fact, when I look at this block, I think I must be the sister of the hunchback of Notre Dame.

Because of the discrepancy in the shoulders, I knew I could not use this as a starting point for lining the block up with the pattern.  Instead, I lined up the center fronts and the waist seam.  Interestingly enough, the darts were in the right place, but just a little too high.  The pattern does not have side darts, but I added them anyway.  I adjusted the pattern to fit the block.    I used the vertical darts from the pattern rather than the ones we had drawn on the block, because these are sort of like french darts and they come in at a bit of an angle and are cut out in the middle.  I am using BWOF  109 from 2-2007.  I wanted to make a muslin with all of the elements from the blouse, since I had changed the shoulder and neckline,

I wanted to make sure that everything fit.  Here is the muslin:

I have made additional alterations on the pattern and am lowering the darts about 1/2 inches in the front.  I'm pretty happy with the fit and am hoping to cut into my "good fabric" tomorrow.

A few updates

First of all, thanks for all of your comments and condolences on my pants. The fabric was very inexpensive, so I guess I should have known better. I have never had a problem with Fabric.com fabric before, so that is why I went ahead and used it, - oh well, lesson learned. Fabric.com was very obliging, and credited my account with the cost of the fabric (which was minimal) The cost of my time, I will chalk up to learning experience.

International Silks and Woolens is not actually in the garment district, but on Beverly Blvd. It is a great store with a huge range of fabrics at EVERY price point. Some of the fabrics were hundreds of dollars a yard, and some were less than $10. So, it just depends on what you are looking for. Fortuntely for me, Birgitta knows EXACTLY what she is looking for, so there was no getting overwhelmed or making poor purchases. We sat down ahead of time and pulled out some swatches from my fabric binder and planned out some fabrics for blouses, a jacket, dress, skirt, and pants. I'm excited to start sewing on my plan.

Here's a sneak peak of what will be coming out of the Winningham sewing studio in weeks to come:

From LA Fabric Shopping

You can't tell from the photo, but the whites are beautiful. One is a linen, the others are Swiss cottons with very pretty textures. One is a beautiful burnout design, which you will see in a later post when I start using it.

And... button, button, who's got the button? Well, right now, I do! We found some beautiful buttons. Here's some eye candy...

(click on any photo to enlarge)

From LA Fabric Shopping

From LA Fabric Shopping

From LA Fabric Shopping

From LA Fabric Shopping

"...'til the sun comes up on the Santa Monica Boulevard."

Yes, the sun was coming up on the Santa Monica Blvd and all of LA this weekend! Andy and I went down to LA on Saturday and it was 36 degrees at our house when we left. It was 80 degrees by the time we got to LA. It was sunny and beautiful all weekend.

We had such a great time. If you read the blog, Bubble Gum For Breakfast, you know that Birgitte and her husband have been putting together a show called "Baby it's You" Well, Birgitte most generously invited us down to see the show! We, met up Saturday and had a wonderful lunch and then Birgitte and I went Fabric shopping later that afternoon. I had taken my fabric binder down there and we looked at that first to decide what to look for. She helped me put together some different fabrics to make some outfits and then we were on a mission to find some great soft-white fabrics. We went to International Silk and Woolens. I had never been to this store before, but they have a fabulous selection of fabrics. We picked up some beautiful Swiss cottons and some absolutely gorgeous buttons as well (pictures later). If you have never checked out Birgitte's blog, you really should. She is a fabulous seamstress and a wealth of knowledge.


Saturday night we saw the show, and it was fabulous. We really enjoyed it. If you are in the LA area, you really should check it out - but hurry, I think it's only on for one more weekend. It's at the Coast Theater.

On Sunday, I went over to Birgitta's house and we did a couple of things. She does a lot of her own drafting and is getting more and more into couture. I was blessed enough to have her drape a block for me. If you remember, one of my new years goals is to get a great white shirt. Now, with this block, I should be able to do that! so... THANK YOU BIRGITTE!!!

