new sewing machine and 2008 SWAP

It was probably one of the toughest decisions I've had to make in a while to drop out of the 2008 Timmel SWAP. My sewing machine dying a week before the contest deadline made me feel only slightly better that I wasn't frantically trying to finish up 11 garments with nothing to sew them on! The broken sewing machine problem is no longer, though - thanks to my wonderful hubby, I am now the owner of a brand spaking new Janome HT2008!

I did quite a bit of comparison shopping online and testing at the various dealers in town before deciding on this machine. Of the machines I looked at, my favorites in my price range were the Brother Innovis 80 Project Runway edition, the Viking Emerald 183 and the Janome that I ultimately purchased. I also looked at some Singer, Pfaff and Babylock machines but wasn't as impressed with the models that were available at my local dealers - or the pricetags of some of them. I was most torn between the Janome and the Viking - the Brother was very similar to the Janome in terms of ease of use and available functions, but felt much more portable and not as sturdy as the Janome. The biggest reason I decided not to go with the Viking was that the electronic display wasn't as user-friendly as I had hoped, and it was $200 more than the Janome. If my old Viking feet were compatible with the Emerald, I would have spent the extra money since Viking feet are notoriously expensive...my walking foot cost more than $100! Since the feet were not compatible, I didn't think it was worth it and went with the Janome.

This machine doesn't have a lot of the bells and whistles of the higher-end machines, but it also does not have the high-end price tag at $399. What it does have is 50 stitches, including 3 one-step automatic buttonholes and several different utility stitches. These utility stitches include several different stretch stitches, straight stitch variations and overlock/finishing stitches. It even came with a special foot for the overlock stitches. There are also darning, heirloom and decorative stitches - most of these I probably won't use...which is one of the reasons I decided not to go with the more pricey Brother or Viking models - extra stitches = extra cost that I just couldn't justify.

I have to say that so far I really love this machine!! I have only had it a couple of days, but so far it's great. I have only sewed the strap onto my Hooter Hider (nursing cover for baby Andrew), but it sewed through the 6 layers of fabric/interfacing and the rigelene boning like BUTTER!!!!

Now I have so much reason to sew. I go back to work in 3 weeks and would really like to have some new clothes to wear when I go back. Also taking into account that we have decided that hubby is going to stay home with the baby, I am forced to be on a budget - that means I have an even better excuse to sew since I do need new clothes and can't really justify a trip to the mall in my budget since I can sew and have the stash from my original SWAP plan...now to put that plan into action!

So even though I've missed the deadline (and only really completed 2 garments before the baby was born in mid-February), I am now going to work on making the SWAP garments. Instead of doing the original 11-garment plan, I'm going to make mini-wardrobes of 5-6 garments that consist of 2-3 tops, 1-2 bottoms and a jacket. I hope to have at least one or two new outfits to wear when I go back to work. We'll see how that works. Maybe I can get a full mini-wardrobe completed.

to SWAP or not to SWAP?

That is my conundrum. I REALLY want to participate in the SWAP. I have a plan, I have fabric, I have patterns and I've made my participating purchase. What I don't have is the confidence to be able to pull it off. At least not now. I started out with a plan to make post-maternity clothing that I can wear back to work while transitioning from pregnant body to post-pregnant body. The problem is that the contest started January 1st, ends the middle of April and the baby isn't due until next month. My doctor thinks I might deliver late and that will give me really only a month and a half to make and/or finish 11 garments. I was going to try and make a primarily-knit wardrobe based on my pre- and early-pregnancy measurements, but it just isn't working for me. Add on top of that the fact that my sewing room is still a storage room for everything that was in the nursery (back when the nursery was a storage room). I can't sew well when I'm disorganized and while I may be organized in the fabric, pattern, plan sense, I'm definitely not organized in the sewing location and notions sense. I find myself digging through boxes looking for notions and not being able to find what I'm looking for...it's frustrating.

I'm still going to keep my name in the hat for the time being, as I haven't really made a final decision as to whether or not I am going to participate. I have a plan B SWAP idea in place that will consist of a baby or toddler SWAP and have preliminary patterns picked out for both boys and girls so I'd be ready regardless of what we have.

So now onto the next topic...my sewing goals for 2008. I sat down today to make a list of all of the things I would like to accomplish sewing-wise in 2008. The top of my list is to reclaim and reorganize my sewing room so that I can actually begin to accomplish some of these goals. I also plan to make a bunch of stuff for the baby, but primarily I would like to complete some of the following projects (not necessarily in this order):

1. A set of fitting garments using Pattern Master Boutique. I bought the latest version of this software with my annual bonus from work and have not been able to play with it since I've been pregnant this whole time. I would really like to spend time learning how to use it and make a set of fitting garments.

