One More Outfit

the blouse just needs buttonholes, buttons, and hems ... this one will go with all three pairs of pants ...

I know you can't tell from this picture, but the blouse is a fitted silhouette and actually combines two TCC patterns and we call it the Classic Rev Hippie. My dress form just doesn't fill it out the way I do.

The front is the Classic blouse which has one side bust dart and one waist dart that I've extended all the way through the hem. The back (the rev -- for "reverse") is an empire with a skirt that has a center seam with some flare added. That seems to be the best fit for my body.

I had planned to make something with a collar but I really don't like wearing collars ... and I want to be comfortable, right? This is a soft challis (maybe rayon?) and I didn't think a collar would be a good design decision, even with interfacing.

Now ... off to design the jacket that will go with all three outfits .....

Two outfits

Here are pics of two outfits ... almost finished .... the pants need to be hemmed and pressed.

The tops would have looked better on the dress form but I wanted to show them with the coordinating pants.

The green is a TCC Twist Top and the yellow is a TCC cowl. Both are out of knits so will be user friendly for laundry and wearing.

Now, back to the cutting table to work on blouse #3.

Pants! Pants!

Two pair of pants finished except for the hems ... not certain which shoes I'll wear so am going to hem those next week.

No pictures -- pants on a hanger is a pretty boring picture and I don't feel like posing for the camera today.

I used The Complete Clothier Fitted Pants Draped and made them almost at default except for using the ankle ease and leg shaping tool to get a straight leg.

Pair 1 is the medium brown herringbone with an invisible zipper in the side seam, and those went together with only having to recut the waistband once. I had one too many interruptions and didn't follow my dad's advice of measure twice cut once .... so I had to measure twice, cut twice -- lucky for me I had enough fabric.

Pair 2 is dark brown and almost had to be capris. There wasn't as much fabric as I thought I had but with some forethought was able to flip one pattern piece over and get them cut out of approx 1 2/3 yd of fabric, even allowing for the nap. Sewing was a bit challenging this morning. I had changed to a sharp microtex needle but after sewing all the darts and putting in the zipper 3 times I was not happy with the tension. First time I didn't interface the seam allowance. Second time I did interface the seam allowance. Third time I put paper under the seam.

SO ... after ripping the zipper again I took a look at the darts and wasn't happy with the tension there either ... out came the 8 darts. Next tried a universal needle size 12. Next tried a universal size 14. Finally with the size 14 tried adjusting the tension. VOILA! back in business. After that everything went together just fine. And I realized that the fabric was heavier than I first thought so they will be good all winter.

Now to cut out the green pants.

Fabrics for my SWAP

...that's Sewing with a Plan

My thought for southern Michigan the end of September was to make pants, short-sleeved tops/blouses, and jackets ... so if we have a hot week I won't roast and if the weather or the AC is cool, the jackets will take care of any chill. I may decide to make the sleeves 3/4 length but they will all be a basic straight sleeve since that is my favorite to wear.



Long story short -- I found lots of nice matches and can make do for the three days with three pairs of pants (dark brown, medium brown, and sage green), one jacket (tweed of dark brown, medium brown, sage green, off white, and a little aqua if you look really hard), and three blouses/tops. I found several fabrics for the tops so will make three for Novi and the rest for my fall wardrobe.


Outfit 1 is the jacket with dark brown pants and a light green twist top that will be worn with a light beige camisole.

Outfit 2 is the jacket with medium brown pants with a tropical print (but fall colors) that will make a collared shirt.

Outfit 3 is the jacket with the sage green pants and a butter yellow textured knit that will be a cowl top.


Other tops are a satin with a fun print of cologne bottles that will be a ruched neckband blouse, a mossy green slinky for a pleated shoulder cowl top, and a couple other prints that I have pulled from the stash but haven't decided a pattern yet.


progress report -- the medium brown pants are cut out .... ready to sew ....

Time to Post!

The title could mean a couple things ... both true ...

1. It is time for me to start posting here. I really fell short on my resolution to use this blog.
2. I need to find time to post. Taking the pictures, writing the copy ...


But since I last posted I've sewn a coordinated winter/spring wardrobe that I wore in the TCC booth at Puyallup, visited my son in Oregon, worked a TCC user workshop in Chicago, visited my daughter in Atlanta, tested lots of patterns, read more about sewing, mowed the yard too many times to count, worked on a lot of manuscript to earn money, attended two separate sewing expos in Cincinnati and lots of classes, joined ASG ... well then, I guess I have been busy!

I did manage to make & finish two real garments -- a pair of walking shorts and a t-shirt. Maybe some pictures of those next.

Now plans are in high tilt for the American Sewing Expo in Novi, Michigan the end of the month and I haven't started sewing yet! But I have shopped my stash for my fabric and managed to coordinate 3 solids for pants, 3 prints for tops, 3 solid knits for tops/cami, and a beautiful tweed for a jacket that will coordinate with all.