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I've made the Ashton Top and the Arden Pants a couple of times now (both patterns by Helen's Closet), but I hadn't made an outfit from both until now and I'm in love!

I've been working on creating a small capsule for the warmer weather months and these two pieces are part of that capsule. Participating in Me Made May this year made me realize I don't sew "outfits". I sew individual garments that may or may not fit with the rest of my wardrobe and that means I have a few orphan pieces ...

Week 3 of Me Made May definitely wasn't super easy! I spent a lot of time standing in front of my closet trying to figure out what to wear and share. When I decided to participate in Me Made May this year, I pledged to wear me made garments every day and find new ways to style them into different outfits. This has really highlighted for me the fact that I don't have nearly enough bottoms to wear with the tops I've made. It also made me realize that I've fallen into the "trap" of sewing ...

After making my Cedar Dolman tops earlier this month, I went back on the Cashmerette website and looked for other patterns which would fill some gaps in my Summer closet. 

There are so many things I love about Cashmerette as a company, I just had to give them more of my sewing dollars. They draft their patterns with plus size women in mind and have so many cup options available for their patterns. On top of that, they have a really nifty size calculator that tells you exactly which size to start from when sewing their patterns. I also listened ...

Well, Week 2 of Me Made May is in the books and I have to admit, this week was a little bit more difficult for me. I'm trying not to repeat anything until I've worn every me-made piece and I've now run out of bottoms! As a result, I have two pairs of summer pants and one pair of shorts on my list of garments to sew very soon.

I kicked-off week 2 with my second Busan Top by Itch-to-Stitch. The red fabric is a double knit from Minerva and the navy is a gorgeous French Terry ...

When True Bias released their latest pattern - the Mave Skirt - I didn't wait for very long before getting it. I love maxi skirts in the Summer and I had the perfect fabric in my stash, a beautiful viscose from Blackbird Fabrics.

It was a little bit chilly when I took the pictures so I'm wearing a sweater with my new skirt, but when the temperature rises a little bit, I plan to wear this with a tee shirt or tank top. A white top would look really nice with this skirt I think - a white to match the ...

When I decided to take part in Me Made May this year, the goal was to "force" myself to wear me-made garments every day and determine what gaps I still have by trying more combinations. Unfortunately, the weather really hasn't been cooperating so I haven't been able to take out any of my warmer weather garments yet. I'm really hoping this changes soon or else Me Made May is going to have to move into June for me! 

I'm going to be blogging every week and document (for myself as much as for you guys) my ...

I've been wanting to try the Cashmerette patterns for a long time so I recently purchased their Cedar Dolman top. I've been planning a Spring/Summer capsule wardrobe and a new pink short sleeved top was first on the list. 

Before cutting into my pink fabric, I decided to make a muslin with some leftover fabric from the cowl top I made a few weeks go.

I made zero modifications to the pattern for this version except I decided not to use the hem facings and simply turn up the hem by 3/4" and topstitch. 

This is ...

 I've been on a quest for a comfortable, stylish and somewhat simple to sew pair of pants. I have made the Arden pants by Helen's Closet a couple of times now (here and here), and I love them. But they are very casual pants and I would love to make myself a pair of "dressier" pants.

I searched through the Seamwork pattern library and found the Channing. I liked the flat front waistband and the comfy elasticated back. I wasn't sure about the pleats (I really don't need volume added to my tummy area), but I ...

I always find it a little bit difficult to figure out what to wear at this time of year because where I live, the temperature can change drastically from one day to the next or even during the same day! That is why I love cardigans so much. You can start the day with the cute top and a cardigan but around Noon, take off the cardigan and just wear the cute top. This time of year is also awesome for wearing lightweight sweaters with 3/4 length sleeves.

And that is why I decided to make the Itch-to-Stitch Bellavista ...

When Itch-to-Stitch came out with their new Seychelles top pattern recently, I pressed the Buy button almost immediately. I loved the V neck, the fun pleats on the short sleeves and the narrow shoulders. I have found lately that most of the patterns I make are a little too wide for me and I keep forgetting to make a narrow shoulder adjustment. Well - Seychelles has a narrow shoulder built-in!

The pattern itself is really straight-forward to sew, even the pleats and the V neck. However, the fabric I chose to make my version of the Seychelles was hard to work ...

