Co-ord sets

I remember back in the early SWAP (Sewing With A Plan) they advised sewing a matching skirt and top from a print fabric as a core to the 11 piece collection. Now many years later there's something called a co-ord which is a matching top and bottom from the same fabric!

I got a lot of wear from the Blue Culottes and Blouse Co-ord Set I made in June, particularly when it was hot. So I decided to have a go at making some more. The best thing about a co-ord is that it's like a dress, wear the two pieces together and you have an instant outfit! But even better you can (theoretically) split the items and wear them separately.

 

In both sets I used the same patterns.

The blouses use the body and collar of Simplicity 9200 View C, and then a sleeve adapted from NewLook 6669 with a self drafted band.

This was in order to use the fabric in the most economical way.

For the culottes I again used the trousers from NewLook 6438, though altered for my crotch curve, and elastic waistband and slash pockets. The pink floral are self fabric, though a modified pocket shape to suit the fabric scraps.

I had slightly less of the navy print, so the waistband and pockets are from scraps of a plain navy viscose I'd kept for such a scenario.

Once completed I noticed that the puffed sleeves pulled on the shoulder seams causing the sleeves to fall off the shoulder - not a good look. However viscose can shrink unpredictably, so I've added stitched tucks - 1 in each shoulder for the navy, and 2 in each shoulder for the pink. If the fabric shrinks widthways I may remove these later. If not the tucks are a nice detail.

Really neither of these co-ord sets would make a good base for a SWAP for me. 

The navy and white is only 2 colours, so doesn't meet the SWAP guidelines of  2 neutrals and a colour, but will be easy to mix and match with plain navy, plain white or any bright colour. 

The pink print was a charity shop purchase. A dark grey background with ochre, white and 3 shades of pink. I could wear the culottes with a plain white top and the blouse with some grey linen pinstripe trousers, but that's about it. I'll have to see if I have any suitable plain pinks......

Skirt and tops for a friend

 I'd picked up a remnant of floral jersey, which made a beautiful skirt for C.

For this I used the skirt pieces from the Simplicity 9473 skirt. I stitched elastic to the top and flipped it over, stitching it the ditch at the side seams to secure. I also added some inseam pockets from another pattern.

To go with it I made two t-shirts from the Closet Core Tee pattern

which if worn tucked in, give the look of a dress

I've used the 18D front with an elbow length sleeve for both of these.

Off Black Divided skirt

I had originally cut out some wrap around beach trousers - I think from Simplicity 5508 - in an off black thin cotton (or polycotton).

(It looks black until you see it next to something black - like the black serging thread, and then its clearly very very dark grey)

I wasn't convinced by the style and didn't sew them up.

Sometime later I found the pieces when I wanted something dark as the background for a test P&Q block. I whacked a chunk off one of the legs and did my block!

Recently I came across the remaining pieces and decided I'd rather have a divided skirt and wanted pleats that would make it look more skirt like and less trouser like.

I cut the legs off so they were all the same length, a good midi length fortunately.

Enter Vogue 9090, which is a skirt pattern I'd got free with a magazine. I copied the pleat placement. The deep centre front and back pleats nicely disguise the inner leg seams.

I added a wide elastic waistband making the skirt easy to pull on.

Here you can see the two legs.

A great piece for overseas holidays where its hot!

Previously made items used in the Start With A Scarf SWAP

I'm not sewing everything from scratch in this wardrobe, and have decided to use some previously sewn items, all done within the last 18 months.

Charcoal Mountain View trousers

Grey Green trousers

Denim Utility Gilet

McCall's 6844 cardigan

Charcoal joggers - Monsal Lounge Pants

Khaki trousers

Dark olive stripe trousers: Simplicity 1467 with back crotch alteration and added zipped pocket

Burgundy Pink long line cardigan: The Kinder Cardigan, From the book by Wendy Ward "A Beginner’s Guide To Sewing With Knitted Fabrics"

With these pieces added in my wardrobe now looks like this.

Bird Print Top

I used the same pattern as the last two tops, but lengthened the sleeves and raised the neckline. 

I also cut out a simple tube scarf which I can use to change the look.

Whilst this top doesn't work well with the scarf which inspired the colour palette, it can be worn with any of the plain coloured items in the wardrobe (some previously made, some still to come).

Scarf SWAP dusty pink top

 Continuing with my Scarf based SWAP I've sewn another top. Same pattern different fabric.

This knit is very fine and soft and was a little tricky to sew with rather crumpled yardage. I'll see what its like to wear and wash.

The pink is slightly more greyed than the scarf, but still works I think.

Summer 2023 SWAP: Start with a Scarf

 I decided to start a SWAP with this scarf as the inspiration. It has an olive green background with pink and grey flowers. So I'll use those colours as my palette for the capsule wardrobe.

I plan to make tops, trousers and a cardigan and pull in previously made or purchased pieces as well.

Here's my first piece, a sage green marled knit top. The pattern is my own, traced from a favourite RTW top. It has a dropped shoulder, curved hem, scooped neckline and 3/4 sleeves.

Details of how I made the pattern here.

More Monsal Lounge Pants

I made two pairs of the Monsal Lounge Pants, from the Wendy Ward Book, A Beginners Guide to Sewing with Knits. 

One pair is black, the other dark grey marl.

Although it's easy enough for me to buy RTW joggers they don't fit me well, so I'm working through sewing my own so the old ones can be donated recycled.