My serger is broken.

My plaid jeans project ran into a bit of a snag where I realized I did not shorten the back and front legs equally when adjusting for my height. This created a weird twist effect with the legs and I had to pull it all apart to diagnose exactly what had happened. As I was re-finishing up the crotch seam for the 2nd time, one of my serger needles broke. Then it happened again. I decided to abandon this project temporarily while I still had some needles left As I began sewing up my next project, a pair of lounge pants in a plum bamboo knit, I broke 2 more needles. With the last serger needle in the machine, I decided to quit both of these projects until I could take my machine into the shop, which of course closed two minutes before that final needle snapped.

With my first completely free Sunday in over a month, I was incredibly depressed I couldn’t spend it sewing. Everything that is cut right now depends on that serger. I guess it will force me to cut out a blouse I’ve been meaning to start on.

Even though I wasn’t able to do it for February, I’m still determined to write something twice a month. Luckily there are some projects I had been working on earlier this year that I can share.

Pattern: Rowan by Megan Nielsen

While this shirt was not exactly a re-make of another garment, it was actually an attempt to replace something from my wardrobe that was previously purchased. I have this brown knit mock turtleneck shirt with 3/4 sleeves that I absolutely love. It has to be at least 12 years old and it’s starting to show it’s age. The neck shape isn’t what it used to be and the color is bit more muted. It’s still a big staple in my wardrobe that goes with many things so when I found some brown knit in my stash, I figured I could make a newer version that could be a replacement. I tend to hold on to garments a bit too long, but maybe this new version could help me let go of such a treasured shirt.

I decided on the Rowan shirt from Megan Nielsen. This ended up being a very fast sew, back when my serger was actually working. This is the same fabric I used to make my test leggings from this year, so I got some great use out of it, wherever it came from.

I really like how this came out and it should work for what I made it for: a standalone shirt that works for fall and winter as well as a shirt to wear under some of my favorite sweaters. Nothing too fancy or complicated here – there is some knit interfacing to stabilize the neck and twin-stitching on the bottom hem, but just plain old zig-zag stitching on the sleeve hems. Great pattern – I’m thinking Megan Nielsen may be my new favorite pattern company at the moment.

This is on theme for the year, since I am still replicating and improving on clothes I already have. This is something I hope to do more of in the future as well. What has been your experience with replicating clothing you had previously bought?