January Sewing Goals - The Salty Knitter

I have a few makes planned for this month because I’m still filling some huge wardrobe gaps. I hadn’t bought anything in years that I actually liked wearing so I’ve been steadily replacing the RTW that I did have with me made garments. I’ve also joined the 52 Week Sewing Challenge Facebook Group. They suggest themes for each week but you can go rogue or off theme and still take part.

Week 1

Week 1 is nearly over, but the theme is “Sew something warm or soft”. In December I took a quick break from working on my coat to whip up this sweater. I had admired Toaster Sweater #1 by Sew House Seven, I even had the tab open on my computer all week and I was debating if I would buy it or not. But in the end I didn’t because I was still struggling to fit tops properly and finally seeing some success. So when it came right down to it I wasn’t in the mood to tape and adjust another pattern.

I added the bottom band, mock neck collar and deep cuffs to my Tabitha Top instead and I couldn’t be happier with it. I plan to sew up this fleece above nearly the same, but swap out the neck and mash it with the LDT cowl instead. As much as I love the neck on my magenta sweater, these fabrics seem better suited to a soft drapey cowl. The pictures don’t do justice to the colors, a deep burgundy and a mossy green with the look of terry on one side, fleece on the other.

I have the burgundy cut and partly sewn, as long as every thing works out I’ll make it just in time for the week 1 challenge.

Week 2

The week 2 theme is “something from the last fabric purchased”. I snagged these pieces of leather months ago, but the lining fabric below was just picked up last week so I’ll be using it to make a couple of things.

I may or may not have got in the habit of walking into my closet just to smell those pieces of leather sometimes, I love that smell.

Mens Toiletry Bags

This year I was literally sewing gifts Christmas morning. I don’t want to do that again so I intend to make a hand-made gift each month to tuck away for the big day. One of the things I want to make my boys are some nice leather toiletry bags, I intend to use the two smaller pieces of leather for that which will give me some practice sewing leather before I attempt making my heart’s biggest desire. I have all the fabrics I need for this project but may need some zippers.

A Hand Made Leather Purse

I used to have a leather hand bag I adored. It was huge, made in Canada, and I bought it on sale for about $50. Then a little over three years ago I forgot my purse in my car one night and someone stole it. When I was looking for a replacement I found out pretty quickly that the cost of a leather purse had gone up – a lot. So since then I’ve made do with fake leather or fabric, but I really want a leather purse. When I found those pieces of leather I felt like I had won the lottery – all four pieces came to just $20.

I’ve spent the past couple of months searching off and on for a pattern I like. I think I’ve settled on using the instructions for Miss Maggie’s Handbag from Emmaline Bags. From there I’ll make this Handy Purse Organizer from Sew Can She. I’m set for fabric but may need to buy some zippers and hardware.

Week 3

Sew something to make sewing easier is the week 3 theme, I have a lot of ideas that are quick little projects, but I’m not sure how much time my week 2 goals will take. If I have time, I would love to make a scrap catcher for my serger and ID tags for my traced and rolled patterns. Another idea that would be nice to make is a grab bag for cutting out patterns. I do all of my cutting at the kitchen table so it would be nice to have those items all together.

I have a few fat quarters kicking around and some nice prints along with all the notions I’ll need except for some magnets if I make the grab bag. The magnets are for the bottom so the bag will stick to my dryer and not vibrate off when the washer is in spin cycle.

Week 4

Sew something for a boy is the week 4 theme which is perfect timing. I made my youngest three slim fitting sweaters over the holiday and that will give him enough time to wear them a bit and decide if he needs any changes before I make the next batch. He works outdoors so I like to use this type of fabric, fleecy on one side for warmth but smooth on the outside to make it easier to add another layer over top. It’s been bitterly cold here, so I may bump this project ahead a bit. Again, I have all the fabrics and notions I need for this project.

Week 5

The theme for week 5 is sew something from a newly purchased pattern. I may shuffle my purse making to this last week since that was my most recent pattern ‘purchase’ even if they were actually free. As far as garment patterns, I’ve already got what I need to fill my wardrobe gaps so I doubt I will buy anything new this month.

And I also want to make a couple more pairs of jeans. Back in the fall I made myself about 7 pairs of jeans using the Ginger Jeans pattern from Closet Case Files. Now that I’ve worn them and loved them for a couple of months, I want to steadily add a couple new pairs to my rotation every few months. When the denim is only $6 a meter and I can get two pairs from 5 meters, how can you go wrong? I have all the fabric and notions needed for this project, and jeans are perfect for batch sewing. It really minimizes thread swapping to sew a couple of pairs at a time.