The other thing we worked on was that she showed me the method that Kathleen Fasinella suggests for lining. What's different about this method is that the hem and the facing meet in a seam and the lining is completely enclosed in the corner, rather than hanging over the hem as is suggested in most methods you read about. I am anxious to do this, but need to do a little practice on some scraps first.

Well, I'm off to pre-wash my new fabric. More pictures next post..

Very Disappointed

Tuesday I wore my new pants. They were comfortable all day. They looked good. They even looked good at the end of the day. UNTIL I TOOK THEM OFF. I did notice that there was a little pilling on the fabric after I washed it (It is 100% polyester - it should be washable) After reconfirming the fabric content on the fabric.com website, I did notice that it said "Dry Clean Only" Since I did notice the slight pilling after the prewash, I decided that I would dry clean the finished pants.

Well, when I took these pants off, I could not believe how terribly pilled they were!! This is the picture of the crotch area. I probably won't be able to wear these more than a few times before I will have to discard them. I'm glad I did not go ahead and make a jacket or skirt out of the rest of the fabric as planned, since I bought 4 or 5 yards of this. I have purchased from Fabric.com many times before and always been happy with the quality of the fabric. This time I am not.

McCalls 5239 - second pair

I'm much happier with this pair of pants. They fit better and the underlining really makes them comfortable. I did make the legs a little wider on these and I like it better. I'm glad I got the fit right on these, and now I can use this pattern to help me adjust other pants patterns.

From Pants 2009

I'm not so sure I like the shape of the crotch curve on this pattern because I still think it's a little tight across the widest part of my butt.

From Pants 2009

I did go to the gym today, and so if I keep that up, maybe all my pants will fit better! These pants have a CB zipper, and I really prefer a side zipper or fly front, just because it is easier to get on and off.

There were a couple of questions about the glue and fold method I used. I used Sobo glue, which is permanent glue, so you must be sure that it is in an area that will either be cut off or will not show. I have used regular craft glue before and it worked well too. I've heard that Elmers washable school glue is great because it washes out, but I haven't tried it. I've even read of people using regular glue sticks to do this. I haven't had much success with glue sticks since you have to rub them on the fabric and that sometimes distorts the grain, but I know that even Patti Palmer recommends them.
I used Sheermist Batiste for the underlining, which is a poly/cotton blend. I find that even the little bit of cotton that is in this makes it very breathable and comfortable. I have underlined pants with silk organza, and although I like the way it works, it was too scratchy for me. I would have to find an organza that was softer than the one I used for those pants. Regular lining can work for underlining too, but it should have a pretty firm weave and not distort easily. I would not use ambiance for an underlining. Even though it makes a beautiful lining, I wouldn't use it for 2 reasons. One, it wrinkles easily, and two, the fabric shifts too much and I don't think it would work well to stabilize the fashion fabric.


Although underlining does not looks as beautiful as lining, it gives a good finish and is very comfortable to wear.

Underlining also helps prevent wrinkles and helps the fashion fabric wear better. Underlining works great with sheer or white fabrics because the seam allowances won't show through like they do with lining. I would not use underlining if I were using a scratchy wool because the seam allowances would still be touching my skin. I would line those. Mainly I chose to underline these pants rather than line them for two reasons. One, I wanted to stablize the fashion fabric, and two, it's a little faster than lining since the two fabrics are sewn as one.

Underlining Pants #2

Several days ago I cut out another pair of pants. This time I made the legs wider at the bottom. The fabric is a polyester woven that is super soft.
Too soft. I was afraid they would look "saggy" so I decided to underline them. I know there are several methods for underlining. I like this one. I first learned about the "glue and fold" method from a book I got years ago called Painless Sewing (My book is older and has a completely different cover than this one.) I am using a poly/cotton batiste for the underlining on these pants and I think it gives them just the right amount of body.

First, cut the underlining the same as the pants legs. Now, Sandra Betzina shows a method in her book that puts a clean finish on the seam allowances and underlines all at once. I have also seen links to this method on Pattern Review. The only drawback with this method is that you must have the exact fit since you can't really do any alterations with this method. I prefer the glue and fold, since you can still make changes in fit.















