Happy New Year my friends! As each year closes I find myself thinking of all my resolutions and goals I want to make for the coming new year, as we all do. Last year I was only a few months into sewing my own wardrobe, and I wasn’t quite sure where it was going yet, or what goals I wanted to set for myself. This year I’m all in with big plans for a stylish, handmade wardrobe. I hardly ever buy myself any store bought clothing anymore, and I’m hoping to make enough items during this year to forgo buying completely. We’ll see if I can resist. It’s going to be a fun year!
My favorite part of the whole sewing process is finding my inspiration, pattern & fabrics. To kick off the New Year, I’ve teamed up with Stylish Fabric to plan my first outfit of 2017, and also to help you start planning your 2017 handmade wardrobe!
Stylish Fabric provides beautiful and affordable apparel fabric, and I had so much fun combing through their online fabric shop as I was planning out this outfit.
I recently fell in love with Anthropolie’s Velvet Joggers (currently sold out). I instantly thought of the Alexandria Trousers by Named Clothing pattern I picked up from Indie Sew paired with a stretch velvet. Yessss. Match made in heaven. I chose this gorgeous olive green stretch velvet from Stylish Fabric. I used a ball point needle and stretch stitch and they came together beautifully. I also used a 3/8″ wide natural colored grosgrain ribbon for the waist draw string. Guys, it’s like wearing your pajamas all day long, while also being socially acceptable. I love these pants!
Now for the top. If you haven’t already seen the Toaster Sweater by Sew House Seven, you need to! This pattern comes in two versions, and from the very first time I laid eyes on them both, I knew I would have to combine my favorite features of both sweaters into one. I used the top half of #1 and combined it with the bottom half of #2. I sewed up a size small and added 4″ in length. I’ll be sharing a full tutorial all about how I did this hack for Sew My Style later on this month. Stay tuned!
The Toaster Sweater pattern calls for medium weight fabrics like french terry, boiled wool, and sweatshirt fleece. I took a big chance and sewed mine up using this lightweight oatmeal sweater knit also from Stylish Fabric. I was a little nervous about the fabric weight, but it was no problem at all. It sewed up very easily, and I love the finished look. This fabric drapes quite beautifully too. I wasn’t sure how would like the slouchy turtle neck, but I really love it. It just feels like a big cozy sweater. I have another one planned for later this month. Seriously guys, you can’t have too many Toaster Sweaters.
Okay now to the good stuff. Stylish Fabric and I have teamed up and planned a super fun contest to help you start planning your 2017 handmade wardrobe and I’m sooo excited to see what you all come up with.
It’s simple to enter:
1. Plan an outfit you would like to sew for yourself this year using fabric from Stylishfabric.com. (It can be a single garment piece or many)
2. Create a picture collage of the fabrics & patterns you would use to create your outfit (I like to use the free app called “Layout”).
Here’s an example of what mine would look like:
3. Post it on Instagram using the hashtag #stylishnewyear17, and tag me @thesaraproject_
That’s it! The contest will run from January 2nd to January 16th. I will choose my top two favorite looks, and announce two winners on January 17th on Instagram in the original post. Guys, check out these prizes generously offered by Stylish Fabric!
FIRST PLACE:
-$50 Gift card to Stylish Fabric!
-A scarf of your choice from Life Scarf !
-A sewing kit!
SECOND PLACE:
-$25 Gift card to Madison Home Company!
-A scarf of your choice from Life Scarf !
-A sewing kit!
This is going to be so fun, and I seriously can’t wait to see what you all put together. Good luck!
Here’s to a Stylish 2017 my friends. Happy New Year!
