Sew Weekly: Emerald, Turbulence & Vivacious Dress

I made a dress for MYSELF. WHAT?!

Yup, it's for real.

This is a 1971 pattern gifted from my Pattern & Notions Swap Partner, Denise at Dottie Doodle, and as we were sewing with the Pantone fall 2013 Colour Chart, I chose green, grey & the splash of pink (or Emerald, Turbulence & Vivacious for you train spotters) as how crazy is my fabric!

As usual, I wrote all about making it at the Reunion Blog, but it was pretty straightforward sewing, it just took a while over a few days to get it done. My sewing is so sporadic, as usually I sew well in one big hit... the stopping and starting makes me slow on the machine as it takes a bit to get back into the head space... like 'Now, WHERE WAS I?' type of thing!

 This look of filter is 1975 followed by a GRUNGE vignette... looks dreamy & old for me!

I just need a cocktail, right?

Baby Darling was no help during my 'fashion shoot' of course... but he was good at being a cutie little thing:

Man, imagine if I was doing Sew Weekly this year? My head would literally fall off with exhaustion. I'd probably sew, but never photograph anything! You'd just see a bunch of selfies in the backyard!

I'm sure this is just a small phase of my sewing or creating life... I wonder what kind of stuff I'll make or challenges I'll set for myself later on...? It's been hard to stick to my no new clothes goals this year... because of Mama Lyf, I tend to wear the same clothes again and again, so they wear pretty quick... my op shop stuff just gets worn down even faster... Fast Fashion has really taken over even the second hand clothing industry... nothing lasts! Or at least when you wear things down as quickly as I do!

Anyways, I'm sure this is also just a short phase of my shopping life too... at least I'm aware of what I buy and where it's made... the stuff I'm buying new, I'm aiming to give a long life to anyways.. rather than just 'this season'. I don't even really think of seasons as fashion seasons... just normal seasons!

But YAY, love that I made a dress for me! I might wear it when I GO BACK TO WORK IN OCTOBER, we'll see! xoxo

Sewing Weekly This Week!

This is the week our Sew Weekly Reunion 2013 garments are getting posted! Thank you to Adey for being so amazing and coordinating the whole thing for us! I haven't got a spare second to throw a stone (why would I do that, my metaphors are all mixed up?) let alone organise a massive reunion blog and sewing thingie!

Here's my sneak peak, emerald & turbulence and a splash of vivacious for my Pantone Colours! I'll post the rest of the photos of my outfit once the post goes up over on the reunion blog!

Have you posted a garment for the Sew Weekly reunion this year?

xoxo

My Gorgeous Pattern & Notions Swap!

I haven't had much time in my sewing/blogging career to do a sewing swap, and there are always lots going on here... but as The Sew Weekly Reunion has stirred a lot of passion around online, so I was keen to be involved in the swap that Kat set up!

For my side of the swap, I was assigned Toni from Sew Let It Be Done who lives in Salt Lake City in the USA and I had a big hunt through my patterns & (not many notions) for some special things... I found my handmade bias tape & included a little teenage vintage pattern for her daughter and Toni is over the moon happy with the stash! YAY I was nervous!

And in my postbox, I found this DARLING collection from Denise at Dottie Doodle that made me smile all over... perfect patterns, and perfectly coloured notions! Check out those big buttons! ARGH:

Thank you SO much Denise, you are a total sweetheart! She mentioned the blue braid is original 50s/60s as she bought it from a vintage fair, directly from the original owner! Amazing.

As I haven't started my Sew Weekly Reunion creation yet (but have ummed and ahhed about ideas) I'm thinking I'll switch to use that Style 3109 pattern instead... as I like the waistline... I'll see how I go this week, as there's not much time left! ARGH!

Thank you Denise & thank you Kat for organising! And Thanks Toni for all your swap love. How great are swaps? Why haven't I done one sooner?!

Love to you! (It's been a busy time for us, birthdays - MINE - and family stuff and just crazy house stuff and more... I'll try and fill you in, but we'll see!)

xoxo

Brainstorming: The Sew Weekly Reunion Colours

If you are sewing with us for TSW Reunion 2013, you'll have seen the challenge theme this year is the Pantone Fashion Colour Report!

My favourite colour palette was in 2011 when I sewed up this Colette Rooibos, and there are some colours reflected in this 2013 palette too. The pinks and greys in particular! Fashion forward perhaps? LOL

I like a lot of these colours, especially with black, as it's winter here, I might make something that fits in with my existing wardrobe. Or I might just make something for when I return to work, like a proper dress?

Anyways, I better get a wriggle on and decide!

The Sew Weekly Reunion 2013

YIPPEE!

We're getting nostalgic around here, as along with my sewing friends Adey, Sarah & Debi - we are excited to announce The Sew Weekly Reunion of 2013!

If you're new to the sewing blogging world, or like hearing about recaps, The Sew Weekly was Mena's  wonderful creation that brought together lots of sewing fans & creators from around the world. Mena sewed for 52 weeks in 2010 to establish the Sewing Weekly vibe, and invited us four contributors to join her in 2011! Together we set themes, fabric ideas and garment choices and sewed up a storm! It was so much fun and a lot of hard work! Last year over 100 contributors joined The Sew Weekly and now we're hosting The Sew Weekly Reunion for 2013!

And you can sew with us! If you like sewing! If you don't like it as much, you'll be seeings lots of blog chatter about it and I'm sure enjoying the creations and fash! There's a button:

YAY for buttons!

I loved sewing each week, even though it was hectic, and you can browse through my creations here on Mena's blog or here on my blog! When I tell people IRL what I did for 2011, they are like WHUT!? They can't believe it! I'm sure if you contributed to the 2012 you'll know people's reactions well!

So I can't remember what's going to happen now!? Um, I think you should register your interest via the new The Sew Weekly Reunion page! And then wait to hear more cool things! (Can you tell I'm excited but not doing any of the organising thanks to Mama Lyf?!) (P.S Thanks Adey & Debi for being legends!)

Here's a few of my all time fave Sew Weekly posts, just to get you in the mood!

Oh boy, I made a lot of things!

xoxo