Self-Stitched September

a.k.a. Sidetracked September for me. I started out fully intending to post daily outfits. Way back when I signed up for this my work schedule looked a certain way, so did our homeschool, and my husband was going to be in the same state as us.

None of that actually happened.

So...

My photos look a little funny since they are all taken in my bathroom mirror (no tripod and no spouse to capture the pics!) and you'll notice that there aren't 30 of them. That is because I soooo didn't have enough self-stitched clothing to wear in public. All that sewing I do? It has resulted in an awful lot of it is pajamas and pants for ever-growing boys, and very little for myself this past year. I did wear something self-stitched every day, but it was a pretty constant repeat.

The blue tree branch skirt is my own pattern, and I made this last summer. It was one of the first skirts I ever made for myself and I still wear it quite a lot, even though I'd shape it differently now.

Another skirt. This is a red linen, my own pattern again, and my first attempt with a faced waist band last summer. I *love* this skirt and wear it all the time April-September.

This blue cardigan is the Shalom cardigan I knit last December. I love it so much I'm working on another in a basic grey.

This black blouse is a recon from an XL swim suit cover I found for $2.00 a year ago. It sat in my sewing cabinet all year and I finally took it out, cut it up and re-fit it in July.

The only outfit I don't have a picture of is a brown and blue skirt I wore with a white blouse- no idea why I have no picture of that outfit, but I missed taking pics every day that I wore it.

Lessons Learned:

1. I did NOT have enough self-stitched items to properly undergo this project. I would have been okay if I had counted knit socks and this had been a warmer month, but I just don't wear socks in September unless it really is cold enough to do so.

2. I wear WAY too much black and white and I really need to branch out. Those outfits above? I have about 5 other black shirts that were partnered with those skirts/jeans on the other days. I don't know if it's just because it's easy for me or if I'm really that boring. I love bright things, but I'm always worried about it being too much, and I have a serious problem mixing and matching. I have this overwhelming feeling that anything patterned must be subtle and it should be matched with a solid- at least when it comes to my clothes.

3. I need to include items for myself in my crafting plans or else I'll never do them. There is always something else to make for my kids, but it's okay to be a little selfish and make something for myself once in awhile. I used to do that, I need to get back into that again.

4. I need a tripod if I'm going to take better pictures of myself. The bathroom mirrror really didn't work. Of course, I *did* plan to have a spouse present to be the photographer, but at present time I can't depend on that while Brian is traveling so much.