Newsflash: New Vogue Patterns Announced

The Vogue Spring collection is here!  I'm actually finding quite a few patterns that have interesting seam details and really flattering shapes.  There are also a lot of simple basics with nice details, so, a lot of great pieces that could be very practical for use in a wardrobe.

Love the seam details on the back!
These sorts of subtle goodies are peppered throughout this collection.

Let's take a look!

Newsflash: Burda Spring/Summer Catalog Patterns Announced

The German Burda website has the catalog preview for the Spring/Summer envelope patterns up on their website.  You can look at the full catalog, starting with the newest patterns here.  Overall I have to say there are some cute patterns, but also a lot of rather generic basics.  Basics are good for wardrobe purposes, but not overly interesting to discuss.  In any case, let's take a look at the new collection:

Newflash: February Burda Preview Posted

The full February preview of BurdaStyle Magazine is up at the Russian website.  You can also see a video sneak peak on the German site.  Based on the early images, I wasn't too excited for this edition, but I was hoping that line drawings and garment photos would convince me otherwise.  I have to admit, there look to be a few gems in this issue, but, overall, I think there are just too many pieces with too much volume, and not a ton of variety.  But, in any case, let's take a look...

Holiday Gift "Sewing"

These are really more what I would consider to be hand-made crafts, rather than actual sewing, though I did use my sewing machine a bit.  I also used Heat-n-Bond fusible web, and the internet to find images to use as the patterns.  Oh, and fleece.  Lots and lots of fleece.

Rainbow stack of fleece!

Green Lantern emotional spectrum scarves!

Violet: Love, Indigo: Empathy, Blue: Hope

White: Life, Green: Willpower, Black: Death

Yellow: Fear, Orange: Avarice, Red: Rage

Each scarf was completed with fringed ends.

I also made a few collegiate scarves for family members who wanted to sport their school colors.

Alphabet soup!  Oh, and a horse.

So, not much sewing got done during the holidays.  But, at least a little got done.  Enough for some simple gift sewing anyway.  And now I actually have a lot of ideas for appliqué scarves that I want to make for myself, though I don't know that I will have much time to make them, since it is time for hard core skating sewing to start up again.  But these don't take much time to make, so, well, maybe I will be able to find the time to make at least a little something for myself before I get overly busy again!

New Simplicity Patterns and February Burda Early Preview

I don't know how I missed it, but the latest Simplicity releases came out sometime in the past few weeks.  Overall I'm not too inspired by the latest collection, though there are a few cute dress patterns, and a really fun doll's pattern for Disney fans.

S1194 - I know it's a basic dress, but I really like this 50s reprint pattern.
I really enjoy seeing the original art on the package as well.

(Lack of) Sewing Plans 2015

Last year I had such grand plans.  I thought I would tackle some of my most coveted designs, have a fabulous wardrobe, and love my sewing life.  Of course, reality was quite different.  The past several years have started with me being excited, optimistic, and rather ambitious with my sewing ideas.  But, well, after a few years of not getting much (or, well, any) of that actually accomplished, I think my plans for the coming year will be a bit more... reasonable.  So my plan for 2015 is... NOT to have one.  I mean, really, my favorite designs always seem to come from fits of inspiration when I just can't not sew something anymore.  The fabric calls to me, and things get made.  Plans to have a well rounded wardrobe that was seasonally appropriate consisting of my favorite things have all met with failure.  So, I've decided to give in to the madness.  This year I am going to:

Yup, I'm going to sew what I want, when I want.  Granted, I'm going to have to finish a load of commissions first, BUT if I get a spare moment for myself, I will sew as my whims dictate.  A wool coat in the middle of August?  Why not?  A spring dress in the middle of November?  Might as well.  Random sewing is better than no sewing, and no sewing is what's been happening.  I want, no, I need to change that.  The desire is coming back, and I've got projects stacked to the rafters.  Some of them need to get done!

Although I'm not planning anything official, there are a few things I do want to accomplish this year:

(1) An awesome coat.  Like any kind of awesome coat.  I've got so many ideas!  And patterns!  And fabrics!  I just want to make at least one of them.

(2) Cosplays!  I would like to do at least one day at one convention in cosplay this year.  Because sewing needs to be fun again.

(3) The Elaine coat.  I've been promising this to my sister for 2 years.  The pattern plans have changed, but the inspiration and nagging haven't, so this needs to happen.

(4) Skating practice costumes.  Seriously, the seamstress shouldn't be wearing costumes full of holes.

(5) A ponte pencil skirt.  I keep wanting to wear one, but I do not have one.  It shouldn't be that hard!  It needs to get done.

