It’s all over Pavlova. And…I won I won I won! Okay, now that’s out of the way. Approx half a week ago is when I thought I would have this Project Sewn debrief up and posted. Guess I’ve been trying to catch my breath and re-gain some balance while attending to the mountain of house stuff that’s been put off for a month!

First I want to give the biggest shout out and congrats to these two amazing girls, Andrea from Four Square Walls and Jess of The Sewing Rabbit! I think you’ll agree these two talents nailed the looks every single week and I’m kind of wishing I could strike up some sort of deal with Andrea, whereby I end up with her white blazer from week one. It goes without saying that Project Sewn has been the absolute highlight of my sewing journey. I gained and learned so much and if I didn’t know myself as determined before then there’s no doubt now. I was bestowed some pre-comp advice from the lovely Max, a past PR& P winner, which was ‘push yourself’ and ‘don’t second guess yourself”. So I went in with a nothing to lose. If I went home on the back of a project not working out, because I’d attempted something super hard, then that was the best way to go. Ha…I just didn’t expect to win on the back of four challenging projects!!

 I’m not sure what I was running on towards the end of Project Sewn, but it wasn’t sleep. And it wasn’t drugs. Right now I can only describe the feeling I have as being similar to someone who’s just spent a whole year planning a wedding and then suddenly the days over and it’s like ‘what did I even do before this?’. There was this routine of planning, cutting, sewing, photographing, sending the post off and blogging the outfit. Then you literally had to let the weeks project go and start the whole process again the next day. That was crazy, no time to sit down and pat yourself on the back. No time to procrastinate over ideas, it was like ‘choose one, get sewing, make it work’. Being disciplined like this was actually really exciting, though it’s not a pace I could sustain all the time. Having the structure of a weekly theme was also really great. The themes were wide open too, lots of room for creativity and for everyone to add their personal aesthetic.

Sometimes I get asked where all this sewing/ blogging is headed. Everyone’s full of well-meaning advice about becoming an alterations lady or a formal dressmaker or a kids clothing manufacturer. As if this sewing + blogging gig is just a means to something bigger and better, like some sort of ‘real’ world job. But it’s the sewing and contributing to this community that inspires, drives, gives me energy, keeps me sane / up at night, allows me to create beauty and be self sufficient. And then I get to share it all with a group of ladies who are just as into it as me! I cannot give enough thanks to everyone who stopped by to leave encouragement and especially for your votes!!! It was an incredibly humbling experience, to say the least.

Thanks to Liz and Elizabeth, the creators of Project Sewn, for what I can only imagine was a mammoth effort behind the scenes to have the first ever season run so smoothly. I think we set a cracking pace and I cannot wait to see who pops up in the line-up! So, what’s up and coming in the next few weeks… I’ve been hanging out to get stuck into my winter wardrobe. And slightly less excited about this pile of adjustments / mendings.

So it was a hard call to make but last week I resisted joining in the latest Kids Clothing Week Challenge and cheered from the stands instead. Something to do with wanting to save all my most spectacular meltdowns for the month of May when I’ll be sewing my little patoosh off in the first ever series of Project Sewn! I am completely blown away / excited / intimidated at the thought of sewing alongside these phenomenal ladies…

And what is Project Sewn when it’s at home? It’s the brain-child of Liz and Elizabeth of Simple Simon and Co, the crafty duo behind much loved kids-sewing comp / series Project Run and Play. And like PR&P you can expect all the drama and excitement of a month long sew-a-thon only this time it’s minus the minors. That’s right, a whole month completely unapologetically devoted to adult sewing. About time I say!I’m still trying to get my head around how it all works but basically it’s sewing Survivor. The contestants sew their hearts out and if the masses are wooed you’re safe, if not, you’re voted off the island. Eeek! Officially leaving ego at the door. The competition is built around a weekly theme you can sew alongside at home and post your creations on Project Sewn when they announce the link up each week. I’m pretty sure there are prizes involved. The rules are slightly different to PR&P in that rather than creating from scratch you can use patterns / tutorials straight up, or modified, as long as you give credit where’s it’s due. Which is pretty freakn’ fabulous seeing as my drafting skills are, um absent mostly…

The theme for week one is Black and White. So much room for play there, so now I am off to trawl for inspiration, followed up by some scheming and doodling. Interspersed with bouts of FREAKING out! Wish me luck…

If you’ve not yet met the ever-enchanting sewer and blogger that is Kelli from True Bias, now is your chance! I love stopping by Kelli’s space to check out her latest project or just generally drool over some impeccable taste in fabric and mad sewing skills. Right now she is hosting a series called Tried and True and today I’m sharing the #1 pattern that keeps luring me back again and again…and again. I don’t know about you, but I always find it helpful to get recommendations from other sewers and especially interesting to know when someone goes back to a pattern for seconds or thirds….then it’s probably worth a look. Last week, Sonja from Gingermakes shared her no.1 Tried and True pattern, the Sewaholic Renfrew and four cute and completely different versions later, you can see why she keeps going back for more. Often it seems it’s the simple no-frills patterns that end up our most loved wardrobe staples…so if you’d like to know what my # 1 Tried and True pattern is, you can check it out here. I don’t think it will shock somehow…

Congratulations to Kat, of Petticoats and Peplums!

How remiss of me! It’s been two years since I hosted any kind of giveaway on this blog. Two YEARS!! Which could look like a lot of take and no give. Even more shocking, I started this blog, for reasons I can’t remember now, three years ago around feb / march. THREE years! And since I was a total wussbag about announcing my one year blogoversary and forgot the two year, now seems as good a time as any to be giving away some material radness to the people who make blogging so much fun…you lot. So, as a token of my love, I am giving away two dreamy yards of Silk Crepe De Chine Wiksten fabric from Spoonflower. The fabric used to make this beautiful dress by Jenny Gordy, of Wiksten.

It’s not a dream. Just leave a comment, say hi, tell me what you’d make, what you had for dinner, whatever… I’ll announce a random winner from anywhere in the world in approx three days time.

 Good luck!