2019 Make Nine

This may be the last of the 2019 Make Nine that gets made this year. I like having a plan but I’ve figured out that I treat sewing like shopping and enjoy making something on a whim or to hop on a trend.  (And I make a lot more than nine things every year, anyway.)

With that said, this year’s plan got me some really nice basics, like another Sloane Sweatshirt from Named Clothing:

This is in a merino wool sweatshirting I bought at the end of 2017 from The Fabric Store in New Zealand. I’d heard about the quality of their wool and the hype is real: this is machine washable, not itchy, thick and spongy, and just gorgeous. It’s also gone*, but I hope they get more in at some point.

The Sloane pattern is beautifully drafted and sewed up in a Sunday morning. Love those long French darts and warm basic tops you can wear with snake pants.**

*My dad made me feel better about buying fabric I didn’t use right away: He called it “limited edition” and said that I had to buy it at the time or I would miss out.

**From J. Crew; the first J. Crew I’ve bought in about two years.

When I re-organized the fabric stash in August, I got to fondle my one precious cut of out-of-print Pegasus rayon (from Anna Maria Horner’s “Fibs and Fables” line) and decided to hurry and sew it up.

“Hurry” in this case meant doing a full bust adjustment (FBA) to the pattern (the Ogden Cami) and then making a muslin to double check the fit, which means this baby got one wear before the weather turned. It’s worth it, though, because: PEGASUS.

I did a one inch FBA (my first, using a combo of tutorials I found online, because it was really confusing) and sewed the straps a quarter-inch wider than called for. That allowed me to put in some strap keepers so things stay in place;

(I used serger thread chains because I still can’t make a nice thread chain to save my life. I guess I could work on my hand-sewing skills for 2020…)

I love this as much as I thought I would–I never thought I’d need to make an FBA but it fits so much better with the darts. Also: PEGASUS! Six-year-old me and almost-forty-year-old me are equally delighted.

There’s a fine line between “cool art teacher” and “clown from the 70s” but I think this jumpsuit just barely falls on the right side of that line:

This is from my 2019 Make Nine list (ha, remember that?) and it’s a vintage jumpsuit pattern that I’ve made before. This time, I added some elastic to the back casing to give it some shape so it would veer more art teacher than clown pants.

The fabric is sold-out-everywhere Kokka “Keshiki” twill that I bought from Stonemountain in 2018. I love it (it has all the Bob Ross colors!) but I just barely had enough for this–and the scale of the print repeat means it looks like I used a different fabric on the two fronts.

I was afraid that that would steer it into full clown territory, but I love the finished product. I got the sweetest compliment from coworker when I wore it to work–she said she wanted to “stand up and applaud” when she saw it. I think that means it’s a success.

I finally finished the hems on this Nikko top that had been languishing while I sewed all the gym clothes for two months. Now I’ll be ahead of the game for October, when it’s cool enough to wear it.

There’s nothing too fancy about it–I made a size 8 in the Nikko pattern with no adjustments, using a very very soft and drapey “modal rib” from Stonemountain (now sold out). It’s cat hair magnet because it is so soft and brushed, but I kind of expect that with black clothes. (I had a conductor in college who said that he wasn’t bothered by pet hair on black clothes because he was “carrying a memento of things he loved,” and I’ve adopted that.)

Here’s the third thing on the Make Nine list for this year: a sweatshirt in fabric that I indigo dyed back in 2017. (No post about the dyeing but you can see Oliver sitting on it here).

After the last sweatshirt, I switched patterns to the Sloane by Named Patterns and it was everything I wanted: high neck, great fit through the shoulders, and those long French darts to add a little something. (Thanks to @threadsnips on Instagram for the suggestion!)

I’ve heard the drafting on Named Patterns praised before; I’d say it’s justified because I’m happy with the fit straight from the envelope. It’s also a really fast sew–this was done in a weekend.

I know the indigo will fade but right now it’s the perfect Bob Ross phthalo blue, so of course I had to pair it with some yellow ochre pants (from Everlane).

