Better than nothing

It's hardly worth it to do a September roundup, as this is pretty much all I have to show for the last 3 weeks. It's a simple sewing job, and I feel like I should be closer to finished. But nap time has been a struggle lately, I'm back to almost my full teaching schedule and that means most afternoons are a no-go, and I'm fighting a cold. All I managed to sew yesterday was serging and pressing the armhole seams. But it's one step closer than I was.

So at least it's something.

And all things considered, that's really good.

it's that time of year again!

Woohoo! I just wanted to take a few minutes and talk about my FESA plans for this year. Due to my current time constraints, I'm keeping it simple this year, and only committing to a handful of projects-- after all, I also have a little Halloween costume that I've been mentally planning since, oh, last Christmas. So here's what I'm hoping to accomplish...

Fashionable Foundations for Frosty Weather 
I have fabric that I think will work to finally try out the Cake Espresso leggings in two different colors, though after the disaster that was my last attempt at sewing leggings, I'm definitely double checking the stretch first this time! Assuming all is well, I plan to sew the black pair, because that will go with nearly all of the skirts I own that currently fit.  I'm most likely to wear them as tights with boots. (Honestly, based on my initial fiddling to check the stretch, I think this fabric will be too see-through to use them as anything else!)

Fabulous Frocks
For the third year in a row, I am putting the Megan Nielsen Darling Ranges dress, in this very fall-appropriate rayon challis print, on my list. And I am determined that this is the year I'll actually make it, dangit!!! After all, it looks like the perfect style for postpartum and nursing. I have managed to get the pattern traced, the fabric cut out, and the darts sewn so far. So third time is the charm, right?


Baby It's Cold Outside
This may be cheating, since I've been working on this particular project for over a month already. But I've been knitting a cowl (the Wine Country Cowl) out of some bulky yarn that I originally bought as the top part of a sweater that I've since abandoned the plan to knit. I could not figure out the very first steps of the pattern at all, and decided I didn't like how the two yarns coordinated after all. "I can't wear wool" substitution problems strike again. Anyway, I'm over halfway done this cowl, I think--it's been one of my methods for coping with Hobbit's penchant for napping best when on my lap and leaving me chair-bound for long stretches of time. Sadly, I think that my plan to use up the entire stash of this yarn isn't going to work out, given its current length. Any suggestions for what else I can do with one or two balls of this stuff?

The nice thing is that if I finish all three of these projects, I'll have one complete outfit! If I can get those and the costume done and still have time left, I have a fairly substantial mental list of additional projects that I could add in. But since I am unsure at this point what the greatest needs in my wardrobe will be, or what I'll be most motivated to work on (SO important right now), I'll just see how this goes first.

FESA report card, and other news

Now that it's December, and the Fall Essentials Sew-along is over for another year, let's see how I did...



Well, I didn't do great. I had seven things on my original list. Very conservative of me, I thought!

1. Espresso leggings (Fashionable Foundations): didn't get to them.

2. Roheline cardigan (Chic Chemises): The knitting part of this one is done-- I barely finished in time, as I wove in the rest of the ends and sewed up the underarms on the 30th. I do still need to add buttons, but first I need to find some. The buttonholes ended up being a lot smaller than I expected, and I somehow didn't buy enough of the original buttons I purchased for this. Either that, or I lost a pack. So I need to find some small enough to fit through those tiny one-stitch buttonholes. Not that I'm likely to button this much, but oh well. Pictures to come.

3. Darling Ranges dress (Fabulous Frocks): My original plan of sewing this for The Monthly Stitch's Frocktober got scrapped when it became apparent that my peacoat would have to be a higher priority. Maybe next fall?

4. The peacoat (Baby It's Cold Outside): I did finish this! And since I've already talked about why it was such a time-suck, I'll leave it at that.

5. The Scraptember skirt: I worked on it, but didn't finish it. In my defense, Julia's had it in her possession for awhile to figure out what she wanted to do about another tier, so I haven't actually had access to it.

6. A scarf: I knitted part of this while I was on vacation. And haven't touched it since, so I could concentrate on my sweater.

7. The Disney sewalong project: Which would fall under Chic Chemises and Fashionable Foundations. You know I already finished the shirt, and I did also finish the skirt last week. I have a little extra time tomorrow, so hopefully I can get some pictures of the outfit then.