Lay the fashion fabric and underlining together wrong sides together and press them as one. Then, lay the pieces on a flat surface and put small dots of glue about 1/5" apart along all of the vertical seams between the underlining and fashion fabric. Before the glue dries, fold one seam in toward the middle and smooth the underlining toward the opposite seam. A little bubble will form in the underlining as you're folding the fabric - push this toward the opposite seam. Repeat, and a little more fabric will scoot over the edge of the opposite seam. Leave the fabric folded like this until the glue dries - about 5 minutes.

Here you can see how the smaller under lining now pulls the fashion fabric up. This is because our pant legs (or skirts) are cylindrical and need the inside to be slightly smaller than the outside. This is called "turn of the cloth"








After all of the seams are dry, I baste through the center of the darts. This holds the layers of fabric together while I sew the darts. In the other method, you sew the darts separately on the underlining and lining before you put them together. (You can click on the pictures to make them larger.)

Now, using the pattern instructions, they have you sew the CF seam (leaving off about 1.5" at the inseam) and the zipper in the CB. Since I am using an invisible zipper, it is easier to install the zipper this way.






After the zipper is installed, it is time to pin fit the pants. I did not tissue fit the pants this time because I already did that on the last pair and I am using the same pattern. I decided to still pin fit the pants because this is different fabric and it is underlined. Either one of these things could have changed the fit. Also, I made some small alterations on my pattern after the first pair, and I wanted to make sure everything would fit nicely.








OK, this is a VERY unflattering picture, but I wanted to show you what the pin fitting process looks like. Here I am checking the fit of the pants while pinned. I can see that they lie smoothly in the front and back and there are no draglines that I can see. I did pinch in the waist about 1/8 inch more on each side. Other than length, I think the fit looks pretty good.

















I've sewn the inseams and side seams and serge finished the edges. Now, Carolyn, I know you said you thought this was a "cheat" when you did it, but again, I like doing it this way so that I can adjust the fit if necessary. I also think the serged finish looks just fine.

This weekend I will attach the waistband and hem them. I hope these will fit really well after I attach the waistband, because I like the feel of them and I think they will be really comfortable.

Time to Vote (Endless Combinations)

I just thought I'd put a blurb on my blog about voting in the Endless Combinations contest. As far as I know, there has been no announcement that it's time to vote, but if you haven't had a chance to look, go over to Pattern Review and look at all the wonderful things that have been made for the Endless Combinations contest. The idea of the contest is to make at least 4 garments. Each new garment must go with at least one previous garment. All of the entries look good, so it will be hard to vote, but if you get a chance, go over and cast a vote!

New Pants

From Pants 2009

Well, here is trial number one with the pants. Although not perfect, they certainly are wearable. I think the crotch is a little low and have marked the pattern to raise it next time. After all that raising and lowering I did on the pattern, I ended up taking out everything I added in. Also, since wool crepe is a bit stretchy, I ended up taking and additional 1/2 inch off the side seams all the way down. Wool fits so much better than tissue paper!

Even though I must have tried these pants on ten times while making them, there are some things that you just don't see until the waistband is attached and you take pictures.
These are the changes I will need to make for next time:

1. increase front inseam even more to accomodate large thighs
2. raise the crotch seam
3. decrease the back inseam to reduce bagginess under the butt
4. adjust the back crotch curve. It seems to be tight across the fullest part of my butt

From Pants 2009

From Pants 2009

One thing I did a little differently was on the zipper. The seam allowance looked like it was going to really fray there, and since I had not serged that s.a. before putting in the zipper, I decided to bind the seams with Seams Great. I have never been thrilled with this product, since I always expect it to be easier to use than it is. Maybe you just get better with it the more you use it. YOu can see that the second side (the right) looks better than the first.

