Hello there,
Another three months have blown by. I've been sewing like crazy but decided not to blog all that sewing. I'm testing the waters on a new adventure in 2019 - selling sewn things at our local farmers market. I spent most of my sewing time in spring coming up with exact products to sell, testing supplies, prototyping sizes/styles, etc to prepare for the summer market. I knew I'd drown if I tried to blog all that so I decided to go a different route. I started an Instagram account for all things related to the market. That serves as my one place to put both project/finished photos as well as let people know when I'll be selling since I definitely can't sell every weekend. Its been fun so far! I've really enjoyed the making/prototyping side of things (I'm focusing on bags and pouches and I could make those till the cows come home). Things aren't selling as fast as I would like so we'll have to wait and see how the rest of the summer goes and reassess as we go along. Maybe things will pick up, maybe I'll try something different in the future. The big girls are selling their crafts again this summer so its a fun thing for the three of us to do together. And I won't lie - even if sales are slow, an evening or morning at the market with the teens is a great break from toddler watching. :)
I'm selling at the Cameron Park Farmers Market in La Crosse and my instagram account for that is @sewn.by.anne.lacrosse if you want to follow that adventure.
I'm going to keep this blog as my personal sewing notebook where I'll post about things that are for me and my family and not intended for sale. I have done a little garment sewing so thats what this post is about.
I tried out a new pattern designer earlier this winter - Kimberley Payne of Straight Stitch Designs. I was hunting for a warm comfy sweatshirt to slightly 'up' my fashion game from the same old Columbia zip fleeces I've been wearing for (cough cough) a decade or more. I tried her Fauntleroy and really liked it. I made one (the purple sweatshirt) and wore it at least weekly for most of the winter so then I recently made two more to add to next fall/winters wardrobe. (Thats about how things roll here clothing wise - I make turtlenecks in May when the rest of the internet is gearing up for summer sewing.)
This is the first one I made.
(Disclaimer: Pollen everywhere. Seasonal allergies. Ignore the puffy eyes. Oh, how I loathe having my picture taken...)
I used a RTW sweatshirt that fits well and the finished garment chart from the Fauntleroy to choose a size 8 and I got lucky on the first try! Nothing is more annoying to me than messing up sizing and making a garment that doesn't fit. (Leah's gotten more shirts than I care to admit that way.) But this time I got it right. I used sweatshirt fleece from Girl Charlee and it came out great. Warm, cozy, not too tight, perfect for my stay at home mom life. It has washed well too - another bonus. I like the lengthened cuffs of the design and I did a split hem on this one which makes it a little less 'sweatshirt' looking. I went for the full turtleneck first but it was comically huge and in such a bulky fabric was ridiculous looking so I took it off, cut off a good 4'' in height and sewed it back on. It still keeps me warm but I'm not drowning in it now.
(This is after cutting the turtleneck in half.)
My second versions are more lightweight. I'll definitely do more sweatshirts in the future but these two fabrics were already in my stash and it was great to use them on something I knew would fit and get worn. The first is a pretty teal french terry from Imaginegnats. Its very soft and drapey and should make a fabulous shirt for all those in-between days when a tee shirt is too cold but a sweatshirt is too warm. I sized down to a size 0 to account for the difference in fabric weight. It seems just right. (Actually, I tried the 8 first. Way way too big. But I used that as a muslin to figure out how much smaller it needed to be and was able to pick it apart and cut a size 0 from inside the pattern pieces of the size 8. Whew.)
I think the Fauntleroy is intended for softer fabrics like this (rather than sweatshirt fleece) so the turtleneck is perfect on this one - not too tight, not too loose.
The second is a white rib knit from JoAnns. Somehow I do not own a good fitting white turtleneck which is a cardinal sin in my book. Hopefully this will fill that hole next winter. Again, a size 0 because rib knits have so much stretch. Its a very thick and fuzzy rib knit so I'm hoping to wear this one to death, both to church and in everyday wear.
So, there you have it. Three Fauntleroys. One thats gotten lots of wear already and two that I hope to wear a lot when it cools back down in fall. I found the pattern well designed in general and the only thing I wished for was more labels on the pattern pieces themselves for when you're tracing (it was hard to distinguish which pattern pieces were for which views on the pattern envelope, especially the turtleneck pieces). A minor thing. Overall I was happy with it and will try other patterns from her again. Its a very fast sew, which is awesome. Now that I know what sizing works for me its a garment I can cut and sew in just a few hours time.
I'm taking a break from 'sewing for sale' at the moment so I hope to crank out a few more garments in the next few weeks. Happy sewing!