So, not my most productive period of sewing. But once again, life happened while I was busy making other plans...the truth is, there is a reason why my sewing mojo has been so low during the past couple of months, and it's not just all of the tailoring involved in that coat. Some of you whom I chat with on Twitter may remember me mentioning some major jet lag and nausea when I got back from my trip in September. Well, turns out it wasn't jet lag...I've also been busy over the last couple of months with making a tiny human! My "morning sickness" has really been 24-7 nausea for about 6-7 weeks straight now. So most of the time, I've felt too crappy after work to do much of anything other than sit in front of the tv, and sometimes knit. It really was pure stubbornness that enabled me to finish that coat!

Thankfully, I'm just about at the second trimester, currently on week 12, and hopefully that means I'll stop feeling constantly sick soon. (Oh please oh please...) And yes, there is going to be some baby-centric sewing going on here, but I seriously need some more maternity clothes, so I'll still be making stuff for me as well, I promise! Finding RTW maternity clothes that aren't in boring colors or fit properly in places that aren't supposed to change that much--i.e. my shoulders and the length of my arms--is really hard, you guys!

the coat that stubbornness built

The coat is finally done! It took a lot longer than I'd planned, mostly due to my sewing mojo being the lowest it's been since I was in grad school and trying to juggle that, my TA duties, getting a teaching career going outside of the university's music school, and actually seeing my friends on occasion. But I did the last bit of hand-stitching and sewed on the buttons last night, finishing it just in time for the cold to come. Literally. Yesterday it was in the 60s, and today we might scrape the upper end of the 40s if we're lucky. Brr.

Since I've used this pattern before, there isn't really a ton to say about it. I did do several things differently this time, mostly involving hand-stitching all of the internal seams down because they weren't pressing flat enough, and underlining. I used up that silk organza I'd mentioned in a previous post to underline almost everything (I didn't have quite enough for the sleeves, so I left it out of there), and I also underlined (interlined?) the lining with Thinsulate. Which was way less time-consuming in the long run than my last coat, where I quilted two layers of quilt batting into the lining. This coat is still heavy, though! I think it's mostly due to the outer fabric, which is pretty thick and heavy compared to the suedecloth I used for the last coat. Oh, and I had to draft the pattern piece for the collar stand, because apparently I also failed to return that to the envelope the last time, along with the first page of directions. Organization fail. Maybe next time I need a coat, I should just get a new pattern!

Oh, and I did bound buttonholes! This was my first attempt at doing it, and they are a little wonky in spots (also probably due to the thickness), but they blend in well enough with the fabric that it isn't blatantly obvious unless you're looking up close. I did cheat a little bit--the original coat pattern calls for an additional buttonhole on the part that goes underneath the main buttoned-up part, to attach to a button on the lining. But honestly, I rarely, if ever, buttoned it there when I was wearing the other coat. So I figured I'd save myself some time and skip it! I also stole the buttons from the old coat, since they were still perfectly good.

I cheated on the lining a bit, and just shoved the raw edge of the lining underneath the serged edge of the coat and hemmed it on machine. At that point, I just wanted it DONE. But honestly, I think it will hold better in the long run than hand-stitching on this particular fabric, and since the lining pleats over top of the hem, you can't even really see that serged edge.

This project may have taken forever, and it was honestly sheer stubbornness combined with my fear of cold that pushed me to finish it. But it was great for stashbusting! All together, I completely used up 3 yards of that tweedy stuff on the outside, 2 yards of Bemberg lining, and about 3 1/3 yards of the organza--it wasn't full width everywhere since it was leftover from a previous project, so I had to do some creative pattern work. I do have a decent-sized piece of leftover Thinsulate, so I'll need to figure out what to do with that at some point.

So, one project of my FESA plan down, finally.  I'm hoping I can still squeeze in my SewDisney project before the end of November, but I'm starting off with a Renfrew hack, so this should theoretically go much faster! And at least I'll manage to stay warm in the meantime. I hope. Since this is me we're talking about, after all.

FESA plans!

It's that time of year again! I do love this sewalong, and this is the 3rd year I've participated. You all know how I feel about the cold, and my ironically wool-phobic skin doesn't help matters. (I say ironic, because since I got married, my last name now starts with Wool! Go figure.) So this is a great way to keep me focused and excited about making things to get me through the winter.

