August Sewing Plans

I mentioned in my most recent sewing post that I have been wanting to share more of the planning and behind the scenes work that goes into my sewing projects. As my sewing practice evolves and I gain more experience, my overall approach continues to shift. When I first began sewing, I was very intent on making one project from start to finish before moving onto the next. What I have come to realize is that this isn’t the most efficient option, and also doesn’t necessarily help with building my overall wardrobe. Now, I am beginning to plan out several projects at a time and I think that viewing them in one or two month blocks of time helps my creative process immensely. To that end, I hope to share more of my plans so you have a bit of a window into how I prep and how many of the plans actually come to fruition.

This is a partial stack of the fabrics I am hoping to work with for the month of August. Even since I have taken these photos over the weekend, plans have changed a bit, and that’s just the nature of how my creative process works! Without a doubt, my least favorite part of the sewing process is cutting out my projects. It requires extreme attention to detail and I have to be very focused when I am doing it. As a result, I have transitioned to cutting out several projects at once so that I can get all the cutting out of the way and then be ready to just sew, sew, sew. I have several projects cut out for August and have already started sewing some of them. Read on below to see what I’m hoping to sew up!

I absolutely love wearing dresses to work but I don’t have many in my current rotation. I am tentatively planning to make four total dresses this month. This is likely overly optimistic, but I don’t mind a challenge. The dress pictured here is a collarless v-neck with a gathered skirt and front button placket, and gathered elbow length sleeves. There are ties in the back of the bodice to provide added waist definition. I am planning to make two of these dresses, one in the blue and white striped chambray linen and one in a black lyocell linen blend. I have already muslined this project, made the necessary alterations, and the blue version is almost complete at the time of this writing. I am so excited about these!

I LOVE a shirt dress, and was really drawn to the utility style lines of this particular pattern. Like the dress above, I am hoping to sew up two of these. One will be in the floral Liberty print and the other in the bold navy and white stripe fabric. I’m a little nervous about the stripe because pattern matching is always a pain and there are quite a few pattern pieces, but I think it will be worth the effort in the end. I guess only time will tell. I have cut out the muslin of this but haven’t sewn it up yet. I hope there aren’t many fitting issues with this pattern because I am eager to get moving on these dresses!

I am in desperate need of a pair of white shorts that fits well since the pair I wore last year is a bit too small now. Unfortunately I have had zero luck finding my size from any companies that make ethical and sustainable clothing, so I decided I will just have to make them myself. I made a pair of these same shorts in a lighter stretch cotton twill earlier this summer and have worn them like crazy, so I’m really hoping the denim version fits just as well. I am trying the zipper fly version this time, but other than that change, I think this should hopefully be a quick sew for me since I have made these before.

I sewed my first swimsuit earlier this summer and was pretty thrilled with it overall. It is the perfect combination of cute and sexy, and fits me very well. There are a few minor sewing flaws that I think only I notice, but they are bothering me quite a bit every time I wear it. I am eager to sew another suit and refine my skills further. I’ve been wanting to sew this pattern for a while and have had this fabric in my stash waiting for the opportunity. This is all cut out and ready to go, as soon as my thread finally arrives. I am participating in the Black Makers Matter boycott of big sewing retailers that have not supported the Black Lives Matter movement and as a result, it is a little bit harder to find the sewing notions I need. It’s definitely worth the wait though, and I will always stand with Black Makers Matter.

Note, the fabric I am using is no longer available and that shop no longer sells fabric, but I linked something similar to what I am using below.

If you sew, what are you working on these days? Do you plan your projects in batches or do one thing at a time? I would love to hear about your creative process!