Projects on my mind

It seems my resolution to sew all of our clothes this year includes another goal. That is, increasing my sewing skills. It's really two-fold:

1. By sewing so much, I will get better at it.

2. By including an adult man, adult woman, and a toddler boy into this resolution, I will have to learn to sew NEW THINGS.

See, I love sewing rectangles together and making stretchy t-shirts, always will, but I wanna learn some other schtuff.

Well, I've had this Oliver & S Jump Rope Dress pattern sitting in my pattern drawer, getting lonely because I know it would take me longer than sewing a bunch of ruffles with my serger.

Yeah, sigh, it's taking me longer. It has actual pattern pieces and a collar and a placket (like on a polo shirt), y'know.

Doesn't help that I missed a couple sewing nights this week (ack! I knew I would jinx myself by sharing!). I've actually come to the conclusion that 10-14 hours a week may not be enough to dive into my sewing year. I need to incorporate it into my daytime schedule somehow. Hmm.

In the midst of enjoying a little slow-down with my current dress project, I've had some other sewing related items on my mind...

-As I cut & sew in the evenings, I've been listening to episodes of the Sew Forth Now podcast on my iPhone, headphones in. Don't let Lori's laid back tone fool you--she is an excellent, experienced seamstress. She is super stylish, and everything she makes is awesome. I love her interviews with famous bloggers/people in the sewing world and her pattern reviews. I've already learned quite a bit from her. She sews a lot for herself and for her kids, and while she's definitely in a different stage of life than I am, I enjoy listening to her sewing chatter.

-I am considering participating in Casey's Swing Dress Sew-Along, which uses Sense & Sensibility's Swing Dress pattern. I am a huge fan of Casey's blog, which covers all things vintagey, cooking, crafts, and sewing. This would be a great project to learn some basic female-form fitting techniques, of which I am totally clueless.

-Also pretty much 90% sure I'm going to do Peter's Men's Shirt Sew Along over at his blog, Male Pattern Boldness. I have been dying over Colette's new Negroni pattern, and along with the David Coffin's Shirtmaking book my MIL gave me for my birthday, I think I'm ready for a project like this.

-I have some lovely fabric coming in for some new cafe aprons for my etsy shop. And I still need to put up some other items I've already completed. More on that in the next week!

Back to *cough* The Studio for me...