This and That

Yesterday I got my pants cut out and the darts sewn. I had to stop progress because DH and I were going up to Three Rivers to see my brother play. My brother is a gifted musician - the kind that can just pick up any instrument and play it. Play it well. I taught him how to play guitar when he was in 8th grade and he hasn't stopped since. He has a band called Stillwater, but last night he played unplugged up at a small place in Three Rivers, which is our local "mountain community" Its really the foothills, but a beautiful place. We only stayed for a couple of sets, but it was really fun. I'm always awed a bit and inspired to get back to my own guitar playing whenever I watch Tony play. Sorry for the bad quality photo - I took it with my phone, so no flash, poor lighting, and ...oh well.


Oh, and BTW, can you see that beautiful artwork on that acoustic base? It was done by one of the local artists. I didn't get a chance to really look at it up close, but it was pretty amazing. (You can click to enlarge, but the picture's not that great.)















Maureen asked, "Which view are you making?" on the pants. Well, I'm making view A, which is the one on the far left. This pattern is set up with 3 views in levels of difficulty. They suggest starting with view A because there are no pockets, no pleats, and a center back invisible zipper. View B is similar, but with pockets, pleats, and a fly zipper. View C has pockets, stitched down pleats, wider legs, and a fly. Andy's working this morning from home, so I'm hoping to get some sewing done while he's doing that. That means I have to get off the computer and to the machine!
Oh, and just for laughs, here's why we had to take down our Christmas tree early.

Tissue fitting pants

Yesterday I spent a lot of time tissue fitting a pair of pants. After watching the Patti Palmer pants fitting video which I got from Smartflix, and seeing McCalls patterns on sale for $1.99, I decided to get the Palmer Pletch pants pattern 5239. I love that the pattern has super detailed instructions on how to tissue fit pants. I also have the book Pants for Real People, and the instructions on the pattern sheet are pretty much the same. PP suggests buying the pattern by your hip size and if you are between two sizes, to go with the smaller size. My hip measurement is between a 14 & 16 in patterns, so I went with the 14. I probably should have gone with the 16 since I ended up adding tissue to all of th side seams in the hips and thighs. It was also interesting that when I tried on the tissue after a few adjustments, it just didnt go up to my waist correctly, so I added 1" to the crotch depth - and in the end, I ended up lowering the waist seam by 1"! Its funny because basically I took out what I added in. I think this must mean that I have a high hip and needed the hip curve to be a little higher up. It really made a difference in the wrinkles and fit.

Here is a picture of the pants front pattern after the tissue fit alterations. I just put it on the purple fabric so you could see the tissue paper. And guess what? The pattern actually recommends that you make the pants in black wool crepe! BUT, since I am not allowing myself to buy the coveted black wool crepe (It's coveted because I have to get it online, no one sells it here) until I make two pairs of pants, I will have to make it out of another color. Today I will decide what to make it out of.....


I have had really limited success with pants, so I'm almost afraid to cut my fabric! The last pair of pants I attempted was a pair of black wool pants from a TNT. But, I over adjusted it and they came out too tight! What I do like about the PP pants pattern is that it is sewn with 1" side seams and you pin fit the pants before you sew them as well. DH is at work today and I'm not, so I'm hoping to get started on the fabric of these pants today. I'll keep you posted of progress.

Sewing Smarter and Resolutions

Happy New Year Everyone!

Thanks so much for all of your wonderful comments on my coat and my sewing projects of 2008. The blogworld is such a supportive place to be. I really do appreciate all of your imput. Some of you probably don't know, but my husband is blind, so I can't really "show off" my creations to him. (the good side of that is that he can't see how much stash I have!) Any way, thanks again for all of your support. It really does mean a lot to me.

The new year is upon us and although I’m not much for New Year’s Resolutions, I’ve been thinking about some things I want to do differently this year.
In the area of sewing, I really want to sew smarter this year. What does that mean? Well, first of all, I think I really need to take a look at the things in my closet that are my “go to” pieces. There are certain things that I tend to pull out and wear over and over, so these are the kinds of things that I need to make more of. Sometimes I am surprised at what these things are. And then I need to think about WHY they are my favorites. Is it the fabric? the style? the fit? the color?


