In which I rediscover my sewing groove

So it's been a while.

In part this is because I've had 2 back-to-back nasty colds (one of which is still lurking, dammit to lurgy hell) and so I didn't really have the energy to be sewing, or blogging. Blowing my nose has occupied an inordinately large amount of my time lately.

But in truth, the bigger reason for my radio sewing silence has been that whole 'sewing nothing but horrible shit' thing. It also got worse after I blogged last (the details of my latest utter balls up will be fodder for another post - I'm hoping to find a fix before I post on that!), so I really was in a total fury.

There are lots of blogs and magazine articles out there which talk about how to find your sewing groove again (they tend to call it 'finding your sewjo' but that term makes me feel mildly nauseous. Ick), and going back to a tried and true pattern is meant to be a good approach. So I ordered some fabric I liked with the plan of making a new Moneta, and sure enough, it has HEALED me! Here's the remedy garment for my sewing blues:

I completely love it. I had to cut a straight rectangle of fabric for the skirt, rather than using the Moneta skirt pattern as it is curved and I really really wanted the lines at the bottom to form the hem. Because that meant the skirt was a bit more narrow than normal, I omitted the pockets which is probably the one thing I'm sad about (because I lurrve pockets. Pockets on everything I say). So. I'm Healed. Jess got her groove back.

Since then I've been finishing off some UFOs (which I'll blog about another day) and that's felt quite good too - productive and efficient. And at the weekend, I was lucky enough to be up in Leeds visiting the lovely Shauni of Magnificent Thread who kindly took me around the fabric shops in town. I got some lovely teal knitted jersey which was intended for a cardigan, and on my drive back south, I called into Fabworks fabric mill shop (because it wasn't far off my route so what choice did I have!?) and there I got the softest, snuggliest brushed cotton fabric. I had no plan at all of putting the two together - but they are a born match! The outfit combo was obvious as soon as I got them home and looked at them. Love it when that happens!

So, I normally work from home quite a bit, and particularly so at the moment as I'm on sabbatical. I joke about working in my pjs, but in all honesty, I do always get dressed. But pjs are comfy, you know? I basically want clothes that offer the comfort of pjs without looking like you're actually in pjs (because the postman just doesn't need to see that everyday!). In summer this is easy, because I can wear jersey dresses, but at the moment I find it's too damn cold.

The Seamwork Moji pants offer pj-like appeal but because of their tapered leg and pockets, they're just a bit more stylish I think - I wouldn't be embarrassed answering the door in them. And to match, I fancied a cardi. I do have the Jenna cardi pattern, but I haven't yet printed it or pieced it together. But this month's Love Sewing magazine has the pattern for a McCall's cardigan - hurrah, no pdf to deal with! It's not actually my usual style tbh, but it's perfect for snuggling up in at home (and NO PDF. Win).

I'm really pleased with the whole ensemble, and the fit of both garments. I took an inch out of the body pieces and sleeves of the cardigan, plus I left the cuffs off (because even with an inch off the length, the cuffless sleeves were still long enough). The instructions were a bit spartan compared to my Indy-pattern norm (I'm so spoiled) but I'm quite proud that I managed to get it all together without drama. I also set the sleeves in flat because who can be arsed with easing in jersey sleeve heads?!

The Moji pants are a straight size 6 and I just put an elastic waistband on instead of draw-string because while elasticated waists are the least attractive thing in the world, they are comfortable and quite frankly, they keep your damn pants up. I only bought 1m of fabric so I didn't have enough to attempt pattern matching, but I don't really care! The cat sees me most and she doesn't appear offended by my mismatched plaid.

Hurrah cosy warm clothes that are super comfy and don't look entirely like pjs (ok, they look a wee bit like pjs, but I promise not to sleep in them!)!

And here we have the academic-on-sabbatical in her natural habitat.