Duck Egg Blue 3/4 sleeve tee

New Look 6735 tee, from a lovely white and duck egg blue print knit bought from the Monday Market Man a few months ago.

This is the first item for my SWAP.

I am keeping the SWAP to pieces I am sure I will wear and are relatively straightforward to sew as this year during SWAP I have a very busy workload with multiple go-lives plus I am away for three weeks on holiday near the end of the SWAP timeframe.
So in order to actually complete the SWAP and all the items sewn be things I really want it is going to be quite heavy on knit tops, trousers and cardigans. There will hopefully be a skirt and jacket as well but that is by no means certain.

I found this top which I made last March but has not yet been part of a collection. I think I might include it as a previously sewn item instead of the one on the top right.

When worn it ruches up on the longer side and gives an interesting effect.

I think it would be a bit boring if I made all my knit tops from the same pattern so I think the mint/pink/taupe print can be the Kirsten Kimono tee, the other duck egg print top will be the top from Simplicity 2977 with sleeves added.
The pink top is still to be decided, but probably won't be another plain scoop neck, perhaps I'll try a new pattern.

Starting on the SWAP plan

Now that I've finished with my fleece scraps and then  switched over to white thread to hem the sewing room curtains so they finish above the radiator I can move on to anything in the SWAP plan which could be sewn up in white.

Here was my original SWAP plan, I am hoping to stick to it as closely as I can for once, let's see how that works out over the next few months.

Four4 of the knit top fabrics have a white background so I think I will start with them whilst I have white thread on the machines. I will probably also throw in some non SWAP sewing using white thread, probably PJs, laundry bags and other simple projects.

Monthly Magazine Make - Fleece Hats

I had an idea to make something based on instructions/pattern from a sewing magazine every month during 2016, I'm starting a few days early to use up some fleece scraps.

Based on this fleece hat pattern from Sew Today magazine December 1995/January 1996

I have sewn 4 hats from fleece scraps left from the cardigans cut from blankets, though I didn't have enough for the turn up at the bottom, they are just little fleece beanie hats of various sizes based on the scrap size.

A great way to use up fleece scraps, mine will be for sale for a few pounds on my charity craft stall in May.

Faux fur cardigan

Using the basic shawl collared cardigan pattern again and a large plush blanket I made 2 of these cardigans.

The other one is slightly longer and has hemmed sleeves instead of cuffs and was a Christmas gift for my friend in the choir, it was sewn, wrapped and given away before it got photographed.
There was enough blanket left over for me to make a second one for me which is above.
This is such warm fabric that you could wear it instead of a thick fleece or wool sweater so not sure how useful it will be for either of us given how mild it is at the moment.

Monthly Magazine Make 2016

I am planning a Monthly Magazine Make from my new and stashed sewing magazines in 2016.
The idea of this is to make something for my charity craft stall, a gift or to wear myself which is made from a magazine.

This will of course include Burda magazine but I wanted to also allow myself to explore MyImage, Ottobre, SewingWorld and various others I already have. Other than buying the monthly Burdas I probably won't buy many new ones but hope to mine the things I already have.

I'm thinking mittens, hedgehog pincushions and suspect I will be generally erring towards the simpler items. I will share pictures of the patterns or links as and where I can in case others are inspired.

You can download the pattern from Burda.de here. Link to Pattern Download.

Red sparkle top

For Christmas sweater day tomorrow (if I'm brave enough).

This knit top from the usual pattern has a turtleneck, cuffs and is sewn from a red knit with lurex sparkle on the right side.
It was a remnant from the local cheap roll end shop, pulled from the stash as I don't go there anymore having had too many run/shrink problems.

Update

Dear Sewing Friends, thought you might like a bit of an update.

It is not that I have not been posting my sewing projects, I just haven't been doing any new ones.
Work got busy, I joined a local church choir and I've started working my way through a large series of novels (Matthew Bartholomew books by Susanna Gregory.)

I still try to read sewing blogs and occasionally comment briefly and I pop in and out of SG.
I have not been in the sewing room for a while and am not doing anything with my SWAP at the moment.
I dare say at some point that will change, but hey at least you know I am not ill nor have left the country!

Cheers Ruthie

Christmas Fleece Cardigan Jacket

From fleece blanket throw

to fleece cardigan jacket

in one evening.

Sewing With a Plan (SWAP) inspired by an old article in Australian Stitches

There's a long running contest on Stitchers Guild for SWAP (Sewing with a Plan) which is a way to sew a co-ordinated wardrobe of clothing.

It's based on a series of articles written by Lynn Cook in Australian Stitches magazine, Vol. 5.

There are 3 stages, and SWAP is based on Stage One.
Here is the formula:  make 11 garments. These are:
1 simple cardigan jacket in a solid colour.
2 pairs of pants.
2 skirts, one in a solid colour, one in a print or check.
2 simple tops, one solid, one in the above print.
4 tops, in colours which coordinate with the solids.

Throughout she keeps emphasising the need to make very simple garments so you'll finish.

Stage Two : make the following 10 garments.
One cardigan - in one of your basic colours.
3 long-sleeve tops in tones that coordinate.
1 blouse or top in a print.
1 long skirt in the same print.
1 knee-length skirt in a solid colour.
2 more pairs of pants in tones that blend.

Stage Three : add 7 more garments:
One tailored jacket - camel.
One loose jacket - butter.
One pair of pants - butter.
One cowl-neck top - butter/white polka dot.
One pleated skirt - butter/white polka dot.
One short-sleeve top - geometric print.
One straight skirt - geometric print.

28 garments of which only 4 are jackets/layers which is probably the warm climate influence.
4 two-piece print dresses are another feature that isn't now to everyone's taste. This is more back in style again but with shorter skirts and everything more fitted. 

The rules on SG have changed and morphed over the years to be more challenging or accommodate many people.