#SpringSewingSwap '14

Lucky me, I was paired up with Sally of TheQuirkyPeach for Kerry's annual Spring Sewing Swap. This girl knows me well! She hooked me up with a delightful bundle of vintage sewing goodies.

Thank you, Sally! I can't wait to try out these awesome fabrics and patterns. Oh, and the mini sticky notes are adorable, too. :)

I also lucked out when Kathy of TheNerdySeamstress posted the BHL Charlotte skirt pattern for sale on her Instagram. I managed to snap it up, and she even sent along this pretty fabric, too! It was such a nice surprise and even looks great with the bright pink pattern packaging.

Thanks for the happy mail days, Sally and Kathy! Now I need to start planning out some projects to make use of my new sewing goodies.

My Steamy Valentine's Day...

Black & Decker D2030 Auto-Off Digital Advantage Iron

You know you're obsessed with sewing when your boyfriend gets you a new iron for Valentine's Day - and you absolutely LOVE IT!

For some reason, up until now, I've just been using the same, cruddy $11 iron from Wal-Mart that I originally bought when going off to college (and then never used to iron clothes). I am so excited to use this nice, new, grown-up iron and steam the crap out of all of my seams, darts, collars, EVERYTHING! :D

Coming Soon!

Thank you all for your nice comments about my recently completed wrap dress! I also really appreciate all of the advice you shared regarding how I might proceed with altering Tom's shirt. Thank you! Sometimes having something explained or suggested in someone else's words can make things click better than when you are reading instructions you've scrounged up on the internets. :)

Hopefully I'll end up finishing Tom's shirt soon, but I'm kind of giving it a little break for now to let all of the advice on how to proceed marinate...in my brain. haha.

Anyway, currently on my sewing table is ....drum roll... another Simplicity 2154 blouse! Surprise! I absolutely LOVED my first polka-dotted version of this blouse and have been super eager to sew up another version.

 

Obviously, this baby is still under construction, but I'm pretty close to finishing it up. This one is a yellow/white gingham that's underlined in white cotton batiste. I'm planning to go for a slightly different look this time, omitting the bow and making the collar a little smaller. I've also got plans to leave the peek-a-boo opening, that would hide mostly underneath the bow on the blouse (if I was including one), open, but closeable with a little clasp at the top of the neckline.

Also coming soon? 

You may or may not have noticed, but Sunni over at A Fashionable Stitch is having a little sale in her shop that ends tonight at midnight. I just happened to notice the sale yesterday night and scooped up a couple of special, spur-of-the-moment sewing goodies for myself. 

pink magnetic pin caddy

Colette Patterns' macaron

Both of these items have been on my "maybe I should break down and finally buy this" sewing list. I mean who doesn't want a bright pink, magnetic pin caddy for all of those pesky pins that seem to never stop trying to roll off of or hide under my sewing table.

Also, have you SEEN all of the adorable versions of the Colette Macaron dress popping up? Here are a couple of my favorites I've seen and been inspired by lately:

Jamie's cute version with a peter pan collar, nice little buttons, and contrasting upper bodice fabric. I love it!

Rochelle's adorable plaid and teal version, in a skirt+blouse style. TOO cute!

I think the Macaron is a perfect dress for fall, so I'm definitely hoping to sew one up soon. It hasn't always been the most appealing dress pattern for me, but lately I've been finding myself really drawn to it, mostly due to all of the cute versions my fellow sewing bloggers have created.

That's all I've got for now. What are you all planning and working on lately?