Handmade wardrobe goals and P4P

         I tend not to make super specific New Year's Resolutions, because I have a hard time keeping them. I have yet to break the habit of destroying my cuticles for instance. I do like to think of goals that may span the year though, or things that I want to accomplish or hobbies or projects to work on. Somewhere around the turn of the year, Katy of No Big Dill was announcing her plan to not buy any new clothes this year. As I've been enjoying sewing so much lately, that seemed like a reasonable and fun goal to me. There is also a lot of noise about creating a capsule wardrobe. Colette has a series called the wardrobe architect which is totally worth checking out. I know I could benefit from this.
       I haven't really tackled both of those things though. Doing the capsule thing involves more purging than I have done yet. I will get there. In the meantime I have been distracted by pretty fabric and the idea that I want to be capable of sewing any item that I want in my closet. This has meant that I have been sewing with fabrics that are new to me. And spending money on said fabric. So that lead to a third goal for the year: to sew with patterns more often! Good patterns not only save time, frustration and wasted fabric, but they teach you new tricks and tips as you use them, and they are so worth it as I continue my journey of educating myself as a seamstress.
         This brings me to the other site I was alluding to in my last post; the other sewing related business that I am obsessed with. Judy Hale and her Patterns for Pirates. This woman has made a huge impact on the revolution of (mostly) women sewing their own clothes. Most of her patterns are for women, but there are plenty for girls and boys and even some in there for men. And these are reasonably priced patterns for everyday staple items that you will use constantly. They are great ways to fill in gaps or to make an entire wardrobe. There is also a P4P facebook group that is almost 24,000 members strong, filled with people that share their creations, ask and answer questions about the patterns and provide encouragement for other members in a way that is uplifting to see. So if you are thinking about sewing something for yourself, just do it. Join the P4P page, check out the coupons she has for facebook group members, and take the plunge.
         One of the most iconic patterns from Patterns for Pirates is the peglegs. This is a basic legging pattern which, it must be said, requires a fabric with at least 50% stretch in both directions. (This is one of the patterns with a FREE coupon code if you join the fb group). I am in love with it. The pattern has four lengths: shortie, biker, capri and full length.
         I have sewn three plus one: shortie, biker, capri and a version between the shortie and biker length.

Fabric from left to right: Knitpop cotton spandex, Girl Charlee Rayon Spandex, a poly spandex blend from JoAnn's, back to the knitpop again

I basically followed the pattern as written, except for making the blue pair at an in between length (which I prefer to the shortie). The one other modification was doubling the height on the waistband on the purple bikers. This was my first pair and I had heard folks say they like to do that to create a control panel. It does work as this I think, but looks pretty maternity if I get caught with my shirt pulled up! In any case, I like them all and definitely will be making piles more for fall. 

 So like a dummy, I cut two of the same piece of these  instead of mirror images. So I ended up making two pairs. And I ended up giving the other pair to my mom! She seemed psyched about them which was great. She is going to use them as her beach shorts for the summer. They are super soft, I want to live in them.

Paisley pegs, perfect!

Thanks for stopping by!