I very much consider myself a beginner when it comes to making garments and I honestly didn't think I could pull off making a semi-fitted blazer. But when Love Notions published the Metra Blazer and I started seeing all the reviews and tester versions, I thought to myself maybe I could make myself one.

Love Notions patterns are extremely well written, and there's always a lot of support both in the Facebook group and from their brand ambassadors and affiliates. An added bonus was that the blazer is made in a stable knit so a little more forgiving ...

I've been wearing the Arden pants I made last Fall pretty much every week and I love them. So I had been planning to make a few more pairs for Spring and then Summer. I had a slightly lighter weight stretch suiting in my stash and decided to pull it out for my next pair of Arden.

I made the exact same size (18) but lengthened the legs by 1 inch so that I could wear my new pants with short heels. And that is when I learned that even when you make a garment from the same pattern ...

I finished a crazy snuggly sweater for myself this week and although it is far from perfect... I love it!

This is the Whistler Pull-over and Hoodie by Love Notions. When I first saw the pattern (which I think might have been on sale recently), I skipped over it. I didn't think the style would look nice on me and I have to say I really didn't need another winter sweater. 

But I had this amazingly soft THICC Stretch Fleece from The Fabric Snob in my stash that I really wanted to make something out of before the ...

Helen's Closet released their Jackson Tee and Pullover pattern a little while ago and well - I love everything Helen does so I just had to buy it. The pattern is unisex so I thought I could use it for me as well as my hubby who loves a good tee.

I ordered knit fabric from The Fabric Snob for this project. I like the look of stripes for the body and a solid for sleeves so I went with that.

I chose to sew a solid neckband and striped cuffs. The pattern calls for a hem band but I ...

I cleaned out my Fall/Winter closet a couple of weeks ago and discovered I need more tops to wear with pants and my many cardigans. And I've always loved cowl neck tops so went in search of a pattern for a sleeveless one.

I found this one from So Sew Easy. It was pretty much exactly what I was looking for.

This was meant as a Fall/Winter top so I used a sweater knit from Minerva. It drapes beautifully and isn't a heavy knit so I thought it would work perfectly for a cowl neck. It ...

I hadn't planned to make this just yet. When I took out my black sandwashed cotton, I meant to make a new Gilbert shirt. And I'm still not sure why I decided to make the Sabalito top instead. It is completely inappropriate for this time of year and now that I've sewn it up, I realize that the fabric was a terrible choice for this pattern.

This definitely isn't a success and the poor choice of fabric isn't the only reason. The proportions are all wrong and I dislike anything that sticks out at my ...

I love simple tops such as the Ashton top by Helen's Closet. It's the perfect top for summer and I've been wearing mine all winter with cardigans. And then a little while ago, Helen came out with an expansion pattern to put sleeves on the Ashton top, making this top even more versatile! I immediately purchased it and pulled some fabric from my small stash.

The fabric is a gorgeous blue Tencel twill from Blackbird Fabrics. I'm not going to lie and say it was easy to work with for a beginner like me because it ...

As written in my 2021 goals, I'm hoping to fill some gaps in my wardrobe this year. I haven't yet purged my closet or written down what gaps I need to fill, but I do know a navy sweater will come in handy for the rest of the winter and into spring - the temperatures do remain pretty low here until April or May.

For my new navy sweater, I chose a pattern I've done before - the Seamwork Oliver. You can read about my wine Liverpool version here. It is a very simple design, pretty easy sew and ...

I made the York Pinafore a couple of years ago and I really wanted to revisit this pattern in a denim. But I've been doing a lot of research into what styles would look best on my body type and the cocoon shape of the York isn't recommended. So I hesitated.

In the end, I was swayed by all the lovely York Pinafores I saw online and decided to go for it.

I made View A (the longer length with the low neckline) but used the pocket from View B. The fabric is a gorgeous 8 oz non-stretch ...

Cardigans are a huge part of my closet. Many of the tops I own are sleeveless or short-sleeved and in the winter months, I wear them with cardigans. If I'm being honest, I would love to have a cardigan in every colour. I have a few ready-to-wear cardigans and I have now made four Blackwoods from Helen's Closet (you can see my previous three versions here, here and here).

This is my new red Blackwood.

The fabric is a Liverpool knit from Minerva. I love the colour, but the fabric was a bit of a pain to sew ...