It’s time for me to take stock on my project list, and see where I’m at.

One thing that has surprised me, and not for the better, is how slow I am getting through my project list.  I’ve been sewing for a year and a half, and some projects I wanted to start on Day 1, like a pair of jeans, I’m only just getting to now.

Sewing projects, by nature, are time-consuming. But when you have to teach yourself all the necessary info, puzzle through situations without benefit of a live person to ask for help, and execute a new sewing technique for the first time, that just multiplies the time you spend on a project.

With that said, here’s my list of projects I’d like to tackle in the upcoming weeks and months:

• Jeans with Kwik Sew 3504.
• Hoodies with McCalls 5252.  I started this project, traced the pattern, but put it on hold before I cut fabric.  All knit projects are on hold until I work up the courage to place another order for the Brother coverstitch machine, probably from Ken’s Sewing.
• Argyle T-shirt (another fitting/rev of KwikSew 3299 T-shirt pattern)
• Rugby/Polo Shirt, from a vintage 1970s Stretch ‘n Sew pattern (1751) I found on Etsy.  Another project that has been waiting for over a year to execute.
• Vests, using McCall’s 2447.
• Knit sweatshirt tops.  Early in my sewing career, I tried making them with a Simplicity “easy” pattern (2015, now out of print) but the muslins were a disaster due to poor sizing. The knit fabric is still waiting in my stash.
• Argyle boxers.  I made boxers with a Simplicity pattern (2741) in the past, but I have a Kwik Sew pattern (1672) I’d like to try because the Simplicity boxers were somewhat large.
• More dress shirts, probably with a modified McCall’s 6044, or Vogue 8889.
• Tailored dress pants.  I have a Kwik Sew pattern, but I may try to do my own pattern draft.

That’s probably enough projects to keep me busy for the next two years!  Sigh.  But I do have a few rules that I follow:

• There are no UFOs (unfinished projects) at the Line of Selvage studio. Period. When I start a project, I get to some sort of completion point.  It might be a beautiful garment I’m proud to wear, it might be a wad of mangled fabric chucked into the dumpster.  But the project does get completed.
• I don’t keep a firm plan past the current project.  I do keep a rough list of priorities, but the next project is always the one that appeals to me most at the time.
• I’ve also mostly stopped buying fabric for the time being, because I’ve learned that its way easier to buy fabric than to use it up in projects. My fabric stash already exceeds the four plastic storage bins I’ve bought to hold it.  When the fabric stash exceeds my storage space, fabric purchasing stops.
• I resist buying fabric unless I can envision a project that I would complete that would use the fabric, or unless the fabric could have some other purpose (such as muslins).  It doesn’t matter how cool the design or how cheap the fabric is, that alone isn’t enough to justify the purchase.

Today I started work on the first item on the list: a pair of jeans using Kwik Sew 3504.  I thought about trying to draft a pattern, but never having made jeans before I’d like to stick with a pattern to learn all the ins and outs of waistbands, zipper flys, pockets, and belt loops.  I’ll branch out and be creative with the next jeans project.

My fabric is the remains of a bolt of strawberry red bull denim I bought at JoAnn’s at one of their 50% off red tag sales. The label on the bolt calls the color “Sangria”. I used this denim before on two prior projects, my observing sketchbook and the telescope caddy (as a trial).

Miles of hot magenta denim.

The fabric runs 60 inches from selvage to selvage, and I have 3 yards + 12 inches remaining on the bolt. After washing it with cold water and running it through the dryer on high heat, that shrank to 3 yards, 7 1/2 inches.

Overcasting edges of the fabric, before running it through the laundry.

If the pattern instructions are anything to go by, I will only get one pair of jeans out of the yardage, which is probably a good thing.  This pair is a muslin to test fit and learn construction technique.

I still need to trace off the pattern size I will be using.  And I will be reviewing the Jeans Sewalong at the Male Pattern Boldness blog, for guidance while I tackle the project.

I plan to enter the PatternReview.com Jeans contest, which runs through this month, but we’ll see.