A Year Of Sewing

A year ago, I pulled my old, junky hand-me-down sewing machine out of the garage and decided I wanted to learn how to use it. At first, I just stared at it in wonder because I didn't even know how to thread it or wind the bobbin. But I knew I would learn because my desire ran deep.

My very first sewing project looked like this:

and after I finished it I knew I was hooked. What came next were simple things like throw pillows and drawstring bags for my kids. And then I made my first piece of clothing and I was in love.

I didn't know a year ago just how much sewing would become a part of my life, but there's no question that it has become a big part of it. I sew nearly every day and it's a special time for me. I wait until Seth is at school, Owen is napping, and Ezra is having quiet time. And then I sit down and sew and savor every second.

Sewing has taught me to keep trying and has given me confidence that I can do hard things. I wish everything I made came out just how I want it to, but it doesn't. That's okay though, because then when something does turn out just right it makes it all the sweeter.

Last week, I finished Ezra's welt pocket Sunday pants (I gushed about the welt pockets in my last post). They turned out very nice and I was happy about that. I wanted to take some good pictures of him in them when we went to church yesterday, but we never made it to church because Owen had a terrible ear infection and was up all night crying. So I will settle for the pictures I took of him right after I finished sewing them. They're not great pictures, but I'm not here to impress anyone so it doesn't matter.

I had to beg him to put them on and let me take pictures of him in them. This face tells you how excited he was about it:

He's so funny. I got a couple anyway.

I asked him if I could take a picture of his back pockets, and he really stuck those pockets out for me.

I used another Oliver + S pattern for these pants, the Art Museum Trousers. The pants came with a vest pattern too. I don't know if I'll ever make the vest because we're not really into vests, but I think it was definitely worth the money just for the pants pattern. The instructions are more tutorial style and now I know how to make welt pockets and that's definitely worth $15 to me.

After I finished Ezra's pants, I made a pair of jeans for me. They didn't turn out like I had hoped they would turn out. I used a pattern I drafted myself using a craftsy.com class that taught me how to do it. 

The instructor said to cut a flat waistband and then iron a curve into the waistband piece. I've made jeans from my pattern before and they've turned out pretty well, but this time the fabric I used didn't really want to curve even though I tried really hard. So when I sit or bend over, the waistband sags down because there's no curve to it.

Oh well. They're still wearable. And I consoled myself with the fact that they actually sag way less than any of my store bought jeans.

And you know what? I actually don't like to draft my own patterns. It stresses me out and that's the truth. I'm glad for the patterns that Jon and I spent hours making, but I doubt I will ever draft another pattern to sell.

Today I ordered this pattern by Meg McElwee from sewliberated.com. I took a craftsy class from her and it rocked, so I'm hoping this pattern will be good and fit nicely without much work. And it's a very simple pattern so that's a bonus!

I'm also planning on buying this pattern for jeans from burdastyle.com because they look awesome. And then I want to buy this craftsy class to get more tips on making jeans. 

Anyway, happy one year sewing anniversary to me!