The Wardrobe That Almost Wasn't

I started out with a plan, I got derailed and decided not to do the wardrobe. Then, this sort of evolved, first with a dress, then the jacket and I filled in with the shirt and skirt.

We have Vogue 1220.



Vogue 8714 aka Prison Break Jacket.



Add in Jalie 2921.



And last but not least Vogue 1020.



The final garment was a preexisting one in your closet. I chose a pair of designer jeans I splurged on.

And I think I ended up with a pretty fun and unique wardrobe. Some of the combinations are a bit ecclectic but I had a great time putting them together.



Photo Album

Prison Break!

Good followup to the did a bad thing post, dontcha think :-)

Prison Break jacket AKA Vogue 8714 is almost complete. I still have to topstitch just about everything and add buttons. I am on the fence about lining the sleeves. Turns out the only pieces that use lining are the backs, side fronts, and sleeves. Everything else is doubled with fabric. I did cut out the sleeves in lining and had them attached but they were too tight. I couldn't reach forward. I'm on the fence about doing a arm adjustment on them and redoing them or not. I don't see the need to line them personally. It's unlikely that I will wear this jacket with long sleeves and even if I did, it's rather smooth fabric. I may just slipstitch the lining to the armcyce at this point, wear it a bit, then decide. I could add them later if I wanted.

So far, it's exactly how I envisioned it...YEAH!

I played around with cutting out the pieces and decided on cutting the side fronts on the bias and the bottom peplum cross grain. I think it added some fun to it, not that a striped jacket by itself isn't fun though.

Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing...

I was going to link the video of Chris Isaak's "Baby Did a Bad, Bad Thing" video but seeing as some people look at this stuff at work I figured I better not. It's a bit risque ;-)

Well I did a bad thing and went off my fabric buying (sort of) fast. I was so angsted about not finding the fabric I wanted for that jacket that I fell off the wagon. I went to Gorgeous Fabrics and a bunch of stuff I wanted was on sale, plus I found that pinstriped double knit that I thought might work for the jacket. So, of course I had to make it worthwhile with shipping and bought some two tone pinstriped denim, and some cotton voile'ish type fabric with roses and pinstripes. See a pattern? I searched for stripes and this is what I ended up with.



I was a little disappointed with the pinstripe black and white double knit. I knew it was a polyester but it's really polyesterey. Otherwise, it's ok. The black roses was worth it all though. It's a gorgeous lightweight cotton, almost a voile, and is going to be amazing in a dress. It's going to the top of my must sew list! The denim is interesting and I'll see how it washes up.

Next then, FabricMart sent out a 20% off our whole site sale. I'd been pretty good but this just threw me for a loop when my defenses were down. I wanted to stock up on some of their pontes, but of course I found some other things too ;-)

The first is a cotton plaid madras. I love madras and purple! The next is a purple ponte, and last is a Marc Jacobs orange wool jersey knit in what they call paprika. It's so yummy! I love orange too and it's a deep red orange color.



This picture has a seriously delicious blood orange cotton stretch sateen. I was just looking at my most recent Lucky magazine and this is the "IN" color right now supposedly. I just love it. The middle is a heathered gray ponte. The last is a rayon jersey in a salmon color.



Now, last but not least, I did stop at my local indie on Monday. I've been too busy to post but I did score the fabric I had been wanting. I couldn't believe they had it. I missed it when I first walked in and asked a bit later after I walked around if they had any striped ponte and she said, "You mean like the stuff up front?" Sure enought they had it in cream/black and a black/cream. One had more black and one had more cream. I chose the one with the predominantly cream one for my jacket but I think I'm going back to get the other one too. It is so nice. It's a rayon doubleknit, no poly! And I added this fun striped cotton knit, in what else, orange!



I have it all cut out and about 60% done. It's coming along great and I'm hoping to have it done this weekend!!!

Plan B

Well it looks like the fabric I wanted is sold out. I can't find anything else similar online. I'm going to go checkout my local indie and call another one to see if they have anything but I'm not holding out hope. I ordered some of this pinstriped double knit from Gorgeous Fabrics in the meantime.



It really bums me out when I have this idea in my head that for one reason or another I can't execute! I'm sure if this pinstripe fabric will work for the jacket, I'd get a lot of wear out of it plus it would stay in style longer. But...I really wanted a striped jacket like the picture and I'm not paying $400 for one, not to mention they only size up to a 10...SERIOUSLY!

I had hopes I might be able to complete a wardrobe and there is still a small chance. I think I can do it if I can sew one shirt and a skirt which should both be easy but darn it if my house isn't totaly in need of a a full fledged cleaning. I can only ignore it for so long.

