Chambray skirt

I'm hitting up my separates this week, so today I give you, the chambray skirt.  (And now for something completely different...the Larch)

This is in fact very much a Larch-like garment, being exactly like all the other skirts I made for this rotation.  My original plan for a chambray skirt went terribly awry, when I realized that the fabric I bought on sale last fall for it was shirting weight and completely unsuitable for this type of skirt.  I realized this after I had cut it out, so there was really no saving it.  I could have made a dirndl-type skirt with it, had I realized ahead of time, but that's the way it goes sometimes.

I was able to find the same lovely chambray that I used last summer for my beloved chambray dress, and eagerly snapped up 2 yards.  I actually cut this efficiently enough that I have enough left over to make another skirt when this one wears out or doesn't fit.  All to the good.

Basically, I wanted a summer weight version of my denim skirt.  I think I mostly achieved it.  I did overfit the back just slightly, as you can see, but I think a few more pounds gone and that won't be an issue.  I also think some of it was a function of the fabric being lighter weight than some of the other fabrics I've worked with this year.  

 I decided to do contrast top-stitching, to make it as much like my denim skirt as possible.  I had a chambray circle skirt last year that had contrast stitching on it and I thought that looked nice, so I was reasonably confident it would look good on this version as well.

One of the things I love about this chambray is that it is dark enough to hide some of my lumps and bumps, and also structured enough to work for a fitted skirt, but still light enough for summer heat.  Chambrays are quite different, one to another, and this one met my requirements perfectly.

I did have to put on my girdle this morning for the smoothest fit, but it is still a decent skirt for all that.  My goal is to lose 10 pounds this summer, so I don't mind if this skirt is just a tad snug.

I'm also pleased to report that my blouse, made last summer, fits MUCH better than last year.  It was too tight through the shoulders and sleeves last year, and I didn't wear it much, even though I really love the print. I'm thrilled it fits this year.

In other news, endoscopy #5 went reasonably well yesterday, but this one included a different type of dilation, so I'm in a fair amount of pain today still.  Yesterday was fairly awful.  I couldn't even stand to swallow my saliva.  I'm still having a lot of trouble getting anything down, as even liquids go down painfully.  It is a little better today, so I'm hopeful that things will improve in a few days.  If nothing else, it is a good spur to weight loss!  #alwayslookonthebrightsideoflife

Just the facts:

Vintage lawn floral blouse: me-made last summer, modified Portrait blouse pattern, vintage fabric, vintage buttons

Chambray skirt: Anne Adams 9481, with McCall's 6361 pockets

Shoes: Dansko via ebay

(Forgot to put on any jewelry today--whoops!)

Project 333: Summer

I finally got everything photographed and collaged, so without further ado, here is my summer rotation!  I'm only a week late.  Better late than never!

Left column, top to bottom:

Red twill skirt, Railroad denim skirt, Turquoise twill skirt, Chambray skirt

Red cotton cardigan, coral rayon cardigan, aqua-teal cotton cardigan

Deco lawn dress, White florals dress, Bandana dress

Second column:

Nike dress, Vintage rayon dress, Buttercup dress, Liberty #3 dress

Third column, top to bottom:

Feedsack blouse, vintage lawn floral blouse, Strawberry fields blouse, Liberty blouse

White linen blouse, Bunny blouse, Music notes rayon challis blouse, green knit tee

White knit tee, red knit tee, turquoise knit tee, fuchsia knit tee

Right column:

Blue gingham dress, Cherry blossom dress, Pincushion dress

I've shown a few of the new things already this week (the White Florals dress, the Blue gingham dress, and the Bandana dress), and some stuff is from last summer or the summer before (the Nike dress, almost all the woven blouses, the Pincushion dress, and the Libery #3 dress), but I still have a few new things to show in the coming weeks.

This rotation is a bit "heavier" than some of my other rotations.  I have 10 dresses, 12 blouses, and 4 skirts, plus 3 light cardigans that probably won't get much wear.  That makes 29 total garments and 4 pairs of sandals for the summer, but I realized this week that I need the extra pieces for the summer because I sweat so much  in the humidity that I can't count on wearing something more than once before I have to wash it.  