I finished the second of my 2019 Make Nine last week–a sweatshirt in some “gold grunge double knit” from Stonemountain (it’s long gone; I bought it last year).

I used the Grainline Linden sweatshirt pattern but it nearly didn’t work out: I forgot how low Grainline necklines are, so even with adding an inch to the neck opening, it was way too scooped. I fudged it by re-cutting a wider neckband and putting that on instead, but it wasn’t fun to unpick serging on this double knit.

Then after the neckband was fixed, I wanted the whole thing more cropped, so I ended up taking off the bottom band and cutting two inches off the body.

Overall this was harder than I thought it would be, but it did turn out how I pictured it. (I had a moment mid-project where I was sure I’d wasted the good fabric on something I’d never wear.)  Lesson learned, though: I’m going to try the Sloane pattern from Named for the next sweatshirt.

I finally finished the ninth item of 2018’s Make Nine list and moved right on to the first one of 2019’s Make Nine.

On the left we have an Archer button up, with the “popover” placket variation. I was so thrilled I figured out how to engineer the front placket so the plaid matched that I didn’t realize I cut it so it opens the “wrong” (man shirt) way. Oh well–still thrilled about that pattern matching. This is in a remnant from Stylemaker Fabrics, bought back in 2017.

On the right, we have a Nikko top in a nice cotton/spandex from Stonemountain. I hadn’t sewn any knit tops in a while and I forgot how fast they are–this was constructed in pretty much an afternoon.

January was, understandably, a hard month for doing things like sewing, or focusing, or enjoying anything, really–but it feels good to be getting back into the groove a little.

The 2018 Make Nine challenge was my first time really planning out projects; it was helpful to think about the year as a whole, what I needed in my closet, and what interested me to sew. With that said, I got distracted by new projects a fair amount too, and of course made more than nine things.

Part of my lack of focus last year was, um, buying a lot of fabric for future projects, so my 2019 Make Nine will use fabric I already have. I’m not going to say, “I won’t buy any new fabric in 2019” or anything crazy like that, but considering I have six additional cuts not shown here, I’m going to try to sew from my stash for a little bit.

So here’s what’s planned, in no particular order:

#1 is another Archer button up in ikat from Stonemountain, which my friend bought for me last year while she was in Berkeley. (FaceTiming someone through a fabric store = true friendship.)

#2 is an Ogden Cami in sold-out-everywhere Anna Maria Horner rayon. I found just over a yard on eBay last summer and have been hoarding it. 

#3 and #4 are a couple of Linden Sweatshirts, in fleece I indigo dyed in 2017 and some textured doubleknit from Stonemountain. I think these will be easy work outfits with wide-leg pants and cool boots.

#5 is a long sleeve version of the vintage jumpsuit I made last year, in Kokka abstract twill from Stonemountain again. (I’m just gonna say, Stonemountain knows what they’re doing when they include coupons for your next order with your current order…)

#6 is hopefully a Toaster Sweater #2–this is amazing merino sweatshirt fleece from an order from The Fabric Store in January last year. I’m going to test it out in Polarfleece first to see if I like the neckline; if it all works out I’ll have a new loungewear top, too.

#7 is the Silvia Coatigan from Schnitten Patterns (I have the pattern ready but need to print the instructions). I’m going to gamble and not make a muslin; my fabric is a wool/acrylic tweed from Fabric.com and lining from JoAnn, so nothing’s too precious.

#8 (and maybe #9; see next project) is another couple of Nikko Tops (the long sleeve version), in black rayon microrib and toffee cotton from Stonemountain’s Black Friday sale.

And finally, #9 will hopefully be a lengthened Tamarack Jacket in this astonishing double gauze I bought last year. My only hesitation is I’m not 100% in love with the neckline of the Tamarack I made in 2017 (Grainline crewnecks are generally too low for my taste); I love this fabric so much that I want it to be perfect. So I’ll ponder alterations and maybe a muslin and we’ll see.

And there you have it! Nine things that I have the fabric and patterns for, in an accidentally-cohesive color palette. (Bob Ross colors forever!)