Travel Wardrobes - and Plus-Sized Pattern Pyramid Update

It seems as though I have been sewing lots of items, very few of which actually work with each other, and I am really not sure why.  Faced with having to choose clothes to take with me on my month long trip to Australia, I was a little worried about how much I would need to take with me.  I was also a little disappointed in myself for not having planned this out more carefully - after all, the tickets were bought a few months ago and I have had plenty of time to plan.  Having said that, I have spent some most enjoyable time reading the Vivienne files, which discusses wardrobe planning as well as Design Seeds for color inspiration and with the principle of making my clothes 'work', with that in mind, I tackled my wardrobe and selected some garments . . . . . 18 in total of which 7 are bottoms (6 skirts, one pair of cut off trousers), the rest are tops such as shirts, cardis and vest tops (shells).  In order to decide how well these clothes would work together, I had fun drawing rough diagrams on the back of an old 'page a day' calendar - and this is what I ended up with:

I am calling this my 'green/blue/orange' collection (above), from which I can make 7 'looks' - and that does not include doubling up by adding the cardi as an extra layer.  There are 3 RTW garments here - the blue sleeveless top, the orange sleeveless top and the blue cardi.  I have already blogged about the chartreuse shirt and Sorbetto, as well as the cabbage skirt.  The blue/green skirt is a simple 4-gore skirt made out of summery cotton, with a white cotton lining.  I was really pleased when these all came together - maybe this packing malarky may work out!

 

Next up is the 'pink and natural' collection'.  Again, 3 RTW items (pink cardi, pink sleeveless top, brown cardi) and from these 7 items, I will get 10 looks - also, not including adding the cardi's as extra layers.  The pink striped skirt was worn during Me Made May, and the natural shirt and Sorbetto are the same links in the first collection.

By now I was feeling pretty good, so I threw in two more skirts (brown RTW - 10 additional looks, white RTW - 10 additional looks) and a pair of cut off trousers in navy (RTW, 8 additional looks) - see below.

I now have more 'looks' that days, I really can't believe this!  I have thrown in 4 RTW white t-shirts/vests, my undies, a cream canvas jacket and a few lightweight scarves and I am WELL under my luggage limit!  Woohoo!!!  You know what that means . . . . . I can bring home lots of fabric :)

So, contrary to what I thought, my clothes have been co-ordinating rather well with each other.  What is very interesting is that this exercise highlighted the gaps in my wardrobe which I have filled with RTW clothes - I will focus on those items (cardis, skirts, cut-offs) in Spring next year as these collections are ostensibly Spring/Summer wardrobes.

Due to the nature of being on holiday - I hope to get lots of photos of these garments 'in action' . . and I hope to goodness that the weather holds otherwise I will be wearing all these tops with the jeans I am traveling in!!!

I am intrigued to know how you all co-ordinate your wardrobes - travel/work/play wardrobes - whichever ones are applicable to you?

A quick housekeeping update about the Plus-Sized Pattern Pyramid that I was lucky enough to win in May.  Unfortunately, I mislaid the winners address, and have been unable to make contact with her (Laura, if you read this, I have LOTS of patterns and will get another pyramid sent off to you!) and so I have been in contact with the runner up - the lovely Anne of  Pretty Grievances, and the patterns are on their way to her - so make sure you stalk her blog for a chance to win!!!

Plus Pattern Pyramid - Winner!

Drum Roll Please!

Oh, I'm going to make you wait just a little longer!  Let me tell you what I chose and what I am contributing.  Firstly, these two patterns are staying home with me:

I absolutely love these two Vogue patterns - I don't even recall seeing them in the patterns books, but here they are!  In fact, I swapped Vogue for Vogue!  I love slouchy cardigans and V8659 really fits the bill.  It has some princess seaming for some subtle shaping and easy, lazy dolman sleeves.  It is a winner all round for me!  At the other end of the scale, I need to make some more jackets, and V8623 looks just perfect.  I find that the large collars really work at framing my face - I know that for some people it works and others it doesn't, fortunately it works for me!

I nearly chose the bias tops as well - such a great pattern, but I think that two patterns will suit me well.

I am contributing these two Vogue patterns:

They both are very cute - who doesn't want some frilly undies and the draped front tops are smart in a casual kind of way.  I hope that they find a good home!

So, who gets to choose?

Congratulations to Laura of Sew Miss Oz - please send me an email with your details and I will get the pyramid mailed off to your this week.  Please drop over to her blog to say hello and get involved in the next leg!