I do a darks load about twice a week, but I can go a week and a half between lights loads, so I don't want to run out of clothes!  I also line-dry most of my clothing, and with the humidity in the summer around here, sometimes it takes a day for stuff to dry on the line in the basement.  I also know that I go through periods in each rotation when I'm all about the dresses and other times when I just want separates, so I wanted to be sure I had enough options.  I remember last year that I thought two knit tee shirts wasn't really enough.  I think I have enough this year!  I'm not sure that the white tee shirt was a fabulous idea, but it is a brand that I like, it was $5 second hand, and it is VERY hard to find tee shirts that meet my criteria, so I bought it and will hope for the best.

~A small tee shirt rant~

I had a TERRIBLE time finding solid-colored tee shirts that met my criteria this summer, and I was super frustrated about it.  My criteria were as follows: 

• short enough to be worn tucked in or untucked without looking weird or awkward (so about 22" long)--it seems like many retailers are making their tee shirts 25-26" long these days.
• a scoop neckline that was high enough to clear my bra line, but lower than a crew neck--why does every retailer want to cut their scoops to hit in the middle of the chest or, conversely, has a crew neckline that chokes you above the collarbone? 
• 100% cotton or linen/cotton blend
• substantial enough to maintain shape through the day (i.e. not tissue thin)
• not too boxy

You'd think this wouldn't be that hard, but it really was.  The stuff that is cut in a flattering way is often made of synthetic material and also cut too long and low for my taste, and the stuff that is 100% cotton is often kind of frumpy and boxy, and it is really hard to find the intersection of the two.  I had good luck with the Rafaella brand (three of my tees are from that line, found second hand on ebay and ThredUp).

So at least I was able to find some tee shirts for this year.  Unfortunately, I find most tee shirts last a season if I'm lucky, so I'll probably have to do this all over again next year. At least now I have a brand to look for!

~end rant~

I will say, now that I'm almost a full year into Project 333, that I'm finding it hugely informs my sewing, and that my sewing needs are gradually getting less over time.  I think I can count that as a win for the Project!  I find that I'm mostly sewing from need rather than for novelty.  I'm pickier about the fabric I buy, and have a good idea of what fabric brands I'm happy with over time, and which types of fabric and prints suit me.

I did more sewing for this rotation because I had the least amount of garments carry over from last summer.  I've lost enough weight that almost none of my dresses from last summer fit any longer, and I was never very happy with the skirts I wore last year (and I shrunk out of them by the end of last summer anyway).  My woven blouses all fit better this year, as they were mostly sewn when I was smaller.  All to the good.

I've planned my fall and winter rotations already, and my sewing needs for both are dramatically reduced from last year.  I'm still losing weight, so I'll probably have to alter some skirts, or make new, depending on the shape I end up, and I have a couple of dresses planned, but I was able to carry over a lot of items from last year.  I also have knitting projects in the works for my winter rotation, which ended up being a little thin on pullover sweaters.  I'm not particularly speedy on the needles, so we'll see how much I can finish in time to wear!!

I am pretty happy with this rotation and I think I will get a lot of good use out of everything this summer.

~wiws~ Bandana dress

 This dress is my first foray into Cotton+Steel's other fabric lines.  They've recently begun offering lawn, rayon challis, flannel, and double gauze, for those who want make garments with non-quilting cotton.  I personally love their quilting cotton, as evidenced by the many garments I've made with it, but I've been wanting to try their rayon challis.

I bought this fabric earlier in the spring after I sent back some of Gertie's spring lawn line, as I felt it was too sheer and the colorway didn't suit me.  I figured for the same price, I might as well dip my toes into rayon challis.  I know, I know, I made a bunch of stuff with rayon challis last year, but I still get nervous when I work with something other than stable cotton.

When I was working through my summer sewing pile this spring, I made myself make the challenging garments first so that I wouldn't talk myself out of them by the time I got to the bottom of the pile (yes, this happens sometimes).  I'm glad I did, because it meant that my sewing got progressively easier as I went along. 

I will say, this fabric was a little tricky to work with.  It was very slippery, and not as stable as the most of the challis that I worked with last year.  The other distressing thing that happened is that I discovered several oil spots on the front of the fabric before I even sewed it together.  (I sew in my kitchen, and my ironing station is on top of the stove.  I'm very careful to make sure all my surfaces are clean, but I made this on a Saturday after my husband had cooked a rather greasy breakfast for the kids, and I must have missed some spots).  

So I ended up washing this dress before I ever got a chance to wear it!  Hence the saggy pockets.  Oh well.  Thankfully, the oil spots mostly came out.  I'm sure another wash will take care of the faint lingering.