2. A SWAP wardrobe - regardless of whether or not it's part of the official contest. If I don't participate in the contest, I am going to heavily modify the wardrobe to be less transitional and more cohesive of the type of wardrobe I want for myself as a professional working mother. I would ultimately like the full 3-phase and will probably include all of the following garments into the SWAP plan (except for the items I plan on making for the hubby or baby)

3. At least 2-3 shirts for hubby. Part of the reason for buying my embroidery machine was so that I could make retro/bowling shirts for my husband. My husband has lost some weight and is back to the size he was when we met, and while he was heavier he got rid of all of his smaller shirts, so this is going to be even more important when his work schedule lightens over the next several months.

4. Make hubby a wool coat. He asked me over a year ago if I would make him a wool peacoat style coat. I have the dark charcoal melton wool and Burday coat pattern that he picked out all ready to go.

5. Make at least one coat for myself. I have several coats I would like to make, but I have recently purchased a gorgeous furry wool/mohair fabric that would make a fabulous dressy coat.

6. Make a Chanel-style jacket using couture techniques. I have 4 different boucle fabrics to currently choose from, and 2 different suitable patterns.

7. Make a tailored suit. This may not be feasible in 2008, but I would at least like to have this planned on the back burner for the end of the year if possible. I don't have a dire need for suits, but I can see a benefit for just about anyone to have at least one smart tailored suit. It may include skirt or slacks or both, and I may even include a vest - I haven't really thought this one through, but since my old suit is about 4 sizes too big for me even now that I'm 8 1/2 months pregnant I think it's time to rethink a new one.

8. Make at least one designer "knock off". This is to be determined and may end up being included with one of the other projects, but I would really like to refashion a pattern, or use PMB, to knock off one or more of my favorite designer pieces.

9. Make a pair of jeans. I haven't made jeans since I was in high school and would really like to revisit the idea of this. I realized the other day, when I was mending my maternity jeans, that my trusty Viking sews through several layers of denim like butter so I'm excited!

10. Make a handbag. I haven't decided if I want to make a diaper bag, purse or tote of some sort, but I would really like to try my hand at making a bag of some sort. This is something I have never done.

11. Sew something from leather. I'm not sure if my first attempt at bag-making will also include my first attempt at sewing leather, but we have a great leather source in town and I would really like to attempt something from leather this year.

So those are my lofty sewing goals for 2008. I can accomplish most of them as part of a 3-phase SWAP. Notice how I don't call them "resolutions"? I want to challenge myself to accomplish as much of this as I can, but do not want to limit myself to just 2008. If I can have some of these accomplished and others completely planned for 2009 I will be happy. Ultimately, this is the year that I want to spend really honing in on my skills and working on mastering new techniques and trying some things that I have never ventured to try. I think the idea of becoming a mom has made me braver when it comes to my sewing and now I relish in the idea of giving myself the ultimate in sewing challenges. Then again, maybe it's just the nesting instinct kicking in and all of this momentum will go away as soon as labor starts. We'll see how well I do...

I need to name my SWAP!

The more I look at my current SWAP plan, the happier I am with it. I am usually my own worst enemy when it comes to trying to plan out a wardrobe like this (I was going to attempt the Wardrobe Contest over at patternreview.com, but could NOT make up my mind on what I wanted to make or what I wanted the wardrobe to look like). I think it helped that I have a specific need/desire in mind. When I was attempting create a summer wardrobe I didn't really have a need, and then I got pregnant and needed a "maternity wardrobe", but the contest was practically over and I had no desire to do anything but sleep!!!

But back to the current SWAP...I may have some additional tweaking to do once I get the rest of my fabrics in, but I think it's pretty much "the plan". I'm looking at this wardrobe as a *hopefully* somewhat sophisticated transitional wardrobe that will help me not only transition from post-pregnancy weight back to pre-pregnancy weight (and then finishing the weight loss I started before I got pregnant), but also transition from a more casual work wardrobe to a more professional work wardrobe. Even though my office goes anywhere from casual to professional and everywhere in between - I want to start maintaining a more professional appearance at work to go along with the promotion I received this week.

