Hi friends! I cannot wait until i have a new laptop that actually works, maybe i will be able to post more often! This month's Sew My Style patterns were the Ilford Jacket by Friday Pattern Company and the Summit Pack by Cloudsplitter Bags & Designs. I have my pack cut out and half assembled, i Just need to order the hardware for it because I found some super cute d-rings and swivel clips that I wanted for this pack!

I did, however, finish my ilford jacket and let me tell you - i am impressed! A few years ago, it was my first ever Sew My Style, and the first pattern was a shirt from Fridays. I absolutely hated it. I was so unimpressed because i was literally a t-shirt pattern and it was just so so unlike any other tshirt pattern I have ever sewed up. I do wear that particular shirt a whole lot, but you can read my post about it that i wan't really that happy with it. A few other patterns I saw from the same company I just didn't think were as great as everyone who was raving about them said they were. As you can tell, my experience was pretty jaded!

So i was really anticipating problems with this jacket. Literally, every step of the way I was like, waiting for something to turn out badly so i could be like SEE?



I'm really happy to say that nothing like that happened! I absolutely adore this pattern. I'm pretty sure it's the first adult button-up i've made in over ten years and it is just BEAUTIFUL. Every instruction was holding my hand helping me through it and I came out with two beautiful sleeve plackets i didn't think i would be able to pull off. Even the collar is super cute! There's legit a note in my notebook that says at the end "Amazing!" (i have a little sewing notebook with all my projects and fabric swatches in it so i can always go back and refer to them for current projects I'm working on - and also blog posts!)


This pattern is for a very over-sized fit, so what you see on me is actually the XS size. I wanted to make a shirt instead of a jacket! Normally I am about an M for shirts. I went by the finished measurements chart and chose the one that was closest to my own measurements! I did do the M sleeve length instead of the XS, I just wanted to make sure they would be long enough and it worked out!

The pattern pieces are no trim, meaning you can print them out and just glue/tape them together without having to cut margins - i love that so much which is why i'm noting it!

I was wearing these bike shorts under the culttes but i wanted to show the length of the shirt!

 The illustrations in the pattern are clear and not difficult to work out which is which fabric. There's a great contrast between the sleeve and the placket pieces in the illustrations which i noticed as well - most patterns it's really confusing for me to work out which is which (especially when some designers swap fabric half way through). Another thing that is probably not a big deal to others but really impressed me (especially when i was trying to be really skeptical ahha). My review might seem harsh but I really just try to be honest and transparent!


This shirt was inspired by an outfit Usagi Tsukino (Sailor Moon when she's not saving the world) wears and I really wanted to replicate it for no other reason than it would be fun! Especially being able to use two of the patterns we've got already during Sew My Style this year. I'm definitely going to try and do this more, so if you see an outfit you think would be fun to replicate please send it to me! (you can message me on instagram or email me at maxATmax-californiaDOTcom).



I paired my ilford shirt with a new pair of tania culottes (last month's pattern from Megan Nielsen Patterns!). I made them shorter, messed up the hem majorly, but where i did a size 16 last time I used the same size again but made it a size 14 waistband. The most beautiful fit!

I really enjoyed sewing this entire outfit, watching it come together and fit me well, making two pieces that I really will wear again and again (not necessarily together) is such a great feeling. The best part was using two op-shopped bed sheets for the shirt (my wonderful sister found me the red one!) and some op shopped aqua poly/cotton blend (I did a burn test but still cant identify it properly) for the culottes. All the buttons and zip were from my stash too ^_^

Don't forget to check out the leaders for this month's patterns, Julian's gorgeous ilford jacket and Carol's amazing summit pack (she also did a two part sew a long)! Hopefully I'll be back before the end of the month with my finished pack too (hint: it's also sailor moon themed hehehe) but if i don't make it i will definitely post it up in the beginning of march!

You can see all my Sew My Style posts here. I'll also be linking other leaders' posts on that page as well!

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Sew My Style 2020 includes these talented sewists, catch up on their #SMS20 posts:

Aaronica @ The Needle & The Bell | Leanne @ Thready For It | Ari @ Max California | Minna @ The Shapes of Fabric | Carol @ Chatterstitch | Michele @ WinMichele | Julian @ Julian Creates | Florence @ FTMom3 | Kelsey @ Seam Lined Living | Kris @ Sew Notes | Laura @ The Specky Seamstress | Samantha @ The Rural Sewist | Sarah @ Haraz Handmade | Shelby @ Handmade Shelby | Simone @ Intensely Distracted | and SMS20 Coordinator Paulette @ Petite Font

To stay up-to-date with all the #SMS20 news, pattern discounts and inspiration, be sure to subscribe to the newsletter at Sew My Style 2020.



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