A lot of people ask me how I sew so much?? I have been raising a baby the last few years (that baby is now almost 4 - wow) and I really don't have much "free time" to sew... and contrary to popular belief, fabric store owners don't often have time to sew during the work day, unfortunately.
For me... I think the fact that I only have an hour or two a day to craft is motivational because I can literally "use it or lose it" and I try to incorporate other relaxing things into my sewing like I often have my iPad near me watching some silly reality tv shows. I can't watch anything too "good" or "serious" that would require my full attention. Reruns of past favorite shows are good too. A lot of sewists have music or an audiobook going while they sew.
I'm also a "good enough" sewist... if the dart looks a little off, eh, who cares, let's keep going. After a few years of pretty mediocre sewing, my sewing is now very clean just out of practice and skill so I wouldn't sweat the small stuff when you are starting out.
Recently my "sewjo" or sewing motivation has been a bit lacking (which is okay too, sometimes we need to focus on other projects) and I feel a bit... idk unhinged if I am not doing any crafting? It really relaxes me and is akin to yoga (or so I imagine) for my mental health.
So my new solution to a slow sewjo is to grab a friend and do a twin sewalong / sewing challenge. Aria (@sewariasew) and I have done a few of these and it's so much fun. We have different preferred color palettes / skin undertones (I'm cool / summer and she's warm / autumn) so there's no way we could ever agree on using the same fabric but we can often find a good pattern we both like as a launch point. Her style is a bit more vintage and romantic and mine is more modern and minimal in my silhouettes but pushing ourselves to pick something for both of us has been a fun way to get out of our style-ruts.
For our first sewalong, we both did the Lane Pants by Syd Graham with a triple pin tuck modification near the hem (at my insistence, I think they are so flattering) and the free Morning Glory Top by Sarah Kirsten. We pick the pattern and a deadline (well we usually pick shop fabrics so part of the thrill is to sew before launch time!) and then we text each other along the way as we make modifications or change patterns etc. That's why I think this is such a fun idea, because you can make something with a faraway IG sewing acquaintance etc, you don't even have to be local friends like Aria and I are!
(messy studio / dirty mirror photo updates are all part of the fun in a twin sewalong!)
The final result blended our styles (modern clean pants that I like and a more romantic top that Aria picked) and we both chose fabrics that fit out wardrobes well so we have mixed and matched our pants into a ton of outfits. The gingham linen I'm wearing is out of stock and I haven't been able to restock is since but Aria's outfit in Canyon linen was recently restocked.
For the next sewalong, we did a team challenge with me, Aria, and Kelly and we each picked something from the Dark Roma collection with less than 24 to sew something before launch (a very crazy deadline, but it was actually a blast and felt akin to project runway!).
From left to right: Kelly used the Striped Linen in Licorice and made the Arthur Pants by Sew Liberated. She also made a self drafted Indigo Bunnies top from shop scraps (fabric is sold out). I made a Peplum Split Tank by Matchy Matchy Sewing Club with Roma in Brick and Black. Aria made a hacked dress using the Philo Top by Julesmsmit as a base in the Cayenne Striped Linen (sold out).
For our most recent project, we copied Kaya of @kaya_sews and made a matching set with the new Love&Linen collection. I chose the Dusty Rose linen since my undertones are cool and since discovering that, I've been building a really cohesive wardrobe of blues, pinks, greys, lavenders etc (with occasional crazy outliers for fun - lol). Aria went with the Autumn Striped Linen in Spice Market which suits her fall-color-style.
We used the Ruffle Brunch top as a base for their tops and I omitted the sleeves and did bias binding instead for a sleeveless look (copying Kaya's original make). Aria used the sleeve pattern and elongated it for long sleeves. We both used the Ninni Culottes and added a 2.5" (finished length) ruffle to the hem. We are both tall (5'9" ish) so we added 1" to the rise but didn't add to the length as our ruffle would do that for us.
The nitty gritty ruffle hack math:
-3.25" wide stripe at 1.5x the length of the leg openings
-gathered with two rows of basting stitches
-attached with a 1/2" seam allowance
-serged the edges and did a single fold rolled hem at 3/8" inch
-final ruffle was about 2.5" long.
Anyways, what do you think of our matching 'fits? If you are reading this, I challenge you to sew something with a friend or even internet acquaintance (a great way to make a new friend) and report back! :)
-B