A Whole Lot of (Nicely Organized) Blathering

Okay, so this post may be a little spastic with a lot of topic jumps, but just bear with me. I've had a lot of sewing stuff on the go and on my mind, and I'm just going to get it out here.


Bloody Wooly Winter Coat

On hold. It was 26C outside today. Do not need a winter coat.

It's sure looking pretty though!


FNSI Update:

I got a bit of sewing done last night for the Friday Night Sew-In. I'd cut out an altered version of my woven t-shirt TNT (Simplicity 2599) this past week when I was out at my Mom's place, and I got the body and the neckline facing put together, with french seams everywhere! I love this pattern because if you look past all the ruffles and frills and other crap they stick on the line drawings, it's basically just a plain shirt pattern, and it's easy as pie to alter. Plus it has different pieces for each cup size, so YAY no FBA!

For this version, I've lowered the original neckline by about 1 inch, and then added a v-notch on the centre front. I'd originally planned to have ties at the top of the v-notch, but now I'm not so sure. I don't have a picture of my progress so far, but there's a picture below of the v-notch facing I drafted last night. I'm darn proud that I managed to get that right, and the notch looks really good! (Don't worry, I plan to do a construction post on this later.) Sorry about the poor lighting and horrible contrast between my new ironing board cover and the floral print.


I have a few versions of this top on the go right now. I really should finish them off because I'm going to need them by the end of March. Which brings us to...


One Week, One Pattern

Oh yeah, I signed up. I thought it'd be fun to wear one pattern for a week, and I knew exactly which one I wanted to use. Simplicity 2599. Mostly because I have a few of them on the go, and I thought this might finally force me to finish them off. One of them I started last September, and the other last May. Eeep! It's actually really ridiculous, because one only needs a sleeve attached - all the hemming and everything is finished, and the other just needs the neckline completed and the bottom hemmed. So of course I start a new version of it instead.

My procrastination skills knows no bounds.

These tops are also part of a much larger plan...


Spring/Summer Wardrobe Planning

Okay, so I spent a bunch of time during FNSI last night futzing around with a wardrobe plan. My wardrobe is pretty feeble. I mix winter and summer clothes willy-nilly, and the whole things winds up pretty dark and drab. But on one of my fabric shopping trips this winter, I found bright shades of silk noil in the clearance area at Fabricland for $7/m, and I picked up enough in a bright yellow for a skirt, and enough in coral for a dress. This then prompted me to pick up a poly chiffon in shades of pale blue, pinks, yellows and cream for (what I hope will be) a frilly button-up shirt.

I'm embracing brighter colours. Well, sort of.

From top centre, moving clockwise: sheer black cotton/poly blend nearly finished as a version of Simplicity 2599; white rib knit, destined to be a tank top; poly chiffon that will hopefully be a frilly girly button-up; medium blue mystery knit (appears darker in the photo than IRL) destined to be a t-shirt; poly floral crap discussed above; black cotton/linen blend that will be a skirt; blue cotton twill that will also be a skirt; bright yellow silk noil that will ALSO be a skirt (why the heck am I putting the brightest colour in existance on my hips and ass, I have no idea); coral silk noil that will be a shirt dress; burn-out light weight knit that will be another version of this cardigan (shamelessly copied from Stacie); and a cotton/poly knit that will be a more fitted cardigan.
Plans subject to change without notice.

Yes yes okay, there's a lot of black and charcoal in there, but I'm trying to also work with what I have in my stash, and my stash is either ridiculously busy and bright or dark and boring. Plus the darker colours will help tone down or tie together some of the brighter colours (or so I'm hoping).

I'm pretty excited about this wardrobe plan. Yes, there's a lot in there, but most of this ties in well with what I already have in my closet, so it's not like I'll need all the pieces immediately. They'll fit in well as they're made.

Although I really do want to get those skirts made up pretty quickly, as my wardrobe is lacking in solid coloured skirts (especially blindingly-bright yellow skirts). And thanks to Steph's recent post on how to care for (and how not to care for) silk fabric, I'm not as terrified of my silk noil.

Want to know what actually inspired this wardrobe plan? A flier from Smart Set (a retail clothing store that deals mostly with casual and business casual wear). What they did was showed 10 basic pieces to have in your wardrobe that mixes and matches well, and then used those 10 basic pieces to show a different look for all 29 days in February. What I appreciated about it wasn't that they were saying "buy all of these exact pieces for a perfect wardrobe", but "these are basic pieces that you may even have in your wardrobe already (although of course we have some great pieces you'll love)".

The pieces include:

1. The perfect blazer
2. A chiffon shirt
3. Faux leather jacket (I'm substituting either a denim jacket or possibly a trench)
4. A sheer striped top (I'm...going with a plain, non-sheer knit top instead)
5. A printed blouse
6. Wide leg pants
7. Shawl cardigan
   
8. A shirt dress
9. Flaired denim jeans
10. Pencil skirt

Of course, I'm not going by the book (or in this case, flyer), but it certainly inspired me. I suspect I'm going to live in skirts this summer, so I want more than one of them, and I'll need more than one cardigan since my office temp fluctuates from brr fricken brr to omg too hot over the day. I also want to make a denim jacket at some point as I have some lovely denim in my stash that I'd like to use up. Nothing cut in stone, but a nice guide to go with.

Okay, I'm done blathering. For now. Oh wait, no I'm not...


Hemming Stuff for Others:

I promised my Mom's friend ages and ages ago that I'd make some curtains for her. She finally got fed up and bought some, then asked if I'd hem them for her. Feeling guilty, I said I would. That was months ago. Last week? GOT THEM DONE.

No pictures because by the time I was finished I hated the 100% polyester faux silk CRAP that I couldn't even stand to look at it anymore. Plus it's just a basic hem and a couple ties made from the left over pieces. But my GOSH I've learned a good lesson on why you should always cut on grain. These weren't, and you could tell. When I finished hemming them and held them up to make sure the hem was actually straight (I measured it at least 3 times per panel to be sure), the whole curtain hung crooked.

Let that be a lesson for us all. CUTTING ON GRAIN IS IMPORTANT, YO.