Garment sewing for quilters

I first started sewing in 2008 in order to make clothes -- and especially clothes for myself.  If I had devoted my creative time and energy to sewing garments, I would probably be pretty skilled by now.  I look at Tilly (from Tilly and the Buttons) or Peter (from Male Pattern Boldness), and all that these self-taught sewists have accomplished in just a couple of years, and I feel a little -- just a little bit -- sad.  But over the past three years things have changed.  I had (another) baby and  I discovered quilting.  My creative time and energy have been sent in several different directions.

Making clothes for a little one is great fun -- they are quick and easy and Miss F looks cute in everything! -- and quilting is completely addictive, creative, and satisfying.  Along those lines, I have a couple of recent finishes.

The other night I whipped up these little shorts from some denim scraps...they took about an hour to make, start to finish.

And Thea's Garden is now done, ready to be given to its little namesake.

Quilting (with all the possibilities of colour and pattern) has definitely taken up permanent residence in the creative corners of my brain; I think about possible projects all the time, and see quilt blocks everywhere -- but I still would like to be able to sew for myself.  So between writing tasks -- which are going to dominate my summer -- I am going to try to tackle some projects that are wearable and that are just for me.

Circumstances have conspired to make me feel less-than-glamorous recently (despite my husband's best efforts to make me feel otherwise -- thank you, sweet one!), but I am determined to make myself some simple summer dresses...ones that actually fit!

Towards that end, I have just finished a (first) version of M5882, which is a Kay Whitt pattern (aka Serendipity Studios) for McCalls.  I am getting better at adjusting commercial patterns to fit my body.

The most flattering shot --

And one of the less flattering shots (what happened to my legs?  And what's with the No Frills bin full of junk?) -- 

By the way: there were worse photos, but I have to maintain some degree of dignity!

I used some of my stash of quilting cottons for this dress -- a dark brown solid and a reproduction feedsack print...although I guess I might want to avoid anything called "feedsack" if I'm trying to feel better about myself and my wardrobe....

I made many, many adjustments to the pattern, including adding 2" to the bodice length, an FBA, a swayback adjustment, deletion of the neck and armhole facings (used white bias tape instead) and narrowing of the bottom band.  Next time (and I think I will make another version of this dress), I will make the dress a little bit shorter.

Phew.

Back to the grind.