Today was a day full of family, friends and food.  

Most of all, it was a day of thanks.

It seemed appropriate, in the midst of all this gratitude to thank you. Thank you for stopping by. Thank you for commenting. Thank you for sharing your perspective and projects. Thank you for letting me be a part of this wonderful community.

I'm thankful for the inspiration. I'm thankful for the friends I've made. 

I can't express it enough. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Today, days of cooking culminated in a delicious meal with wonderful people. I'm exhausted in the best way possible.  

Outfit details: Archer Button Up Shirt in flannel. Moss Skirt in corduroy, second hand from an estate sale.  Calligraphy Cardigan, size "35, knit using Louisa Harding Willow Tweed and flat leather buttons from Brussels. It feels like it's been a long time since I posted a knitting project here.  Expect that to change. 

Howdy! 

Quite on accident, Mike found Heritage Prairie Farm. We have a strange fondness for pickled foods: cucumbers,beets, garlic, green beans, etc...Anyway, right after we moved, he found a pickling class for us to take, so we could propel our fondness to the next level, at the farm. We've been continuously drawn back since for plant sales, they grow seedling from the same seeds we use, farm fresh eggs, honey, and Saturday morning coffee. They make an incredible cinnamon honey goat's milk latte.  It's a really special place. 

The farm also host a variety of other events, everything from weddings, to farm dinners, and craft shows. We were out there ordering our turkey for Thanksgiving dinner (this is a battle I lose, as the sole vegetarian in my clan) last weekend. It was a blustery (check out that hair), but beautiful day. And, Mike and I were able to take a couple of photos to share this place with you and show you another Archer/Moss Mini mash-up. 

The flannel I used this time is Robert Kaufman Mammoth Flannel- Adventure. The fabric is considerably heavier than other flannels I've sewn with and has more pile. It's soft and scrumptious. The denim was shopped from my stash; it's secondhand from an estate sale. I'm steadily working through the fall/winter sewing I planned for myself, with the exception of pants... I'm not going to be able to put them off much longer. It's going to be too cold for tights soon. 

This coat is the garment equivalent to walking around with a guitar; it makes you look instantly cool. Truth be told, I am not cool. I push against the mainstream. I'm a huge nerd. I'm extremely cautious. I get uptight pretty easily.  I'm the antithesis of spontaneity. You catch my drift?  Still, I feel like one of the cool kids in this coat. 

The coat is none other than the Butterick Lisette waterfall coat: B6244. First, I really love that this pattern comes with pieces and instructions to sew both a dress and a coat. It's a nice modernization on a vintage concept, whether it's intentional or not. I love those 1950s/1960s patterns that assume the maker would sew a coordinating coat to cover her cocktail dress. I'm not fancy enough to have different jackets to wear with different dresses, but I like the idea of it.  

The pattern for this coat is three pieces. It goes together relatively quickly. The most time consuming part of construction is flat felling all the seams. It's worth the effort, because the result is polished and professional. My only complaint with this pattern, which is really a matter of preference, is that the instructions don't go far enough with finishing techniques.

It seems silly to put me through the trouble of flat felling my sleeve seams when there's no special technique for setting the sleeve.  And, why bother with beautiful seams if you're going to have me use narrow, machine stitched hems? If we're going to go, let's go all the way. Like I said, this is more an issue of preference. I opted to set my sleeves with French seams and hand-hemmed  both my cuffs and hem using a 1inch double fold hem, because I think a heftier hem on bottoms and outerwear looks higher end. 

Regarding size, I NEVER use the pattern recommendations.  Instead, I measure the flat pattern and compare it to my body measurements. Because there is a lot of ease and drape in this style, I focused on the fit through the shoulder above all else. I cut the size 8 and made no modifications (except increasing the width of my hem). I typically make a narrow shoulder modification, but It wasn't necessary here.

The fabric I used is a 100% wool fabric I bought at Sacre Coupon in Paris. I bought this fabric with the specific intention of making this coat. It's a light-medium weight fabric with a felt-like consistency and beautiful drape. It was a great match for this pattern!  I'm incredibly happy with this coat. If I can manage to work my way through the list of projects I've got queued currently, I'd like to sew a second. I've got an ecru colored wool from an estate sale that would make a great neutral top layer. This coat is perfect for the crisp fall weather we've been having, and it's light enough to wear in and out of buildings without overheating.  I've barely taken this off since I finished it. :-D 

Look! I have legs. They're short and still totally covered,  but there they are.  I am, apparently, into trying all sorts of new things right now. Or, in this case, I was willing to try something new in order to use the little pieces of corduroy I've been ferreting away. 

