Post-baby sewing dreams

Did everyone have a good Labor Day weekend?  My husband and I did nothing of consequence.  Well, I did a little fabric shopping and we made a valiant but failed attempt at hanging some shelves, but other than that, nothing much happened.

I've been thinking about the things I want to sew post-baby (you know, with all that free time I'm bound to have while caring for an infant).  I really got into reading sewing blogs for the first time last spring. Garment-sewing, that is. I have been reading a few craft blogs that had small project sewing and some sewing for kids for probably almost a year. I don't remember how I got into it, exactly, I think I followed a link to a link and started reading Gertie's New Blog for Better Sewing and Casey's Elegant Musings and sort of branched out from there.

At any rate, reading sewing blogs really inspired me to sew for myself and I saw a number of fabulous patterns that I desperately wanted to sew, but I had a little thing that was keeping me from starting those patterns, a little thing that is growing bigger and bigger every day! I could sew to my pre-pregnancy measurements, I suppose but there would be no way to check the fit and who knows if I'll ever get my pre-pregnancy body back (I've heard my boobs will never be the same, for instance) or if I do, how long that's going to take. So, for now, I enviously look at the brilliant garments people have shown and I jealously sigh over the sew-alongs I'd love to participate in, and I dream of the clothes I hope to make one day.

Here are just a few of the patterns I've got in my mental queue:

• Violet shirt by Collette: A sweet button-down shirt with a peter pan collar. It's specifically labeled for beginners and I think it will be a great way to improve my fitting skills with a blouse that's a little more complicated than the Sorbetto.
• Ginger skirt by Collette: A fairly simple A-line skirt with three different waistband options. I've made a couple of A-line skirts, but none with this type of waistband. I'd also like to try the option of cutting a striped fabric on the bias and making a chevron pattern. Sunni from A Fashionable Stitch has tips for sewing on the bias and inserting a zipper into bias-cut garments from her Ginger sew-along.
• Peony dress by Collette:  This is part of their Fall 2011 line.  A simple dress for beginners!
• Oolong dress by Collette: Are you sensing a pattern here? I do like the Collette patterns! This is a bias-cut dress with a ruched bodice. There are no closures to deal with, but I understand that sewing bias-cut fabric can be a little tricky.
• Lonsdale dress by Sewaholic: This is fun, summery dress with an interesting neckline. It would require wearing a strapless bra, but I'm willing to put up with that to wear this dress. Tasia did a sew-along for this dress so I have something to refer to if I get stuck.
• 1940s Swing Dress by Sense and Sensibility: This is just what the title says it is. It has a cross-over bodice and a gored skirt. Casey's Elegant Musings did a sew-along for it so I have a decent amount of reference material to help me make my own.
• 1950s Collar Confection Blouse from Decades of Style: This is a reproduction of a vintage blouse pattern with a fitted waist and a fun collar. A much more complicated project to be done after I have a couple of (successful) shirts under my belt.
• Plain and Simple Princess Shirt by HotPatterns: This is a plain, simple, princess seamed button-down shirt. It'll be great to have in my wardrobe and useful for learning to do an FBA on a princess-seamed garment.

You may have notice there are no pants in this list. Pants scare the...pants...off of me (I've acquired a horrible penchant for puns recently, so sorry to put you through it). They seem so complicated! It's a whole different set of measurements to get right. I'd like to try them someday, maybe starting with a really simple pattern with a side-zip (like this one from Hot Patterns).

You may also have noticed that none of the patterns listed are from one of the big 4 pattern companies (Simplicity, Butterick, McCall's, and Vogue). I like the idea of supporting independent pattern makers. They are mostly small businesses run by amazing women who had a vision and the courage to carry it out. It's the kind of thing that's worth supporting in my book. That's not to say I'll never sew a big 4 pattern again (I've got a couple of baby patterns from Simplicity and McCall's in my Not-For-Me queue), just that I want to support small businesses when I can.

So, that's my apres gestation wishlist.  I'm imagining that's a good year's worth of sewing there, given that: 1) I'll have a baby to look after (and I hear they are sort of high maintenance) and 2) I'll have a baby to sew for (all the cute little dresses and rompers and dresses and ruffled diaper covers and dresses!).