So without further ado, here are my plans for the next couple of months. I'm keeping things rather conservative this time, so maybe I can actually finish everything?

Fashionable Foundations for Frosty Weather: I have some stashed knit to try out the Espresso leggings, and I'd like to knock out a pair or two of them. Since woolly tights are a sad no-go for me, I think this could be a great way to keep my legs warmer for wearing skirts. (I wear boots with skirts a lot, so the no-foot-coverage thing won't be an issue.) Not to mention it's a layer I can wear under my jeans while I'm shivering my way through the last bit of October at the outside register at my retail job. (I have some black, too, but it's a much bigger bolt since I'd also bought this fabric with that aborted attempt at a Red Velvet in mind. Oh well. I can always use black knit somewhere, right?)

Chic Chemises for Cool Climates: The definite is that I'd like to finally finish up the Roheline cardigan that I've been knitting since August 2013! (Though I really didn't get it started until last September, since I had to restart no less than 7 times.) I'm so, so close to finishing the sleeves, which means I only have the yoke and buttons to go, so it's not unreasonable. Depending on how the time goes, I also wouldn't mind trying out the Archer blouse, since I didn't get to that in my summer plans.

Fabulous Frocks: I would like to do a Darling Ranges dress if at all possible, since the colors will be great for taking it into the winter. Also, I meant to make it last year, so it's time. I'm hoping to knock this one out next month, since The Monthly Stitch's theme is "Frocktober" anyway. I'll just need to find a layer to go over it--I have yarn to knit a yellow cardigan that will pair nicely with this, but there's no way I'll be able to finish 2 cardigans in this time span.

Baby It's Cold Outside: My old peacoat that I made in 2007 is starting to fall apart. Replacing that will be first priority! (Even so, 7 years, including the polar vortex of wintry doom that we had this past year, is not bad at all for my first me-made winter coat!) I'm hoping to play around with a few more tailoring techniques, but I'm using the exact same pattern as the first one, so at least fitting won't be an issue. I actually have started cutting this one out already, but since there's 4 layers involved, I'm still on the outside. (The black and white tweedy fabric has been cut, but I'm underlining most of the pieces with that greyish silk organza that's right next to it. And that's taking a little longer. Especially given that I haven't been able to touch it since Saturday.)

Other projects: I'm hoping to knock out a skirt before the end of the month, because a long-standing project I've been making for my sister-in-law is perfect for Scraptember! I may knit up a scarf, too, since I'm strongly leaning towards a one-skein project to take on my upcoming trip to France. (Next weekend! Eeeeee!) After all, I have a lot of plane/airport time, and at least 6 hours on a bus to get to Normandy and back, and I'm not sure how well my Kindle battery will hold up for a cross-continental flight. Also, I know from experience that I sadly cannot read on the bus without getting sick.  Maybe I'll have better luck with just keeping my hands busy.

I'm also beginning to plot out what I'm going to make for the Disney sewalong that Katie and I are co-hosting in November, but that project is still a secret!

A quickfire shirt

Another FESA project down! I usually feel like I'm pretty slow at sewing, compared to a lot of bloggers that I follow, but this shirt took me only two days from start to finish--and that includes some single-layer cutting! I had two unexpected days off of work recently, due to some nasty, rainy days. (My garden center job involves sitting at an outdoor register, and it's already been pretty slow lately, so rain = even more dead. So they told me to just stay home.) The Thurlow pants were already at the point where I just needed to sew the hems by hand, so I figured I'd save that for tv time and make something new instead.

It's a Renfrew, of course, since I've been talking about revisiting this pattern since the first one I'd made. And I think that was actually the best possible choice for this fabric. It's hard to tell how a fabric will handle as flat yardage sometimes, and I discovered as I was working with it that the edges have a very strong tendency to curl to the outside, and develop little tiny runs in the fabric in the process. So a pattern with bands at the sleeves and hem was the perfect counterbalance, and I'm glad I didn't try to do one with a more traditional hem! Especially since I'd been going back and forth for quite some time about what this fabric wanted to be.

