Introducing the Hem-isphere Project!!!

I am very excited to present to you a new project I'm involved in this year, which hinted at in my plans for 2012 post before the details were finalised. Well, now they are; Every other month throughout 2012, I will be exchanging packages with lovely sewing blogger Cecile from Sewing and so on. The packages will contain surprise starting points to inspire sewing creations. Cecile lives in sunny La Reunion in the Southern Hemisphere, I live in the soggy UK in the Northern Hemisphere and we are both fans of a good sewing pun, hence we came up with the title 'Hem-isphere project'!

As you can see from these four images, Cecile (pictured above) is an incredibly impressive sewer. Everything she makes is seriously beautiful, fits her extremely well and is thoroughly wearable.

She also has an excellent eye for lovely fabric, kitsch but subtle prints and flawless finishing. Maybe it's something to do with the fact that she's French. And despite the noticeable lack of leopard print and anchors in her creations, I'd be happy to desert the contents of my wardrobe and shack up with the contents of Cecile's instead! Except I don't think all those wonderful light-weight cotton, sleeveless creations would serve me very well in the UK.

Anyways, I'm very thankful that Cecile is a fan of my Clothing & Poetry Project. Once the idea was floated, we both jumped at the chance to work on a project together. Having never seen each other in the flesh, we agreed it would be difficult to create well-fitting garments for each other, so instead we decided to swap things that would act as starting points for our own sewing projects.

Each package will contain two, three or so elements that the recipient can choose to use as they please. For example, a package may contain a piece of fabric, set of buttons and a sewing pattern. It is up to the recipient to decide which item, or combination of items will be used in the project. The first packages that we sent each other earlier this month were an open theme, but the following packages will have a common theme decided upon in advance alternately by Cecile and myself.

Would you like to see the contents of those first packages? Of course you do! You've read this far, after all!

My package to Cecile:

Two sewing patterns. An early 1960s dress with gathered shoulder yoke detail and tie collar (which I used here) and a 1970s smock pattern with pleated front panel and front button fastening (which I used here). I deliberately chose patterns that I'd already made so that I knew the would be likely to give Cecile a good result if she decided to work with either of them.

Check cotton fabric. This fabric length is long enough for Cecile to complete either of the above sewing patterns, if she chooses to. It is also light-weight enough for her to wear during La Reunion's tropical Summer, which being in the Southern Hemisphere, she is experiencing now. I had this fabric sitting in my stash for at least six months gathering. We just don't get enough of a sustained summer for me get much use from a garment made from this lovely light-weight fabric. If I still lived in Barcelona, then it would be a different matter... I can't wait to see what she makes!

Cecile's package to me:

Awesome 1950s blouse pattern, pretty beige lace edging, vintage belt buckle and sequin anchor. I'm really excited about the contents of this package. She's clearly spent quite some time considering my style and preferences, which I really appreciate.

A closer look at the smaller contents. Now, I'm not going to give away how I plan to use these things, but expect an update blog post with completed creation before March!