Sewing Goals 2018

For 2018, I am hoping to:

-Sew things that I regularly wear

-Toile garments to ensure a good fit

-Refashion some old garments

-Use my existing pattern collections

-Start making underwear: aiming to start with knickers/bralettes, structured bras may have to wait until 2019

-Adhere to Goodbye Valentino’s Ready to Wear ‘RTW’ Fast [Info here]

-Use up my existing fabric stash

-Finish off or repurpose the fabric from my unfinished 2017 makes.

To achieve these goals, I have cheated a little bit! Between Boxing Day and the clock striking midnight and hailing in 2018, I purchased an Oliver Bonas structured skirt which I love, a blue lace long sleeve top, pyjama bottoms, 6 pairs of underwear and a purple cardigan in the sales, with a pair of jeans and a dress (70% off!) from Boden on their way. In terms of raw materials, I took advantage of the Seasalt fabric sale too, with some gorgeous needlecord and cotton voiles in the post.

So! What am I going to do first?

I am going to refashion a long sleeve jersey top into a George and Ginger Lovesick Bralette. This is a free PDF pattern available via the Facebook group here. The fabric pieces are ready to sew, and I am hoping this will be a quick make.

I have been reading Lotta Jansdotter’s book Everyday Style. I’ve traced the pattern pieces for the Owyn trousers and the short version of the Tedra skirt, with pockets. I am hoping to use the Seasalt needlecord for one of these projects, as it will fit in with the simple style and Scandi-aesthetic. I really liked this book; the patterns are stylish but hopefully not too difficult to assemble. The author is a designer and printmaker, so visually speaking it’s beautifully put together. More about Lotta’s work can be found here.

Finally, to break up the verbosity, here’s a vintage pattern from 1964 that I bought from Lou Lou’s Vintage Fair before Christmas:

This is the first pattern I have earmarked for the to-do list. I will need to compare the pattern to my sloper and re-draft it (swayback adjustment, wider sleeves) and will be making a muslin.

Wish me luck!