First Two Garments Made With Paris Fabrics

Happy Sunday All! And thanks for the nice comments you leave on my blog. I truly appreciate all of you. Many of you wanted tutorials on my Christmas gifts and I've posted one on the Reading Shawl and another on the Mug Thingy over at Diana's Sewing Lessons so let me know if they aren't clear . I'll do the hair towel soon.

When Tamara and I went to Paris in Sept., one of my favorite things to do was the whole day I spent all by myself in the fabric district of Monmartre situated just below the very scenic Sacre Coeur


I thought I had died and gone to fabric heaven.

This is me at an outdoor cafe taking a load off my feet and getting my second wind. The nice waiter unfortunately took a close-up.

Right after Christmas I finally delved into the Paris haul and came up with these two garments that fit perfectly into a retired Canadian woman's wardrobe. First a simple but warm wool double knit cardigan which I took up a notch by adding faux leather pockets.

Next I made a simple (again) tunic to wear for New Year's Day family dinner which we hosted . The fabric is a wool blend and although it looks somewhat like a ponte knit , it drapes more like a heavier rayon knit.

The brown double knit was not expensive. I only paid 8 Euros a meter but the vendeuse assured me it was pure wool .( I'm not too sure about that but it 's warm like wool so I'll take her word ) The light taupe fabric was also suppose to be wool but it's a blend for sure. It too was 8 Euros at the same store but the name escapes me.

For the cardi, I used M6844, View A,  as my base pattern. I added 6" to the length, I straightened out the waist curve and added 1/2" to the side seams as I wanted a looser fit. As well I omitted the front band but I extended the front piece by about 4"which also raised the neckline. I added the same at the back neckline . I then folded back two inches as a  facing.

                              

 I really like how that ended up .  My inspiration was this sweater found somewhere online.

As for the tunic, I used V8952, View A. The only changes I made were to add 2" to the length and I lengthened the sleeves and shirred them using clear elastic.

 The exposed animal print zipper is a rather pricey one also bought in Paris although I wish I had gotten two . I simply laid it over the sleeve seam and top stitched. I think it adds a little `je ne sais quoi `` to an otherwise plain piece.

I wore this tunic with plum coloured slim scuba knit pants made before Christmas.

Oh look ! I have matching flats! As my husband would say : ``Of course you do ! ``

       Although I love experimenting with all sorts of different and sometimes strange pieces, it`s the simple and classic garments  I choose  when I go out in public. These two ,especially the sweater, fall under this category.
Here`s another look at the cardi together with a scarf I fashioned  trying to copy similar ones on Pinterest as a sample project for my Winter Sewing Group which starts this week..Sorry no pic of me and this piece yet.

Thanks for dropping by to see my babies. Don`t you just feel like your creations are your babies !

And of course, there'll be more later from