A Whole Lot of Sewing

I haven't been blogging but I have been sewing up a storm.

I've been putting a lot of thought into what pieces I really wear out of all the things I make.The answer is SPORTSWEAR. I love making and wearing casual suits.As well,I love dresses and in the summertime I wear sundresses a lot when it's hot.Last year I made three new sundresses so this year I want to make a couple of skirts which I also wear quite often at this time of year.

I had a whole lot of this navy and white pin-cord cotton and I decided to make a Sportswear Mini Swap.

I used these patterns and made three pieces.



The Vogue Designer pattern ,I admit,was a stretch for me as far as the style.I also knew that it probably wasn't right for my 5'4.5" chesty shape ,but I just loved it and had to make it.

The New Look pant pattern is a TNT and the same one I used for these. the New Look skirt is OOP and I thought perfect for varying the lay of the stripes.

I started with the pants and they were a joy to make. When I tried to top-stitch , the result looked like a series of crooked skipped stitches I guess because the stripes are so mini.Not to be deterred, I decided to use a zigzag stitch. After a bit of experimenting, I ended up feeding two threads into a 90/14 universal needle and a 2.5 wide and 2.5 long stitch.I really like the result.

I trimmed both the pockets and the hem with navy grosgrain ribbon. I wasn't sure about the hem but when I asked for my DH's opinion ,he said he liked it at the hem so I did but am not sure I like it.



The shirt I'm wearing with my cropped pants in this photo is a linen version of a Sandra Betzina shirt which she fitted for me at her workshop



Next up was the Vogue jacket.



I cut out a size 12 and added an inch to each side but didn't need it. I did my usual FBA and followed the instructions and had no problems. Again I used a zigzag top-stitch but I limited it to just a few places.The sleeve cuffs are really weird in this pattern but I resisted the urge to change them to a more ordinary look. I may change them yet. I'll wear it a few times before I decide.

I love big buttons and this jacket was a perfect chance to use them. These buttons are an inch and a quarter and I just couldn't bring myself to make the buttonholes. Instead I used snaps and just sewed the buttons to the right side of the jacket.






Since I want to wear this as much as possible into the summer months, I decided to line the jacket with cotton voile so it would be cooler. It isn't an ideal lining for a jacket as it's not slippery, but it's too late to turn back now.



I've made this skirt before in the longer length in a red striped stretch denim. I can't show it because my daughter has it in Ottawa.Anyway, I pictured an A-line skirt for this fabric and I also think I'll wear it more than I would a straight or pencil skirt in the casual life that I live.I lined it with a rayon lining mainly because I didn't have any voile left.



I'm showing my less-than-perfect invisible zipper here ( Carolyn if your reading this you are not alone). I've been using invisible zippers for a few years and I have this thing that if it's not completely invisible after two tries, I just leave it alone.



Here I am looking rather bedraggled (I just got my hair cut today and it's kind of flat)in my new sportswear.







If you want to see more, look here.