This would have been a cool print to cut on the bias, but I was already nervous about working with the fabric and didn't want to add an additional layer of challenge to the project.  I used a stretch needle to help the fabric to behave better while sewing--those stretch needles are really magical.  I don't really understand how they work, but they are so nice for thin/slippery fabrics.

Rayon challis is very nice for summer, because it has a good drape and is thin.  It also breathes pretty well; rayon is made from cellulose fibers, so it isn't exactly synthetic and it isn't exactly natural either.  It is one of the few non-natural fabrics I don't mind wearing regularly.   The challis behaved differently at the top of the dress, so it was a good thing I made the back neckline lower on this dress, as the sleeves fit a bit closer than some of the other dresses in my rotation, and the additional neckline room around the shoulders keeps it loose and comfortable.

The pockets were a nail-biter because the fabric is so drapey.  I probably should have used a spray stabilizer to make this dress, and then washed it out, but I didn't really think of it until I was too far into the project.

One of the reasons I chose this fabric is that I always consider what liturgical colors I might want to have in my closet during a particular rotation.  Big feasts are associated with certain liturgical colors, and I was sadly lacking in green this spring--both St. Patrick's Day and Palm Sunday are green.  (I've since rectified that deficiency, so I have a green knit dress for next year!)  

During the summer, I know I will want something green for Pentecost and something blue for Dormition.  I chose this dress for the latter as I didn't really have anything else that was so strongly blue in this rotation. 

Just the facts:

Bandana dress: Cotton + Steel rayon challis from fabric.com; Simplicity 1080 (redrafted), bias tape, elastic

Shoes: dansko via ebay

Jewelry: ebay

White Florals

I will admit that the prospect of having to take photos of my summer wardrobe kind of has me wanting to wear stuff I've already shown here.  (And yes, I know it is ridiculous--I could photograph the stuff another day I wear it, or even just not blog it, but it feels like cheating or something).  It's not that I don't like my new stuff (I do!!  Really!); it is more that I'm carrying a fair bit of water weight in the last week (especially in my legs) and I find myself reluctant to take photographs of myself right now.  I feel puffy and sloshy.  I keep hoping it will go away soon.

But seeing as 80% of my summer wardrobe is new, I ran out of old options pretty quickly, so I had to man up and take pics today.  I really love this dress, so I think it isn't too bad.  I went to the gym with the kids this morning (thank the Lord for babysitting service at the gym!) and logged 4 miles.

The fabric for this dress almost screamed at me last summer in Joann's.  I was literally across the store, on my way out the door, when I saw this peeking out of an aisle of fabric, and I decided I had to buy it.  I'm glad I waited until this year to make it up, because it is so lovely as a Dottie Angel frock.

I went with a kangaroo pocket for this dress, and partial elastics on the front and back, just to keep it super simple.  I went with a lower neckline in the back (I did this on many of my summer frocks), but I think I will keep my higher back neckline (2 1/2" higher than the XL size, for reference) for future dresses, as it significantly widens the front neckline.

The fabric was quite stiff when I first bought it, and I despaired of it working as a garment, but it softened up remarkably with prewashing/drying, so I think it will only get softer with time.  

I love the saturated colors of the flowers--there are so many colors to draw out with accessories.  I also like that it is bright and white without washing me out. 

I wore my new turquoise salt waters with it (they fit better than my other two pairs, oddly) but I could easily put them with my dansko sandals as well.

The fabric is a shade lighter than a standard quilt-weight cotton, and the weave is just slightly looser, which I actually like for a summer dress.  It is really quite lovely.  The humidity is still quite high here, so cool and breezy is a good quality to have!  

I know I'm overdue with my summer rotation--I have everything now, and just need to take one more photograph.  Hopefully I can post on Monday--I'm having another endoscopy on Monday to help with my swallowing issues, so we'll see how I'm feeling afterward.

Just the facts:

White Florals dress: Simplicity 1080 (redrafted), bias tape, elastic

Necklace: had since childhood

Earrings: etsy

Shoes: saltwaters

Blue Gingham

Let the summer sewing parade begin!

I admit, there isn't really anything exciting in my summer sewing pile, but I still think it is useful to document the good, the bad, and the just okay.   Apologies (again!) for rubbish photos.  The light was changing fast and I didn't have a lot of time this morning.  However rumpled I looked at 7:00 a.m., I look twice as much so now.

