It’s amazing how being back to regular work just strips all the of sewjo right out of me. I’m not even that busy outside of work hours, but I’ve found myself just coming home and vegging out more than anything else lately. I’ve been reading more than sewing lately, which I guess makes sense since I’m home more than usual and don’t really need to wear my regular fancy clothes. Really looking forward to the day I can again.

Don’t get me wrong. Some days I dress myself up anyway, just because I can. I work remotely Monday and Friday, so the other three days of the week when I go into work I try to use my real clothes rather than yoga pants. This week I did two out of the three, so that’s pretty much an accomplishment at this point! But trying to build it back up. I got too lazy with dressing myself during quarantine and I want to change that up now.

Despite not having anything fully new to show off yet, I have some projects that I’m planning or am in the middle of, so I’m hoping that posting them here will give me some accountability.

Now that I’ve finished my Mrs. Maisel dress, I have a new one in mind. It’s one that briefly appears in one of the Catskills episodes.

The dress is pictured above, and I haven’t decided if I’m going to make the little bolero as well, but I think I have to! The pattern I have in mind has sleeves, however, and my assumption would be that this is sleeveless dress, though we never see her wearing it without the jacket.

Here’s the pattern and fabric for my version. The fabric isn’t an exact match, but I feel like it’s a close enough vibe, and I think it’ll work well with the style. I got a copy of Butterick 6590 on eBay and I’m going to see if I can manipulate it a little bit to be a tad closer to the original style (I don’t love the giant keyhole on this one).

I will admit that I am not 100% sold on this project yet. I love the original dress, but I’m not sure if this will get as close to it as I want to be, so I may end up using the fabric for a different vintage-style dress. Time will tell!

Recently I acquired a ton of vintage patterns that are actually close to my size (they’re so hard to find in larger sizes but I’ve had some luck on eBay the last couple of months). However, I have been having the toughest time trying to decide what I want to do with them. I THINK I’ve finally settled on this little dress (sans jacket… or I’ll make the jacket from a coordinating fabric as I don’t think I have enough for both). This is one of those fabrics that isn’t exactly what I thought it would be when I got it, but I don’t want to waste it so I’m trying to find a use for it anyway.

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And while we’re on the subject of fabric, I’ve been trying to stick to what’s in my stash… but I caved when I saw the polka dot cotton lawn on the left. However, outside of that I’ve been really good about it! The blue floral is from my stash, and I have plans for another Sew Over It Lizzie Skirt. I haven’t fully committed a project to the polka dot yet. I’m thinking either a Penny Dress or a Betty Dress. Something vintage-y and simple.

This Kitty Dress is something I started when I was still staying at my sister’s during the big quarantine, and I have yet to finish it. Other than the bodice, there are other various parts of it around my sewing table just waiting for me to dive right back in!

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These last three entires in my current sewing plans pile are embarrassing. I cut them out SO long ago. I think it may have been two or three years ago at this point, and I haven’t finished them. And yes, there are three dresses represented here because I cut out two versions of the Vogue 9267 on the right and promptly didn’t complete both of them. All of these are in varying degrees of being done, and it would be nice to actually finish them once and for all!

Finally, in other making news, my work’s Halloween celebration is ON (assuming we remain open for in-person learning, of course)! I recently acquired all of my supplies for the costume, but I will be keeping that top secret until Halloween! I’m going solo this year, and I have a really fun idea planned!

Am I planning too much? Probably. If I’m being honest, there’s a drawer in my sewing space with a number of abandoned projects not pictured here that I should probably pull out and actually finish or repurpose. I’m at least going to have fun trying!