My Summer Cherry Tart Dress (and hello!)

My favourite 2011 creation: The Cherry Tart

Name and Location: Megan Eliza, Vancouver BC

Blog: http://red-cedar.ca

How long have you been sewing: Household items for seven years, garments for eight months.

Why did you want to commit to the Sew Weekly Challenge: My hope is that the challenges push my skills and creativity to the next level in 2012. I am a beginner when it comes to garment-making, and I welcome the inspiration and the support of the Sew Weekly community in helping me to learn and develop as a sewist.

What do you love most about sewing garments: I love sewing functional items – in the past I have made many quilts and kitchen items because they are immediately usable in my life. Clothing fits into this paradigm for me – items that are both beautiful and easily rotated into my wardrobe.

What do you hate most about sewing garments: Because I am still trying to get the fit right without owning a dressmakers dummy, I frequently end up ripping our and resewing seams and sometimes whole garments. This is obviously tedious.

Why do you want to accomplish this year with regard to the challenge: I would like to learn to alter patterns better before the cutting and sewing phase, and I would like to participate in a minimum of two challenges per month.

Your biggest non-sewing goal of 2012: I’m in grad school in addition to working full-time – so really, coursework is my main focus right now. My biggest non-sewing goal is getting through my next two classes!

What are your favourite sewing/fashion blogs: Sew Weekly of course! Sewaholic, Thinking in Shapes, One Avian Demon, Sew Serenidipity, and Stitch Magazine.

I also wanted to say a big thank-you to Mena and all the other Sew Weekly community – you’ve thus far been a major inspiration in my garment sewing and I look forward to another year of seeing more of what y’all create!