Long time readers of this blog already know my extreme fondness for (addiction to) buying fabric at estate sales. They're treasure hunts. I never know what will be available for the picking.  Some sales are better than others. Some sales are loaded with wool and silk. Others... not so much. I bought the corduroy I used to make this skirt at the latter variety. 

I'm fairly certain the former owner of this fabric was a quilter, not a seamstress. So, it makes perfect sense that she would hold on to chopped up pieces of fabric. What doesn't make sense, is me bringing them home.  

Except, if I remember correctly, I filled a heaping laundry basket of fabric and paid $5 for the lot; there was nothing to lose. Plus, I love corduroy. It's nostalgic, in a way. I remember wearing a lot of it as a kid. I also love flannel. Together, these fabrics make for gloriously warm fall attire. 

Surprisingly, I didn't have any flannel in my stash.  Since I knew I wanted to use the corduroy I had available, I grabbed a selection of those fabrics off the shelf and did my best to coordinate each of them with flannels online. It's sometimes tricky to match colors online, but I got lucky. This coral colored corduroy is a perfect match for the roses in the Kensington flannel I bought.  I'm tempted to buy the navy, so I can have multiple outfit possibilities. 

Speaking of multiples... this is another Grainline Studios Archer. If it's not broken, why fix it? 

This whole outfit is a Grainline love child. The skirt pattern I used is the Moss Mini. And, it is mini. I am '5"1.5 tall and cut the longest possible pattern length, to give you an idea. I would have opted for the hem band, but I had less than one, non-continuous yard of this corduroy, which meant I had to cut the pattern flat and use contrast fabric for my pockets and waistband facing in order to make it work. 

 I really wish I had taken 'before' pictures of the corduroy. It looked like old rags with frayed edges and missing chunks. Now that it's sewn into a garment, you'd NEVER know. Actually, it downright looks impressive and expensive. It's the biggest transformation I've ever personally accomplished with fabric and a reminder that things don't have to be new or fancy to be useful. 

This was my first go-round with the Moss Mini. The only change I made was to take a two inch wedge out of the yoke to fit my backside. Because, making my own clothes means not having to deal with gapping waistbands. #winning. I'm still getting used to the style of this skirt. I continue to alternate between pulling it up to sit and my waist, then down to cover my knees- neither of these things is possible or intended with this skirt. 

It felt sad to return to the backyard for blog pictures after so many vacation posts (Paris, my heart aches for you as I continue trying to comprehend the attacks you faced last week), so Mike and I decided to make use of our beautiful scenery and headed down to the river to take advantage of the gorgeous fall we've been having here in Illinois. We've got a great system of walking/biking trails along the Fox River, which includes the Fabyan Villa Museum, a property redesigned by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1907. The property and the private collections of the family are open to the public and remains of the original estate can still be seen.  It's one of our local gems and a great place to take-in fall foliage. 

You were warned, I've got some serious love going for this pattern. I have sewn four. This, however, is my favorite of the bunch.  

The pattern in question is McCall's M6886.  It's a very basic, beginner friendly, knit dress that comes with three neckline, two skirt length and three sleeve options. I've sewn ViewB for all my renditions of this pattern. After completing my first dress, I decided to make the following modifications: 1/2inch narrow shoulder, 3/4 inch sway back adjustment, shortened sleeves by 1 inch, and shortened hem length by 1 1/2 inches. These are all typical adjustments for me. 

The changes I made are small, but they make a difference in the overall fit of the dress. I could use more than 3/4 inches on the sway back (aka booty adjustment), but I didn't want to have to do any crazy redrafting on a simple knit dress pattern. And, I'm happy enough with the way this fits to leave it as it is. 

My fabric this time around is a sweater knit remnant that I bought from Vogue Fabrics. I had to cut this flat in order to squeeze it out of the yardage I had available (Thanks, Tania for the tip!) It's very lightweight for a sweater knit, and it clings a little bit more than the other versions I made, but it's every bit as comfortable. 

The fabric really shines in a pattern like this. There aren't a lot of seams obstructing or interrupting the print. I particularly love the bold splashes of red in this fabric. I think it's a little unexpected and surprising.  It will really pop in a month or two when the city becomes a sea of grey and black. 

