Nursebean Plans: Projects, Spring 2016

Flowers from the garden on April 1st.Last week I had an unexpected hospitalization. I am fine but in the process of figuring that out, I had a medical procedure that requires me to not bear weight on my right wrist for two weeks. Yikes! No ironing, no rotary cutting, no hand quilting, ergo no sewing. I was also told not to drive for 48 hours so am unexpectedly home from work. Extra time but not able to sew. Quite the irony. But I am trying to stay positive (having a health scare turn out to be just a scare definitely makes me grateful), do some more reading and think about all the things I will sew once I am back to normal. I definitely plan to make more versions of the patterns I have found to be tried and true for me but I am most excited to try out a new-to-me pattern by Christine Haynes, the Josie Sundress.

I love the lines of this dress. It is cute and classic and reminds me of Audrey Hepburn in Charade. What could be better? I am thinking that one or both of these Cotton and Steel fabrics will work well. The fabric on the left is Woodblock from the Mesa collection by Alexia Marcelle Abegg and the fabric on the right is Nine Pin in black from Kimberly Kight‘s Lucky Strikes collection. The green fabric is quilting cotton and the black is lawn. I have had good luck with both of these fabrics for summer sundresses.

I do buy fabric that is not Cotton and Steel but their designs are so fun it is a challenge to not BUY THEM ALL!

Next up I plan to make some more versions of the Pearl Shift by Green Bee Patterns.I am going to be honest and say that I did not expect to love this pattern. It seemed a little boring, a little sack-like and I did not expect it to be flattering but I saw this version by Rae in gingham and I decided to give it a try. I made a version in a heavy cotton flannel plaid that I got on sale at Joanne Fabric and gave it a little detail with a metal zipper (not completely exposed but visible). I used the technique that Dana uses in a really helpful video. It is actually a how-to on making a zipper pouch but it worked really well for me in figuring out how to sew the zipper and get the effect I was going for. I ended up wearing that dress/tunic all winter long and made two others. With warmer weather coming, I am thinking that a linen version would be perfect with leggings and sandals. I am also contemplating using this Allison Glass fabric to make a lightweight version. Right now I am trying to decide on zipper colors. I am thinking I may switch to a white zipper with gold metal instead of black for the spring versions but have been having a hard time finding them locally. If you know of any good online sources, I would love for you to comment.I am also thinking that this fabric would great as a Pearl Tunic, or really, anything. LOVE it.I have a couple of works in process. One is a second version of a shift dress I made by blending a New Look pattern with the Beatrix blouse by Made by Rae. When I saw this fabric-also Cotton and Steel- I knew it would be perfect. I am a sucker for polka dots.I am also working on another Beatrix Tunic in this cotton lawn from the Cookie Box collection. The pink will be for the inside of the button placket. I also have some unfinished Ruby Blouses which are weighing on me and which will be great for summer so I need to spend an afternoon getting those finished. I also expect to have a couple of new Washi dresses in my future and have one planned for my sister similar to the one I made last year for my daughter.

What projects are you excited to sew? Only one more month until May!