What I need is a wardrobe over haul. But my closet is such a mess! I need help figuring a few things out. I’m somewhere between stay at home and live in sweats and working girl wardrobe. I hate sweats! I love pajamas, but it’s awkward to answer the door in the middle of the day in pajamas, isn’t it? I want a soft, warm, comfortable yet presentable wardrobe. The key is to purchase the right fabric. The really soft knit, I buy from an online company, Girl Charlee. I also purchase soft cotton poplin online, here I love the way it moves with me and looks great when I use it for my skinnies. I always get compliments. See, I wear lounge clothing everywhere, it’s just sometimes it looks a little more dressed up.
I was reading about a base wardrobe, with 10 in each category that remain the same year round. I love this idea!
Workout (pants and tops)
Lounge (pajamas, yoga pants, big comfy sweatshirts)
This isn’t a capsule wardrobe, it’s separate. YAY! Clothing I can wear and not feel guilty it doesn’t mesh with my capsule, the perfect formula for a wardrobe. 😉
The latest blog I read, over at a pinchofyum.com, suggests figuring out why your style is or what types of things you do so you can build your own formula. I love that idea, like I said I don’t have a wardrobe for work anymore.
Active: gym, kids, on the go, etc.
Work: office, meetings, etc.
Dressy: formal events, concerts, etc.
Fun: restaurants, date night, etc.
Lounge: movies at home, baking, etc.
Daily: groceries, errands, work-from-home, etc.
Doctor appointments: rehab, physical therapy, counseling, etc.
My wardrobe falls between lounge and fun. YES my lounge clothes are worn for doctor appointments. LOL But, when I’m not going to doctor appointments, I have FUN clothing I wear.
This is a list of my favorite websites for sewing. It originated in 2015. Keep an eye out for 2022 updates.
The laboratory of sewing
I’m updating this site after a few years of stagnation. the list below is being updated and verified by me. I can’t wait to share my discoveries with you.
I love Sound of Music, and a few of my favorite things is one of my all-time favorite songs.
“Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes Silver white winters that melt into springs These are a few of my favorite things”
There’s a lot of information out there for new sewists.
Even the seasoned sewist can learn a great deal from some of the sewing websites.
I’ve updated this list more than once as I find new favorite websites.
This list originated in 2015. Lucy’s list looks something like this:
It’s the worldwide web….obviously there are more resources out there than anyone can use. I did a version of this blog when I first started sewing. My opinion of the best sewing blogs has evolved. This is an update to that list from last year. In no particular order, of course.
Fitting– a textbook online Personalized Patterns: Fitting & Altering
Clothing Patterns 101 – this site is amazing because they show you how to modify patterns to your specificity.
Sewing Parts Online– videos of everything any seamstress wannabe could desire
FREE classesfrom Craftsy, download them and hoard them. Their classes are not usually free.
FREE patterns– Actually if you didn’t want to buy patterns, she has most things you would want on her site.
Simplicity– Perfect site for storing your fabric and pattern stash. A wonderful reference when you are shopping and cannot remember what you need and what you have.
Threads Magazine– So, you’re at home and need inspiration or just want to learn new things? I love this site for that reason.
Mood– I just discovered this one and feel like there is more information than I’ll ever be able to get bored with, they also sell fabric.
End of year traditions for blogging. Normally bloggers end the year with a recap of their blog titles. I’ve not decided what to end the year with, other than a BANG! I’ve been reading a lot of sewing and fashion blogs lately. One of which hits home since I’m not in my forties anymore and definitely not a size zero! I used Pinterest and the words curvy sewing. I was so glad to find the kimono listed under curves. It’s a mainstay in my wardrobe.
Curves Ahead
I wear it to social gatherings including weddings. My favorite site for curvy sewing I found through Pinterest. I created at sewing for curvy women board on Pinterest as well. Curves Ahead is a compilation of sewing tips and patterns for curvy women. Stitches and Seams has one of the better tutorials for making pants that fit our curves. Although I am not a plus size I want my clothing to flatter my figure. Curvy Sewing Collective has a great collection, many tutorials, and methods for ladies with curves ahead!
Boomerina has the best compilation for women with curves; an apple body shape. If you don’t know what that means, I’ll break it down; apples are ladies with more of a full tummy than booty. Her website has tips that are really helpful for the sewist.
Wide stretchy waistbands- I use 1 1/2 braided elastic by Dritz.
