Accessorise, Accessorise, Accessorise

I have to say that after finishing my garments for the SWAP, I felt a little lost . . . . . what to make next?  After much humming and hawing, I decided to make some accessories.  There were a couple of things that inspired me, firstly a posting by Communing with Fabric that spoke about a Koos Loop Infinity Scarf.   That led me to a 'how to' posting by Dragon Threads and some comments to that post then took me to this Nancy Zieman video.  And I made a couple of the smaller mobius scarves:

The first is a mystery jersey that was $12.99 with 40% discount.  I think that it is a rayon/poly mix.  It is very soft and feels lovely!  I bought 1m and the scarf above is 24" x 36" so I have some leftover for another project.  As you can see, it works well with both a white summer slip from my SWAP and also new grey cardi that I made with cotton sweatshirt jersey and Simplicity 2154.  This grey jersey is the reason why I made these scarves, as I read a post on the Vivienne Files about integrating a red handbag.  The author recommends wearing a grey 'column' (trousers, vest top, cardi/jacket) and bringing in the red with a scarf, shoes, bag etc.  Having just finished the cardi, a red scarf was a no brainer!

And if you love one red scarf . . . . why not try another?

This time I used a red and black rayon batik.  I actually bought this about 8 years ago at a sewing show in Toronto from a company called Batik Butik.  The plan was to make a regular scarf and fray the edges, but I am glad that I held off as the fabric drapes beautifully and looks a lot more polished this way.

I am really pleased with these two quick and easy projects - maybe not ideal for the upcoming warmer months, but I find that they keep the chill off my neck when sitting in the office at work.  Have completed these, I have also gone a little crazy with some necklaces and started on a 6PAC - 6 co-ordinating items (yep, and challenge on Artisan's Square) and I plan on making some cardi's/long sleeved tops to work with my SWAP.  More details to follow!

Do you make your accessories?  What are your favourite makes?

Wardrobe Planning - week 2

Thank-you so much for your comments about my first week of wardrobe planning - I have to say that I recommend it to you all . . . wardrobe planning that is!  I found that my mornings ran a lot more smoothly and that I had a everything that I needed.  So here I am again this week, with my next selection.  I am also showing that jewelry that I have selected as I am trying to use more variety there as well.  So here we go - week two (which is a four day week due to Easter Monday) including the accompanying bling!!

White, cotton Sorbetto top - the fabric is the leftover from one of the dresses that I made for Miss Sharon.  The gored skirt is lined. and black with tiny white dots and the cardi is my purple rayon Burda.  It is going to be warm tomorrow so I will start my week here.

My bling consists of amethyst earrings from a little country shop that I try and call in on when I visit Red Deer each month.  The earrings are made locally and I met the designer when I was in there last.  I always feel good buying locally made goods - especially when I have also met the artisan, it makes them more special.  The net bracelet is one I made many moons ago - I wish I could find the pattern as I have some more beads shouting to be made into jewelry!  These seeds beads have a purple/green iridescence and match the earrings better than this photo gives credit!

Yep, another Sorbetto - this is a natural colored linen and I will wear it with these grey pants and brick cardi.  I like to wear scarves - I tend to wear them rather than necklaces, and this one with the fringe works well.

The bling will be kept simple - Swarovski crystal earrings and a braclet that I made with a kit from my local bead shop.  The bracelet was supposed to be elasticated - but I think that looks rather cheap on me.  Instead, I used beading wire and added a simple clasp and I am very pleased with the look.

You may need to take a seat here as my top is a RTW stretch cotton poplin that is probably a couple of years old now.  I will wear it with the blue franken cardi and my lined houndstooth pants - we are expecting quite a bit of rain this week and a drop in temperatures, so I think that this will work well.

My earrings are from the same Red Deer shop as the purple amethyst earrings above, and the bracelet is one of my Mum's that I came across after unpacking some boxes that have been sealed up since she passed away in 2009.  I don't think that she ever got to wear this, so I am happy to be able to get some use out of it - it is surprising light and dainty.  The earrings are some kind of blue ceramic/glaze and I love wearing them!

And finally;

One more skirt combo to see me through the week - I made the lining a little long and the lace edging peeks out at the bottom - I was going to alter it, but I rather like the look!  I will wear it with a natural colored linen shirt and a pink cardi.  My scarf has some lovely splashes of turquoise in it - hence my earring selection!