Like I said - my plans are not extensive, or detailed, or specific.  At this point, if I can sew even one thing that can be worn out of the house as not pajamas I will consider this year a win.  That's where things are right now, and I have to be ok with that.  So, rather than having a detailed plan going forward, I'm going to Sew Random as time and whatnot allow.  I've certainly managed to stockpile enough stash to let my creativity run wild at this point.  Anyone else feeling bogged down by schedules and wardrobe planning and life?  Or just looking for an excuse to run higgeldy piggeldy through their stash?  Who want to Sew Random with me?

A Year of Sewing: 2014

This was, yet again, another year of sewing surprises - at least in terms of what was produced.  I had oh-so-grand plans at the start of the year - I was finally going to tackle all of the styles I'd been dreaming about for years now.  What I actually managed to sew... was quite different.  In fact, only 6 of the items I sewed this year were for me, and half of those were skating costumes.  Percentage-wise, well, it's pretty abysmal.  Especially considering that the 3 non-skating things consist of 2 pj bottoms and a knit top with an overly-stretched out neckline that hasn't seen much use outside of the house.  Here's a rundown of the numbers:

1 Top
2 Pants (PJs)
0 Skirts
1 Dresses (for my sister)
1 Coats/Jackets (for my sister)
0 Sweaters/Cardigans
3 finished, 2 half-finished Skating Costumes (for me)
27 Skating Costumes (for others)
2 Costumes/Cosplay (for others)
3 Home Dec/Crafts

Total Items Sewn = 40

The numbers are pretty sad.  My output is about half of what it was last year, and nearly all of the garments were fairly simple makes.  I never finished the figure dress I sewed for nationals (the stoning is as of yet incomplete), though I hope to get it done for some local events in the coming season.  I also never managed to photograph the white dance test dress I made.  I really need to do that sometime...  Granted, my post-nationals melt-down didn't help any, and I hate to say I feel as though I'm barely recovering from it just now.  On top of that, though I haven't really discussed it much on the blog - I've been dealing with a fair bit of inflammation from auto-immune flare-ups, which in turn has led to a not insubstantial amount of weight gain.  I can still mostly fit into my sewn garments, but they just aren't as comfortable as they used to be, which doesn't give me much motivation to sew more using my already tested and altered patterns.  I was feeling fantastic at the start of the year when I was living fully AIP (auto-immune protocol), and I think I really need to get back to that strict structure for at least 1-2 months, force myself to have a realistic bed-time, and re-introduce foods more slowly this year, because the food-reactive inflammation is definitely back and it isn't fun.  I didn't intend for this post to turn into a discussion of health issues, and how weight impacts sewing - though you are free to discuss this in the comments - I'm just saying it has been a harder year than I imagined it would be, I haven't been feeling fantastic lately, and it has definitely impacted my desire to sew.  Anyway, these are things to deal with looking forward, but this post was really supposed to be about looking back at the past year.

While last year's run down of my top projects were mostly all images of me, this year nearly all of my favorites were created for other people.

(1) Black/Silver Skating Dance Dress

The one thing I really loved that I made for myself was the skating costume I ended up using as a dance dress this year:

It was a costume I had originally planned to use only for testing or as a nice practice dress, but everyone was very complimentary, and it has ended up being one of my favorite skating costumes, ever.  It is super comfortable, and I think it has a nice impact on the floor.  Between this dress and my peacock dress from last year, I think I am definitely finding a signature style for myself.  I don't want my costumes to be repetitive, but, well, don't mess with what's working for you, right?

(2) Black Coat Remake

My sister requested a coat re-make sort of on a whim, and I was inspired to buy the fabric, cut it out, and sew it together in something like a week.  The results couldn't have been better.  Definitely one of my favorite makes ever, let alone this year:

The perfect medium-weight coat.

The lining might be my favorite part...

(3) Dirndls!

When I got asked to make two sets of dirndls for Oktoberfest (in Germany!) the Burda fan-girl in me was super excited.  It was a lot of work, but I was also very pleased with the outcome!  It was super fun to sew something so out of the ordinary, and I have to say I was pretty pleased with my ability to please two different clients - both in terms of fit and style.  It totally makes me want to sew more non-skating costume pieces in the future!

And, umm, yeah.  That's about it.  Not nearly as epic a run-down as last year, but, well, I still managed to turn out a few pieces that I really liked this year.  Was this year everything I wanted it to be?  Well, no.  Not even close, really.  Did I learn a lot about myself and how I want sewing to fit into my life?  Yeah, I think I did.  Is this going to help me make informed decisions for the future?  I hope so.  For now, I just have to get through the massive pile of costume projects I have built up.  After that... Well, we shall see.