thank you, sew short nissa and reves mecanique!

I've recently written a couple of times how blessed I feel to be a part of this amazing, online sewing blogger community, and today is another reason to do so! Sew Short Nissa and Reves Mecanique (two awesome sewing bloggers you should check out!) have both nominated me for a Liebster award! I get to answers some questions about myself given by person(s), then nominate some other amazing blogs with under 200 followers for you to check out! I received one last year as well, but a lot can change in a year and I think you'll find both different questions and answers than from before:

1. Why did you start blogging? Why did I start blogging? I knew I wanted to get back into sewing my own cloths, and just prior to that I had gotten a lot of inspiration reading other sewing bloggers so I thought "why not document my journey as well?" I'm so glad I did! And I hope others have gotten even a tenth out of reading it, as I have writing it and corresponding with other bloggers. 

2. How do you get yourself out of a sewing funk? Reading other sewing blogs every day is often inspiring. I also might allow myself to do something sewing related, that isn't sewing, like clean up my sewing space, or thumb through my patterns for inspiration, check out Pinterest.com, sketch out ideas. I also usually cut out my fabric on a day before I'm going to sew, maybe in front of the TV in the evening, so that it's ready to go!

3. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be and why? I love Portland, ME, but it would be so cool to live a year in Europe or Asia, or even Canada! I visited friends teaching in South Korea and absolutely loved being in a foreign place, and the lives they got to live there. Mr. Sew Rachel and I have also talked about living on the west coast sometime, like the San Francisco/Portland, OR area.

4. Sewing for other people: love it or loathe it? I don't often love it when other people ask me to make them things... but I love making people things when it's my idea. :) Selfish seamstress maybe? 

5. What is your best feature? Hmm? My body has changed a lot the last couple years, and somedays it's harder to love those changes than others. I have to say, my daily photo pledge for Me-Made-May 2014 has been really positive in that regard. Even on days I'm not feeling so pretty I need to produce a flattering photo, which not only requires a degree of self-love but also presents myself back to me in a beautiful way... and for 31 days in a row. 

6. What is your favorite fabric shop? My new favorite fabric shop is one I just discovered a month or so ago when visiting Boston: Grey's Fabric and Notions. I also stumbled into (and quite literally... plantar fasciitis is painful!) Gather Here in Cambridge, MA. Bother shops have beautiful patterns and fabrics, and are staffed by very cool helpful people. It might be a tie.

7. What is your biggest sewing sin? Not taking the time to make a muslin, or time and time again not properly shortening a pattern when I know it's designed for someone a half-foot taller!

8. If you could make any sewing process disappear, what would it be? While I used to hate hemming, I've been learning some new techniques and tools to make that process less painful. I would make disappear when you finish are this close to finishing a garment only to find out it doesn't fit right or it doesn't look good on you. I hate that. Sure... some of that could be taken care of by making a proper muslin first, but sometimes you just cant tell until you have the whole thing together. 

9. Which other crafts, if any, do you do? I'm also a painter and printmaker (www.rachelchurch.com), and working toward that being my profession. Besides that I just plain old enjoy making things. I love decorating Easter eggs! I dabble in knitting. I like to cook (but not do the dishes....), and every year get a little more successful at gardening (and I DO NOT come by that naturally!).

10. Cats or dogs? Cats.... and house rabbits :)

My baby bunny boy, Filbert. (He's actually more like 6 y.o.)

So now I'm nominating these 6 blogs of less than 200 followers (based stats from Bloglovin.com) I read for you to check out. This is just a small sample of the 144 amazing bloggers I follow who inspire me daily.

Lady Sewalot (ladysewalot.blogspot.co.uk) - This girl is only like 17, and makes very cool outfits with great personal style!

Fabric Tragic (Fabrictragic.blogspot.com.au) - I would wear everything she makes.

One Small Stitch (onesmallstitchtoday.blogspot.co.uk) - Her last knitted project was amazing!

Seams Right to Me (seamsrighttome.wordpress.com) - I just discovered this blog. She's made some really nice indie pattern creations.

Sew Unravelled (sewunravelled.com) - I want her clothes :)

Gloria & Me (gloriaandme.blogspot.co.uk) - Just finished a series on the Colette Wardrobe Architect Project. Always has something thoughtful to say.

So ladies, are you up for the challenge? Will you post a little about yourselves then pass the Liebster award along to other amazing sewing bloggers?

happy me-made-may!

It's day one of MMM'14! I've realized I want to make an addition to my MMM '14 pledge, shown here in bold print:

'I, Rachel of sewrachel.blogspot.com, sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May '14. I endeavor to wear and photograph at least one handmade item each day for the duration of May 2014'

Last year I usually just copied the photos from my previous blog posts when I wore an item during the month of May, which probably ended up being more work than if I just snapped a photo each day. Plus, MMM is not just about what I wear handmade, but also how I put my outfit together. So this year, I'm going to do my very best to remember to snap a photo (though I don't promise great photos!) of my handmade outfit every day. And so without further ado......

Yeah, I know. Not a terribly exciting or sophisticated outfit, and some may argue that me-made pajamas are cheating, but let me explain. I'm still coughing and feeling gross from my week+ long cold, both of my bunnies have been sick and need extra care, attention, medications and hand feeding (and are making sooooo much laundry!), and it's been cold and nasty and rainy today.... so I staying home with the handsome men that I slept with last night: my Alexander Henry Pajamas! 

