#LindenSwap

Hi guys! Happy Tuesday. This past week has been a huge whirlwind of events/emotions. My father-in-law passed away a week and a half ago, so I took that time off to spend time with family and help get things in order for the memorial service. Dealing with the death of a loved one plus being away from the studio for so long is not the best recipe, but spending time with relatives that I haven't seen in awhile (some I met first time) was worth the time away. It also gave me a chance to get back into really working in my sketchbook. Not to figure out ideas (although i do use it for that), but to use the page to rest.

Now what you came for... the Linden Swap! To recap, Carrie of Oh She Dabbles and Ingrid of We The Sewing started a swap for all those who adore the awesomeness that is Grainline Studios' Linden Sweatshirt. This was my first time participating in a swap, so I was a tad bit nervous. It's weird to not to try on a garment throughout the process of sewing it, but it turned out to be such a great experience that i'd totally do it again!

I swapped a Linden with Jess from Wardrobe Ecology and this is the one she sent me! Isn't it lovely?! She made View B for me since my first Linden had long sleeves. The patterned fabric is an organic cotton jersey from Feral Childe called "Somthin' Else" and combined that with a mid-weight black knit fabric. I did a happy dance when I opened the package because it's so......ME! Our tastes seem very similar when it comes to wardrobe, so i'm not surprised that she read me so well. 

If you would like to see the Linden I made for her go check out her Instagram :) Carrie recently posted the first round up of swapped Lindens. You can see those HERE.

p.s. I'm back in the studio and trying to get more organized. I'm in desperate need of some sort of planner or weekly calendar that has a good amount of writing room. If you have any suggestions for a functional and beautiful planner let me know in the comments. 

First Make of 2015

Of course my first make of 2015 had to be a Grainline's Linden Sweatshirt. I've been hoarding this fabric not knowing what to make with it and finally decided that it'd be quite fitting as a Linden. This knit is a red and navy St. James stripe. I bought it from the sale bin at a local shop in Alaska, but I'm pretty sure that I found it on Fabric.com...or at least its look-a-like.

This linden is a hodge-podge of view A and B. I used the front bodice and hemming method from B and the sleeve length and back bodice from view A. I'm really diggin' the high low effect it gave the shirt. I cut a size 0 and the only alteration I made was shortening the sleeve by about an inch. Since I didn't make a muslin I just made an educated guess based off of the other Grainline patterns I've made up (specifically the Archer). 

Can we take a second to check out that stripe matching?! I love stripes and last year vowed to get more of them into my wardrobe, but boy do they make me anxious. I tend to stare at the fabric for a good ten minutes getting up the nerve to cut into it.  Luckily this knit is medium weight, so it didn't shift and stretch a lot. It also retained it's shape well after pre-washing which is awesome!! 

p.s. Carrie of Oh She Dabbles and Ingrid of We The Sewing started a Linden Swap on Instagram! I'm sure it's not too late to get in on it. I ordered my fabric for my partner's (@Jesssomewhere) Linden and hopefully it'll get here by next week, soon excited!! Who else is participating in the swap??

p.p.s. I realized I never actually explained the why behind my want to create a handmade wardrobe...i'll get on that :)

Neon Alder Shirtdress

Dress | Alder Shirtdress // Boots | Macy's sales rack (old) // Backpack | PINK by Victoria Secret

Hey gang! I'm sure you all know how obsessed I am with Grainline Studio (if you don't know, now you know). Jen's patterns never miss their mark… so comfy, so stylish, so simple… pretty much everything I want from my wardrobe. When she announced that she was going to be releasing a shirtdress pattern (lovingly dubbed the Alder Shirtdress) I was ecstatic! The anticipation was too great, I had to buy three different fabrics in preparation for the release. This is Alder number one, made from Michael Miller's Neon Dots in pink from Purl Soho with neon pink bias binding (also from Purl Soho). I had to work quickly to sew this up before we moved and after some technical difficulties, I finally took proper pictures of it. 

There's not much to say about the pattern other than that it is AMAZING! I bought the printed pattern instead of the PDF, so I saved time by not having to cut and tape pages together. I traced off a size 2, but i could of gotten away with tracing off the 0. Since this was the first time I've dealt with bust darts i made a muslin because I knew I'd have to do some alterations. I ended up moving the bust darts up 1 inch and shortened the dress by 1.5 inches (give or take a few). It's a quick make since you don't have to deal with sleeves (yay!!), but you still get the satisfaction of have a finished button up.

Pretty neon bias binding from Purl Soho…I totally should have bought more than I did.

The guts...

If you've been on the fence about buying this pattern or any other from Grainline Studio then get off that fence and go for it! Once we get settled into our new house I'll be whipping up at least 2 more of these (one with sleeves of course). 

p.s. Did I mention that she just released the Linden Sweatshirt?! yeah… you might want to jump on that too haha. Have a great weekend!!!