Sew What It's Summer - The End

So I've decided to end Sew What It's Summer a couple of weeks early. Originally it was suppose to run from Memorial Day through Labor Day but then we extended it a couple weeks to make room for a break in the middle.  Now that Labor Day has past, the weather in Maine has turned definitively cooler and summer seems to have left us for good. I have to admit my heart is just not in the summer challenge anymore. My sister ended awhile ago ( check out her blog for the projects she made) and although I kept my motivation up for most of the summer it's dwindling now.

What did I learn from these challenges?
No matter how excited I was about the challenges early on, no matter how carefully I planned the material and pattern for each challenge by about half way through the summer I found myself making items for the sake of the challenge rather than wearability. Don't get my wrong, i created some great items that I wear all the time, but I think I would have made some different items had I not been trying to adhere to the challenge rules.  I also found myself putting aside project solely bc I didn't have enough time to make two items in one week. I have some beautiful white circle eyelet material that I bought in may and planned on making a summer jacket with but never did bc it didn't fit anywhere in the challenges. It's definitely something I would have made early in the summer and worn often.

Going Forward
I'm definitely going to keep sewing but from now on I think I'll stick to smaller timelines for projects.

So onto the next project!

Sew What It's Summer - Week #13

For this week's challenge, Hidden Treasure, I decided to make a little purse.  It's the first time I've ever made a bag this small so it seemed to be super easy and hard at the same time.  I used a Simplicity pattern so the piecing the purse was very easy. The zipper however definitely came out a little funky. I'm sure next time will be a little easier.

So what was the hidden treasure in this purse? Well I went back and forth with this one, but in the end I decided to use a pale fabric on the outside and have the inside be SURPRISE polka dots. I thought it was a nice contrast to the outside.