Here is my latest project, Christine Jonson Woven Pants #1010, flared version. The fabric is kind of nasty, it stretches out and doesn't recover that well and attacts all kind of lint! They are black, but I've lightened the photo to show the detail. I did have to take in the thigh to the knee quite a bit, as I wanted the long lean look on the pattern drawing, but they came out with too much ease and not enough flare. I'm happier with the fit now, but there is still a bit of gaposis in the center back. I moved the zip to the side.

What is up with back zippers in pants? Hard to do up and would poke you uncomfortably!!

Anyway they are servicable enough for work. The shoes, they are killer, though -- I scoured for them at Payless last fall. The lightened photo shows them as green, but they are grey patent with snub toes and big buckles. The top is a seafoam blue/green, so the outfit looks nicer in person than in my bad photo.

I'm bidding on some nice leopard print pony skin flats and some Tory Burch knockoff flats on e-bay right now, which will both go nicely with these pants!!

New Look 6179

Above & Below New Look 6179

Inpirational outfit from http://www.myshape.com/

If you have never checked out http://www.myshape.com/ it is a great site for wardrobe planning. I think most of the 'artistic' trendy outfits are just gorgeous, and they show accessories for each one! (Of course I'm schitzo, I also love Michael Kors which is really classic stuff!)

Anyway, I have been using myshape for some inspirational outfits. Above you will see the inspirational photo and the finished top. I've been eyeing double buckled belts for a while and was lucky to find this one on e-bay -- its a knock off of a linea pelle belt which I snagged for $6.95 plus shipping!

This top is New Look 6179 made from crinkle poly with a beautiful faded patchwork in lovely soft colours of sage, terra cotta, soft turquoise and raspberry with small gold glittered dots. The lace insets are vintage crocheted lace from my stash which looked kind of tea dyed. The ribbon trim is also from my stash. Anyway this strays from my usual sewing with the embellishment, but is a step towards my goal of being more trendy. Its fitted enough to be worn without the belt.

I think my next projects will be from my huge stash of Burda mags!!

Simplicity 2938

Above you can see the interior seam finishes

Above you can see the neckline tucks...

Here it is accessorized with the necklaces I had on today...

Here is my latest finished project. I've had it on my list to sew for a while (see my fall wardrobe board). It's Simplicity 2938 done up here in a very light weight dupioni cross-dye which was a dream to sew. I think this would be even better in a drapey fabric like a poly satin.

This is a really quick project, I knew it would turn out nicely because oodles of people on patternreview have made it. The only change I made was to lengthen it 1", add the front ties (this was a detail from a Tory Burch top from Spring 2008) and to do a forward shoulder adjustment. I also substituted a facing for the armholes for the bias tape in the instructions. I've had bad luck before with bias tape flaring out at the seamlines. I just turned and topstitched it as you can see from the interior photo. I'm not sure about the ties, they look a bit long but maybe this way I can tie them front or back??

Feels good to have another project finished. Next up is a storyboard for Spring!

A friendly Barter

My friend Debbie took some jewellery classes recently, so I asked her to make me something. In exchange, I said I would sew her a top. As you can see she made me an absolutely gorgeous necklace with a leaf drop front.

I made her not a top, but an easy jacket from sueded moleskin in a lovely soft orange (the photo looks deep orange, but it's not) You can read the whole review on www.patternreview.com

Thanks Debbie, I love my necklace!!

Resolutions for 2009 Update:

1. Sew with a plan whenever possible: I'm working on a spring plan, I'm deciding whether to finish a couple of projects from the fall/winter plan first
2. Do some decorating/painting in our house: Have had DH fix a curtain rod for the rec room, need to hem drapes for that room. Sewed a little valance on the weekend for the powder room; had DH rig up some antique crystal doorknobs to use as some hanging hardware.
3. Add some trend to my wardrobe: Ohh, that's a good one, need to work on that
4. Sew a coat. DONE!
5. Use my Burda Magazines more: I need to use these to accomplish #3. I did buy a very nifty tool to help trace/cut out patterns!
6. Excercise more: we have joined a gym and are making use of it. Lost 7 lbs so far!

Activewear

Being tall, it's a drag to find clothes that fit, let alone activewear (don't get me started on performance shoes!!) Yes, you can buy stuff at Tall Girls for a fortune or on-line without trying things on. But the beauty of sewing is you can make your own, have it fit perfectly and save a bundle.

Here are my Kwik Sew longjohns aka 'basewear' -- I used powerdry from http://www.wazoodle.com/ a great Canadian resource for activewear. Too bad I couldn't find it in a lycra blend, but oh well. I made the leggings from KS 3455 which has the bonus of being a one-seam pattern as well as having a diamond-shaped crotch gusset for more movement. The top shown is from KS 3567. I also made the matching crew-neck top to the leggings (not shown). As you can see from the picture taken outside, they did a great job of keeping me warm! Total cost for the patterns/fabric was about $65 for two tops (which I can wear as workout tops) and the leggings, plus I have enough fabric to make another top.

I generally layer them with a cami, base layer and stretch fleece top and leggings then my bib overalls (which are cheapies and not that warm, but I was able to find them in a tall size) and my insulated North Face jacket, a fleece gaiter and fleece lined hat, fleece liner gloves and ski mitts. My feet generally freeze, but this year with only one layer of socks (more room for the feet, and I guess an insulating layer of air) they did much better.

I preferred the top shown to the other one. The other top has a wrap-around side seam which felt a little odd under a top with a regular side seam, but it was only a minor preference. I also experimented with a flatlock seam on the pants, which results in a butted seam. It looked like it was not very sturdy, but worked like a charm! I reinforced the gusset with zig-zag stiching at the corners as any corners with a serger are difficult.

In the future I will hopefully be able to get some fine fleece with lyra or powerdry with lycra and make another set. I was also able to easily adjust the pattern to my hubby's measurements and make a pair of fleece leggings for him that stopped at the top of his ski boots, as per his request which only took me a couple of hours!

Simplicity 2764

Well, here is my coat! I like the way it turned out and it was not that hard to sew. It is not the beautiful Burda coat on my storyboard, but has a similar collar line. I liked the retro match of the fabric and the pattern. I added interlining from flannellette, some extra interfacing and a lining from rayon kasha to give it some warmth as the pattern is unlined. You can read the review for the entire coat!