My Sewing Challenge

Commercial Pattern Sew Through Challenge

Greetings Good People,

Okay, guys, this is a long post so brace yourself!

While I am preparing my business proposal for the recreation centers to teach sewing classes, I thought I should show you what I have been working on in the meantime.

Over the years, I have purchases numbers of commercial patterns, 100 to be exact; these purchases were made over a period of time and especially when JoAnn’s Fabrics & Crafts would have their special sale on patterns ranging from $1.00 each to $3.99! Since JoAnn’s knows that is a wonderful sale and the regular costs of the patterns are extremely expensive, I like to stock up with as much as I can with as many as I can afford. It had gotten so bad to a point whereas I had to ban myself from seeking out JoAnn’s pattern sales…well, honestly, at least until last week when I purchased thirty to reach the point of one-hundred patterns. I know my stash is not as huge as I have seen online, but it is big enough for me! Here is a picture of my patterns, they are not fully organized, yet, I figured that would be my next challenge.

 

I did not only have a problem with buying commercial patterns, but I also had a problem ordering fabric in bulk online. I would purchase boxes of fabric, not because I needed it, but because the material was ‘pretty’ and it would be delivered! Heck! It was delivered FREE when I spent a certain amount of money! ‘WHY NOT?’ I often told myself! That obsession quickly yielded my in adverted efforts to put myself out of my own home to find another place to stay…so I had to put a cap on the purchasing of pretty fabric on hold as well.

So, to scale back on my hoarding efforts of patterns and a massive amounts fabrics, I decided to challenge myself and do a ‘fabric and pattern stash buster challenge’; I do not have an official name for it, but that is what I am calling it for right now. Since I have purchased all the beautiful patterns and pretty fabrics that caught my eye, I figured this would be fun for me considering everything I picked out is what I really like and/or what to make one day…and that ‘one day’ is now. I have come up with the following several steps that I want to share with you.

Step #1: Ignore all JoAnn’s future pattern sales and stay away from fabric stores online! For the patterns that I do not have material for, I will put those aside until I have sewn through all of my materials.

Step #2: Review all the patterns that I have and decide on the ones I want to make first.

Step #3: Go through my fabric stash to see what fabrics I can use for whatever projects. I like to call this step, match patterns to fabrics.

Step #4: Start this process with 5 patterns at a time. I started this way taking into consideration, my full-time work schedule and I am a single mother. I did not want to commit to anything larger than what I could handle.

Step #5: Set a start date and an end date. In setting deadlines, I ensure that I would get the job done because I have a set deadline that I must adhere to. This also gives me a period of when I will have time to complete everything.

Step #6: Decide a reward for myself after each time I complete 10 projects. The first reward I chose after my first 10 projects is a dressmaking doll in just my size! I have not figured anything else out for my future projects, but I am certain by that time, I would have figured some other great rewards for myself.

To bring you guys up to date, I have already chosen the first five projects. These are the pictures of those projects:

 

Simplicity #2367 (short for my daughter)

 

Simplicity #5581 (Shorts for my son)

Butterick B5678 (dark blue blouse for me)

  

I have completed these two of the five patterns:

 McCall’s M5893 (long sleeveless dress for me)

 

McCall’s M6360 (leggings for me)

Not only have I developed a process to go through my pattern challenge, but I also created Phases for completing those projects and those phases are as follows:

PHASE I: Choosing Projects Day

·         Choose five patterns, materials, & notions for those patterns

·         Create a list of notions required to complete each projects

·         Trip to the fabric store to purchase supplies

PHASE II: Fabric Preparation Day

·         Edge-stitch or Serge all raw edges of fabrics (this prevents the ends of the fabric from fraying during washing)

·         Wash all materials according to manufacturer’s instructions

·         Dry & Iron all fabric if needed

PHASE III: Layout, Cutting, & Marking Day

·         Cut-out & press all pattern pieces

·         Make any necessary pattern adjustments (alterations)

·         Cut out all pattern pieces to each project, keeping projects together with pattern envelopes

·         Place all pattern markings (darts, pockets, dots, etc.) onto cut out pieces

PHASE IV: Construction Day

·         Start on the first project!

NOTE: once I have completed all five projects, I will complete the steps and the phases again until I have sewn all the patterns I have!!

I bet you guys thought I was at the end of the post! Sorry, to disappoint, but there is one more thing I want to show you for now!

I have a confession to make! Although, I have completed two of the five projects I have to make, I stopped this weekend to make a quick and easy project. I have been watching YouTube about making quick and easy pillow patterns and I liked two tutorials. The main one I watched and subscribe to is the Crafty Gemini, I love her tutorials on all things home and domestic! I figured making pillow cases would be a great way to reduce my stash of fabrics for crafts. So I created 10 pillowcases, in some cases, two of the same material, with the fabrics I had on hand. Here are the pictures of a few that I have completed.

My plans are to create more of these pillowcases to give to a charity that was just a few for my home, considering we are in desperate need of pillowcases. It was/is a great material buster, so once I purchase more fabrics, I will be making more pillowcases and donating to charities.

Feel free to follow me if you have the same issues I have. Now, this is the end of the Post for today! Talk with you soon!