I’ve been giving a lot of thought to the disaster that was Butterick 5261. I think I’ve imagined something that will salvage it, because I’m really quite proud of the work I did. Hate the shirt, but very proud of the construction.

My theory is that I can make short sleeves, crop the shirt, add a waistband, and skirt and have a retro summer shirtdress. Hopefully I can buy some more yardage. I’m sure it won’t exactly match because it certainly wouldn’t be the same dye lot, but Jo-Ann always has that fabric. Plus, I’m hoping for a cool, easy, summery, wear it around the house day dress, so I’m not going to get too hung up on the dye lot. You can see my inspiration pins here. Sorry for the lack of photos, I’m not sure how to blog pins. hmph. Might be worth looking into.
Speaking of inspiration, I’ve found a tool that has proven to be very useful. I got a tablet when we ditched our smart phones in September, and ordered a fine tip stylus to use with it. Then I found this silly app called sketch guru. It has turned out to be so useful! I’ll sit and sketch out some crazy sewing idea whenever the inspiration hits, most of which I’ll probably never sew. It gets it out of my head and onto “paper.” Here’s one example, Iwas lost in sewing blogland one day, ended up watching a video from Gertie, and quickly got lost day dreaming about making a shirt. It really has nothing in common with the shirt she’s wearing in the video, but that was the jumping off point.

I’m not considering quitting my day job to become an illustrator, but it works for me.

I’ve become frustrated with my sewing and clothing. I’m writing a more detailed post about this, but the first step I have taken is to compile a list of sewing skills I wish I possessed.

Making that stupid B5261 has forced me to take a look at my actualy sewing skill level. I mean, buttonholes are NOT hard. I’ve known this for years, but had yet to actually make a series of them successfully. Plus there are so many skills that I’ve read a million times, I know how to do them if I ever have a need. Yet I haven’t found a need, so I don’t feel like I can own those skills. I suppose that’s really the second step I’ve taken, the first was to start a list on the bulletin board over my sewing table of projects sewn. Just to keep track.

Happy Valentine’s Day to those of you who celebrate it.