Sadly, these are not real turquoise, I can't remember what the stones are, but they are frequently dyed to look like turquoise - and that works for me!  Worn with a simple silver bracelet - that will see me through the week.  This selection has made me realise that I need to make some more tops out of stretch cotton poplin (I have one or two Sorbetto's, but a shirt or two would not go amiss) and I should really get round to sewing up the two black cardis that I have cut out.

Phew - it takes me longer to write the post than it does to make my outfit selections!!

Wardrobe Planning

Further to my recent post about wardrobe planning, and remembering posts where other sewists actually plan what they are going to wear each day, I thought that I would put some planning into action.  My new resolution is organize my clothes for work for a week, including jewelry and accessories, in an attempt to vary my wardrobe (no duplicates within a two week period), reduce the amount of clothes in my wardrobe that I just don't wear and identify gaps in clothing that I can then make (the really fun part!).

This week seemed a good week to start - it is a short week due to Good Friday and I am off work on Tuesday - so I only need to plan for three days (I like to ease myself slowly into new challenges!).  So here we go:

Lilac cotton/lycra cardi, grey linen Sorbetto, black linen TNT trousers.
 

Green Ponte cardi (McCalls 6168), black TNT vest top, cotton 'target' skirt.

Lipstick red cotton long-line cardi, white linen Sorbetto top, black pinstripe TNT trousers.  Although I am wearing the same style cardi for two days running, I will be out of the office on the second day so my colleagues that see me one day will not see me the next!

I have also set up some partitions in a drawer with my jewelry, so that I can mix that up as well, as I find that I tend to wear the same items all the time, and I have rather a lot that just never gets to see the light of day.

So, what have I learned from this so far?  I need to replace the green ponte cardi as the fabric is pilling.  I have purchased some lovely cotton/lycra so will get that made up quite soon,  I also need a a plain black jacket cardi as the one I made recently was rather a failure, although I am wondering about putting a band around the waist to make it look as though I am wearing a belt - that might draw in the excess fabric.  Also, vest tops.  I love my Sorbetto's to bits, but I do need some jersey/knit vest tops - time to pleay with my new machine!!

How about you?  Do you plan ahead, or run round in a panic deciding what to wear as the time ticks down in the morning . . . . ?

A Hit and a Miss . . . . .

Wow, a bit of a roller coaster weekend this week.  I spent quite a bit of time this weekend playing around with a couple of patterns that have been popular with others, to make my own versions.  First of all, I have to admit to being a bit of a stalker as far as Miss Carolyn is concerned, and a number of items that I have made have been inspired by her fabulous blog.  One of her favourite TNT patterns is Burda 8869, a twinset pattern.

After many months scouring Ebay, I finally snagged a copy from a seller in France.  Delivery was super quick and I was ready to go.  I used a lovely rayon blend jersey knit from Fabric.com in a deep, deep purple.  And I love it:

I probably should have checked to make sure that my fronts were level . . .

It looks a bit 'blocky' on some of these photos, but as the fabric is so fluid and light, it actually hangs and moves very well.

This collar band is one of main reasons that I wanted this pattern.  I love a well fitting collar band, and this one is just perfect.  I also top-stitch like crazy on my knit cardigans - it keeps the seams in check and I think it elevates the finish of the garment.  The button band has a 1" finished width - I mistakenly added seam allowances to the band . . . . I couldn't find any English instructions, and didn't read the writing on the front of the pattern envelope that stated that seam allowances were added . . . .so my band is a little wider than the pattern design.

That is the centre back - honest!!  To help reduce bulk, I machine stitched the centre back collar band seam, press the seam open and then top-stitch the seam allowances down either side of the seam.  And I am not sure where that grey wig came from . . . . . !!

And do you like my fancy smancy earrings?  Would you believe that they were bought with Air Miles.  Love them!  Very sparkly, and although not what I would usually go out and buy, I am very pleased with them.

So, Burda 8869 - a definate hit.  I plan on making a lot of these - and I may well add buttons/buttonholes to this one.  We will see.  I should mention that I used the shoulder, armhole and sleeves from my favorite pattern ever - McCalls 6168.  I narrowed the shoulder seam by 1" and the fit is great.

