new look

I've been away for a while - both from blogging and from making clothes for myself.

Part of it was being busy, but also, I had some ulnar nerve issues that were making my little fingers go numb, so I had to give them a rest.

I did a few projects here and there...

A knitted vest for my father-in-law for Christmas...

Some hand-sewn holiday ornaments for a fundraiser sale at my work...

And some hand-knotted silk beaded necklaces like this one...

I wasn't really inspired to sew or knit clothes for myself in 2015... it was too much to think about, too stressful.  My collection of fabric and yarn just felt like one more nagging thing on my too-long to-do list... so I let it sit in the closet and tended to other things.

Just last week, out of the blue, I got inspired again.  I was going on a trip to LA for a long weekend vacation.  I haven't been on a totally fun vacation for a long time and it was different weather than where I live - I was trying to think about what to wear to be comfortable, feel pretty, and be warm/cool enough for LA weather. I realized that I have not been collecting any comfortable, casual, fun clothes for a long time.

I used to teach yoga and practice in a non-heated studio... I stopped teaching in 2012 and started practicing at a hot yoga studio... so my yoga wardrobe needs changed.  I stopped collecting yoga-lifestyle clothes & gradually the ones I have have been wearing out or going out of style in the last few years.

I really like a sort of athleisure/yoga casual style for when I'm not at work. I have some pieces that would work and this week I bought a few fast-fashion items to perk up my casual wardrobe, but I also want to round it out with sewing - big comfy pullovers, tee shirt dresses, babydoll dresses to layer over leggings.  And knitting big oversized layering pieces.

I'm thinking along the lines of some of the unstructured knitted and woven tees that I've made in the past, but more oversized and boxy, to layer over leggings.

And a babydoll/smock dress that I made out of rayon a couple years ago that is still one of my favorites. 

I have some fabric already that would work for my ideas and it would be fun to work through my stash. I also want to experiment with making tee shirt dresses.

I found a great round-up blog from It's Always Autumn that has a bunch of tee shirts. I'm really looking forward to experimenting with this one from Skirt as Top, extending the hemline into a tee shirt dress for layer and I'm knitting a big pullover right now that is basically just a two huge squares.

My colors that I'm really liking at the moment are black, white, dark grey, navy, burgundy, hunter green, and plum. And stripes - like classic Breton.

It feels really lovely to be inspired again - both creatively to make clothes and personally to revitalize my sense of casual style.