Avoid short or tight bottom half outfits
Sleeves with a cap or that are short make us look top heavy (I refer to this as “booby out day” lol)
Gauzy tops used as layering pieces that cover the belly are suggested
Color blocking is our friend. Study the web for ways it enhances our figure and makes us look gorgeous!
For more tips I really thing you should visit her website! It’s one of my favorites!
This is quite possibly not my end of year post, so check back for that. Most of all, ENJOY!
WHO, WHAT, WEAR is my fall back for fashion trend. I love that site, it inspires me. It drives me to do better. It makes me understand fashion. Sew what is not the actual name. The actual website is called WHO, WHAT, WEAR. I use this website as a sounding board when deciding what clothing I want to make and the articles of clothing I’ll skip! Let’s take a look……………
The most recent trend they discussed …… “the most expensive looking skinny jeans”. This is VALUABLE information for people like us who sew our clothing. I look at the article and take note then combine the little details into my me made jeans. The list on the website includes:
high-waisted fit
dark wash
the right fit for your body
high waist seems to be the most flattering on all body types
Top Trends of the moment
Layering- turtlenecks and jackets under coats
Tuck Your Joggers Into Your Boots
Pair a Knit With a Chunky Sweater (push up the sleeves of the chunky sweater to show off the other style
Jean jackets layered under coats, sweater dresses, and more
Full sleeves- I’ve been doing this a few years. It’s quite simple. Start with a 3/4 sleeve and add enough length to make it a long sleeve by using gathered fabric. EASY PEASY
Experimental denim- I keep a bin with outgrown jeans to use for fabric. I love patchwork jeans! Use your normal pattern. Place scraps in randomly….very on trend.
Sweatsuits! Go stay at home mom in public and be fashionable.
Leopard print was listed as the trend that we will still be wearing in 20 years! In case you are not old enough to remember 20 years ago……I assure you animal print was very hot!
Plaid….plaid….plaid….if you have no idea where to start your fabric collection, begin here! Plaid is a mainstay for all seasons and versatile enough to become a dress, skirt, top, or pants!
ENJOY your fabric collecting and sewing up some of these amazing on trend pieces!
So it seemed like to me it’s been a while since I’ve done a review.
Tutorials
Tutorials, what a great topic to do reviews. The Internet definitely has a vast assortment of websites for sewing tutorials. But, just because there is a large variety does not mean they are all equally fulfilling your needs when learning to sew. Everyone can go on YouTube search and videos of sewing tutorials. That’s one way to get started.
You can just look at about.com to learn about sewing. Wikipedia will tell you about sewing, sewing machines, searchers scissors everything you need to know. But without a really good tutorial site to guide you through or hands on training, learning the art of sewing is not exactly easy. There are lots of methods from cutting up tee shirts for patterns, e patterns, and the old stand by paper patterns. Everyone eventually finds their way in or around sewing. When I started sewing again I just sewed. I sewed lines, curves, pillows, pockets, things like that just to get back in the groove. Moving on to patterns, the real deal I used some of the sites below.
Some of my Personal Favorites
When I first started sewingI discovered Melly! Her site is amazing, she covers it all! Those projects will keep anyone busy for quite some time. Have fun sewing, cut up clothing from the thrift store and make something new, it doesn’t matter always how the project turns out. It’s great to have fun.
Threads magazine is another great tutorial they focus more on fit and technique. Their series, “Teach yourself to Sew” benefits the beginner.
Craftsy is a great place to go, they have both free and paid tutorials.
Tutorials for Appliqué Templates and Designs and tons of other fun projects abound. She has pages and pages of fun projects. The sewing machine needs you to mess with it, and that is what her site is about sewing a little of this and a little of that. She has a great whimsical area on her website, So Can She .
One day I found an overwhelming amount of information. If that is what you are looking for, All FREE sewing is your new home. All free sewing is an example of a wonderful tutorial site, they take you from objects they don’t have to be sewn all the way through bridal wear.
Melly’s tutorials are wonderful! She is thorough, imaginative, and can get you through pretty much anything.I like the way her site is set out, the site is easy to read easy-to-follow and includes email for subscriptions.
Of course Pinterest has tons ideas tutorials and such the one I use the most is Colette. She has authored a few books that I enjoyed reading as well.
I design a lot of my clothing, I’ve been dying to take my designing to the next level with a dress form! Constant trying on, next running to the mirror, next adjusting, next ripping seams, next sewing seams, next, next next, it takes for EVER! Then when you THINK your garment is ready you try it on…..NEXT what the is the fit? Do I want to portray this look? People see me everywhere I go. Do I feel good wearing clothing I should hide? See the problem? A dress form takes care of the guess and next work.
