Flower to the People

My husband has this endearing habit of talking to me randomly while taking pictures, and shooting only when I respond.  You can only imagine the amazing faces he captured today.

Pattern: Sewaholic Alma

Fabric: cotton voile from Mood

Notions: invisible zip, lightweight interfacing

Notes:

Remember the hard time I had with my first Alma?  Yeah. This time I made size 10.

Problems solved.

I am a dork.

I did, though, add 2" to the length.  And I honestly don't think I'd want it any shorter.

I also stitched the facing down on the blouse back, and you'd never know from the busy print.

And that is all.  Honestly, this is a completely drama-free project.

All I'm saying is thank God there were no ill-placed flowers.

Three cheers for serendipity!

In the wardrobe contest lineup, I have 1 more completed top, that I may yet go back and tweak.

My sewer's choice items are nearly finished, and I just have one last item to start.

 I think I can do this!

Finally, I have yet to finalize my Me-Made-May pledge.  I'm currently waffling, not because I don't have enough to wear, and not because I don't think it's interesting and worthwhile, but more because I think at this point, I know where my strong and weak points are.  I think instead of focusing on wearing clothing, I should work on fixing clothing that's not quite right, so I do wear them more.

Still cogitating there, but it will come, I'm sure.

Simplicity 1467..and I covet this fabric

This is top #2 (I think), for the Wardrobe Contest.

And I loooovvve it.

The fabric is so soft, and the absolutely most perfect weight. Ever.

I bought it at Mood, and it's sold out now, but I wish I could still access how they described it, because wow.  It's listed on the invoice as a voile, and it's soft and drapey like a voile, yet thicker and opaque.  Sigh.  Its probably a good thing it's sold out; my family would definitely have something to say if everything I started wearing was made out of this fabric.

With the Butterick culottes.  And silly faces.

Also, apparently, a farmer's tan.

Fabric: cotton voile from Mood

Pattern: Simplicity 1467

Notions: two lonely buttons from the drawer, lightweight interfacing 

Notes:

I'm going to be honest; this is not a pattern I would normally choose.  I don't know if it's the styling on the front, the fact that it includes pull-on pants, or if I just never browse through the pattern catalogs.  And if I do flip through the book, I never ever look through the sportswear section.

Can I just say that this is not what my mind thinks of as 'sportswear'?

I was initially drawn to the top here, but the more I look at the other peices, the more I am drawn to them.  Not what I'd normally pick as 'me', but I'm not opposed, either.  Huh.

Maybe I need to stop being so judgmental.

The exposure is adjusted on these for detail, but the colors on the second are fairly accurate.

In any case, this pattern went together really easily.  As in, no alterations, and simple.

I like that the neckline and armscye facings are combined, and construction is simple and clean. 

The pattern suggests lightweight woven fabrics such as linen and crepe, or slinky fabrics, but not cotton voile.  And it's fine.  I made a version in a crisper gingham shirting, and it works, too.

And the back view. 

 Those buttons are purely decorative; my head is not so big they require unbuttoning when donning this shirt.

In completely unrelated news, it seems like a weird spring.  The tulips are done for the year, and the bachelor's buttons are coming in.  My pansies are still looking great, and the garden is loving all the rain we've had over the past week.  I actually wore this with a sweater, so these were probably the fastest pictures ever.

 It's hard to believe we're down to only 5 more weeks of school for the year!

Gray All Day

Pattern: Butterick 6182

Fabric: light gray Theory stretch cotton sateen

Notions: invisible zip, tricot interfacing for waistband

I honestly have no idea what we're doing here, but hey, look at my skirt!

70's inspo safari pockets?

Liesl has stated somewhere that she feels that part of her job as a designer is to encourage people to try new styles.  Or different styles.  Or something.

Check!

The 70's are usually not my first choice when it comes to inspiration, but I'm game.

This is not a fantastic innards shot, but just showing that I used turquoise bias tape to finish the edge of the waistband rather than folding and slip-stitching.

Also, check out how well it goes with my other wardrobe fabrics!

Size-wise, I made a size 14 ('cause that's what I had) and sewed 3/8" side seams for a little extra wiggle room.  I also added an extra 1" to the waist band, but in all honesty, probably could've gotten by with less.  My fabric is slightly stretchy.  I may yet decide to take it in at the zipper, but I'll wait until it goes through the dryer to see how it turns out.  I do prewash fabrics, but sometimes that extra wash and dry brings things in a bit.  

Mmm, we'll see. 

In any case, I'm a fan of this skirt. 

Carry on, Cats.

White Blouse Down

So, I went and entered the Wardrobe Contest on PR.

4 tops + 3 bottoms + 2 sewer's choice

All in 6 weeks.

This was the last top to complete, and I'm moving onto the skirts! (and jacket...and dress...)

Pattern: Simplicity 2892

Fabric: ivory linen, silk organza for facings

Notions: 1 cute button

Notes: 

I think I originally bought this pattern for this shirt, though I am not exactly sure (?)

This is mostly view A, minus the puffed sleeves--I used the sleeve lining as the sleeves, hemmed them at 5/8", and called it good.

The only other comment to add here, I guess, is that I pondered over the facings momentarily.  I didn't want them to show through, and I also didn't want to use a bias band and topstitch over those sweet pleats.  

(That phrase looks weird.)

Anyway, I had a lightbulb moment, cut my facings out of silk organza, and voila!

I finished the raw edge with a narrow zig-zag, where it only mildly itches at times.

This is also my only departure from the plan so far.  I had originally planned this to be a Sewaholic Pendrell blouse (lower right corner of shirts), but decided I just wasn't sure about the sleeves.  Same fabric, different pattern.