6 Months into Sewing in 2026 -- Here's What Happened

And just like that, it's July. Can you believe that the first six months of the year is over? I can't. It feels like, whiz bang, it's July. And I'm not just saying that because of the 4th of July we're celebrating, but happy 250th birthday America. But it just seems like the first part of the year has gone by so quickly. And I've been going back and forth about how to make this video, what I'm going to talk about, and then it hit me. I'm going to talk about what I've managed to sew so far this year and what the plan is moving forward. Because this is the time I like to sit down and reflect. I have these planners. This is a full-focus planner. If you're not familiar, this is my favorite planner. And I just cracked open the third one for this year, which means I'm already in quarter three and planning. And we're already in July. It's like crazy. So I thought this would be a good chance to kind of take an assessment of where things are. And if you're on my email list, and you got the email from earlier this week, which was all about, hey, if you're behind, you're not behind because there is no schedule when you have sewing as a hobby, then this is going to be very much in that vein because I'm also giving myself a little pep talk, just like the one I gave you earlier this week. And if you're not on my email list, definitely want to click the link in the description below this video. It is fun, inspirational sewing advice and tips. And the only way you get that on a weekly basis is if you're subscribed. So check out the link in the description below, or you can scan this QR code and sign up that way. Now, I kind of forgot what I had talked about sewing back at the beginning of the year. Cause I remembered I made a video about trying new things. So I thought I would just keep it a little more intimate and film on my iPad because that was the way it was going to get done today. I was texting with my friend Ellen over at Your Sewing Bestie, and she was talking about buying fabric on sale for the 4th of July and asking if I had succumbed and I had not, but I told her I was waffling about making this video and she said, we'll get, we'll, we'll survive without it. But then I thought, you know, I've been on a roll. I've been making videos pretty consistently on schedule. And so why break that streak now? And this is kind of more of a talky video than usual, but you know, that's sometimes how things go. So back to the plan. The first video of the year was, this is what happens when you try. And I talked about a variety of things, including new things I wanted to try, things I wanted to finish. I wanted to try some new techniques, like sewing techniques. I wanted to conquer some fears. I wanted to finish up some projects that had been hanging around and I wanted to do some fitting on camera. So I thought this was a good time to reassess and talk about the things I did and some of the things that didn't happen. And then also, you know, things I want to do in the next six months as I am planning things out in my planner. So let's talk about what I got done. I did finally, after years of talking about it, get my kimono jacket finished. Yes, it is done. Look how cool this looks. So I found this fabric at Mood when it opened. I went with Jen the day after the grand opening party and I found this fabric. Actually, she found the fabric and told me I needed to get it. And I agreed because it is perfect. You can see how well the color matches. It's this really cool print. I did make a video about finishing this. So if you want to go watch that, you can check it out up here. And I have not worn it yet because I'm still trying to find just the right outfit, um, that really gets the whole vibe across. And I have not figured out what that is yet, but it's done. And that's the important thing. In that same video, I also finished the denim dress. This was supposed to be done during my supposed to be made. It was cut out to be made during my honeymoon, um, sewing spree and it hung out for a very long time. And then the sleeves got done and then the collar got done. And then finally, the last thing I had to do to finish it was put these pearl snaps on, which I finally did. Yay. Um, I don't remember when I want to say it was in April that this and the kimono jacket both got finished. And that was a great, it was great progress because I have been ignoring those projects. And I'm kind of glad that I did because I don't think that I would have been in the right mindset to get them finished. And I don't think I would have come up with the solutions that I did for them. Um, with the kimono jacket, one of the reasons that hung out for so long is because I didn't like using the same print for the band as the base of the jacket. And I was having a really hard time attaching it. And then when I started the whole project again, recut the band in the new fabric, I realized that I've been trying to attach it incorrectly. And that was part of the problem. And so I don't know that I would have noticed that I would, I would have kept trying to push with that original fabric. So letting it sit for a couple of years, or maybe three was definitely the way that, you know, it just kind of had to I just kind of had to think about it and leave it alone for a while. So that was a good thing. And sometimes you have to know when to stop a project as much as you need to know when you need to push through and finish a project, because sometimes things aren't working, because you're not seeing something obvious, like you're reading the pattern instructions wrong, and you're never going to not read them wrong unless you let some time elapse. Because if you keep trying to push that, you're just going to keep struggling. But then other times, you need to keep pushing through to get something finished, and then you'll be happy with the end result. So I think that the challenge and the wisdom comes from learning to differentiate between those two things. So with my trapeze dress that I made a couple of weeks ago, I did not make some of the best choices when I was sewing it because I was following the instructions. And in hindsight, it probably would have been a better idea to use maybe a glue stick to fold down that band and hold it in place, or more easily some, you know, sticky tape, or all those other options that were out there. I could have used some interfacing, some knit interfacing along that edge, and then folded it. That would have given it stabilization. But when you're following a pattern, and the pattern's not telling you to do that, sometimes