We took these photos during a stroll along the newly opened Chicago River Walk. I'm really excited about the renovations taking place along the river. The path is lined with numerous restaurants, several of which are secondary locations for some of Chicago's neighborhood spots like, The Hideout and City Winery, which I think is a really cool way to bring a taste of the city to tourists not likely to venture far from the Mag Mile. 

Finally, some season appropriate attire! :-D This is McCall's M6886. Full disclosure, this is actually the first of four M6886 dresses I've made. I don't typically gravitate towards body contouring styles or silhouettes. They're outside my comfort zone. However, as I was wardrobe planning and taking inventory of the types of garments I pin repeatedly on my Pinterest Dresses board, it became apparent that I like them. At least, I like them on other people (1., 2., 3., 4., 5., 6., 7., etc... ). So, I thought, why not?  

I've been trying to concentrate my sewing energy on the types of clothes I want to wear instead of being drawn-in by pretty envelop art or the latest, greatest pattern release. Having visual inventory of the types of garments I like is an incredibly useful tool when it comes time to decide what I want to make. Despite having pinned hundreds of different pictures to various boards, I find that most of those images overlap and contain the same elements, styles, and pieces of clothing. Those recurring trends have been the blueprint for my project planning lately, and my self-stitched wardrobe is taking on a totally new & functional shape as the result.  

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I like this dress. First, it's three pattern pieces and takes a small window of time to put together. Second, it's ridiculously comfortable. I literally feel like I'm walking around in a nightshirt all day when I'm wearing it; except, third,  it doesn't look like a nightshirt. WINNING. 

For this first version, I cut the pattern exactly as it is drafted. It's a decent fit out of the envelope, but I did make some adjustments down the line: 1/2inch narrow shoulder, 3/4inch sway back, sleeve and hem shortening. I'll show you those later. These are all fairly standard adjustments for me. So, I wasn't surprised. 

The neckline and sleeves are finished with a narrow double fold  hem. And, the skirt hem is 1inch doubled and machine stitched, leaving everything on the inside of the dress nice and neat. 

The fabric I used is a textured poly knit Meg brought back from her trip to Korea last year. It's got A LOT of stretch. The texture reminds me of the texture produced by the puff paint I used to paint sweatshirts with back in the 80s/90s. That's a pretty dated reference... lol. At any rate, it adds a fun element to the dress. 

This dress is a great blank slate for a chunky cowl or necklace, and I know I'm going to be layering it up with jackets and sweaters as the temperatures here continue to drop. 

We got home from Paris just in time for my favorite season. FOOTBALL SEASON! Yes, I spend my Sundays sitting, knitting  on the couch screaming at the television in between celebratory touchdown dancing.  This is a slightly contentious time of year at my house, because I, a Packers fan, live in a house of Bears fans. And, well, my team is better. :-D 

I've been working hard to learn how to be a more gracious winner. I'll even root for the Bears with Mike and Hallie when they're not playing The Pack. As a further gesture of good sportsmanship, and shining example of how far I've come,  I didn't think twice about buying this vintage Bears sweatshirt fleece at a recent estate sale. 

When I saw this fabric, I bought it with Mike in mind. When I got it home, my sister, Hallie, insisted that she deserved it as much, if not more than Mike. After all, I make him things all the time, and despite my assurance that I would make her something, sometime, I never have. It was a fair argument. They both won. There was enough there to stretch into two pairs of lounge pants, so long as Hallie didn't mind contrasting cuffs and waistband. 

Hallie's pants are sewn using Papercut Patterns Anima Pants pattern. I used this pattern previously to make my Crazy Dog Lady PJ's. I really like this pant pattern for casual lounging around the house pants. However, I want to figure out a way to incorporate more stretch into the cuff seam. Since the pant leg is eased into the cuff, it's a little bit restrictive. I'm considering trying to sew this seam with elastic thread. Thoughts? Suggestions?

For Mike's pants, I used Simplicity 1285. These pants are incredibly simple to sew. They have the same faux fly construction the Anima pants incorporate, but the only pocket option that comes with them is a back patch pocket. Mike says that they are very comfortable, and he would use this pattern again when he decides to cut-out some more pants for bumming around the house. 

These pants were a nice way to get reacquainted with my machine and sew something quick and satisfying before diving into fall projects. Now, I need to find some green and gold so I can make a pair for myself!