So, what’s really NEXT?
Learning the ebb and flow of threads combined to create the fabric chosen for the garment. It’s easier once on the dress form to define how the fabric reacts to movement, wrinkling, , and how it generally lays against a 3 D object, eventually your body.
A really cool part about a dress form is examining the look of the garment on something that is three dimensional. Hangers cannot make clothing look good. If they could, the body consciousness in America would not exist to the extent at present. I recommend shopping around before deciding on and purchasing a dress form. Also studying up on the dress form you purchase is a great idea. I went with brand name only. I should have visited this instead.
Singer does it for me again! I don’t like the color, but I’m creative, I can recover it to match my studio. I love that it’s so completely adjustable. I found this one at Amazon. The features are wonderful. All of the below information is excerpted from Amazon. I am not an affiliate.
13 key adjustments (bust, waist, hips, neck/back) provide a perfect fit
Height adjustment lets you customize the dress form to your height in a snap
Foam-Backed fabric exterior allows you to easily pin dresses, skirts, tops and patterns
Four leg metal base for extra durability and added stability
Pin cushion with key holder provides convenient storage for pins and adjustment key
In my own opinion, this dress form is pretty generous in range of size. I like that the dress forms size changes with the twist of a knob. The foam backing is a dream for any designer or seamstress. I’ll follow up with a real life experience as soon as I get the chance to enjoy it.
I’ve figured it out, I used a chop stick to adjust the size. Important tip that could change your life!
Below is a post originally released in November 2015. I was so proud of my subscription rate, especially since it was Lucy’s First Year. I never dreamed in a million years I would have more subscribers than my email program would find impressive! They actually think the number is troublesome! RUDE, isn’t it?
I LOVE MY subscribers!
You all are so loyal and dedicated! I love you for hanging in there with me. Since April 2015 when the site launched and I started my first real serious blog, 3,000of you wonderful readers have enjoyed my space on the internet enough to subscribe. THANK YOU SO MUCH! We are growing so rapidly I’ve had toupgrade software. We are growing, keep coming back, you can look forward to a members only area soon with paid tutorials as well as FREE tutorials of my own designs.
So, it’s almost six months later and I haven’t accomplished everything on my to do list, but my site does look amazing, I think so anyway! “The Lab” has 8 current categories
The Serger
I’ve been reading, and reading, and reading about the this toy/machine. I read so much I decided I can’t live without one. So, I purchased this beautiful piece of machinery. [envira-gallery slug=”juke-serger”] I threaded it, on my own, and actually sewed some old Levi jeans as a test run. Do not try to sew over the seams. I broke my needle and to replace it, which I’m working on right now; you have to use the teeniest allen wrench known to man.
Please before you embark upon this journey, read up on the machine and make it less scary. This list is less intimidating than you may believe at first. Just relax and soon it will be your friend and you will wonder how you ever made anything without this machine. Do not listen to those telling you how many feet are needed to properly use this machine. I promise there are ways around everything.
I am really feeling bad about my subscribers. I feel like the newsletter programs out there just do not do the job. I have a suspicion they use our subscribers as their new spam list. If this is happening, please understand I have nothing to do with that.
One program I used, sent out two emails. It was months before my husband told me he wasn’t getting emails. This site thrives on visitors. I guess my subscribers must follow my Facebook or million other social media networks. My numbers did not begin to drop until this week. WOW!
Again, I am working as hard and fast as I can to fix this issue. If you need anything at all please contact me at lucyssewinglab@gmail.com.
I would love to give you the names of the plugin I used, but that is just not good business. I assure you Lucy Lou is working day and night to fix this problem. I hope, like you, my subscribers the problem is fixed soon. ENJOY some sewing!
I had no idea how easy it was to learn to sew learning from your television. The longest running show Nancy Zieman is on PBS for learning to sew. I have apple TV. There is a choice for PBS television. It’s Sew Easy Sewing show on PBS. Fit to Stitch is on the channel but, an easier way to watch this show is to use You Tube, which is also tv compatible. The video series with Peggy Sagers is complete on the Fit to Stitch YouTube channel. It’s incredible the topics that are covered in this show. I’ve listed just a fraction of the topics covered.
Another great TV tool for learning to sew is the It’s Sew Easy Sewing show on PBS as well as the videos the videos are on Vimeo and located on the site is a chart
Nancy Zieman has some of the best quality shows for learning to sew on PBS. She is the longest standing sewing show offered on that channel.Her shows’ topics are vast and include:
