The End of A Great Week!

It's been a great week off from work. I managed to accomplish the sewing goals I made for myself for the week as well as spend some quality time with my hubby. The total for the week was:

Pants - 4
Skirts -3
Sweater - 1
Shells - 2
Vest -1
Top - 1
Total - 12 Garments.

This sweater set rounded out my sewing this week. A great addition to my fall wardrobe. It's from Loes Hinse Sweater Set pattern. It had been years since I had sewn it. I made alterations with, once again, Sure Fit Designs, and it came out perfectly. I had orange sweater material left from the vest, so I made a shell from it as well.


All fabric is from Gorgeous Fabrics. They are a light sweater fabric that is perfect for early fall, and in Alabama will also work all winter.

I've really enjoyed having the week off to sew and hang out at the house instead of going somewhere. My husband and I decided this will be a new tradition for us Labor Day week. We decided it was a good practice for retirement in 10 years.

I was having this "sewcation" simultaneously with Carolyn in NJ. It was great fun knowing that she was sewing hard at home and anticipating her creations. Carolyn is always inspiring and makes the most beautiful clothes.

Unfortunately, now it's back to work and catching up with what I missed in the world of Public Health Social Work.

A New Vest

This is my next item completed during my Sewcation. It 's a vest made from Pamela's Patterns Draped Cardigan. I love this pattern, and have made it several times as a cardigan and once before as a vest. The fabric is a wonderful sweater knit from Gorgeous Fabrics. I had enough to make a shell from the Sweater Set from Loes Hinse. It will go with a brown cardigan of the same pattern that I'm working on.

The shirt was completed last week. It was drafted from Sure Fits and fit perfectly without any alterations. (Hurray) Once I have finished the brown cardigan, I will have met my goals for the week! Lots of new clothing items, mostly basics to update my wardrobe.

Staycation Continued

I would have posted my progess sooner, but I have been busy sewing! It's been a great week sewing, hanging out with my husband, and just enjoying being home. I realize how much I'm going to enjoy retirement. Unfortunately, that won't happen for another 10 years!

So far, I've made three pairs of pants, three skirts, a top, and a shirt. I hope to get a draped cardigan/vest, LH sweater set, and a shell completed before the weekend is over.

My body has been changing over the last few months. I'd like to attribute it mostly to menopause, but I think it has to do with the fact that I have a husband now who loves to eat (particularly fried chicken and ice cream). Therefore, I needed some basics to add to my wardrobe. I made these three skirts from Pamela's Patterns pencil skirt. I love this pattern. It is so fast to sew - about 30 minutes including cutting out. The brown is much darker, more chocolate. It came out lighter in the picture.

I also made cooresponding pants to the skirts. The first was the brown. I drafted it from Sure Fit Designs with a shaped waistband. It is my least favorite. This was not my most flattering style, but is wearable. I changed plans after the brown, and made the black and camel with an elastic facing similar to the old SoHo pants from Textile Studios, again, drafted from Sure Fit. They fit very well and are very comfortable.
My favorite project thus far has been The Sewing Workshop Trio Top with the jacquard from Emma One Sock. (Pictured in the first photo.) I love this pattern! I have a green knit to make a t-shirt underneath. In the meantime I can wear it with a white t-shirt. It also matches my brown pants perfectly. The buttons I found at JoAnn's were great. In the back, I changed the direction of the yoke. I also used the brown linen for the bias facing for the sleeves.

This will be a fun top to wear through out the fall and winter. Once it's too cold in Alabama for the brown linen pants, I can wear it with the chocolate brown pants.

Fall Sewing

As tropical storm Lee comes through Alabama, I am busy working on my fall wardrobe. Lucky for me, I've taken a week off from work for a Staycation! We had planned for this in the last few weeks. For me, that meant purchasing fabric to get ready. I purchased a collection from Emma One Sock and Gorgeous Fabrics. I love these fabrics! If you are looking for a great RPL at a reasonable price, I highly recommend Emma One Sock. I bought it in brown, black, and camel to make pants using my Sure Fit Designs Kit and pencil skirts from Pamelas Patterns.

The first item I made was a a pair of pants out of a beautiful brown/white cross weave linen to match the beautiful brocade I purchased. I used my Sure Fit Pants Blue Print and drafted them based on the Katherine Pant by Style Arc. They fit perfectly at first try. No Tweaking! Being in Alabama, I can wear these well into October before the weather turns cooler. They will also be perfect for summer next year.

These were very easy to draft. I cut through the front dart to make a princess seam pant. Then I chopped it to make the pant, angling it down about 1 1/2 inches to the side. Because the opening is on the bias, I used fusible stay tape to stabilize. There are definitely more of these in my future. I'm thinking they will be cute in a light weight denim.

I'm now working on The Sewing Workshop Trio Top out of the stripe brocade to go with the pants. I also have the RPL in the washing machine getting ready to go.