Since my color scheme is black/gray/white/purple, I've been trying to come up with a name that fits. I was originally thinking something that had to do with a cityscape at night with the dark colors with a splash of white, but I'm having a hard time coming up with a name that suits that theme. So far, the only name I've been able to come up with is "Smoke on the Water." There are several reasons why this name fits:
1. It is the name of a song by the band "Deep Purple" - being that the only real color in my wardrobe is purple, it fits.
2. The color of smoke can be any of the three remaining colors: black, gray, white.
3. When I think of the name "smoke on the water", aside from the song, it reminds me of a picture I saw of a forest fire near a lake. The photo was taken at dusk and the sky was several shades of purple, with the blackening lake, gray smoke and the glint of white from the moon reflected off the lake.

But I am open to new ideas. I still would like to come up with a name to represent a cityscape at night before I make a final decision as to the name...anyone have any ideas??

SWAP plan

After careful deliberation, I am going to make every attempt to complete the Timmel Fabrics SWAP. Since I will be in dire need of some transitional clothes once the baby is born and I go back to work. I don't anticipate having a lot of baby weight to lose, but I know I'm going to want comfortable clothes and then I plan on rejoining Weight Watchers to lose the rest of the weight I had to lose before I got pregnant. All in all, I'm expecting about 20lbs total. I have a lot of casual clothes, but not a lot of dressier work clothes.

So, this brings me to SWAP. With 11 garments, plus a couple of extras, I'll have a wardrobe that will be perfect for work, business trips and special events. Even though I won't be wearing any of these items during the fall or most of the winter, I have decided on a color scheme of black, gray, white and shades of purple. There are four reasons I chose this color scheme:

1. I'm a little bummed that I can't wear most of the gorgeous fall and winter styles that are coming out this year, so I'm going to wear them a season or two late (woman's prerogative).

2. My favorite maternity clothes (one top and two dresses) are in this color scheme and I plan on altering them to be wearable post-pregnancy, so they will be added to the final wardrobe to expand the number of options.

3. Purple and gray is one of my favorite color combinations and black and white are business wardrobe staples. Even though I can wear pretty much whatever I want to work, one of my plans for next year is to make a conscious effort to dress more professionally.

4. The majority of the wardrobe pieces (especially the bottom pieces) will go with many of the mis-matched tops I made for my early pregnancy and will allow more options for the transitional wardrobe.

Without further ado, here is my plan. I currently have one additional top and bottom piece than the SWAP rules call for, but this gives me a little bit of flexibility in decision making.



My chosen wardrobe pattern is Butterick 5101:


I chose this wardrobe pattern primarily because it was a knit wardrobe and knits are better for my post-pregnancy transitional plan. The reason I chose this over the many other knit wardrobe patterns was the fact that the top and skirt together look like a wrap dress, but will give so many additional options for a SWAP wardrobe. I like the wrap dress that comes with the pattern, but I really like the handkerchief hem of the skirt - my combination will be a black version of the all brown look on the far right of the picture.

As soon as all of my fabrics arrive, I'll post some photos of more detailed plans.

ok...so i've been giving this some thought

and I need some suggestions of some good patterns that I can possibly use for a transitional wardrobe SWAP. I need items for a primarily business-casual environment (once I'm back at work) that aren't too fitted and that I can make and mostly fit in the hip/bust areas while I'm pregnant. I don't think I'll really have too much baby weight to lose, but I want things that will be more comfortable than my fitted clothes I wore prior to becoming pregnant. I'm going to try and use as much of my stash as possible so that this wardrobe will only cost me whatever patterns I may need to buy and some notions...especially since I'm sure there are some pieces that I will only be wearing for a short time.

So if anyone has any pattern ideas of what would be appropriate for the office, yet still comfortable for a new mom, please let me know!!!!! Thanks :)

oh my goodness!!

I can't believe it's been more than a month since my last post. Unfortunately, there is still no sewing on the horizon. The house is chugging along, although it's going a lot more slowly than I had hoped. Hubby has been gone for the last month on a job training and is finally coming home in one day!!! In the meantime, I've been fighting with the contractor who is supposed to paint and install baseboards - they don't want to talk to me because hubby is the one who they have been dealing with. Oh well, at least I have beautiful new cherry hardwood floors.

I have contemplated participating in the 2008 Timmel SWAP, but since it doesn't start until January there really isn't any point. I was going to make a maternity SWAP if it started earlier, but since I'm due in early February I don't really want to make a whole wardrobe I can wear for only a month. I have some time to plan, maybe I'll make a post-partum transitional wardrobe to wear while I lose baby weight. Ooooh, that's actually a really good idea! Ok, now the ideas are rolling...time to rethink not participating!!

Well, I guess that's about all that's going on. Pregnancy is going well, hubby is coming home, work and school are taking up most of my time right now - but everything should be back to normal very, very soon.