I wanted to make a bunch of the Manitoba Fibre Fest Collection patterns this year. I decided to cast on Ice Flow by Johanna Giesbrecht using Feet of Clay Ceramic's colourway dyed by Cog Yarns. All of these women were vendors at the festival as well. The other awesome thing is the yarn went perfect with my newly made Carson Dress sewn specifically for the weekend :) and of course my Jul designs Sheep shawl stick. 
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I wanted to send out a big Thank you to those who stopped by the Etsy SK Winter Market on Dec 2nd at the U of R. This was the 3rd sale I organized at this venue and it still is my favourite. I had a good day talking to a lot of great people and meeting new vendors as well. I bought some yarn from Midknit Cravings; some to make another Aura shawl and a sock appetizer (pics below). I also got some fat quarters from So Sweet Quilts which I am planning on making some quilted mug rugs. A hand blown glass tumbler from Glassy Eyed and some beautiful notecards from Sparkling Medusa. Thanks to my chronic pain, after the sale I slept from 9 pm on Sat to 2:15 pm on Monday.
I also finished 2 pairs of socks using the Straight Up Socks pattern again. One pair was for my dad's birthday and I used good ol Kroy sock yarn. I really like knitting for him because he truly appreciates it. When I gave them to him (as he was going out the door) he cam back in, took off his boots, ripped off his socks he was wearing and put my handmade socks on. I love that.
 My other pair I made in only a couple days using some new yarn from Midknit Cravings. It is one of their appetizers as I mentioned above. The colourway's I used were Bad Mood Monday and Wine Not! You get 50 g of the main colour and 20 g of a contrast colour. I was waffling between doing an afterthought heel, or maybe just tube socks but thought I would try to see how far I could get with the Straight Up Socks recipe and was left with 5g of the main colour and 6g of the contrast so I could have been ok. I just love them! Can't wait to make more.
 I also sewed a brand new dress!! It is the Fen Dress from Fancy Tiger Crafts and I highly recommend it! For starters it comes in a bunch of sizes and it has POCKETS! You can also make a shirt. I love the hem line and it is SO comfortable. I will be making more of these as well. I also just bought the Metamorphic Dress by Sew Liberated so it will be my next sewing project for my handmade wardrobe. It also has pockets and it is reversible.  I whipped up another smock the other weekend using some sheer, textured fabric. I didn't add pockets this time but kept it simple. I. LOVE. THIS. PATTERN. Everything about it is perfect. I wore this dress with some jeans and a black slip dress underneath and my thrifted pink Holt Renfrew merino cowl to my work Christmas party this past weekend where I received my 10 year award (a watch). I work in a place that is very male dominated and being one of 3 women out of 63, I felt very appreciated by all the guys I work with who cheered for me. It made me feel good and since many of them know that I make things, I did get asked about my smock haha. If you are looking for a really awesome sewing project you should make one for yourself as well.
Many of you have likely heard of a recent movement called "Slow Fashion October", and if you have been following me on Instagram you may have seen some of my handmade wardrobe projects. A couple of my goals this year was to wear more handmade clothing and wear more of my handknits. I have been learning to sew and make my own clothes with the help of friends, my mom and Jeremy's boss. Even though I know many of my dresses, tunics and shirt have been faaaaarrr from perfect they make me so happy. I feel great in them and I get a lot of compliments which makes me want to continue. I can also pair this with another love of mine - thrift shopping. When you are a bigger gal like myself, sometimes it is hard to find nice clothing that fits properly. I have been leaning towards a more minimalist style with what I wear, simple designs, neutral-ish colours, something that I can pair in a number of ways etc. I have found peace in a few designs and designers who make it simple for beginners like myself who are looking for something to make them feel good AND look good in (no matter what size you are).
I have gained a lot of inspiration by going through #handmadewardrobe and have been making a list of items I would like to make. The fun part is changing them up with the addition of hand knits; cardigans, shawls, scarves, and more! Here are a couple patterns that I have in my queue that I want to add to my Handmade Wardrobe
These are just a few examples, you can understand now why my queue and unfinished projects list is so large. There are so many hats, skirts, and fingerless mitts you can add, and don't forget all the handknit socks you can wear with each item! You don't have to be an expert to participate in Slow Fashion October, @slowfashionoctober writes that it is “A celebration of the small-batch, handmade, second-hand, well-loved, long-worn, known-origins wardrobe.” I have been finding myself going back to the traditional ways of doing things and making my own clothes has been very rewarding. Just one more aspect of my life I am trying to make "handmade". If you need further inspiration you should check out these wonderful women who have really inspired me Sam Lamb Terhi Montonen Ash Alberg Jessica Lewis Stevens Cal Patch So why not play along? Anything you make this month that you post online, use the hashtag #slowfashionoctober. Challenge yourself, share your work with others and have fun! If you don't have time to play along, there is always #MeMadeMay :) My goals this month are to sew a few more dresses/tunics, finish my shawls in the works and a pair of socks. What have you got planned?
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