I did have to fiddle with the print placement a bit, due to the stripes, and I think it worked out well overall. I do wish the stripes were a little more matched up at the seams, though. Despite all of my pins and careful placement, it did shift around a bit during serging. (Which was surprising, since the fabric generally clung to itself quite a bit.) But I like the way the thin stripe looks as the neck binding, and even though I didn't quite have the yardage to make that stripe line up between the body and the arms, I think it still looks pretty good overall!

I'd originally altered this pattern to make the waist curve in a few sizes smaller, but for this one, I cut it more of a straight size 8. The fabric is sheer enough that I knew from the start I'd have to wear this as a layering piece, and with its clingy tendencies, I wanted to give it a little extra wiggle room to make it easier to pull over my camisoles. I also did a cheater adjustment on the arm length, and just cut that to the largest size with the width of the regular size 8. It worked perfectly, and I'm quite happy to not have my wrists hanging out like they often do with long-sleeved shirts! I'll be cranking out at least one more of these before the cold weather ends, and this pretty much clinches it as my favorite knit top pattern!

And hey, look, a different backdrop than usual! We spent the weekend in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, since I was in a friend's wedding. The ceremony and reception were held at the Landis Valley Museum, in and around this barn. I managed to get my husband to take these pics before the rehearsal started, since we got there about an hour before everyone else and had time to walk around. It matches my shirt pretty well, doesn't it?



This was my artist friend (the one I made that apron and placemat set for recently), and I have to say, her vision turned out quite lovely! The grapevines with the twinkle lights were already there, but we hung the paper lanterns ourselves. There were a lot of people helping to set up, so even though there was a lot of work, it was still a relaxing, fun time.









I did a little more crafting for this, too! The night before the wedding, the rest of the bridesmaids, the bride and I made our bouquets.None of us had really done floral arranging before, unless you count my trial-and-error artificial centerpieces that I made for my own wedding, but I think they turned out nicely! It just took us a few tries, that's all.

I also made that little banner hanging up there by the dessert table. I don't have a decent close-up because there wasn't time, but I brought it home with me, so I can take one if anyone is interested.

I have one more recently finished project that needs photographing (knitting this time), and I'd better get on it, since the Doctor Who Sewalong is officially on now!

I need a distraction

First off, the good news: While by no means perfect, my welt pocket is looking much, much better than yesterday. (Though is the dart supposed to go crooked like that where it splits?)









The bad news: After struggling with it for a solid half hour, at least, plus at least another 15 minutes of staring vainly at Lauren's tutorial post, this is what my pocket lining is doing. I just can't make heads or tails of it, and this is the only way I could figure to get the brown showing through the welt, rather than the print. I don't think I sewed it backwards or upside down, based on the illustrations, but I'm obviously missing something here and I'll feel really dumb when I figure out what it is. (Well, more dumb, because I am honestly rather discouraged with this entire thing right now.)

So, to distract myself, here's my tentative plan for the rest of the FESA sewalong.

Fashionable Foundations for Frosty Weather
Trousers, skirts, legwarmers and more! Anything that keeps your lower portion fashionably cozy fits perfectly here! The chilly weather necessitates the donning of bifurcated bottoms and sassy skirts!

Obviously, I've got this one covered by Pantsapalooza, assuming I can make it past this first pair of pants and actually start working on the other 4!

Chic Chemises for Cool Climates
Blouses, tops, vests, cardigans, and sweaters! These wardrobe essentials can carry you from day to night, not to mention provide necessary layering to keep out the chill.  

I've got a couple of things planned here:

These two knit prints are tagged for long-sleeved Renfrew tops. The black striped one, which was part of a Christmas haul from my parents a few years ago, will have to be a layering piece out of necessity. It's pretty thin. The green is a little thicker, with a crinkled texture, and has been in the stash for several years. The nice thing is that I can use black thread for both, so I can assembly-line construct these as well! I'm thinking maybe a scoop-neck for the black and a v-neck for the green, since I've only made the cowl neck variation so far.


I also have a new knitting project! Would you believe this one has been in progress for a few weeks now? This cardigan pattern is called Roheline, and it's proved rather difficult to get going, though it's completely not the design's fault. The first time I cast it on, one of the dogs somehow got the yarn out of my nightstand drawer early one morning, and in the ensuing tug-of-war between him and my husband, the yarn broke. So I had to start again. Then I had a couple instances of misreading the chart pattern and having to rip it out. And at least once or twice casting on where I just didn't have enough of a tail to finish. All together, I think I started this sweater about 7 times! But I've made it up through row 7 or 8 as of tonight, so I think I'm good now. I hope.

