More Cross Pollination!

Phew - what a busy weekend! I dropped my father off at the airport as he is spending the next two weeks visiting his siblings in the UK, got a bit of fabric shopping in on the way back from the airport, then cranked out 2 cardis and three Sorbetto's.  So, let me tell you more!

Last Sunday, I had a huge cutting out session, and cut out the fabric for the above garments.  I find that I am a slow 'cutter outerer' and prefer to cut quite a few garments at one time.  Following on from my previous thread, I cut out two more cardigans and as I work my current Sorbettos really hard, especially the plain colored linen ones, I thought I would cut out some more of them in white cotton and linen.

So here we go!  New lilac cardigan, new white linen Sorbetto and black linen trousers (I'm not sure if I have blogged about these already).

I love lilac, such a pretty Spring colour.  This cardi is the same as the one in my previous post - McPlicity 68!  The fabric is a lovely cotton jersey with a touch of lycra.  A nice light/medium weight, very soft!  You can also see the plain white linen Sorbetto.

It is a little sheer (for my liking) to be worn on it's own, but will be a great workhorse under cardi's and jackets.

Next up is one in blue.  I narrowed the collar on this one to make it more of a band . . .

My serger thread was not as perfect a match as I would have like, so I added the lace again,  The chances are that unless there is a gust of wind in the office, no-one will see this, but it makes me feel good!  The fabric for this Sorbetto is the leftover from one of Sharon's dresses, and is even more sheer.  Sigh!  I love this colour blue as well - a kind of Wedgewood blue.  Another super-soft cotton with a touch of lycra.  I really like how you can see the curved front hem that transitions into the collar band.

For my final Sorbetto I used some more of the white linen and added a 'flounce'.  I finished off the edges of the flounce with a rolled hem on my serger - I am really please with that finish.

I am not sure how much I like this - I love the idea of a flounce and should have had sewn into a princess seam at the front . . . . but my pattern did not have a princess seam!  Oh, and I wore different underpinnings, and it looks as though they hoist the ladies right up as the darts are rather low.  Ho hum!!!

Next up is McCalls 6844 - I know that pretty much everyone else has made it up so it is time for me to see what it is all about!!.  I will be making a couple of changes, but have that planned for next weekend.

What did you get up to this weekend?  Any new goodies for your wardrobe?

Cross Pollination - even at minus 30c

It has been really cold here the last few days - minus 30c and then a windchill taking it down another 10-15c. Seriously, there is absolutely no need for this it all. In fact, with some of our buddies vacationing in Belize right now, we are considering that as a retirement location - just think, long, hot, sunny days, photo shoots on the beach. It certainly is tempting.

So, what to do when the weather is so cold?  Well, try a bit of cross pollination of course! To start with I have a pattern that I have made up once or twice (McCalls 6168):

And a newcomer to the fold (Simplicty 1668) that I have made up once:

I love the longer length, drape and sleeves of McCalls 6168, and the lapels and shorter length of Simplicity 1668,  Ladies and gentlemen . . . . . I give you McPlicity 68:

Shorter length and with sleeves:

Fancy a close up?

And look at this scarf that I found . .

You can see the sleeves better here:

Annnd, to finish off the insides (although I used matching serger thread) I added some lace to hide the serged seam that could show through when the jacket swings open:

I am really pleased with this - I do like a collar at the back of my neck as I am developing quite the dowager hump, and a collar helps to disguise it somewhat.  I also prefer the fitted sleeves . . . even though I am fan of the '80's (bite me!!) and I love dolman sleeves and dropped shoulders.  I also think that this length is more suited to summer cardis, and this is a great cotton knit - I think it is a double knit (looks like a knitted stitch on both front and back), and it is a great medium type of weight.  I do have some lighter tissue weight cottons and wool mixes, but I will wait until I get a coverstitch machine (planning later this month!) to make those up.

In fact, I am so pleased with this . . . . . I have cut out two more, one in lilac and one in a pale blue.  Hey, you knew I would!!

So, how about you?  What are your favorite hybrids?