How do you reinvigorate a stalled project? – Summer Wardrobe Infusion Update #2
We’re about halfway through July, and there are no ifs, ands, or buts, about summer being well and truly here. But my plans for infusing my wardrobe with summery clothing? Feeling a little stuck in the muck at the moment.
So I thought now would be a good time to take a step back and look at the whole picture.
My Original Summer Wardrobe Infusion Plans
In case you don’t remember (because I certainly didn’t) my original plan was:
: tank tops & camisoles
: overshirts
: PJ bottoms (!?)
: maxi sundresses
: my well-traveled sweater
Not sure what the PJ bottoms were about, but whatever, they’ve gotten nixed.
So how’s the plan going?
Tank tops & camisoles
Status: drafted the pattern. Made one. Tweaked the pattern. And have fabric for more.
Next Step: make a second to test the tweaks to the pattern (and to have another tank top).
Overshirts
Status: pattern drafted. Cut one.
Next Steps: sew first shirt together. Tweak pattern if necessary.
PJ bottoms
Status: nixed.
Sundresses #1: the no-longer-really-an-Anna Dress
Mental Status: bogged down in over thinking.
In the Fabric Status: the skirt is cut & sewn, the skirt lining is cut & sewn, the bodice was decided on, the bodice fabric & lining were cut.
Next Steps: buy a zipper. sew the bodice together.
Sundress #2: the Plaid Sundress from SFO Fabric
Status: waiting in the wings.
Well-Traveled Sweater
Status: Finished!! Just in time for summer…
It is the perfect weight for sometimes chilly summer evenings, so I’m sure it’ll get worn this summer, but I did manage to finish it just as spring turned into summer.
And then there are the unplanned clothing projects
Of course some of the reason that my summer wardrobe infusion plans aren’t going quite as planned, is because of the clothing projects I’ve worked on that weren’t part of the original plan.
Mended Uniqlo Jeans
Status: Finished! Washed! Fantastic!
Lady Bat Sweater
Status: on the needles.
Getting ready to add more length to the front & back pieces.
I have the feeling that this sweater will be slow going for awhile. The yarn is pretty fuzzy, which makes knitting with it in high humidity weather rather horrible.
Summer Wardrobe Infusion Next Steps
I know from my self-made wardrobe project, that I prefer sewing when I have an extended period of time to concentrate on a project. I like sewing in multi hour chunks of time, and prefer sewing during the day, rather than in the evenings.
So, I think the next step for this wardrobe project is to see if I can do some schedule flipping about and find an afternoon to devote to this project. Where that afternoon will come from, I’m not entirely sure, but I’ll find it somewhere.
Although.
Another possibility is spending a day alternating between scribbling out Shawl Geometry edits, and sewing. Which, now that I’m thinking about it, feels far more doable than freeing up an entire afternoon in my schedule.
it’s been a week of, scribbling, typing, swatching, and fabric cutting
Each Wednesday, I take stock of the projects I’m working on, and where my brain is at.
One final shawl shape swatch to add to book 1 of the Shawl Geometry Update.
Yesterday, I wrote in my monthly newsletter, that “Last time I wrote to you, I was getting ready to scribble all over these books in purple pen. And scribble away I have. Scribbles have been scribbled, scribbles have been typed, technical editors have been contacted, and more rounds of scribbles lay ahead. As always, I’ll be sure to keep you updated.”
(If you want to sign up to easily stay in the loop, you can here.)
I’ve spent much of my time this week typing up those scribbled edits and fixing scribbled on graphics for the Shawl Geometry Books Update. I expect to be scribbling away again this coming week.
But in between scribbling, and typing scribbles, I did manage to knit a swatch. And also cut pieces for an over shirt from my summer wardrobe infusion plans. Maybe I’ll even find time to sew it together this week.
The pattern is self drafted, so rather than production line these shirts – cutting, and then stitching a handful at a time – I’m using this first shirt to test the pattern, which I’ll then tweak if necessary.
frogging, editing, and my summer wardrobe infusion
Each Wednesday, I take stock of the projects I’m working on, and where my brain is at.
Two notable things have happened this week on the crafting front of my life.
Firstly, I frogged about 2 inches of my Lady Bat sweater.
I ripped back my Lady Bat sweater to before I joined the front with the back to knit the second sleeve. I started knitting the second sleeve two weeks ago, but tried it on this week only to discover that I didn’t make the front & back wide enough. Ah well.
Because of the sideways construction, trying it on (and getting an accurate sense of what of how much more you have to knit), really requires an extra hand or two.
So, I’m going to knit a couple more inches on the front & back of my sweater, before joining again for the second sleeve.
Secondly, I finished the first round of edits for the second book in the Shawl Geometry Series.
With this round of book edits, I finished the first book last week, and the second book this week, and I’m over the damn moon. I still have the third book to go, but it feels like a far more do-able task now that I’m two-thirds of the way through.
And I guess thirdly, I thought about sitting down with my no-longer-really-an-Anna-Dress.
My summery wardrobe infusion plans have sort stalled. I’m attributing this to the massive amount of time & attention the shawl geometry books update is taking, and also to the seemingly endless rounds of rethinks I’m going through with the was-originally-going-to-be-an-Anna Dress.
When I was originally planning this wardrobe infusion, I said I wanted it to be light, and easy, and breezy – both in the making, and in the final projects.
Easy & breezy is kind of the antithesis of what this project has been so far – so I’m also mulling over ways to reinvigorate, push the reset button, and get this project moving again. Because out of the carry-on-suitcase sized capsule wardrobe that I packed in the middle of December, there are only so many clothes that I can transition into summer.