I did take a sewing detour for version 2 of the Vogue dress which now only needs the sleeves. I figured I better do it now or I wouldn't make another one.

Stripes! Vogue 8714

I was looking through some clothing websites yesterday and found this on Piperlime. I love it! I've always had a thing for stripes and love that they are "In" this season.

You can't see it here but this is a bit of a trapeze look to it. You can see more pictures here Link.



I've been wanting this pattern and although not exact, it does have the front collar of the inspiration piece. I like the shape and style of the Vogue pattern better too. With it's princess seams and peplum, it will be a lot more flattering, plus it's a "Custom Fit" pattern with the various cup sizes. The pattern calls for lightweight double knits and looking at the inspiration jacket in the zoom, it looks like a knit to me.



I could not find anything that looked similar but put a post on Pattern Review and someone pointed me to this fabric at Marcy Tilton's website. It's not the beige and black of the jacket, but grey and black, which I think will still look great. It's sturdy enough that you can cut it on the bias so I may play with that for the side front pieces or the peplum. I doubt I will line it. I just want something kind of like a cardigan but with a bit more structure.

If I can get a couple more things sewn, I may just have a mini wardrobe to enter into the contest but I'm not going to hold myself to it ;-)

I'm in love with Vogue 1220!

I seriously love this dress. It's like the busty girls version of a shirtdress. I can't wear shirtdresses. I look like a box in them but this gives that whole shirtdress vibe but still has some shape. The construction was so much fun, really, it was. I haven't done a Donna Karan pattern before but let me tell you, all the ones from my pattern stash will be pulled out!

I love it so much that I have version two already laid out to cut! There really isn't much I don't like about it. I guess the only thing would be there is some gapiosis at the neckline when you sit. I did bring up the attached fly about an inch or so because of my short waistedness. I could bring it up another inch maybe for the next version. The hem is great even though I had a doh moment with it. I'm very bad at those cut corners but with the pattern of the fabric and the tie or belt covering them, no one but me would notice. If you do it in a solid you'd need to be very mindful to do them nicely.

I folded my tie in half lengthwise and stitched it so it is half the width. I don't need that super wide thing being short waisted nor did I want a big bow. My next version may not even get a tie because the fabric isn't wide enough but a regular belt works fine too.

I plan to do a regular review tomorrow but wanted to get these up tonight.

Vogue 1220 Progress

For the moment I have given up on the wardrobe challenge. Every time I plan one, I get frustrated and/or bored. I need to stop trying to do these. I sew one piece at a time as the mood strikes me...I am so NOT a planner ;-)

All I could think about yesterday was sewing this dress but I kept trying to make myself sew something in my plan. Well, I gave in and started on this dress.

The pattern calls for stretch woven and this was the only fabric in a stretch woven I had enough of. I do like it though. It's kind of willy nilly circles.

So far it's really been fun to make. This is a straight 16 with no FBA. I don't think I needed one with all the extra fabric in the front. It does look a bit long waisted on me (I am SUPER short waisted) but I think it will be fine once I get the belt on right. My fabric is not the same on both sides so the wrong side shows on the belt. I think I an just going to stitch the belt in half lengthwise and turn it right side out. Being so short waisted I don't need such a wide belt.

Vogue 1220 Look A Likes

Thank you all for the such wonderful and sweet comments. I promise I will soon be back posting my sewing. You all sure know how to make a girl feel wanted ;-) I do have the blog set so there aren't anonymous postings, these negative comments were a result of the "Open ID" portion of the posting. Basically, they can post with an ID but it's not a Google ID.

I love this dress and laid it out to cut out but put it away shortly so that I can work on a mini wardrobe. I will definitely be making this dress though.

Leather Baby Booties and a Little Break

I've been busy sewing but just didn't feel like sharing much, sorry to those of you who leave such wonderful comments. It seems that over the last couple months the negative comments I've been getting have increased quite a bit. Now, I know, I put myself out here and should expect it but it still stings. I delete them because I don't want negativity following me. I'm not a thin person, heck, I know that, but the comments about my size really annoy me. I've reached a place in my life where I am happy with who I am and have accepted my curviness and truthfully embraced it. Still no one wants to hear that something looks horrible on them because of their build. Anyway, that's why I haven't been posting much and why now I'm just showing off some baby booties I made for a coworker. I wholeheartedly appreciate all the wonderful comments of so many and will be back posting my garments soon!

I found a free pattern online and purchase a couple lots of leather scraps on ebay. These were so much fun to make!