I don't think of those things. And for some reason I had it in my head to follow the pattern instructions for that video, so that's what was going on. But I got it done, and I pushed through, and I'm really happy with the way it turned out. And I have not worn that one either, or finished accessorizing it. So hopefully that will be coming soon, soonish, at some point when I find the right occasion to wear it. But the point is that, you know, sometimes things need to wait, and sometimes you need to push through. And more sewing will help you figure out when to do each of those things. Then I was thinking about, what other things did I say that I wanted to do in that video? And one of them was doing a Hong Kong seam finish, which I talked about, probably ad nauseum. And if you're tired of hearing me talk about that, I understand, because I'm getting kind of tired of talking about it too. But I do think I have a solution, and a plan. If you watched last week's video, you saw the canvas with the embroidery, and my polymer pletch boxy jacket. And I think those two things are going to come together, hopefully, before I go to VidSummit. So that's on the calendar for September, let's sign. But I did try a new technique that I have never done before, and it was the French seam as a seam finish. So I did something I've never done. That was for this gorgeous Trina Turk wall. And I sewed the whole inside of the garment with French seams. Not this top edge that's gathered, and obviously not the hem. But the seams on the inside, the raglan sleeves, they're all French seams. And it turned out beautifully. And it turned out that French seams were the way to go with this fabric, because it was very ravely, and it turned out to be the perfect seam finish. And my top looks awesome. That's the other added bonus. So while I did not do one type of fancy seam finish, I did a different type of fancy seam finish, and it worked out very successfully. I discovered that French seams are not as scary as I thought they were. You know, it does take a little wrapping your head around it, because you're starting with the wrong side together, and you're sewing from the outside of the garment. It seems really, really weird. But then once you flip the seams to the inside, and they get all enclosed, all nice and neat, your seam just looks so fancy. And it was, it was a very fun experience. And I'm glad that I did it, because now French seams aren't so scary. So that was a win there. Even though it was not the ultimate seam finish that I was thinking about, I did make progress in that direction. And so that was a good thing. Buttonholes have not come up again. You know, this summer, I'm going to be teaching, actually at the end of this month on the 30th and 31st, I'm going to be teaching at the Original Sewing and Quilt Expo. And if you haven't gotten tickets, and you're in the Dallas area or North Texas area, you need to do that. You can head over to my website, and there's a banner across the top that you can click on, read more about the classes, and link directly to the sales page on the sewingexpo.com website. I would love to meet you there. And so since I'm prepping for those classes, and getting my course materials all together, and my outlines all together, and getting all that done, I've been trying to kind of do easier low lift type videos with the sewing part of it. So I have not had the heart or the energy or the focus to tackle buttonholes, but that is something that will be coming up. I do want to make a couple of shirts for Dan this year. I have some gorgeous fabrics for him. I have a Liberty poplin, which is over here. I have to show you because it's so gorgeous. I bought this a couple of years ago. It has little ships on it, and seagulls, and it's just so gorgeous. And you know, since he's a retired sea captain, I thought that was the perfect fabric for him. So I'm going to make a nice button-down shirt, and then I also found a gorgeous shirting fabric at Moo New York last year. Is it last year? It seems like longer. Last year when we were up there, and so that's another option for him, which will be coming up in the fall at some point. No deadline in place. And then I also want to make a Vogue shirt dress, which I talked about last week as well, out of this newsprint kind of funky fabric that is just a broad cloth. Nothing exciting, but I think it's going to look cool, and that's really the whole point of it, right? So what else? What else have I not accomplished in the first six months of the year? But I'm thinking about doing coming up in the rest of the year. Buttonholes are a big one. I need to get past that, and I suspect that it's going to be a lot of talk and not quite as much stress as I initially thought it was going to be. So I will overcome that. I know a lot of you leave comments about buttonholes aren't that hard, and I have a Bernina, blah, blah, blah. My Bernina, I have to press the button every time the buttonhole goes around, so it's not like a one-and-done kind of Bernina. It is a 1997-98 vintage. It is a 1080. It is not one of the modern machines, but that's okay. It still does great buttonholes. You can see them back here from when I did them the first time. It's really just doing it, and of course, been sure it's little tiny buttonholes that are so stressful, but I'll figure it out. So that's sometime in the fall. We will not stress about that at this point in time. Moving forward, I'm going to be making, coming up soon, a wrap skirt, a knit top from Style Art Patterns. I'm going to be making a lawn top using some of my Liberty from Greenline Studio. I've got my alarm going off. I've got some lawn using the Scout T from Greenline Studio. I actually just got an email, a 4th of July email from Greenline Studio about some of their PDF pattern sales, and I found another dress. It's a tank, and you can make a dress, and a tunic kind of tank, and it's called the Willow Pattern, and I was like, I really like that, but I don't want it in PDF. I'd rather have the paper version, so I think I'm going to order that, and it'll get here sooner rather than later, so that should be fun, because that looks like something I'd like to wear. And then fitting is another big thing that I talked about at the beginning of the year, and kind of being afraid to do it on camera, but I'm going to get over that and, you know, work on that as well, because I think we can all agree that fitting is a big part of sewing, and when you have a better understanding of fitting, and how to make things work better, and fit your body better, your sewing is going to be better. You're