Back and better than ever!

I've taken a bit of a hiatus from blogging this fall, more or less unintentionally.  What have I been up to?  Well, the Mr. and I completed our first marathon in October, which was quite an accomplishment for both of us.

 I'm also working hard to finish my degree, and I'm on the academic job market as we speak.  I won't bore you with the details, but being on the market is an incredibly time consuming and fairly stressful process.  (If you're curious, you can read more about it here.  And if you want to get a sense of who I am in my professional life, you can check out joannelipsonfreed.com.)

Despite all this, I'm glad to say that my sew-jo has returned with a vengeance, and I've got several projects lined up that I'm really excited about.

First of all, I'm working on a version of Burda 1-2010 #125, the low-back sheath dress with the interesting darts.  I've made my first muslin, and need to make a few fitting adjustments, but I'm really pleased with how it's shaping up so far.  The line drawing of this dress looks a little boxy and ho-hum, but in real life the darts are super-flattering.  I'm making it in purple poly satin, to wear to a wedding later this month.

I've also gotten totally inspired by Gertie's Lady Grey Sew-Along, and I'm in the planning stages of my own version of the Colette Patterns Lady Grey coat, which will fill a gaping hole in my current winter wardrobe.  I realize I'm a bit of a late-comer to the sew-along, but I'm totally geeked about the project.  If you haven't checked it out, Gertie's tutorials on how to construct the coat using traditional tailoring techniques are amazing.  All platitudes about the internet age aside, I'm overwhelmed by the generosity of people like Gertie, who share so much time and knowledge with anyone who wants to learn, and with the inclusiveness of the online sewing community in general.  Even if you don't plan to participate in the sew-along, I encourage you to check it out.  Like I said, I'm super excited and inspired about this project, and I'm looking forward to taking my technique to the next level.

I've also got a couple of other projects in the queue, including the trench-coat from the famous September 2010 Burda magazine, and my second version of McCall 6163, which I contend is actually a great pattern if you leave off the collar and silly sleeves, and resist the urge to add tassels to the sash.

I'll write more about these projects soon, but for now I just wanted to say: it's great to be back!