Day 1

Welcome to Project Every Day.

I have been a sewer all of my life–I started when I was four. I am a serious quilt maker, but only a not so bad seamstress. I want to change that about myself. I want to, well, I want to make ALL of my clothing, and I want it to look really good. I want to be as good at making garments as I am at making quilts.

Today is my 50th birthday. I really wanted to do a year long celebration to mark this milestone, and I kept coming back to this notion of wearing only clothing that I have made–day in and day out. This idea just would not go away. But how to get there?

Well, I’ve finally decided on a cold turkey approach. For 2016, I am going to box up all my store bought clothes, and I am going to wear only what I have made starting today.

When I first started considering this idea, I was determined to have all my clothes ready to go–like a movie star–just one glam photo shoot after another of me in my fancy pants outfits. I wanted to have already had the jean-making and coat-making and maybe (I’m still on the fence here) bra-making adventures of an accomplished seamstress. But truly, where is the story in that?

This morning, I woke up and had a serious discussion with myself. Do I wear joggers all day because I can’t find the one pair of tights I have made? What am I going to do about the lack of trousers in my life?

And of course there the elements–ice, cold, snow, dark, winter–you just might freeze in tights. The fact is I live in a subarctic climate. I can’t cruise through this journey in sun dresses. So, I’ll be thinking about as well.

For starters this adventure is about regular clothes that you wear indoors. I am going to wear manufactured outer and under wear. I hope by the end of the journey I will have a coat or two to keep me warm and dry and maybe, I don’t know, maybe some panties. We will see.

I will be documenting my progress here. Get ready to see lots of repeats and odd ball combinations.

Today I am wearing a pair of wool jersey pajama bottoms. The wool is vintage, and the pattern is from back in the day when I taught fifth grade girls how to sew.

Underneath, I am wearing the Prism tunic by a Verb for Keeping Warm. It is an odd length which I might have to change. I had two one yard cuts of the fabric–which is a great ikat purchased last year from Marcy Tilton–but the weird yardage made for a weird length.

For the final layer, I am sporting a wool jersey sweater. The fabric is New Zealand Merino Wool from the LA Fabric store. I got it on sale last year and I bought ten yards. This felt like a life time supply, but it is actually going fast as it the perfect layering weight. The pattern here is the Linden Sweatshirt by Grainline Studios. You will be seeing lots of different versions of this sweatshirt.

And that’s it. For Now.