Fabulous Frocks
Dresses of all styles; mini, short, or long! Keep yourself warm in your modish designs, layering with tights and boots!

I meant to get this one done near the end of the summer, so hopefully putting it on my fall list means that I'll get it done sometime before the end of next summer, right? Anyway, this is the Darling Ranges dress. And of course I plan to overcomplicate things for myself by attempting to fully line it. That blue bemberg rayon was the closest match I could get without actually using white (which, actually, Mood didn't have at the time). And it's a pretty lightweight rayon print, so those white streaks are just a liiiiiittle too transparent for my comfort. The fact that it will add some extra warmth doesn't hurt either, since elbow-length sleeves in the middle of the summer around here just aren't happening. Which makes this obviously a fall dress.

Underneath It All
When you're spending months covered from the neck down, a glamorous underpinning of your choice adds a secret, luxurious touch that chases the cold away!

Tender Tootsies
Let's not forget your frosty feet! Socks, slippers and the like are the order of the day. Keep those tootsies warm and dry!

Those Cozy Nights
Is there anything better than snuggling up in a cozy pair of pajamas with a hot drink and a book whilst Jack Frost works his magic outside? I think not! Sleepwear of all types are the way to go here!

I don't currently have any plans for these few categories, but we'll see if I change my mind. After all, despite my long-term anti-leggings stance, the upcoming Espresso leggings are tempting me to give them a shot.

Baby It's Cold Outside
Coats, hats, and mittens donned to keep the cold at bay, especially when out enjoying the spectacular fall colours!

I don't think I care enough to bother matching stripes. It's just to keep me warm at the retail job. #knitting pic.twitter.com/m3Zpi475AH
— Becky (@sew_and_so) September 17, 2013

I do have a pair of handwarmers in progress that I'm frantically knitting for work, but I keep that at my parents' house as a project to do while I wait for flute students. So this Twitter shot is the only pic I have of them for now. A matching hat may follow. And I do hope to knit the beginner scarf for my Craftsy class soon, too.

So, I know this is a hugely ambitious list, and last year I was crafting for FESA well into the winter. But that's ok. Especially because there is one more pile...


Just as a sneak preview, these are the three things I have tagged for the Doctor Who sewalong. But I'm not going to tell yet what I have in mind, or what categories they fall into. Because, as River Song would say, spoilers!

One last Licorice post, and a FESA roundup

Here we go...Licorice in real life! This was the only picture I ended up with from the party where you can actually see most of the dress, including the belt. In every other picture, my arm was conveniently hiding the belt.

The verdict: Overall, I'm happy with how it wore, although it needs a little tweaking. Since I had to take in the darts more than what the pattern originally specified after my fitting muslin, the fabric was straining a bit at the center of each dart by the time I took it off. So I'm going to have to round those out a bit before I wear it again, and hope that the fabric isn't already obviously damaged. I also need to add another eyelet to the belt, because despite having measured, it's too big! Fortunately, extras came with the kit, so I can do that easily enough. I think I'd also like to add some kind of loop to the belt to hold the end in.

Anyway, I got a lot of compliments on the dress, and people were surprised when Nicole told them I'd made it!

The next day, along with some Anthropologie window-shopping, Nicole and I went to Gaffney Fabrics, which is pretty close to her apartment.
And, well, after months of not buying anything without a specific purpose, I couldn't resist picking up a few things. It's the corduroy's fault--the lovely shade of blue, and the velvety feel of the thin wales were screaming, "You think I'm gorgeous, you want to buy me, you want to make a cute jacket out of me...." (If you've ever seen Miss Congeniality, just picture Sandra Bullock doing her little routine in there at the end and you'll get the general tone.) Anyway, the corduroy was already cut into a 2 5/8 yard piece, which I figured would be plenty for a cute little jacket. Maybe something like this? Or this? Or maybe go all Sgt. Pepper's and make that Hikaru jacket that I've had saved on my hard drive since back when BurdaStyle patterns were free? The floral print is to be the lining of whatever I settle on--we found a roll of this satiny stuff in the basement, and the blue matched perfectly! I didn't have to feel guilty about splurging, either, because they were having a post-Thanksgiving sale still going on and this stuff was rather inexpensive-- only $2.99/yd for the lining, and only $1.99/yd for the corduroy itself!