going to feel better about it, because then you're going to be more comfortable in whatever you make and wear. One of the classes that I'm teaching at the Sewing Expo is about taking measurements, and understanding ease, and choosing the right pattern, so that is something that'll be coming up. I've made a similar video about measuring, which you can check out here, if you want to kind of understand the high bust measurement, and the polymer plush fit system, and how to choose the right size pattern, and then how to, you know, use the ease to your advantage, so that if you're not into adjusting patterns, and doing the whole fitting process using the polymer plush method, that you can use the ease to your advantage, and still make things that fit. So all of these things are coming up in the next six months of the year, but more importantly, let's get to the pep talk. If you feel like you're behind, you're not. You know, I always start the year off with a bang, and have all these grand plans, and the fact that I've accomplished several of them to this point, is kind of impressive, because I usually talk about doing them, and then promptly forget. I did have to go review the transcripts of those videos to remember what I said, and what some of my plans were this year, but you know, it's a progress, and you know, sometimes I'll say I want to make things, and then the plan changes, and if that happens to you too, or if you find a new fabric that you like better, and now you want to come up with a new plan, that's totally cool. It's just the way it is, and I think the important thing is that you go and sit down at your sewing machine, and do something. Make. You know, and if you have a busy, stressful job, and you get home, and you're like, oh, I just can't even think about doing anything, any kind of hobby that's related to using your hands, like knitting, or embroidery, also it's like gateway to sewing. You know, it keeps you creative, and making with your hands, and using fibers, and textiles, and so it's still a good thing, even if you don't, you know, even if you're not, you know, full-on sitting down and sewing, and I know it's hard. I have a busy job too, and some days I'm just like, oh, I don't have the energy to, you know, cut things out, and get all this prep work done, and so I try and prep when I am feeling ready for it, instead of, you know, when I'm tired, because then you're more inclined to make mistakes, and then if you make mistakes while you're doing the prep stages, you're gonna have problems later. I mean, I used to skip over a lot of those steps. I didn't double check that all the marks from my pattern pieces were transferred to my fabric, or I would use, you know, heat erasable ink, and so then when I went to go, like, you know, press in the interfacing to the waistband, all the marks disappeared, so things like that, you know, if you're not really paying attention, it helps if you do, because that makes the whole sewing process a lot harder when you don't, when you don't, you know, when you're, when your mind's somewhere else, let's put it that way, and so if you haven't been feeling focused, maybe that's a good time to go through your fabric stash, and remember what you had, and think about things you could be making, or, you know, go through your fabric stash first, and then go through your pattern stash, and say, hey, you know, what fabrics do I have that would work with some of the patterns I have on hand, and kind of think about it like that, and then see what else you have, like, do you need to order a zipper, do you have zippers, do you have buttons, you know, what are the various notions that you're going to need to get before you can start that project, and, and make a list, you know, make some progress towards that sewing project in the future, even if you're not doing it right then and there, you can still be thinking about it, and, you know, doing something creative and exercising your mind and creativity, and that's all good too, so don't feel bad if you haven't checked off at least half of your, you know, annual to-do list. I don't think I have. One of the big things I wanted to do was go to Jeans Jamboree in Louisville and make some custom jeans, and that didn't happen. You know, I had a plan to learn how to do a fly front zipper and all that good stuff, and for some reason, like, the flights were double last year, the Airbnb was double the cost last year, and the rental car was double the cost, so I really did not have the, um, the funds to be able to swing that this year, so maybe another year, maybe next year, it still sounds like something fun, and while I did not master the front fly zipper, my friend Jen did, and, uh, she finally got it down, so now when I'm ready to learn it, or maybe I can convince her to be in a video and show us all how to do it, um, because she made a gorgeous fly front zipper, and she's working on a second pair of pants that requires the same technique, so, um, Jen for the win, and, uh, at least somebody learned to make a fly front zipper in the first six months of the year, so if you did too, let me know in the comments below, and while we're talking about comments, if you haven't had any sewing wins at all since January 1, you are winning, you are doing a good job, keep moving forward, and if you feel like you've gotten off track, you know, maybe take a minute, sit down, assess the situation, you know, is your sewing room a disaster? Do you need to start there and just clean it up? I know that's what I spent all day Thursday doing, um, when I got off work, I had lunch, I came home, and I had to clean this place because there was a lot of pet hair in here, there was a lot of dust, there was lint and thread everywhere, and you know, once I got everything cleaned up and put back to start at zero, the whole room feels lighter, it feels better, and maybe that's what's holding you back too, or if you've just been busy and haven't made it a priority, just sit down, you know, maybe pull out a notebook or a planner and jot down some ideas of things you want to do, uh, in the next few months, and we'll just keep it simple, we won't even say through the end of the year, we'll just say for the next quarter, you know, Q3, what do you want to do? Um, and it doesn't have to be anything big, like maybe sew two garments, and you'll figure it out later, and that's cool, and, uh, I'll be here with cheering you on. So if you've enjoyed this video and want some more pep talk excitement, you can totally check out this video coming up next. I know you're gonna love it, and I'll see you over there.