Jan/Feb Roundup

It’s March! How has that happened?! It seems like just a few days ago that it was New Year and I was writing my first blog post but here we are, in March. It doesn’t help much that the weather is still desperately clinging onto winter! I wasn’t planning on doing round-up posts of all the things I’ve made so that’s not what this is, I don’t feel like I have made any great strides to becoming more sustainable so I want to have a look back at how I am getting on with my goals and have a look forward at what I could do differently. I also have been really inspired by some amazing people in the first couple of months of this year so I thought it would be nice to do a little ’round-up’ of what’s inspiring me to keep going down this path.

First of all, let’s talk about what I’ve made – in the first two months of the year I have made 10 things. That rate of sewing 5 items per month means I am working at EXACTLY the same rate as last year. My idea to embrace ‘slow sewing’ and sew more intentionally with more attention to detail does not seem to be slowing me down at all. Perhaps as my skills have developed so has my speed, perhaps it’s just because I made a lot of gifts in January, either way I want to make sure I am sewing more mindfully from now on and will be a bit more careful about what I make.

So far this year I have made 3 out of my #2018makenine list – the tailor’s ham, the Collins Top and the Kielo dress. I am really pleased with these makes and am also thrilled that everything I have made so far this year has come from stash fabric, can you believe so far I HAVE BOUGHT NO FABRIC OR PATTERNS IN 2018?! That is all about to go out of the window as I am heading to Birmingham for a mooch round the Rag Market with my mum in a couple of weeks but I am hoping to be restrained and perhaps just come back with a couple of pieces of Overstock fabric.

Other than sewing with my stash fabric and not buying any new fabric this year, I don’t feel like I have made any steps towards being more sustainable. I don’t really feel like I made any changes at all. I am hoping to try and save up to buy some more ‘eco’ fabrics this year and try including them in my sewing more. I am also going to set myself the target of investigating some natural dyes after the Kielo dress I dyed was such a big hit! All in all though I am not going to beat myself up, I’ve made a good start to the year and am looking forward to continuing using up my stash a bit more! Have you seen the #makeyourstash challenge set up by Kate of Time to Sew and Pilar of Pilarbear? From the 1st of March to the 1st of May they are encouraging us to sew up some fabric that has been sitting in the stash for six months or more, post a picture with the hashtag #makeyourstash and you could win prizes! What a great challenge! I hope this gets lots of people looking at their stashes and sewing up some beautiful pieces sitting unloved.

Kate of Time to Sew is one of the people who I have found especially inspiring so far in 2018, she talks passionately about sewing sustainably and still produces some beautiful garments and shows them off with beautiful photography. If you are interested in sewing more sustainably I highly recommend you give her blog a visit!

Another account I have discovered this year and am keenly following is projectremake on Instagram. She has set herself the target of refashioning 100 garments in 365days this year and I am really enjoying following along and seeing how someone can look at a garment differently and transform it into an entirely different piece of clothing. Refashioning is something I have hardly attempted but is something I would love to do, I just really struggle to see a garment as anything new so I am getting really inspired by this account and it is giving me loads of ideas.

The last person I am new to following is Katrina Rodabaugh who posts on Instagram a lot about sewing slowly and the idea of emotional sewing. By sewing emotions into our garments we are more likely to care for them and mend them when they need repairs, by extension, our clothes are more likely to last longer and we are likely going to need less of them. I love her whole ethos and am constantly inspired by all the little details she puts into her clothes. Can you believe those moon phases she has sewn into the facings of her dress? No one is going to see that, it’s just a special treat for her. I also love that she prints poems onto fabric and sews them into pocket bags and facings! Katrina also posts a lot about natural dyes so I think a good research through her page will be a good place for me to start when I choose into the world of natural dyeing.

So that’s it. My Jan/Feb in a nutshell! Are you happy with your making this year? Who is inspiring you at the moment? Any recommendations for me?