I'm not going to get to this one right away, of course-- I'm in the middle of a reconstruction and I want to fix those darts while I still have the machine threaded with the right color, I've got a little Christmas present I need to make once the rest of my supplies arrive, and then the next priority is going to be starting the tracing and fitting process for my winter raincoat. It's actually been fairly unseasonably warm around here for most of the fall, but the cold is finally starting to dig its claws in, and I've already missed having this on a couple of the colder rainy days so far this season.

I'm looking at my initial Fall Essentials Sew-Along list, and I think that overall, I did pretty well! I didn't get to the jeans yet, of course, and I still have the two coats on my list that are high priority.  My Cadence is still in the works, too. But I did finish the teal skirt from the "Fashionable Foundations" category, the knit top from the "Chic Chemises" (and I'd say I'm at least a third of the way done the Cadence), my one "Fashionable Frock" is in the bag (and the Licorice gave me an extra one to boot), the slippers from the "Tender Tootsies", and the knitted hat from the "Baby It's Cold Outside", as well as a nice dent in a matching scarf. Plus Jolene' bag, and finishing Shantelle's scarf, and making a nice dent on my mending pile. Not bad for three months-- especially since I had to re-knit the Cadence thrice!

So, aside from the Christmas present, I think I'll do the raincoat first, then the jeans, then the brown corduroy jacket that I've been meaning to do since last year. Though I'll probably break these up with some reconstructing, since these are all pretty involved sewing projects. It'll probably take me until February to finish all of these, but that's ok. This new blue jacket idea that's percolating will be better for an early spring jacket, I think, since the corduroy is definitely on the lightweight side. I'm hearing rumors of a spring sew-along, and I'm hoping it's in the same spirit as the summer and fall essentials one, so we'll see...

"Moving Target" shirt, and Cadence update

#1: I finished this shirt last night. I went ahead and used Butterick 5084 (the same one I used for this shirt), and I think it went better this time. Probably helped that I didn't have the embroidered insert that added basically 3 extra layers of fabric at the under-bust seam, between the fold and the interfacing. I still had to take it in at the sides some, and lengthen the sleeves a bit, but otherwise, I'm really happy with the fit. I changed up the neckline a bit by replacing the facing with a strip of fabric, sewn on the seamline, folded under, and stitched double. I also stay-taped it so it wouldn't sag and gap with repeated wearings, and so far, so good. It came together really quickly-- I cut it out on Monday, and sewed it together in two sittings. Would have been faster without the stay-taping, but I think it'll be worth it.

This color scheme is pretty different for me-- I hardly wear red, and I don't think I even owned anything in mustard until now. But what's the point of sewing if you can't have fun getting out of your self-imposed boxes? Also, I tried really hard to avoid awkward print placement on the top, and I think I did a pretty good job! The fabric is a cotton jersey (rather thin, as you can see from the tank top lines) from Mood. Which I think I bought 2 years ago. So, since it took me this long to get to it, another FESA project down! Thank you, Mood!
I'm also rather excited about this. See that? That's the lace chart on my Cadence sweater, which is now DONE. Third time's the charm. And that lime green bit of string at the bottom? I wove that in, in case I mess up the rows leading up to splitting the sleeves off. I shouldn't, because it's basically all knit all the time for 20 rows. But I'm not taking any chances! (I'll take it out when the sweater's done.)

Also, I think that taking the neckline down a needle size worked well. The overall knit looks much better than my first attempt, and the neckline doesn't look like anything from an 80s dance movie anymore. Yay!

Colette Sewing Handbook!

Got mine in the mail the other day, and it's been a nice pick-me-up from the sweater fiasco. (Which, by the way, I'm now about 2/3 through the chart for the third time. And double-checking every single section as soon as I finish it. I just started the decreases last night, and have about 7 rows to go.)

