5 for 5 - and Wearing My PJ's to Work!

Here we are on January 5th - back to work tomorrow, and I have now completed five garments!

I thought that I would use some of my time off work over Christmas/New Year to make a few items for work. I work in an office - business casual, but we can actually wear denim if we like as long as we have no meetings with members of the public on that day. However, having attended school where I had to wear uniform, then spending a number of years wearing Police uniform, I like the idea of having clothes in my wardrobe that are effectively a uniform. I really dislike fumbling around in the morning having to choose clothes to wear - I want them to mix and match, I want to be able to walk into my closet, and pick out two or three items that work together fabric/design/color wise. Easy!? Well, it is a work in progress!

To help this along, I have made two pairs of trousers (McCalls 5239, my TNT pants pattern) - fully lined, and two more ponte cardigans from McCalls 6168 . . . . to go with the other 5 that I have made!!  Here are some photos starting with the royal blue cardigan and the houndstooth trousers:

And my Christmas double chin . . . . !  I used silver colored metal buttons from my collection.  Over the last few years I have picked up some jars of buttons at auction and there were lots of buttons in the drawers of my Singer treadle machine when I bought that, so it is great to be able to use them.

 I am thrilled with how well these trousers hang from the back, well, certainly in the picture below!

Now the red cardigan with the same trousers:

It is very 'swishy'!  I love swishy!

I am suprised at how much bunching up of the fabric there is in the legs at the front of these trousers, but I suspect some of that is due to my appalling posture . . . .

And here are the second pair of trousers - a heavy but very drapey tweed fabric.  I love this, and have made a couple of skirts out of it already.  I managed to get another 5 metres in a recent sale.  Love it, love it, love it!  Look how well they hang!

Just love the way they hang!

Looking at the picture above, I wonder if I have one hip lower than the other and that is what causes the bunching on one leg.

And the pants look pretty fine with the blue cardi!

The black top, just peeking through the 'v' neck of the cardis is a a RTW tank that I bought about 3 years ago.  I have noticed that it appears on loads of my photos as a neutral top with various ensembles.  So, guess what I am going to be making next?  Yep, some plain, black tops, probably Sorbettos!  I know that I have some black linen, so that will do for 'starters!

Now, what is all the PJ talk about?  I hear you ask.  Well, would you believe that the pattern I use for the trousers (McCalls 5239), is also the same one that I have used for my PJ bottoms.  The only difference is that I take a 1" side seam to get rid of the bulk around my hips/waist.  I know that a lot of sewists really do not like 'pull on' pants/trousers - but as far as I am concerned, if they fit well, look good - who cares what the waistband treatment looks like! 

This posting is already really photo heavy, so I will show pics of the lining and hem finishes in a later post.  The lining is Bemberg rayon - sooooo silky, and it hangs loose - like a tradition lining rather than the trousers being underlined.  I will be interested to see how the lining wears.

My final garment that makes the 5th garment completed by the 5th of January will be featured during the week - I really don't think that you can take more photos!

So, how is your New Year sewing coming along?