Have you heard of Sew 20 yet? It’s my friend Roxanne from Pen, Seb, & Rox‘s newest endeavor and a great resource for sewists of all levels. This week Sew 20 is hosting a fun tour with the theme Real Life, Real Sewing.
As most of you know, I make all of Bean’s clothes so around here it’s pretty much ALL real life sewing. The clothes I make for her need to withstand the days of a normal five year old and with a little extra effort in reinforcing seams and choosing the right fabrics, they do!
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| clothes blogged here |
So today’s pictures aren’t the most refined, nor were they ever intended for the blog, but they’re the real life pictures of Bean being Bean taken over the past couple of weeks with my iPhone. Also below, are some interview questions I answered for the tour.
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| blogged here a billion years ago when it still fit hehe (oh and the socks weren’t meant to be worn with shoes!) |
1. What do you look for when choosing a sewing project?
I like to make clothes I know Bean will wear. That’s the main thing I look for when looking at a pattern. Then I take into account what fabrics I have in my stash that I’ve been wanting to use. Fabrics are a major inspiration jump off point.
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| blogged here and here (and again with the socks, right?) |
2. Is there anything you would like to do differently when selecting projects?
Not so much now. Years ago I made some things that didn’t get into the regular outfit circulation so I’ve sort of learned what will and won’t work. One of the things I’ve learned is to make mix and match knit separates per season. That is a great option for us since knits don’t need to be ironed AND Bean can pick things out herself and they will (usually!) match pretty well.
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| still haven’t blogged either of these, but they’re all over instagram – skater dress and sweatshirt from Ottobre Magazine |
3. What is your most worn sewing project?
By far the Skater Dress pattern by Kitschy Coo is the most worn pattern. I’ve made a few different sizes in different fabrics and each one is commonly chosen by Bean. I think it’s a combo of the fun fabrics (also bought through Kitschy Coo) and the comfort of the dress that she leans toward.
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| blogged here |
4. Do you have a sewing project that you thought would be worn frequently but just did not end up working out?
Normally that happens with projects for me vs Bean. This top I made for a Monthly MashUp just didn’t fit the way I had hoped it would. I wear the two pieces I mashed quite a bit, especially that green trifecta! I love the fabrics here and if I shortened it to high hip height I think I’d like it, but as is it just flares too much for me. And of course it’s been years sitting in my closet and I still haven’t shortened it like I’d planned.
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| at the dentist in one of many Shandiin dresses turned tops from my #summerofshandiin and Paneled Sunsuit shorts |
5. What is your favorite tip or quote that applies to sewing for real life?
My best tip for sewing is: enjoy it. Inevitably Bean will spill something that stains on some brand new dress I’ve made, but I decided years ago that I was going to overlook such things if I was really going to take on sewing her entire wardrobe. I don’t want to make things that she can’t be herself in or is worried about playing or getting dirty in and if I really thought about all the effort that went into each thing that got a tear or plain wore out it would take the fun out of it for me. I enjoy sewing and enjoy putting myself into Bean’s clothing and once something is off the machine and in her closet (ok honestly I may sometimes hold things aside until AFTER blog pictures hehe) I let go of it. It’s been years now and I can still say I enjoy this endeavor.
It’s really fun seeing Bean run around every day in the clothing I’ve made. So yes, every day is a real life sewing day here. And this is an extreme example. We went camping last weekend and Bean was having the time of her life playing in the splash park in one of the versions of my soon to be released Classic Maillot pattern and five minutes after the above pic was taken, she slipped and split her lip open.
She was ok and it’s all healed now (and she was bring ridiculously silly even back at camp with the gauze I told her to hold on it), but not once as she raced over to me with blood pouring everywhere did I hesitate and worry about the bathing suit. And honestly she didn’t end up getting blood on it, but got s’mores chocolate all over it two hours later haha. Kids, right?
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