Next up was McCalls 6844 - a gorgeous casual jacket that has been made up by many fashionistas and is almost too cute for words.  I love frills and peplums, and got to work on this jacket.  I used some super soft cotton lycra fabric - a little bit pricey but great quality.  I chose black - a great workhorse colour for my wardrobe.  And it all went downhill from there.  To be fair, the jacket made up a dream - I compared the pieces to some of my other cardis and knew that I would not have an issue with the sleeves as other sewists had commented on.  Only 2m of fabric - which I thought was pretty good as the peplum was likely to take up quite a bit of fabric.

The front view was ok

I know, it is a little hard to see due to the colour of the fabric.

Maybe a little bulky around the hip area - and I am NOT bulky in that area.  I bypassed the traditional English pear shape quite skillfully. (And I totally lifted that phrase from Philippa.  She put it so eloquently!)  I am more of a apple, 

But whoa!  Look at all that extra fabric in the back, and it is not just peplum.

Sheesh - a very unflattering side silhouette if ever I saw one.  Straight off to wadderville for this garment.  I was particularly disappointed as I had a great idea for taming the front lapels - maybe I will try one of the other views that does not have the peplum  . . . . . we will see.  McCalls 6844 - not for me.

I have to say that I was rather underwhelmed by this, and sat down to knit some socks instead - more on that during the week.

How about you?  Did you have a good weekend sewing?  And how have you fared with patterns that others have had a lot of success with?

Disappointment Averted!

I recently wrote about the disappointment I faced after making a few cardis from some Ponte de Roma fabric, purchased from my local Fabricland.  The fabric was lovely and soft, had a great drape, a nice amount of stretch and came in some FABULOUS colors.  So I bought loads of it - red, fushia, blue, chartreuse, cream, black (not all at the same time you understand!) and made up some great tops using McCalls 6168.

 

Sadly, the fabric pilled quickly - after just one wearing, the cream jacket has pilled so much around the cuffs that I can't wear it anymore.

Sew, this week I spent time making up the tops again in fabric with a very high cotton content, and I couldn't be more thrilled!

As you can see, I have manged to duplicate all the previous tops, with the exception of the chartreuse one - when I see a cotton knit in the same colour . . . I will make one of those too!  Oh, and the black one.  I picked up a cotton/lycra knit today, but I am waiting until I get a cover-stitch machine (hopefully in the next few weeks) before using this fabric as it is quite thin.  I do have another fabric that would work well, a black embossed velvet, so that should be making an appearance soon!

Here are some more pics . . . . !

Le Purple Velvet Smoking Jacket - Prince eat your heart out!  I changed out the front of this jacket, and rather than have a button band and a round neck, I took out about 1.5" off each of the fronts and then sewed on a band that has a centre back seam.  More about this fabric in a post later this week.
 

Tomatoes/tomatoes - ribbed 100% cotton, regular neckline

True Blue Baby - I Love You! Cotton with a smidge of lycra - altered neckline with attached band.

A Study in White - This is the same fabric as True Blue above, and also has the altered neckline with a band.  I am thinking of leaving buttons off this one but sewing some beads around the band.

I rather like the smaller white glass beads at the top, the large ones are gold lined glass beads and I think that they are a bit ostentatious and big.  I am looking for subtlety!

Finally Fushia - again, the same fabric as True Blue and Study in White.  I may need to re-hem the bottom as I sewed a narrow hem that is wanting to turn out and is not happy about lying flat!

Sorry about the flushed face in these pics - I had just had a shower and I think I was still rather warm!

Incidentally, the reason why I had the time to get all this sewing done, as well as my PJ's, is that Mr. SDSC and I took a week of work.  Just like that.  For no real reason except that we wanted too.  And it was great!  We had a couple of things that needed doing - dogs to the vets to get their teeth cleaned etc., but on the whole we chilled and did what we wanted - went out to dinner, saw an exhibition and I sewed, sewed and sewed!

Back to work on Monday, and a return to weekend sewing,  I find it hard to get motivated to sew after a long day at work, but I do have some ideas brewing - I rather fancy making Tilly's new Coco Dress, and I also wanted to make some garments out of some lovely wool that I picked up this last week.  What about you - what do you have brewing?