Sept/Oct. 10,000HR Sewing Challenge Wrap Up and November/December Goals

I'm almost to the finish line with my Sewing Challenge for this year.

Whew.....I can't believe how quickly this year is going by. I started sewing this month forgetting that I had to begin NEW challenge goals. I remember the month of September but it's almost like I blinked and October was gone. Nevertheless, I've got to keep on keeping on. I've got to log sewing & sewing related activity hours so I can meet my 1000 hours for the year. It seems up to date that I'm 182 hours away from doing so (my hours are listed on the right side of my blog) which means I need to log at least 91 hours each month. Hmmmmm......I wonder can I do it? I'm so close to the finish line. Well I've gotten too close not to achieve my goal so it's time to stay indoors and sew nonstop! Fortunately I get over a week off for my Christmas break so I really plan to sew like made. I'm beginning to drool thinking about all of that sewing---let's get back to my sewing achievement for the last 2 months.

Let's recap my sewing for Sept/October:

-Simplicity 3877 for a Client
-Burda 7549...my Anniversary top
-Simplicity 3867 cute top the 3rd time around
-New Look 6729
-Vogue 1194 Donna Karan Special
-Another set of Nursing Nest Pillow Cover (Boppy Knock-Off's) for my nephews

So I sewed up a few items, not as many as I like (I aim for 6-8 garments), but I'll definitely make up for it during the last 2 months of the year. Overall I loved everything I sewed and was fortunate not to have any wadders this time around.

As for my November/December goals, I'm taking a slightly different approach. I plan to probably finish up a few items that I didn't complete from the Sept/Oct challenge in addition to a few "suprise items".Although the last 2 dresses I made were cute and all, I feel the need to do something more challenging. So I'm embarking on making a corduroy jacket. I feel like doing some handsewing, lots of pressing, and much tailoring. Here's my pattern and fabric choices....

(Here's the 21 wale corduroy and the polyester lining I plan to use)

(Here's the pattern. I want to make view B with the double buttons and straight sleeve)

I'm gathering all of my supplies and preshrinking everything. I've spent the last few days doing my usual research on the project. I love to do background reading on a project so I can make better decisions on how to construct it. I've been checking out these 2 books and dvd. I like most of you LOVE the Tailoring book (which I discovered is a repackaged version of the Tailoring book from the Singer Sewing Library). It covers EVERYTHING and the 4 different ways you can make a jacket. I love having options.

 (Some of the Resources I've been studying)

 Believe it or not, I've never sewn a jacket for myself before. I've assisted one of my sewing students with constructing her jacket which came out rather well. However, I want my first jacket to be constructed very well so I'm exploring all of the possible construction options. The pattern instructions seem fine but I may deviate from them just a little. I should start on my muslin tonight. I don't plan on being done with it  by this week so I may slip in a simpler project to make up for that. However, I hope to be done sometime next week and have a cute jacket to show for.

Lastly, at the end of this month I'll be celebration my 1 YEAR BLOGOVERSARY! Yayyyyyyyy! I can't believe it's almost been a year since I took the plunge and started a blog. For me that was a sorta scary step but I'm so glad I did.  I've been so fortunate to connect with some great people like YOU! So to celebrate I'm planning some fun "stuff" throughout the month. So stay tuned a few Give-A-Way's and Special Deals are on the way!