Getting back into it

I finally started sewing a little bit this past weekend.  It felt great!  I think I needed the break, plus last week I was really busy with my mom visiting anyway. 

The weather seems to have finally turned, and I brought out all my summer clothes from their winter hiding places.  I don't have much that is functional for work, because I have lost a lot of weight in the past couple years.  I took inventory and went shopping over the weekend for a few basics, courtesy of gift cards from my family from Xmas and birthdays.  I did great, found some good deals, and have at least a week's worth of work outfits now that aren't falling off of me.  But I still have this huge pile of too-big clothes...some of which I really, really love. 

I also have a little stack of toddler pants that have suddenly become too short on my little guy.  We measure him periodically and he has grown nearly an inch in the last MONTH.  Since summer's coming, and the pants all still fit him around the waist, I see no reason to give them away just yet.

So....guess what my next project is?

I am not a seamstress and I have very little confidence in this area, but I figure I have very little to lose by recycling our old clothes.  If I screw up....oh well!  But I love the idea of making our clothes, so the more practice I get, the better. 

So far, I have successfully made shorts out of a pair of jeans and a pair of sweats for my son.  I also used an old pair of homemade shorts of mine, cut them up, and made them into shorts for him.  They have rubber duckies on them and he had been trying to steal them from me anyway  :)  They fit him much better now, and I don't have to worry about him tripping and falling because he is trying to run around in shorts that are a womens' size 16, clipped with a paper clip in the back.  I have two more pairs of jeans to shorten for him, and fabric for a few more pairs of shorts made from scratch.  The shorts pattern is easy and fast, but it is a boxer short pattern so it doesn't include pockets.  I think I am going to try to add those to the next pair.  Pockets are very important when you have cars and army guys you need to carry with you.

As for me - I have several basic tops that I want to try to make smaller.  I have several large men's t-shirts I want to turn into fitted women's t-shirts.  I have a few bras that need to be taken in somehow.  And I have a bunch of jeans that I am not quite sure what to do with.  Some of them are probably still usable as capris.  Some of them literally fall off my body.  We will see what I can come up with.  I also have a bunch of fabric and patterns for basic skirts, capris and tops.  The patterns are old, and thus, sized too big.  But I may still be able to make them work, who knows.

And for when I get tired of clothes, I have a few other things in mind.  I want to make a backpack for my son but haven't landed on the right pattern yet.  I need to make myself a purse.  I have a bunch of low quality cottons that I want to make purses out of and try to sell perhaps.  I have a bunch of grocery tote bags to make.  And I have a ton of quilts.  And probably a few other things I am forgetting. 

Yesterday for the first time in a couple of weeks, I spent several hours in the sewing room, listening to quilty podcasts and just puttering.  The boys were asleep.  The house was quiet.  And it was wonderful. 

And this morning I was a wreck because I stayed up til 2am, lol.  But after some caffeine and hugs from my son, I managed ok.  The 3 hours nap later didn't hurt either ;)

I have such a blessed life.

>S<