I seem to end up with a color palette each season, although I don't necessarily set out with something specific in mind.  It happens that my summer ended up with a lot of red and turquoise, so I'm going to go with it.  I made this gingham dress in place of a red and white version that went terribly wrong during the cutting process.  This one turned out much better, and frankly, I think will be more versatile.

I really like blue and red together (and blue and orange) and this dress is a nice sort of blank slate.  The gingham is subtle.  It is Robert Kaufman, and one of the few 100% cotton ginghams I've been able to source that are decent to wear.  (I have no idea why this dress looks so wrinkled--it has been hanging in a closet in my office since I finished it earlier this spring)

The fabric is definitely mid-weight (quilt-weight) cotton, but I actually don't mind that.  So many ginghams are tissue thin and have so much polyester in them.  I also kind of like the smaller check--I wondered if I would, since my preference is for 1/4" checks, but this is quite nice and didn't suffer a bit from lack of pattern matching.

I cut the pockets on the bias and I like the contrast very much.  I had originally intended the elastic just to be partially in front and back, as in the Return to Tokyo dress, but it looked sort of weird on this version (I think I had placed it lower on the front bodice) and so I ended up adding side elastic so the waistband goes all the way around.  If I did it again like this, I'd go with one solid circle and pin at the four points, but this was a retro-fix.  It works.  

I spent this morning dealing with government bureaucracy, and found this dress quite comfortable to wear while waiting for inefficient (but generally pleasant) people.  I wore it with strawberry accessories, because I can.  I pulled out all my summer fruit jewelry with my summer rotation and am glad to see it back in my bin again.  That is one thing I really like about Project 333--putting things away for a season means they feel fresh and fun when you pull them out again a few rotations later.  It is like getting new stuff!

I bought myself a turquoise pair of Saltwaters for Mother's Day (because that's how we roll in this house) but I thought the red was a nice contrast with my red jewelry.  I'll probably wear the turquoise ones when I get out the carrot jewelry to wear with this.

My only complaint is that I wish I had made the back neckline a smidge higher, as I think the shoulders would fit a bit better.  It's okay, and if it really bugs me, I'll unpick the neckline bias and throw a few darts onto the back neckline to cinch it a bit.

Overall, a good summer dress.

Just the facts:

Blue gingham Dottie Angel frock: Simplicity 1080 (redrafted), Robert Kaufman Carolina gingham 1/8" check fabric in turquoise, turquoise bias tape, elastic

Sandals: Saltwater sandals

Strawberry necklace: etsy

Strawberry earrings: modcloth (several years ago)

Yarn Along: Second Hand Time

~knitting~

I don't have that much exciting stuff to show today.  I finished the back of my dad's vest, and started on the front.  

I also am nearly done with the back of the Sulka cardigan--I've just got to get some additional length on the arm holes.  It knits up so fast, being bulky weight.

I also started swatching a summer linen pullover from Quince and Co.'s Sparrow line.  I know, I know, I'm kind of a textile magpie.  I saw the Lena Tee a while back and saved it to my favorites on Ravelry, and impulsively decided to go for it sometime a week or two ago.  I got the hibiscus colorway, which is a really deep saturated coral--I love it!  

I don't think it will be a fast knit, being fingering weight yarn with tiny needles, but I like the shape of it, and I think I figured out how to tweak it for better upper arm coverage using a free pattern from Purl Bee.  I usually have to size up on needles from the pattern in order to get gauge, but this one might actually swatch according to the pattern.  I didn't have size 3 needles, so I'm waiting for them to arrive to I can reswatch it.  Size 4s (which I did have) were too big--21 stitches instead of the necessary 24.  The linen yarn is quite different to work with.  Almost like twine, but soft.

 ~reading~ 

I have been reading a lot this week.  I tore through Svetlana Alexievich's Voices from Cherynobyl, and have started her book Secondhand Time as well.  I have Zinky Boys waiting in the wings.  Her work is just stunning--I wish I could find her first book in English.  Coincidentally, I happened across a book review of Secondhand Time this morning.  I really like her style and the immediacy of her writing and reporting--it is like sitting in a Russian kitchen and talking with people about their lives and experiences.  So much of it seems familiar to me, and I am really enjoying the long chapter about the low-level Party official who remains a True Believer in communism.  It has reminded me of the Russian belief in the redemptive quality of suffering, and of suffering with hope.  Russians have a great capacity for enduring suffering while waiting for a better future--perhaps not even for themselves, or for their children, but for their children's children.  I think it is a quality we lack here, and I'm curious to read more.

