Sew Luxy

Hey guys! Happy Summer! I know it's been a hot minute since I posted- I've been getting settled into my life here in WA. I re-joined the working world over a month ago, which resolved a lot of my initial anxiety about moving. However, I've been a bit wrapped up and neglectful of my sewing goals, which will change as I continue to acclimate. I started this skirt project an embarrassingly long amount of time ago; I initially planned to wear it to a Beyonce concert I attended at the end of May, but it wasn't done in time. I did have all the pieces cut already, so I was committed to finishing it, even though it's not the most practical of wardrobe items. For me, it needs to go from work to play pretty seamlessly to be considered practical. And this one is not something I would wear to work. In fact, I wasn't expecting the front slit on this to be anywhere near as high as it is. I read some reviews saying it was a pretty revealing garment, and I sewed ...

Hey, Everyone! I'm back, halfway through the month to share this collared beast of a project with you. This was my first time making a collar, cuffs, and plackets. Also my first time using the button-hole function on a machine. I made this dress under the tutelage of Carisa Brunner at  Made Sewing Studio  in Seattle. Carisa is a patient teacher and hilarious human being-- I can't recommend her enough. I signed up for a dress making bootcamp and thought I would expand my skill-set. I picked this pattern due to its numerous design features I hadn't yet tried. I really had no idea how involved the construction of the collar and sleeve plackets was going to be. Although the pattern instructions were pretty-much written in Greek, Carisa was able to walk me through it, and the amount of hair I lost in stress-pulling was minimal. I have newfound respect for people who make garments with collars and sleeve plackets on a regular basis. The pattern I used is one by Bootstrap F...

Oh heyyy, sewing blogosphere! Happy May! You didn't think I forgot to post last month, did you? I didn't forget, but life sometimes gets in the way... I've actually been working on a really fun project in a sewing class I've been taking for the past few weeks, which I can't wait to share with you but needs a little more time. It has been a stretch project for me- teaching me/forcing me to learn several new techniques. It's always nice to balance a complicated (to me) growth-inducing project with an easy palette-cleansing project. That's where this pretty little blue number stepped in: a swing dress hacked version of M6886. So, why did I want to make a swing dress? A few years ago I thrifted a RTW swing dress; it's really cute, comfortable, and I wear it a lot. It's so well-loved that the fabric has definitely seen better days. Before I can even think about removing it from my wardrobe, I wanted to make sure I could make a similar vers...

Oh, hello my lovely readers! I hope you all had a lustrous and beautiful March! This month, for me, has been about endings and changes. This was my last month living in Chicago (the only place I've ever lived). Keith and I are moving to Northern Washington State; we begin our looong long drive tomorrow. I'm not sad about leaving, but super excited to be embarking on what I imagine to be a grand adventure. I've been wanting a change of both pace and scenery for some time now, and I have kind of a nervous energy and over-all hopefulness for what this re-location can bring into our lives. When I talk to people about our move, a good portion of them express a desire to do something similar, followed by a reason why they can't. "I wish I could do something like that..." You can. I think the trick is that if you wait til you're 100% ready to do it, you'll think of 10 more excuses not to. You prepare as best you can, but at some point, you just have to ...

Hey Everyone! How was everyone's February? I have to say, this is the warmest February I can remember Chicago having in a long time. I'll take it! This month I continued on my knit top kick and attempted NewLook 6420. Because it's such a simple pattern I figured I didn't need to make a muslin. *Long siiigh*, when will I ever learn? Luckily I was using a sale-fabric from Joann I paid all of $5/yard for, so it wasn't an expensive mistake. And actually- my only mistake was cutting the size small (10-12) which was huuuge. I could still unpick it, cut the pieces smaller, and re-sew it, I'm just not sure I'm that dedicated to this particular pattern. For my second attempt, I cut the XS, also HUGE. I mean, ridiculous, swimming-in-my-garment huge. I ended up taking a large amount of fabric off both sides of this top, front and back, like this: Although this helped the fit drastically, I'm still not super impressed with how this turned out. For...

Hey guys! Who's glad to see January nearing a close?! This girl sure is. This weekend Chicago unthawed and crept towards the 50s, thank you Mother Nature! We all needed the break. My latest project is this blouse (McCall's M6927) I made with the idea of wearing to work. I didn't mean for it to turn out so 80s-inspired, but I have been listening to a lot of 80s music lately, so I think maybe on a subconscious level I did mean for it to turn out this 80s inspired. I am not unhappy with it, but the shoulders are very... well, shoulder-y. Thanks, 80s. This fabric is a wool gauze by Anna Sui. I saw it in Vogue and loved it immediately. I knew this wasn't what my pattern called for, and it might be a challenge to work with. I also knew I had to have it. It was one of those 110% regret-it-forever-if-you-don't decisions. In the end, the choice was obvious. Construction! I made some admittedly questionable decisions on this one. The most que...

Happy New Year!!! I am certainly looking forward to adventuring through 2016 with you all and developing my sewing skills further. 2015 brought about some big changes for me. Sewing-wise, 2015 was the year I decided to upgrade sewing from something I partook in when the right mood (seldom) hit, to something I do regularly with some level of skill (however beginner that level may be). I turned 28 this year, and leading up to it I kept thinking, if not now, when? In the interest of speeding up my development, I invested in 5 months of sewing classes at  Tchad's Sewing School  , and later started this blog (to give my fickle and sometimes dreamy nature some structure). Having a blog to report back to has definitely kept me sewing long hours at times, but I don't mind it. It's good for me to work towards something I do purely for the love. My only sewing goal for 2016 is to just keep sewing and documenting it in this blog. It's an obtainable goal, as I believe goals alw...