I swear I wrote and scheduled something for Thursday. I have no idea where it ended up, so my apologies for losing it. Let’s see what I can give you today.

My phone greeted me on the morning of September 1 by telling me that it is officially the first day of the meteorological autumn. Then, in my inbox, a few different people all proclaimed the same thing: September first is the first official day of Halloween and/or Spooky season. Yay! A few weeks more of autumn, which is my favorite season, and two whole months of Halloween, the best time of the year for me. Bonus.

My youngest has given me a bit of a challenge. He can be particular about his clothes. He has asked me to make him some pants and some shorts. Now he has asked me to make him clothes before. He always asks me to knit him a head-to-toe outfit, as in hat, scarf, sweater, mittens, pants, socks, and even boots. Periodically, he will ask me to sew him something, random. This time I made sure he was serious and that he would wear what I make before we went to look for fabric.

Joann Fabric’s Labor Day sale started yesterday. The whole family went. We all went because nearly everything Halloween is on sale at the moment.

My youngest picked out four different Halloween fabrics. We bought two yards of each fabric. The consensus is I should be able to make him a pair of pants with one yard. With the other yard, I should be able to make him one to two pairs of shorts.

For me, I chose three different Halloween fabrics, and then I found two different fabrics in the clearance aisle that spoke to me. The plan I have for these is three pairs of Halloween pants, one pair of jaguar pants, and then maybe a full set of pajamas out of the Paris fabric (which is flannel).

My husband opted out of having us sew for him. My son is definitely going to be helping me make these things up. My amazing husband is going to hold me to making these, so they will be done within the next week or two. Knock on wood that the boy loves his new clothes and wears them a lot. He can be picky and I am nervous about that. For him, I have a pajama pant pattern that should be perfect for what we are attempting to accomplish.

For me, I will be using patterns from The Act Of Sewing by Sonya Phillip. It is something I have been planning to do for a long time, so this is perfect. I already had two yards of Halloween fabric from a month or so ago. It was a whim of a purchase. I wish I had gotten three yards, but I will make do with what I have. It might be a pair of shorts before I am done or it might be a top.

If this works out for our son, it’s going to be great. He will be able to buy whatever fabric he wants (within reason) and he can have all sorts of choices on what to wear. I love that.

For me, I have been wandering around the idea of what you wear is a form of self-care.

The thought is creating these amazing and strange pathways in my brain. Why? Because if I want to think about self-care being radical, clothes are not where I would start–but when I stop and think about it, it makes such perfect sense to me.

I know I have been talking for a long time, a couple of years now at least, if not longer, about sewing my own clothes, creating my own wardrobe.

Sonya Phillip’s book began as 100 pieces of clothing that she made as her practice of 100 Days. I keep thinking that making one hundred garments for myself might just be overkill for me, but then again, there is this desire to do so because I want to learn. I want to grow. And I want to express my true self by myself, by making my own clothes, by taking the time and care to create these things, and to open myself up to the possibilities.

I’ve made pants before, but not for about fifteen years. It’s time to dig in and do these things again.

I will keep you updated on the journey as we go along. I might as well keep my sewing journey online.

Do you have any questions, comments, or suggestions? Please leave them in the comment section below.