Always shifting gears

I haven’t done any patchwork since finishing the swirling stars top for the local modern quilt guild challenge. I spent some time feeling bad about that, and then decided to reframe my thinking. This is my hobby; I do it for fun. I don’t have to complete a certain amount of work per week or per month, and if my quilt fabrics and tools sit in the corner for a while until I’m back in the mood, there’s no one that gets hurt by that. In fact, allowing myself to be creative when I feel so, and not forcing it, has increased my enjoyment and made me better in my craft.

I have been making garments, of a sort – I have made ‘muslins’ of both Lekala 5666 and Kwik Sew 3826. Both were workable, and now I just have to decide whether I want to proceed with them and if so in what fabric. (If you’re interested in the nitty gritty I wrote reviews on PatternReview.) I like making knit tops so much – no edges to finish and minor fit differences are no big deal.

I’m still mulling over whether to participate in Self-Stitched September. Even if I don’t commit to the whole month, I think I will do some kind of ‘wearing only self-sewn clothes’ day or series of days, for the challenge of it. Anyone else going to participate?

Summer & KS

Happy (official) summer, all!

Last week I dropped off the last of my recent visitors at the airport and took the opportunity to visit our only remaining quasi-local Hancock Fabrics on the way home. None of the fabrics spoke to me, but I did spend some quality time with the Kwik Sew and Burda catalogs and brought a few patterns home. (The fact that it was ridiculously hot and they had A/C may have had a little to do with my lingering.) the local Joann’s doesn’t carry Kwik Sew, and stocks only one of each pattern in Burda, so if you don’t snag it quick you’re SOL.

Recently, I find myself more willing to spend the $$ on a non-Big-4 pattern because I’m tired of all the fussing and adjusting I have to do for the Big 4. I’ve always had good luck with Burda envelope patterns, assuming I start with a big enough size. I haven’t used a Kwik Sew top since soon after I started sewing and ended up with a tank top 2 sizes too big, but I really liked the look of 3826 view B (3823 is the plus version; no idea what’s up with the crazy clown colorblocking in view A). It reminds me of the Jalie scarf-collar top, but since Jalie requires a lot of adjusting to fit me, I though I’d give the KS version a try. I was surprised to see it has no reviews on patternreview – perhaps if I hustle I can do the first one.