What's on my sewing table (or would be, if I had time to sew)

Finding time to sew is challenging these days.  There's the whole toddler in the house thing and on top of that, I seem to have some difficulty keeping my sewing area clear of crap junk important things for which I have yet to find a suitable home.  I have also embarked on a quest to eat healthier and exercise more which is leading to some weight loss, and probably will continue to do so for awhile, thus making garment sewing for myself a little complicated (my measurements seem to be changing from week to week).  So, what's a sewist to do?

Sew Kid's Clothes

Cate's Halloween costume
inspiration. Perhaps the kitty
should dress up as Cate?

Cate has outgrown her Big Butt Baby Pants and will be needing some new pairs for the fall/winter.  Also, I've got some cute corduroy I've been dying to make into a dress for her since before she was born.  Then there's that pesky Halloween holiday coming up.  I think we're going to go simple this year and she will be a cat.  Our cat, to be specific.  He's a tuxedo kitty, so I want to make her a t-shirt that has black sleeves and a black back but a white front.  That, plus some black leggings, white socks and shoes, a tail, some ears and a silver collar (which is what our kitty wears), oh and some whiskers drawn on her face, should be sufficient.  Our cat is an indoor/outdoor kitty and very friendly with our neighbors in the apt. complex, so I think they will get a kick out of it.  I'll have to try to get a picture of the both of them together.

Sew Knits
Knits are famously forgiving and you can wear a slightly oversized t-shirt and not have it look really wrong.  So, I will be making a couple more Renfrews.  I also recently bought a Tiramisu dress pattern and then realized I probably should have bought a Red Velvet dress pattern since that's the sewalong that's coming up.  Hmmm...maybe I better go back to the Cake website.  The Tiramisu is assembled flat with the side seams sewed up at the very end.  That's great because I think it will make it easier to fine tune the fit and take it in as needed.  I also bought a pattern for the Espresso leggings.  I wear a lot of leggings and tights in the winter here.  It gets chilly here in the winter and the builders in this area don't know how to insulate properly so it also gets cold in the apt. because I refuse to turn the heat on during the day when it's 55 degrees outside (and, consequently, not much warmer inside).  So, leggings and tights are a must with skirts.

Sew a Wrap Skirt
I was thinking that a wrap skirt would be useful as I can tie it more tightly or loosely or whatever depending on my fluctuating waistline (hopefully my waistline will continue decreasing, but I do get bloated every now and again, I'm sure you know what I'm talking about).  I love the look of the Miette skirt by Tilly of Tilly and the Buttons and the Great British Sewing Bee fame.  The largest size is still slightly too small for my current waistline.  I'm trying to decide between just going ahead and making and wearing the largest size now on the basis that my waist size is only off by a couple of inches and there is plenty of coverage in the overlap in the back so it's okay if it overlaps a bit less (the side seams would be slightly off, but hopefully not for long).  Or, maybe I'll wait awhile and make it when I start to fall into the size range of the pattern.

Sew Craft Projects
I'm currently in a swap for handmade knitting needle/crochet hook holder/wrap/thing so I need to get busy making that.  I do have some time because it's not due until sometime in Nov. but if I get involved in the Red Velvet sewalong I don't want something else due at the same time as the sewalong and needing my attention.

First Renfrew

Refrew the First

I finally jumped on the bandwagon and sewed up the Renfrew pattern from Sewaholic!  Technically, I suppose, this is my second Renfrew because I did make a muslin out of mismatched cotton interlock remnants that I bought at Joanns.  It was a bit too tight in the chest, so I didn't finish it and instead cut a new one out of this teal cotton/poly interlock (also from Joanns).  I'm quite happy with the fit and plan on making several more which I'm sure will get heavy wear this summer.  I'm also thinking about lengthening the pattern by quite a bit in order to make it into a comfy summer dress.

Details

Pattern:  Sewaholic's Renfrew purchased from the company site
Fabric:  Cotton/poly interlock from Joanns.
Size/Fitting:  I blended a couple of sizes.  The neckline, armscye, and bust area are size 12, blending to a size 16 from the waist to the hips.  The sleeve head is size 12, but the bottom of the sleeve and the cuff are size 16 (I always seem to have problems with t-shirts being too tight in the sleeves).
Pattern Changes:  I didn't like the wide band at the hemline so I cut one half as wide
Make again?:  Absolutely!

A few days ago, I ordered some cotton/lycra jersey fabric from the Fabric Fairy (this and this) for my second and third versions.  I just got a message from the management office that I have a package there so I can hopefully get started on my next two t-shirts sometime this weekend.

Side note:  I hate taking pictures of myself wearing my handmade garments.  It's so hard to get one in which I do not look like a complete dork.  I must have taken 10-15 photos just to get one where you can see the shirt and I have a fairly normal expression on my face.  Thank God for digital cameras.  At least I'm not wasting film.