Project Review 2012: April & May

 

I have gotten behind with  my monthly project review posts, which is why I am going to combine April and May.  :)  I feel I have been quite productive over the last two months and I even have a few unblogged items to add to my yearly tally.


First up is a dress that was made in March, but only photographed recently: my 'Home Sewing is Easy' dress.  I absolutely love this dress and (hopefully) without sounding like I'm over-tooting my own horn, it is one of my most favourite makes of this year.   The kitschy Alexander Henry print is the perfect tongue-and-cheek reference to my mad love of sewing and Simplicity 3673 is a perennial favourite.  Adding the sleeves, courtesy of Colette Patterns Jasmine, earned me some Franken Pattern points, too.

I've been moving along nicely on my That's Sew Cinematic projects and was quite happy with the outcome of my Modern Mary Crawley dress.  Kristiann, proprietress of Victory Patterns, was kind enough to gift me with the Chloe pattern as a thank you for hosting a giveaway.  I am quite pleased with this modern interpretation of Lady Mary's flower show dress and the addition of my favourite sleeves, Colette Patterns Jasmine, really worked for me.

Source: google.ca via Sarah on Pinterest

Other items I have been able to complete for That's Sew Cinematic include Lady Edith's floral blouse, Lady Mary's walking skirt, as well as, Linda's tunic and Larita's trousers.  I have decided not to make Lady Mary's Armistice blouse right now, as I really want to make it in a voile and not the cotton gauze I have in my stash.  I am still searching for just the right knit fabric for Audrey's dress.  I do plan to sew Vera's floral dress as my final item for the sew-along.

Tabatha's beautiful Licorice dress as featured here.

Sew Colette has been running along really well and I have been having such a great time sewing along with everyone!  I cannot believe that this month's project, the Licorice dress, is the last one.  It is such a pleasure and inspiration to visit the sew-along Flickr group and see everyone's amazing garments - make sure you stop by and have a look.  I will be finishing my sleeveless Licorice off this weekend.

Today is the deadline for nominating your top 5 makes of the sew-along.  If you haven't done so already, please list your favourites here.  We are really looking forward to featuring five fantastic ladies and their creations. 




I have been participating in Colette Patterns' Spring/Summer Palette Challenge and am happy to have a few completed items under my belt, one of which is a lovely floral Pendrell blouse.  As I had said in my original post, I am currently having a love-affair with blues; specifically, sapphire, periwinkle, and cornflower.  I have a new linen wrap skirt to share that I finished on Thursday.  I also have a great vintage sleeveless blouse cut out in a gorgeous hot pink Amy Butler fabric. 





With regard to my own Spring/Summer sewing plans, I am happy to say that I've been moving along quite nicely there, as well.  Embracing the fact that sewing through my entire fabric stash (a goal of mine this year) may result in a closet explosion has been really fun!  All I can say is thank goodness for an excellent closet rotation plan and under-the-bed storage boxes - hee hee! I whipped up a two-tone Sorbetto in May that involved a small piece of rarer-than-hen's-teeth Flea Market Fancy in green. 

I am really excited to say that I made a second version of Colette Patterns' Pastille, this time with a full skirt, and it's so pretty! It's exactly what I wanted and what I had envisioned when I was working on my first version.  Hopefully the rain will hold off for one day more and I can have Mr. Friday photograph it for me.

While June means the end of the Sew Colette and That's Sew Cinematic sew-alongs (boo!), it also marks the beginning of an exciting  new sew-along co-hosted by Erin, Rochelle, and I. We've been driving ourselves practically mad trying to keep this quiet until June and so far, we've been doing alright.  I really hope you are as excited about it as we are.

I am also really pleased and happy to be asked to co-host the Summer Essentials Sew-Along again, along with Ali (its creator) and Alessa.  This year will be a little bit different than previous years, but still really fun and with plenty of that camaraderie that we've come to expect.

* * * * *

Plans for June:

Advance 9423 in black and white gingham
Red linen drawstring capris
Vera's floral dress from Colette Patterns Oolong
Sleeveless Jasmines inspired by Jen