Now I know that MMM can lead to a lot of blog posts to both write and read, I won't be posting my outfit updates daily but instead doing a round up of outfits worn once or twice a week. I also will be working on another Liebster Award post thanks to the awesome ladies who write Sew Short Nissa and Reves Mecanique! Lots to do and look forward to this month! Guess I better get to sewing!

me? an award? i'm so honored!

About a month ago I was honored by Dani Jayne of One Small Stitch with a Liebster Award! So what's I Liebster Award? (I asked the same thing...) After a little Google-ing I've learned it's a informal award in the blog-o-sphere passed along from blogger to blogger. I've found a few different variations of the rules, but here are the guidelines that Dani posted April 20th when she nominated sew rachel!:

"So, as I understand it, the Liebster Award is given to bloggers with less than 200 followers. I need to answer  the 10 questions set by Helen [who nominated One Small Stitch], then nominate another 10 bloggers, again with less than 200 followers, and give them another 10 questions. What a fantastic way to share the love!" 

How neat is that?!?! I guess the first order of business is the answer some questions...


1. Why did you start sewing?
My mom always sewed. She made a lot of our clothes when we were little, and doll cloths, and toys, and quilts. So I started "creating" at a pretty young age.  I liked to create anything out of anything (and kinda still do).  The first thing I remember sewing was a hand puppet in my 1st grade class.  I really picked it back up again last summer when I decided to make a party dress for my wedding. Here are a few pics of that dress from a photo shoot up on the blueberry fields behind our house, and a pic from the post-wedding BBQ with friends. I worked so hard on it, with all of this ruched, and gathered burn-out chiffon on satin lining. WHAT WAS I THINKING? It actually came out really well and gave me the confidence to start sewing again and start this blog! In retrospect, there are so many things I've learned since that dress. I didn't even know to finish seams!

I have to make a shout out to Andrew Davis for taking absolutely beautiful photos at my wedding! If you are looking for a photographer in New England, I HIGHLY recommend him! http://www.andrewdavisweddings.com/

2. What's your favourite part of sewing/making?
I just love that feeling when the right fabric combines with the perfect pattern and you create something even better than you expected! Or when you finial master a new technique that elevates your final product, like recently when I learned how to make a narrow hem.

3. And least favourite?
Easy. Two things: First, when you've spent all this time cutting and sewing, and then when you are finally 90% finished and can really try it on for the first time, and it looks terrible on you. Part of this is due to the fact that my figure has changed a little in the past year, and I have to re-learn what styles look good on me. I'm also learning to try out new patterns with inexpensive fabrics first, or make a muslin. And second, I hate hemming. BUT the more tricks and techniques I learn the less I dislike it.

4. Who is your muse/style idol/style inspiration/style crush? Can be real or fictional. Famous or civilian.
Tough question. With this whole making-my-own-cloths-thing, part of it is about trying to figure out what MY style really is. I'm inspired by many different bloggers who seam to have really figured that out for themselves.

5. What is your favourite make?
Just one? Even with all it's flaws, it may be that party dress for my wedding.

6. And least proud?
I don't think "least proud" is the right term, but I do have my fair share of items abandoned mid-way through. Maybe my first big disappointment was late 2012 when I was trying to make a party dress, and decided to completely change the pattern without any knowledge on how to actually do that...

The fabric was really beautiful so hopefully I can reuse it for another project.

7. What's your sewing/making bete noire? Your biggest challenge, or the thing you've been putting off?
I pledged this spring to make pants and a jacket. I tried making pants and abandoned them after they were 80% constructed and I was having problems fitting (I didn't know you could even have a baggy knee, much less how to fix it!). I've picked up a couple of simpler pant patterns to try next. I haven't even started a jacket.

8. Where do you find inspiration?
Sometimes I see things on Pinterest. Sometime I'll see something in the mall or Modcloth.com. I often get inspired by other blogger's makes. Most of the time I'm first inspired by either a fabric or pattern that speaks to me, and then I search for fabric or pattern to complete it.

9. Do you have any other hobbies, other than sewing/making?
I'm also an artist, primarily printmaking and painting. I like to grow, cook and eat good food. We're kinda foodies up here in Portland, Maine. I like to camp and hike. I take classes whenever I can, and I like to create pretty much all kinds of things.

10. What is your sewing set up? Do you have a dedicated sewing space? Are you relegated to a corner of the living room?
I've recently converted 1/2 of a unused back bedroom in our apartment into a sewing space! It's got a folding table for cutting, a tabletop ironing board right there and handy, my sewing machine in the window, and big plastic drawers underneath for fabric and patterns. It's always a mess, but that's ok because it's still very functional, and because that mess is no longer in my dining room!

And now for my nominees! I'm going by the bloglovin.com stats for the under 200 follower requirement. Looking through my own bloglovin list, I'm finding that many of the blogs I read don't fit that requirement! So I may not have 10 nominees, but I do have:

Suzy Bee Sews - Just stumbled up her blog while researching Sewaholic's new Tofino Pants. What beautiful makes! Check out this Rose Peplum Trench!

Sew Me Love - Just squeezing by with 199 bloglovin.com followers! I love her style! This dress stands out in my mind.

We Sew Retro - Here is a fun new blog I've discovered where a whole group of sewers share vintage inspired sewing from all decades.

Manic Pop - Here is a blogger with great personal style, and on top of that she makes almost all her own patterns!

Sew, Cook, Laugh and Live - My mother sent me a link to a post on her blog. Jos is a woman who takes part in all kinds of creative endeavors, and I totally dig that.

Check them out!