DIY,  Sewing

Make Nine

I was inspired by the Instagram community of makers to take part in the Make Nine movement. For my make nine I decided to focus on sewing, although the make nine can be for anything you plan to create. I enjoy looking through all the amazing creations makers show on instagram. I have acquired quite the collection of fabrics over the last year, but I have been hesitant to start sewing with them. Being mostly self taught I haven’t thought my skills were up to par to cut into some of these fabrics I love so much. However, skills are only gained through experience, so here we go!

I have no idea what order I will make these nine in but I tried to semi organized them by what I thought I would make first. So first off I saw this fantastic red floral fabric at a local fabric store last summer. I ended up going back for it a month after I had first seen it since I couldn’t stop thinking of it. Originally, I had thought it would make a beautiful wrap dress (I have this thing with wrap dresses) but I decided instead on a ruffle wrap skirt. Once I saw simplicity patterns 8606 I knew that would be the perfect match. I’m planning on sewing this skirt before February to be part of an adorable Valentines date outfit.

Most of my make nine I have known exactly what I want to make, but this striped fabric has been harder to decide on. The fabric was an eBay find, listed as a Rayon twill, it has a nice drape. I like the idea of a striped wide leg beach pant like my illustration. I have McCall pattern m7786 that I am going to make a muslin fabric mock up of and see how I like the fit. I am thinking if I end up going for the striped pant I will crop them since I dislike how dirty lighter color full length pants get on the bottom cuff.

During Joann fabric’s Black Friday sale I spotted this ribbed striped knit online and decided to buy it. It was relatively inexpensive but I was pleased by the quality and thickness of the fabric. Often I am inspired by ready to wear fashion and I have seen a fair amount of fitted turtleneck dresses this season so I figured this fabric would be a good fit for that. I don’t have a pattern for this dress so I will have to see if I can self draft a pattern, of course I will need to practice with some muslin fabric before I cut into my Joanns fabric.

This dress reminds me of the perfect summer wedding guest outfit. Another summer fabric purchase I found this burgundy floral crepe fabric and knew right away I wanted to make a maxi dress with it. I found McCall pattern m7591 and was deciding between the two different bodices it offers. I think the spaghetti strap with the deep V will suit my body type and taste in fashion best. Since this fabric is so lightweight I do think it will be perfect for summer but I will need to line it completely.

I can’t wait to sew my teddy bear jacket, I have been wanting one of these! This jacket is heavily influenced by ready to wear fashion and winter trends over the last couple years. I bought this fabric as a birthday present to myself during December from Joann fabric. Hobby Lobby had a simplicity pattern sale during summer and when I saw pattern 8218 with the model on the front in the cozy teddy bear jacket I knew that would be the perfect pattern.

Hobby lobby had this gingham fabric on clearance for $2 a yard so I picked up the couple of yards that were left, figuring it would make good practice fabric at the very least. I was inspired to sew a wrap dress after I saw an image on Pinterest of a woman wearing the same style dress. The gingham wrap dress seems like classic combination. It reminds me of French girl fashion, classic prints and cuts. Since I fondly refer to this as my French girl dress I thought I would also practice French seams with this project. I hope to wear this dress a lot during summer.

My favorite out of my make nine may be this dress here. When I saw this brick colored fabric on eBay I knew it wasn’t just a want it was a NEED which sounds dramatic, and it totally is, but I absolutely love it. I have McCall pattern m7745 to possibly use to make this dress, however I do think a muslin is necessary. I want to make a practice before since I love this fabric so much and I have seen from reviews the bodice doesn’t suit everyone.

For this cardigan I had simplicity pattern 8742. I like the different styles in 8742 and I could see me making a several but I wanted to start with view D the waterfall style. I found this black and white grid fabric at Hobby Lobby. The sales clerk said this fabric would be good for making scarves too and I could totally see that. I like the flow of this fabric and since it looks the same on both sides I think it will pair perfectly well with the waterfall drape and be quite cozy. In my sketch I have it trimmed with leather bias tape, however, after some consideration I don’t think I will be using it for this project. This fabric is light weight and I don’t know how the drape would be affected with the bias tape so I will be saving that for a future project.

This velvet floral is totally over the top but when I saw this fabric on eBay and decided to go for it. It’s always difficult buying fabrics online without feeling it and really seeing the quality. This navy printed velvet did not disappoint. At first I was contemplating making a fitted formal type cocktail dress with the fabric but I decided it would make the perfect boyfriend blazer. The sketch is one of favorites and it reminds me of a Gucci smoking jacket. Especially Gucci under creative direction from Alessandro Michele, a major favorite of mine. I haven’t ever made a blazer and it seems like a big task so I will definitely be making a muslin before I cut into my velvet fabric. McCall pattern company recently had a sale on their out of print patterns and I finally found a blazer pattern m6172 which will hopefully work.