I think my main takeaway from the book so far is that a lot of people (not just Russians, people in general) will follow a crowd in terms of setting a national identity and agenda for themselves.  It gives me some perspective anyway.  I put A Brief History of the Cold War back onto my stack, since I've never gotten around to finishing it and I really should.  It's only 100 pages, and incredibly well written.

I made myself finish Turgenev so I could get back to War and Peace, and am now officially half way through it--600 pages, volumes I and II done!  I'm so eager to get to the next scenes between Bolkonsky and Natasha, after the battle of Borodino, to see if they are as beautifully wrought on the page as they were in Episode 7 of the recent BBC production.  I still think about those scenes, the beauty of them, the emotional scale of them, the spiritual depth and truth of them.  

The Turgenev was a good and worthwhile read, in terms of setting the stage for understanding some things about Imperial Russia.  I felt there were some stories that were stronger than others--Living Relic, Death, and Hamlet of the Shchigrovsky District were the three that really stood out to me.

I also picked up The Beginnings of the Life of Prayer again this morning and read a few more sections.  I'm trying to be disciplined about my reading and give myself small goals for the day.  Sometimes I make them and sometimes not, but I hope to get more reading done this way.  I'm collecting quite a stack of books by Mandelstam, Akhmatova, Shamalov, Shokolov and others, plus some books that I'd like to revisit like David Remnick's Lenin's Tomb.  It's a Russia kind of season.

~watching~

My husband was gone with the boys over the long Memorial Day weekend, so I had my evenings to myself, so I finally got around to watching Baz Luhrman's The Great Gatsby and the latest James Bond movie, Spectre.  

I almost turned Gatsby off in the first half hour, because a) it was so slow and boring and b) I couldn't take some of the licentiousness.  I finally just skipped ahead to where we find out Daisy and Gatsby's history, and then I was drawn in.  I really like Lurhman's work, generally speaking, and I thought Leonardo DiCaprio was really good in this one.  The casting was excellent, and the movie really captured a lot of the symbolism of the novel in an interesting and uncontrived way.  

I re-watched Revolutionary Road in large part to watch DiCaprio again.  That one struck me very differently the second time round.  I remembered the penultimate scene from the first viewing (and dreaded it again), but there was a lot more that stood out to me this time, about the loss of dreams, and the ways that marriage changes you and how much work it is to maintain a relationship over time.  

As for James Bond.  I have an academic interest in the Bond films--I wrote a rather lengthy paper in graduate school on the cultural significance of the early Bond films (I limited my scope to the Sean Connery films, just to keep it manageable, and within a specific time period), and over the years I think I've seen all the Bonds except Roger Moore (sorry, I just can't believe Moore as Bond--he's too suave--not enough rough edges to him).  I've really enjoyed Daniel Craig's run as Bond--I thought Casino Royale was a fabulous reboot, and Skyfall was great storytelling.  Quantum of Solace was a little weak, but I still liked it.  

Spectre was okay.  The acting was good, but there wasn't as much clever in this film.   The themes of the film seemed a little tired, but maybe that is because a lot of television programs are covering similar ground. Ralph Fiennes was quite good as M--that guy is so stinkin' versatile! Christoph Walz was brilliant as Blofeld.  I wish they'd cast someone different for C, because that actor also played Moriarty on Sherlock, and his eyes are so shifty that I didn't buy for one minute that he's not a bad guy.  (Of course, maybe that is part of the point--Bond films tend to operate in the realm of black and white, not the gray areas we've come to expect in our storytelling)

I just noticed season 3 of Peaky Blinders hit Netflix, so I'll probably get around to that sooner or later.  I'm still finishing up the final season of Person of Interest, so we'll see where that leads.  

Linking with Ginny for Yarn Along!

Project 333: Spring Wrap Up

Today wraps up both Me-Made May and my spring rotation of Project 333!

Wearing: Railroad denim skirt, Railroad denim skirt, Asian florals dress, Art Deco blouse and denim skirt

I sort of gave up at the end of the month--not on wearing me-mades, but on wearing stuff from my spring rotation.  I borrowed a few things from my summer rotation, and also wore a couple of things that aren't going in for one reason or another.  (Although, the Art Deco blouse is more flattering than I remember--perhaps it will sneak in after all!)  I probably shouldn't have washed everything over the weekend, but with the sudden nasty turn in the weather, I was just done with everything in my closet.