I haven't finished reading it from cover-to-cover yet, I've only had time to flip through it. But so far, I like what I've seen. I'm certainly not a beginner seamstress, but I like the whole philosophy and aesthetic behind it--the "slow fashion", that anyone can start making well-fitted and well-tailored clothes right from the start, etc. But I think my favorite chapter so far is the second one, about a thoughtful plan.

I think this is where I run into trouble-- I tend to choose the clothes I make based on things like "I love the look of this pattern", without taking things into consideration like how it fits into my lifestyle. So, inspired by Tasia's post from yesterday, I wanted to do the exercise about choosing five things that I love to wear.

One thing I did realize while thinking about this is that I seem to have an entirely different aesthetic between my warmer- and cooler-weather wardrobes. (Probably due to the fact that I get cold so ridiculously easy that all I want to wear when it's cold is sweaters.) So, this is basically going to focus on what's in my closet right now, since all of my warmer-weather stuff is packed away under the bed.



5 things I love to wear (the cold-weather edition)

1. This vintage 70s leather jacket passed down from my mom

It's kind of an oddball color, but that's one of the things I really like about it. Even though the sleeves are a little too short for me, I wear this thing all the time this time of year--it's pretty much the perfect in-between jacket. (One of these days, I will get good enough at knitting that I can make some longer-wristed gloves to go with it! And the thought that it would go really well with this jacket was actually what inspired me to choose the yarn that I did for my Counterpoint Hat.) Wearing this always makes me feel really fashionable, even though it's older than I am!







2. A brown hooded cardigan sweater that I purchased about a year and a half ago from ModCloth. It felt like a big splurge, because between sewing my own things and my thrifting habit, it's very rare that I pay more than $20 for a ready-made garment. (Yeah, not counting cost of fabric in that estimate.) But it looked like the sort of thing that I'd wear a lot....and, well, I'll admit that the fact that the sweater was basically named after one of my favorite Weezer songs. It's just fun to sing along to! And this really has become one of my most frequently reached-for layering pieces. I like the fun wavy ribbing, and the pops of turquoise. (Though I did pull the hanging strings inside the sweater, because I wanted to be able to wear this for work.)






3. My Ayden shirt. It's proved to be a good transitional piece, since it works well with the sleeves rolled up to 3/4 as well. And it's easy to layer, so I'm warmer!

4. A pair of thrifted jeans (no pic, because it's just a basic pair of boot-cut jeans.) The thing is, they fit perfectly. Exactly the fit I want when I tackle jeans yet again later this fall!










5. This necklace/earrings set, which seems to go with everything that's not black. It's definitely one of my most go-to jewelry sets in the colder half of the year.


I find it interesting that most of the things I picked are NOT things I made. If I were to do this again for the warmer seasons, I think at least 4/5 things would probably be things that I'd sewn. The color schemes are also completely different. In the summer, I gravitate most towards cool, bright, watery shades like green and aqua and teal. In the winter, my wardrobe seems to be dominated by dull, dark colors. So I actually like my fall clothes better--everything I've been wanting to wear lately are spicy, warm shades like browns and mossy green and even the occasional orange. My usual love of prints is also not very well-represented by this "mini-collection" of sorts, other than my plaid shirt. If I look behind me at my closet, I see swirly, leafy prints, paisleys, and some stripes and florals. (I'm much more likely to go for a funky floral when it's warm, I think.)


So what do I think this means? I certainly don't think it means I feel best in clothes that aren't prints! I seem to be most drawn to things in funky prints with interesting construction details, like all of those piped seams on the jacket and the pleats and gathers in the plaid. I like color. I need more of it in my winter wardrobe, but up until now I've been largely limited to what I can find in store-bought sweaters. If I can just get past this Cadence chart, hopefully I'll be well on my way to remedying that. I like layering things, especially when it's cold. I'm more likely to wear pants when it's cold, though I'm hoping maybe I'll branch out from that this season, since I have some really nice skirts that I've made so far in the Fall Essentials collection. (In the summer, I'm much more likely to wear skirts and dresses, because I feel more comfortable going out in those than in shorts.)


Actually, in light of this thought process, I think I did a pretty good job in choosing the other things I want to make for FESA! And hopefully I can continue this thoughtful planning into the next season as well. Especially once I get my stash a little more pared down, and I have some plans for that.


Also, this may completely defeat the entire point of this post....but I kind of want the Truffle dress.