I have to say that I really enjoyed this whole process - it is true what they say, one man's junk is another man's treasure (although I feel really bad equating sewing patterns to junk, but you get my drift!)

Plus Sized Pattern Pyramid

Ladies and Gentlemen, a few days ago I received a parcel ALL THE WAY from Australia . . . .

Being the most recent winner of the Plus Pattern Pyramid (thank-you Belle and Chris!), I was HUGELY excited . . . . 

 

but when I opened the parcel . . . .

Oh no, it was empty!

Only joking :)

 

 

Look at all these fabulous patterns! 

So… what do you need to do be the next lucky person to win the Plus Size Pattern Pyramid?

THE RULES (As copied – and slightly amended – from BeaJay over at On the Road to Sew Wear and special thanks to Karen who came up with the Pattern Pyramid idea)

• Anyone, anywhere can enter the giveaway by posting a comment below by midnight Mountain Time Saturday June 1st, 2013 BUT you must have an active blog. (Reasons will become obvious!)
• I will randomly select 1 winner.
• I will post a collection of patterns to the winner.   The winner will select which ever patterns they like to keep for themselves, and add the same amount to the collection and then host their own giveaway.  They will randomly select a winner, post the remaining patterns to that Person.  The next Person will pick a pattern/s for themselves, host their own giveaway and post the remaining patterns to the winner, the next Person will do the same and the patterns will continue to keep going around.
• All patterns are in the plus size category – ie – if the pattern comes in 2 sizing groups, then it will be the larger category.  Patterns to go up to at least go up to a size 20 (most go higher). Patterns listed as “all sizes” will include plus sizes.
• If you wish to take more than one pattern you can replenish the stock with a pattern you no longer want – but please make sure it is in plus size range

You get the idea!

THE SMALL PRINT

• We are taking it on trust that all pattern pieces are there
• If you’re a winner, I would love it if you could make a small contribution to The Brooke. This is a charity close to the heart of Catherine, who so generously provided the original patterns.
• Please engage in a timely fashion, launching your own giveaways soon after receiving a parcel
• You must be be happy to post patterns worldwide.

I’d appreciate it if you could spread the word – let it be known to all that there’s a great Plus Size Pattern Pyramid happening

What will I keep?  What will I add?  Will there be extra goodies?  All will be revealed on Sunday June 2nd when I announce the winner!  So, leave a comment below and you are in with a chance to win!

MMM - 5

Jimmy Jams, Socks, Flinen Trousers and the Pattern Plus Pyramid

OK, so there is a lot to get through today, so better get at it!

Mr. SDSC and I had a very lazy day today - no shopping, cleaning, meeting up with buddies, washing cars or anything.  A truly lazy day.  So in honour of that, I chose to wear a brand spanking new pair of Jimmy Jam trousers (PJ's to other folk) that I finished last night.  I used a soft cotton with a plaid weave (and no, I didn't even attempt to match any of it up) and my new McCall's pattern (5239) that is fast becoming a TNT.  I added 2" to the waist for the fold-over elastic and stitched the side seams with 5/8" seams even though the pattern is altered to 1" seams.  I thought that the extra space would be just what was needed!

I love this finish for an elastic waistband - there is a great tutorial here, and rather than use a twin needle, I used a three step zigzag and I am very pleased with the finish.  It will be appearing again!!  The only comment to add here is that the trousers looked like a dogs breakfast whilst I was stitching on the elastic.  It was only when I had started the zigzag that they began to look a LOT better!  So if you do try this technique, no wobbly bottom lips until you see how they transform when the elastic is sewn down!

Although a little creased, I am happy with how the back hangs on these, no bagging under my butt :)

And to finish off, another pair of hand knitted socks!  This is a very plain pattern used with self striping yarn (Knit Picks Felici Sport) and as we are moving into warmer weather, I won't be wearing hand knitted socks very much from now on so I am making the most of it!!

Following on from these toursers, I am going to make another pair - a bit more fitted - with some lovely red (wannabe) linen - hence the name 'Flinen' (aka faux linen!!).  If they turn out well, I have some mustard linen/rayon from Fabric Mart that will be put into use for a fabulous pair of summer trousers.

And finally - although maybe the most exciting news, is that I have won the current leg of the Plus Pattern Pyramid.

In short this means that I will soon be receiving some plus sized patterns, I get to chose one (or maybe two or three) to keep, replace them with some from my stash, and then hold a competition on my blog and the winner will have the patterns sent onto them . . . and so it continues!  As the parcel is making it's way from Australia - thank-you Chris - it will probably be a few weeks, but watch this space for details if you would like to play!