Tuesday's work look

I changed jobs and have been exploring dressing a bit more smartly in my new role.
Most of the pieces are RTW, so this is more about office dress code than sewing, hope that's not a problem.

 This is a fitted TMLewin women's shirt with a cutaway neckline in white with teal stripes, then an inexpensive pearl/silver necklace and a lovely hand painted silk scarf to pick up the teal in the shirt.

 

 This was worn with a classic black pin stripe trouser suit from Planet and an absolutely beautiful silver celtic knot brooch.
Interestingly after only 3 days of this (I have tomorrow's outfit ready to go), the one common theme running through all the outfits is the celtic knot influence - not done deliberately, but definitely something close to my heart.

So maybe this can quietly become my signature.

Monday's Work Look

I have been thinking about dressing smartly for work, and have been trying to add a little extra polish in terms of suits, scarves, jewellery etc.

Sorry no photo of me actually wearing it, but here's today's outfit for work.
Dark grey trouser suit, off white linen blouse, celtic knot print silk scarf, gold brooch and earrings.

 Went in wearing boots and then changed to these, as being a bit smarter for the office.

 Have also stashed these in my drawer for days when I need to be a bit smarter.

I also had a black leather tote style bag, but will look ou for one a little smaller.

SWAP 2014 - the premade items

So you can have one previously made item - the green tweed jacket, and one sewn before the start date - the tweed skirt, and with those the collection is starting to look like this....

I will gradually replace the drawing with the garments as I sew them up from 26th December onwards!
A sort of visual milestone marker as it were :-)

SWAP 2014 - whole plan

I have had the SWAP plan written out in text for a while, but decided today to draw it up and use the coloured pencils to give myself an idea of what it might look like.

I wonder if this might be the year that I actually manage to sew up the whole SWAP as per the plan? I have all the fabric for this, and it seems pretty achievable.

Admittedly I have never used the Vogue pattern before and Vogue and I have not always got along too well in the past, so I need to do some serious testing first. I think these days I have a better grip of my various wedge shaped alterations which are not usually found in the simpler books on alterations, but have made a HUGE difference to how my home sewn clothing fits me.
So I shall approach the Vogue pattern with realistic measurements and parts of various TNT patterns. I will make up some test garments before attempting them for the SWAP.
Let's see how I get on.

Style 2514 Green Tweed Jacket

Here's the jacket I made from Style 2514. I had put silver buttons on it, but didn't like them, so have made some covered buttons from leftover fabric scraps.

I think with the covered buttons it is more versatile.
I ironed a circle of very light weight interfacing onto the fabric before making the buttons. This added a layer of opacity to the fabric so the white button blank did not show through as well as helping to stabilise the soft wool fabric and reduce fraying. I used 22 mm button blanks.

Style 2514 Jacket

Eventually I found the pattern I used for the green tweed jacket.

It was Style 2514 View A, although I played it safe and did it all one fabric. The pattern was dated 1994, but the shorter versions look classic enough that they could look OK now.

I'm going to switch out the silver buttons for some fabric covered ones as the various tests I did showed that looked better and made the jacket more flexible, then I'll share it with you.

Tweed Skirt - finished

The skirt has been finished for a few days, but I'd not had chance to photograph it.
I had to sew it with 1/4" seams rather than 5/8" and that extra 1.5" makes all the difference!

 I used some of the lining left over form the matching jacket, and an invisible zipper from the stash.

This evening I had a good tidy up in the sewing room and I can now see the floor and get in and out of the door as well as being able to access the fabric stash. I've had a good sort through and picked some likely fabrics for the swap, plus a couple of spares in case of disasters striking!
I have put the swap fabrics in a box, as I have some other projects to do first.

For a long time the matching jacket had no buttons, then eventually I added some metal antique silver coloured ones. They are OK but don't work with the copper tones on the boots, so I will either swap them for copper coloured buttons or covers some button blanks in self fabric.

SWAP 2014 plans

My SWAP plan doesn't seem to have a title yet. Something that plays on the green and orange tones found in copper perhaps?

It is based on a green/black/cream tweed jacket I made in sewing class ages ago, but never quite got into wearing and some green suede boots with rust/copper coloured detailing which I recently had altered so they fit nicely. I really wanted to incorporate these items into my everyday wardrobe. So the colours come from those items - the dark bottle green, black, cream and rust/copper.

I also wanted to include some items I have cut out but never sewn up - a cream knit top and a dark green corduroy skirt. I also wanted to and use a Vogue pattern I have had for a long time but never made up - Vogue 2989

I will try and sketch something out, but for the moment it is looking something like this:-

First 3 pack
Top - Orange turtle neck
Bottom - Green/black/cream tweed skirt – sewn before start date
Layer - Green/black/cream tweed jacket – previously sewn

Wildcard - Green/black/cream tweed waistcoat (already cut out, though needs lining cutting out)

Second 3 pack
Top - Cream knit top (already cut out)
Bottom - Green jumbo cord skirt (already cut out)
Layer - Vogue 2989 Jacket – probably cream sweater knit (from stash)

Third 3 pack
Dress - Vogue 2989 Dress – black or charcoal knit (from stash)
Top - Vogue 2989 Top – cream or orange knit (from stash)
Bottom - Vogue 2989 Skirt – plain black or charcoal knit (from stash)

Wildcard - Vogue 2989 Trousers – plain black stretch fabric (may need to buy, depending on stash)

Vogue 2989 is looking good to me

This is a great pattern and maybe it has some items I could use for SWAP.
It would be quite interesting to make all the items from a wardrobe pattern. Anyway we shall see.
Off to have a look at some reviews.
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The reviews seem generally positive though only the skirt, dress and jacket have been made on PR.
I get the feeling they are all very close fitting though, so I need to be sensible about the sizing, and do some flat pattern measurements. It would be nice to actaully find the pattern as well, so I can read the guide sheet.

Tweed skirt nearly there

The tweed skirt just needs hemming (wool + lining) and the back split sorting out and then I could wear it.

 It went together quite well, and having the extra Ikea lamp just makes sewing on dark winter evenings so much better!

Tweed skirt in progress

The black/green/cream tweed skirt is in progress. I have decided to line it with dark green lining, and add a centre back invisible zip. I'm using a favourite pattern  - Simplicity 9825.

Closest to view C I have omitted the centre front seam, added 2 inches to the length and added a lining.
Off to insert the invisible zipper into the skirt and see how I can get a really neat finish for the lining round the zipper :-)