#LindenSwap

Calling all sewers! Just in case this hasn’t come across you on your Instagram feed, or blog feed via Oh She Dabbles post yesterday, here you go again! Carrie and I have decided to do a Grainline Studio Linden Sweatshirt surprise swap, where we make and post each other versions of the sweatshirt. Last year, we did a Sew Bossy swap, which was so much fun, so we thought we’d do something similar again.

The #lindenswap is simple – you just pair up with someone (if you can’t find a partner, send Carrie an email), share any fabric preferences, sizing etc, and swap! If you finish by Valentines day, share your make by using the tag #lindenswap on Instagram, and Carrie will do a round-up on her blog of all our pretty makes!

Circular Linden

Another Linden! The first make for my “perfect casual wardrobe”. With a circular twist.

So before I wrote the last post – I made a pretty dress…

In my last post, I wrote about my sewing plans going forward and how I’m planning to focus on making a more casual wardrobe. Please note that I made this dress before writing that. Now I know that I’d already designated my Dahlia dress to be my New Years outfit, but I got a last minute itch and decided to go in another direction. And here is the result.

Looking ahead

Too much happened last year for me to sum it up in one blog post (quittingmyjobandmovingtoanothercountrytostudy sort of stuff). Instead, I’m looking ahead.

Come January, I will have gone a whole year without buying any RTW clothes. I took the seamless pledge in August in order to make it official, so I have no intention of stopping now. I’m p.r.e.t.t.y darn pleased with myself, as I never thought I’d be able to do it. But if I’m honest, my wardrobe has suffered. Despite making 35 pieces of clothing last year, there are still a lot of gaps.

I’ve realised that when you’re making all your own clothes, you need a plan (I know, I’m late to the party). My strategy has so far been ‘ooh that’s a pretty dress pattern’ or ‘ooh that’s a pretty flowery fabric’ and not thought much about wearability. Therefore, my wardrobe is suffering of a lack of nice everyday casual clothes. I now have a plan to fix this…