Results and Moving On

I am thrilled to share with you that I came third in the Artisan's Square SWAP this year. Wow! I know that my collection was a slightly unconventional one, and there really was some great stiff competition. Woot! I really must drop a line to Tina Givens and let her know! Thanks to all who voted for me, and those who set me on this track to try out these patterns. One last pic . . . . . !

So, what next? Well, one of the garments that would enhance this collection is a cardigan/jacket and I spent an inordinate amount of time auditioning patterns, and not really getting anywhere. And then I saw a sew-a-long on Artisan's Square for a 6PAC (6 pieces of clothing). The guidelines
- One lightweight jacket or sweater in a neutral
- Another lightweight jacket, sweater or shirt in a colour or lighter neutral or a print
- A pair of shorts, trousers, or capris in a neutral
- A skirt in a neutral or colour
- A shortsleeve shirt, blouse, or t-shirt in a neutral
- Another shirtsleeve shirt, blouse, or t-shirt in a neutral.

Hmmm. Interesting! Well, here are the fabrics that I am going to use:

All linen/cotton fabrics, off white, pale blue, navy and dusky rose (I know that it looks like baby pink, but it isn't.  Honest!) So here is what I have made so far . . . . apologies for using my body double - but there are times when it is too much effort to get all dressed up, sort out the camera, tripod and timer, organise the houndies so they don't photobomb the pics, get all showered and sort hair etc.,etc.,etc.,

So this is what I have made so far:

I started up with a pair of trousers in the off white fabric. Same as before, I used the Jaqueline pattern from Tina Givens.  And these are the changes that I made:  Lifted the crotch to a regular height (I used my regular pants pattern and therefore created front and rear crotch curves), created side seams (the pattern has you cut both legs on the fold), add seam allowances and cut out pockets using the Phoebe pattern.  The first time I made these took some time due to the pattern changes, but now I can make them up pretty quickly and they fit me well!

I then used the Phoebe pattern to make a casual jacket.  I moved the front pattern piece (that is usually cut on the fold) about 1.25" away from the edge of the fabric, and cut out two pieces.  I only use the inner pattern pieces, although I suspect this would look pretty cool with two layers.  For this version I used a rolled hem for the bottom of the jacket and lengthened the sleeves to 'bracelet' length.  I used bias binding for the neck edge - (self fabric, using a Clover bias binding maker). I cut my BB at 1.25", the extra .25" seems to make a better binding to my mind.  For the facings where the buttons/buttonbands are, I attach a piece of ribbon to the right side near the edge, then press it to the wrong side and sew it down.  This gives a smart, non-bulky finish.

And I sewed a couple of patches on the back. Just because! It is shown here with my white linen Jaqueline slip from my SWAP (the one with a lace patch on the front) and a necklace that I made (more on the necklace in a future post).

Then I made another Jaqueline slip.  For this version, instead of having an asymmetrical hem (which is a pain to cut out) I cut both the front and back pieces in half, and cut them out using the longer dropped hem edge.  A bit like a Zelda really, but without the frill. This time, for the arm and neck openings, as as well as the hem, I attached bias-binding, just folded in half. I used a three step zigzag stitch and it seems pretty sturdy. Here are my three off white pieces together:

And some more patches!

This is the reason that I was happy to use a raw edged binding. I had washed my white linen slip (that had a raw edge neck and arm opening) and the finished result is a soft and fluffy binding:

That is three pieces all finished - I have another two two pieces completed - using the dusky rose fabric - and will share those in a couple of days!  Here is a sneak peak of the off white jacket and pants, with the rose top:

What are you working on? Wardrobe building or having fun with individual pieces?