Pattern love:

I've been making lots of baby things lately but haven't had the time or energy to make anything for myself. We've committed to buying more high-quality pieces from US-based factories that treat their workers fairly (more on that here and here) and with that comes the obvious decision to make more of our own clothing. This is a challenge for me because I'm usually pretty tired by the end of the day and the last thing I feel like doing is sitting down to some sewing. It's a real problem.

One of the issues I have with store-bought clothing is how much they expect consumers to pay for a sub-par product. The construction is poor. The seams are not clean and finished. The patterns aren't matched. There is usually no lining. They use cheap, man-made fabric. I can no longer, in good conscience, spend my money on these things, especially taken in to account who is making them and how they're treated. They say you vote with your money, right? Well, I vote no.

Of course this requires me to get off the couch and get to work. I'm working on this. Step one is to evaluate my wardrobe to determine where the holes are. Step two is to decide what I want/need to fill those holes with. I've been looking around and here is what I've found.

I've never been one for the patterns you can find from Butterick, Simplicity, etc., however, I really love Named. They have such great patterns. Clean, modern, classy. You can see more of their patterns here.

I'm also planning on making this shirt from Grainline:

Now that I've figured out what I want to make, the hardest part for me is picking out my fabrics. 

If you're looking for new and interesting patterns, these are some of my favorite independent designers:

1. Grainline
2. Named
3. Colette
4. Victory
5. Blank Slate
6. Go To Patterns

Check out Craftsy and Etsy, too. I have found some really great patterns there!