Progress

I have completed 3 bottoms and 4 tops of my SWAP. Two pairs of lined pants in stone and red brown gabardine. One pencil skirt in black/burgundy wool blend. One silk print blouse, one wool knit/lace top, one striped blend blouse, and one poly print chiffon with glitter tie front blouse. There was another rose knit top but it may be a wadder because of a poor fabric/pattern combo. It is aging a bit before a final decision is made. Additional info. on patterns, fabrics and pictures of me wearing the garments will be posted soon.

I took a vacation week between Xmas and New Years. All family holiday visits were completed earlier in the month. There were no trips or remodeling projects planned. Bliss. I could sew every day for as long as I wanted. And sew I did.

I found that the advice of experienced SWAPpers was very accurate. The preplanning of fabric/pattern combo's facilitated production sewing. Once the current garment was completed to the point that all remained was hand sewing ( done while watching TV), I picked up the pile of fabric, pattern, interfacing, lining for the next garment and started cutting. The thread in the serger and sewing machine was generally in the right color family, reducing thread changes. Tried and true patterns and familiar fabric types really speeded up the process. My one wadder was a last minute change to a new pattern.

One thing that really hits home when you sew without interruptions, is the time it actually takes to make a garment. I need to keep this in mind when I buy fabric. If I took the number of garment fabric pieces in my stash and multiplied them by 4+ hours, I would need another lifetime to sew the stash into garments.

The jacket and reversible item still remains to be made. But this start puts me in a good position to do some more artistic, creative techniques with the remaining garments.

I am actually looking forward to returning to work tomorrow and I have some new outfits to wear.