05/10/2019

Yellow Waxed Cotton Kelly Anorak

Well hey there!  Gosh it's been a while, hasn't it?  Here I am back again, with a sewing project from the spring to share with you all!  Yes, from the spring.  Good thing is though, that the yellow waxed cotton canvas Kelly Anorak I sewed up last spring also works PERFECTLY for the fall!  It's a beautiful early fall day outside today and I was feeling inspired to finally share this make, so perfect timing to take some photos of this jacket I love so dearly.  


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05/05/2019

Me-Made-May 2019 Pledge

Ooops!  I realized I never posted my pledge for Me Made May 2019 on here!  It's up on my Instagram, but might as well get it posted up here for posterity's sake ;)



For the month of May 2019, I pledge to do the following:

  • Track what I wear and how I feel in an effort to find gaps in my me-made wardrobe and cull unworn items;
  • Implement a fabric buying ban: I have a stupid amount of fabric stashed away and there is no reason to buy more;
  • Sew for at least 15 minutes every day (when possible), as I find I loaf around on the couch after work on weekdays and then feel guilty for not doing anything productive/ not sewing.
I'll be keeping up with my progress by posting daily outfit photos on the 'gram, and posting about my 15-minutes of sewing in my stories.

So there it is!  Spoiler alert: I already cheated a bit on the fabric buying ban.... I did buy some fabric at the veeeery end of April, and then scooped up some swimwear fabric from Blackbird when it dropped the other day... OOOPS.  I mean, I'mma give a pass on the swimwear especially because I don't really have a stash of that, and don't have enough for some new swimmers this year.  Sure sure I made 3 suits last year... but I don't actually love all of them?  ANYWAYS!  We'll see how the rest of the month goes!

21/04/2019

Me-Made-May Outfit Tracker Template 2019!

Last year, as a part of my Me Made May 2018 Pledge, I wanted to track what I wore every day, and how it made me feel... so I put together an "outfit-tracker"!  I've updated the Outfit Tracker for this year, and once again have made it available for download.

The tracker is laid out like a calendar, and with the drop-down menus, you can select what you wore that day from your own list of self-made items.  Last year I wrote a quick blurb about how I felt... but this year I'm just going to use a numbered system for consistency's sake.  Feel free to use it however you wish!

You can also change the names of the categories or take some out if they don't quite suit you... but I feel like I've covered almost everything that one could be wearing day-to-day!  I guess with the exception of undergarments, but you can always enter those in the "Other" category.




If you would like to download the template, I've made it available at this link: http://bit.ly/2HYLC9d

If you do use it and share it, all I ask is that you tag me @kalliesews, or give me appropriate credit as I built it from scratch 🤓.  Thanks!  If you have any questions or comments, leave a comment here and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.  Happy #memademay2019!

24/03/2019

Cone Mills Denim Morgan Jeans

Now that I know I can do it, I am OBSESSED with making jeans & pants.  OBSESSED, I tell you.  Last year I had maybe 3 pairs of pants, total, in my wardrobe.  Only one of them being me-made.  Now I'm up to at least 7 pairs, all me-made.

These are (I think) the third pair of wearable pants I made, second pair of denim jeans, and first made from non-stretch fabric.  When I bought the 100% cotton Cone Mills denim, it was really stiff and I was worried about how it would sew up.  Thankfully it softened up perfectly in the wash, and is just the right weight and slight drape for a pair of "boyfriend style" jeans.  Enter, the Morgan Jeans by Closet Case.  


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17/03/2019

Burgundy Cleo Pinafore

In the spirit of the #SewBibs challenge, I present my burgundy twill Cleo Pinafore!  Sew Bibs is a challenge for the month of March hosted by a handful of awesome women.  You can catch the details of the challenge on the blog Fa Sew La, and a pattern round-up on the blog Cookin' & Craftin'.


This is the second Cleo I've made, but the first one I've actually worn more regularly.  The first one was made in a similar fabric, but in green... and doesn't really fit anymore.  I was a bit hesitant to wear this to work... but paired with a black turtleneck or a black & white striped top, I looks put-together enough for my somewhat casual office.

24/02/2019

Green Denim Lander Pants

I have THE BEST story to tell about these pants.  I made them back in October, just in time to attend a conference on Women in Engineering.  Just after joking with some coworkers about not needing to attend the "Branding Yourself" panel because "my social media is on point"... I was recognized by a fellow sewist (from Winnipeg?!?) JUST BECAUSE OF MY PANTS!!  It seriously made my day, and it was SO much fun to meet a fellow sewist/ engineer!

19/01/2019

2018 Wrap-Up & 2019 Make Nine Plans

I realize I never posted my 2018 Make Nine plans on here, so I won't really bother with posting the outcome (I'm very pleased!) since you can find a pretty detailed breakdown over on my instagram account.  I didn't get a whole lot of blogging done, mostly because I didn't make the effort to take photos of a lot of my makes (more on that, over here).  BUT - I really did make a lot of things!!  I've also been more on IG than on my blog since it's just so much faster and easier to share a quick snap of my work outfit for the day, or a story on what I'm working on.  So, despite not being successful at blogging about the things I've made, I've been quite successful in filling my wardrobe with even more me-made items.

On to 2019 plans!!  While I do really like the idea behind the Make Nine Challenge, I realized I didn't really like picking out nine patterns I was going to sew throughout the year.  New, exciting patterns are released, a pattern I chose back in January might just not be my style any more, and I definitely sew WAY more than nine things in a year, so it's not much of a challenge!  So, I revisited the actual goal of the challenge:
This is a gentle challenge. It’s not one that you can fail. It’s meant to be flexible, a tool you can use to evaluate your motivations and needs for working towards specific things as the year goes on. This is meant to be a challenge focused on learning more about yourself and your making habits while achieving goals. Work at your own pace and join in at any time. – That’s it! (Rochelle, Home Row Fibre Co.)
With that in mind, I decided to go about my 2019 Make Nine a lil' bit differently.  CATEGORIES.  There are SO MANY PATTERNS I really want to sew this year, and other things I would like to get done... but I picked a handful of things that aren't on my usual go-to list.  This gives me a whole bunch more flexibility, but still acts as a goal to drive my sewing for the coming year.  Click on through for more deets and some patterns I'm thinking about.