Hi, guys. Long time, no post.

If you don’t follow Sie macht on social media, you probably don’t know that my mom passed away March 1. She fought stage 4 cancer for almost two years and left us weeks before her 62nd birthday. Here’s the obit I wrote for her.

The above photo of her is when she and Paul, my older kiddo, met John the day after John was born. What’s so insane to me about this photo is that Mom’s funeral was three years to the day after this pic was taken. Life is unpredictable.

I miss her, and I haven’t had space in my head and heart since she died to be particularly creative. I’m sure you understand.

I feel like I’m coming out of the lowest part of my low sewjo trough, and I wanted to pop in and let you know content should start trickling soon.

Since I last posted, here’s what I’ve been up to.

What’s New with Me

Lumberjill Dress

Hey, I finished a garment! And I even wore it!

I made a Megan Nielsen Darling Ranges dress in blue-and-black buffalo plaid flannel (as shared on Instagram)Β just in time for spring! LOL, it’s been a cold spring so far, so the warmth of flannel is a good thing.

Stay tuned for proper pics and a post soon!

Pattern Workshop

I buckled down and dove into Lauren Dahl’s Pattern Workshop online class, which teaches how to design PDF sewing patterns. (I’ve been at this for a while, actually.) The first thing I’m working on is drafting my Made 2 Measure leggings in Adobe Illustrator. It’s going well, and I like it loads.

Pattern Testing

I signed on to pattern test something mighty chic! It’s due by the end of April, so I’ll probably blog it in May β€” depends when the pattern is released. I promise to IG it before I blog about it (unless it goes off the rails, then all bets are off, har har har).

Batch Sewing

I drew mega batch-sewing inspo from fellow Milwaukee sewist Danielle Bilder. In an Instagram Story, she shared neat stacks of supplies for upcoming projects, and it made my Type A heart go pitter-patter.

TBH, I kinda forgot about the glory that is batch sewing since stitching my Briar T-shirts in January. NEVER AGAIN shall I forget.

Early this week I started planning batch-sewing tasks for Seamwork Olso cardigans, Sew House Seven Toaster #1 sweaters, and Made 2 Measure leggings, along with my pattern-testing garment. So. Much. Ambition.

Warm-Weather Sewing Plans

Last April I laid out sewing plans for spring and summer. I didn’t get through all the patterns, and I’d like to pick up where I left off. I even have fabric for the garments I didn’t get to!

The docket includes:

Of course there are other things I want to sew this summer (I have an epic jonesing for a jeans-style denim skirt and there’s gorgeous Irish linen in my stash earmarked for a Darling Ranges dress in this view). I also want to draft some goodies for myself, too.

ICYMI, there’s a little list on my site called “In the Sewing Queue” where I share what I’m working on. Creep it!

Mia Jeans

When Closet Case Patterns did its month-long jeans-making extravaganza in February, I was hot to make a pair of Sew Over It Mia jeans. I started but fizzled out when my zipper didn’t go in the nicest. I also am concerned that my leg pattern pieces are off grain; when I tried on the jeans, they felt twisted.

There’s a good-looking tutorial in the latest issue of Threads magazineΒ (affiliate link) on sewing a designer fly zip. Reading it through without any pattern pieces in front of me even was crystal clear, so I might deconstruct the poorly inserted Mia zipper and give this new technique a try.

I still need to assess the twisted leg pieces, though. Suggestions? Anybody have a good post/tutorial on that?

See you soon, dolls! 😘

P.S. Here’s my last post:Β Va-va-va-volume in Victory Patterns Esther Pants. Wide-legged pants FTW.

P.P.S. In case you’re interested, I made a chemo quilt for my mom in 2016. Read about it here:Β What sewing a chemo quilt for my mom taught me about parenting.