Left column, top to bottom:

Brown wool/alpaca sweater, Navy cotton long-line sweater, Purple Rosemont cardigan

Liberty #3 dress, Axcess dark teal pullover/cardigan, Fat Face blue cardigan/pullover, Jeanne Pierre teal-green cotton pullover

Gray cotton cardigan, Coral-rose heavy weight cotton cardigan, Burgundy Irish wool cardigan

Middle column:

Blue knit eshakti dress, Liberty #1 dress, Poppy Parade dress, First Light dress

Second middle column, top to bottom:

Purple henley t-shirt, coral henley t-shirt, striped boatneck t-shirt, red striped cardigan pullover

Red merino cardigan, pink cotton cardigan, red cotton cardigan, royal blue cotton cardigan

Right column:

Yardley's dress, Bluebird dress, Green Cookie Book dress, Return to Tokyo dress

I felt that this rotation ended okay.  This season was very weird weather-wise--it was cold and damp all spring, until very suddenly, it turned very hot and humid this last week.  There really wasn't much of a transition.  This rotation ended up being cardigan-heavy as a result.  At the beginning of the rotation, I was constantly wanting more pullover sweaters, and at the end, I was wanting more short sleeve shirts.  I really couldn't win on this one.

I have some mending to do, as several of my dresses have some holes along the undearm seam (this usually happens once after I make them and is an easy fix)  I'm on the fence about the Yardley's dress as it is borderline too short, and I don't think it weathered the season particularly well.  I'm hoping some lavender crochet lace along the hem might spruce it up a bit.  Ditto for the Rosemont cardigan.  I like it as a loungewear sort of sweater, but I don't think it looks so great on me for day-wear.  I'll hang on to it to sleep in during the winter since I'm always cold at night and the Rosemont is nice and warm.

I ended up with some decent separates by the end of the rotation, but I could have used one more skirt.  The blue and green striped shirt is really on its last leg, but I think I found a replacement on ThredUp, so I'll store it for next spring.  I think next spring, I'll be sure to either keep one of my winter skirts out, or add in one of my summer skirts.  I also had some great dresses come out of this rotation: both Liberty dresses, and the First Light dress were clear winners in my book.  

I'll have my summer rotation posted later this week, God-willing.  I'm still waiting for one or two second hand t-shirts to arrive in the mail.  (I have a whole rant about t-shirts that I will save for another day)

I've been thinking some about what the goal of Project 333 is for me.  I think it isn't just one thing, but mostly, I want to stop feeling like my clothes own me, and not the other way round.  I've come to accept that I'm probably never going to start and end a rotation in the same place, and that is okay, but I'd like to get to the point where there is less flux.  And more cross-over between seasons.  I've written before that I find I have about two seasons in me for a garment, and then I want to see something else, but I'm not doing as good of a job of making that happen.  

Some of it is that summer and winter and so self-contained, as far as weather and wardrobe, and spring and fall are just kind of a mess of in-between.  I also have a different palette that appeals to me in the spring from the one I use in the fall.  So there's that.  I think it would be great to get down to x-number of garments that I own, but I'm not there yet.  (Right now, I have somewhere between 75-80 garments across my four rotational cycles)  It feels like too much, too decadent.  Yet, at the same time, I know that less than 25 garments per rotation and I start looking at ThredUp for something second hand, or scanning fabric websites to make something.  

The good news is that I no longer have reams of clothing going out the door all the time--my wardrobe is small enough now that it is a piece here or there, but not bags and bags like it once was.  I'm quick to pass along items that are too big but still have plenty of life, and now that H&M has started a textile recycling program, I'm putting worn out garments from the whole family into a bag that I bring to a store when it is full.

 Project 333 has helped me to plan smart sewing and knitting projects that fit into a larger seasonal scheme, rather than just making stuff that appeals to me in that moment.  

I suppose I need to accept that it is a process--to live with less, to be more.  I'm reading a ton of literature about Russia and the Soviet period right now, and it gives me some ballast, in a strange sort of way.  I remember that life, and what I had (and how overwhelmed I was by big box stores and the plethora of consumer choice when I moved back to the States); it was simple and good, even though there were many difficulties.  I need to remind myself from time to time.