That being said, I think my mission the first months of 2009 will be to get some great looking pants. I have made a number of pair of pants over the last few years, but none of the fitted pants am I that thrilled about. Last week I watched Patti Palmer’s pants fitting video from Smart Flix, and am anxious to try her method. Once I get a good fit, I want to make about 5 pair of pants to really have it down. I also want to make a pattern template once I get the fit I want, and use it to adjust other pants patterns.


However, my first pants project of the year will be another pair of the Marcy Tilton Pants. I made the cropped version for summer and ended up wearing them way more than I thought I would. so this goes with resolutions 1, 2, 4, & 6.









I think my other big project for 2009 will be to get a great fitting white shirt. I like wearing collared shirts under sweaters and alone. Short sleeved “camp shirts” seem to be the thing I always grab for when I don’t know what to wear and I am in serious shortage. Sleeveless collared shirts are one of my favorites in summer, so I need to make some of these as well. THe first pattern I’m going to try for this is the Palmer Pletch one shown here.







My resolution last year was to make more from my stash than what I bought. I have no idea if I followed this rule, because I lost track somewhere along the way. I still think know I bought more than I sewed, so this year I’m really going to try to reduce my stash! I’ve already started by pulling out a big shopping bag of fabric that I am planning to give away to another lady who sews in my church. I found that I don’t have that much that I want to give away, which means I need to hurry up and make a lot of clothes since I love all the fabrics I have.


And on that, a word about buying. This year I do not want to buy anything unless I have a specific purpose for it, plan to make it soon, and absolutely love it. I think I often tend to buy fabric because I know I can’t get it locally, so I buy things I think I will like and be able to use. Right now my fabric cabinet is stuffed, so I need to get busy and start thinning it out! So, right now I'm dying to buy some black wool crepe for pants, but I'm making myself make 2 pairs of pants from what I have before I can buy any black wool crepe!


And what about patterns? Well, I definitely have more than I need. I AM keeping my BWOF for another year, and this year I hope to make more BWOFs than in 2008. In 2008 I only made up 7 BWOF patterns out of the 45 things that I made. (I only did 41 reviews) My favorite BWOF pattern that I made this year was the poet’s blouse number 122 from January 2008.
But, OMG! Have you seen the new Vogue catalog magazine? There are some gorgeous patterns in there that I just love. In fact, I placed an order for the spring catalog yesterday. Their new patterns aren’t up on the site yet (well, not as of yesterday) but I’m drooling over some of them. So, I know there will be some new pattern purchases this year!

And finally, the TNT. This year, I want to try to make the things I like more than once. I always like when I see a review or blog post where someone has made something a few times in a row and changed it each time. I need to do more of that this year.
It’s so easy to get caught up in , “I could make that” but this year my mantra will be “Don’t make what you can buy” Sewing time is precious, so I really want to make things that I love. I do have a lot of fit problems with RTW, so I really want to get great fit and then make it over and over again.

So, to sum up, I guess you could say these are my sewing resolutions:

1. Make more things that I really love, are comfortable, and fit my lifestyle
   
2. Work on pants
3. Make a great white shirt - or two or three
4. Make more than I buy in fabric - there are no "if's, and's, or but's" on this one
   
5. More BWOFS than last year - so that means at least 7
   
6. Use more TNTs - or try to make new patterns more than once.
   

*I’m also really wanting to try some of the vintage patterns I have this year. Most of them are summery dresses, so that won't happen until at least spring (probably)

Also, I've really been thinking about contests. Although they are fun and motivating, I think sometimes they really stilt my creativity. I either want to finish by a deadline and so I hurry, or I make projects that are less detailed in the interest of time. I'm not saying I wont do any contests, but I'm really going to think hard before I join one. Speaking of which, my coat was the last piece to the Endless Combinations contest. Here is what I ended up making:



So, I’d love to hear, how do you plan to sew smarter this year?