SWAP 2019 Rules Announced

The SWAP 2019 rules have been announced on Stitchers Guild

2019 Seasonal Designer Collection II SWAP Rules

You are still the Designer. Create a cohesive seasonal collection of eleven garments of your choice.

Plan:
Choose an inspiration piece of your choice --  Could be a scarf, artwork, fabric print, photograph, etc
Choose two neutrals that coordinate with your inspiration piece
Add 1-5 accent and/or print pieces that will work with your inspiration piece (ie: not clash)
Make 9 core pieces
Create multiple outfits using at least two core garment items that work for your personal style
Make 2 wild card pieces that can be used alone, with core items or with other items in your wardrobe
Wild card pieces should still blend in with inspiration piece
Combining fabrics is fine
No restrictions on type of garments


Rules
Sewing begins on 26 December 2018 and ends 30 April 2019
One garment may be completed by today (28 October 2018)
One garment may be started on 29 October 2018 and completed prior to 26 December 2018
One RTW garment may be included (it can be existing or purchased at any time before or during the SWAP)
Garments knitted, crocheted or woven by you may be included (limit of two since we are a sewing site)
Garments such as poncho, cape or wrap must include at least two pattern pieces, be one of your knitted, crocheted or woven items or have stitch work done by you to be considered a garment
Neutrals do not need to be the same fabrics
Neutrals may be textured
You will need a photo of your inspiration piece

You can read about them here

 I will need to process this a little bit, but there is time.

Wendy Ward's book 'Sewing with Knitted Fabrics'

I've made the Kinder Cardigan several times but not tried any of the others yet.

 Derwent trousres, which have wide legs and can be cropped or full length.

 The Kinder cardigan can be short, medium or long.

 The Longshaw skirt is in two lengths, one above the knee the other below the knee. Pockets are optional.

 Monsal lounge pants, these are tapered with optional pockets and cuff at the hem.

Peak T shirt, classic boxy tee, can be lengthened into a dress.

Winnats Tank, is a sleeveless top with a scoop neckline can also be lengthened into a dress.

Burgundy Kinder cardigan

I have enough tops for my collection already but I wanted to sew a cardigan.

It is from Wendy Ward's book 'Sewing with Knits', made up in a mystery knit with no stretch (but a little give). This garment comes in 5 sizes I made the 4th size. I think its slightly too loose and I maybe could retrace in a smaller size. I made the middle length.

Here's how all the pieces look so far... I'm still a bit short of bottoms!

Burgundy faux leather trousers

I had some burgundy faux leather - dark red vinyl front with a black woven fabric back which I thought could be fun as trousers.

I'm fairly flat on the front, but very curved at the back, so used darts to bring the back in. It doesn't look great on the hanger as it needs a curved derriere to fill it out.

I used Burda Feb 2010 Plus Section #135 B but ommited the front dart and pockets for a simpler sew.

Having worn them for one evening indoors I found them very warm, so think they would be cooler to wear and more current if I shortened them to culotte length, I also want to look at some other options for the hem as it got slightly twisted. The rest of the construction worked out OK though.

Fun video on sewing faux leather

Burgundy Autumn Collection Top 5

As I planned I have made the wrap top from Threadcount 1502 which came with a sewing magazine (I think 'Love Sewing') but also looks a lot like McCall's 7249 (I think a rebrand of the pattern).

The wrap makes it a bit more dressy than the plainer styles, but I do like it and can imagine wearing it for a smart event with nice jewellery.
The pattern piece for the drapes has the grainline running across the body and I think this is what is causing the lower front to seem gathered underneath it. I think the pattern needs a fabric with a lot of stretch in both directions to avoid that.

Here's the Burgundy Autumn Collection with the latest piece added, just needs some bottoms!

SWAKOP thoughts

I am keeping the SWAKOP rules in mind, though I find them quite complex.
The full rules are here but I've simplified them below.

Rules:
1. Your collection should be a total of 10 garments.
2. You are allowed to include 1 RTW garment and 2 previously made garments (or, if you're like me and have hardly any RTW garments, 3 previously made garments).
3.  You should make 3 groups of 3 garments and one wild card.
- if you make trousers/skirts that will be worn with t-shirts/blouses/tunics, the bottom is an 'under' and the top is an 'over'

Group 1: 2 overs and 1 under
Group 2:2 overs and 1 under
Group 3:2 overs and 1 under - they must coordinate with either group 1 OR 2

Wild Card:Either an over or an under that coordinates with group 1 AND 2

Finish by October 31st. Submission posts need to be up by November 5th.

I had been trying to expand my charcoal collection to be the SWAKOP but I was finding it all a bit samey and rather dreary being mostly grey.
I thought about combining it with the Burgundy but that wasn't working either.

I'm probably going to have more luck expanding my Burgundy Autumn Collection with some new bottoms. I should be able to get that completed by 31st October.

There is also an 'extension' to SWAKOP which runs through to December 10th, so I could revisit the Charcoal collection, inject a LOT more teal and try to be finished for then. It could work!

Burgundy Autumn - so far

I've added in to the collection an Autumn Winter jacket I made in late August.

This cardigan was made with a short remnant of wool mix sweater knit in charcoal grey and burgundy red, which I used for the body and front band (matching the print as best I could).

There was not enough fabric for sleeves and I didn't want a waistcoat, so the sleeves are cut from black ponte and faux leather.

I have been wearing the pieces with purchased bottoms, mostly in black -  classic dress trousers, black jeans and black yoga pants, though I suppose for it to be a proper sewn collection I should have some sewn bottoms. And I might yet come up with something.

Burgundy Autumn Collection - Top 5 (plans)

For my fifth top I wanted to use a rich burgundy fabric from the stash. I thought it would be too plain in the patterns I used for the earlier tops and I have plenty of the fabric, so hunted through the pattern stash looking for something with a bit more interest.

Threadcount 1502 came with a sewing magazine (I think 'Love Sewing') but also looks a lot like McCall's 7249. I'm planning on making the long sleeved top. I've compared the measurements to New look 6735 and have sized up overall and shortened the sleeves slightly. I can always take it in a bit if it comes out too large.

I'll share when complete. I hope it works well and doesn't waste the fabric!

Note to self, some useful pointers on the McCall's 7249 here
https://www.twistedangel.org/mccall-7249-pattern-review-knit-top-with-ruched-crossover-drape

October Fabric Purchases from Economy Fabrics

I managed to donate 4 bags of fabric and one large box of patterns via a local contact who distributes them to a school and various voluntary groups in the area. I will know now for next time!

On the back of that success, I decided it would be OK to buy a few metres of new fabric, so purchased these from Economy Fabrics.

Top left
Grey stretch woven, boring but great for comfortable but smart work suiting.

Bottom left
Dark teal blue stretch woven, again for work suiting.

Top right
Brown linen for next summer, probably trousers for those really hot days.

Bottom right
Denim blue knit for a top or cardigan.

Given I donated many times the yardage I bought I'm not going to add these to my stash shrinker spreadsheet, but I didn't add the donations either so I think that works.

Looking at these I am not really getting any wow factor, but plain fabrics like these actually turn out to be the backbone of a wardrobe, and stretch wovens in particular are really useful to have. I'm not sure they are actually 'bengaline', but they should work well for the Burda and Style Arc patterns which specify stretch wovens.

Burgundy Autumn Collection: Top 4

Here's the fourth top in my Burgundy Autumn Collection.

I bought the fabric at Feira Dos Tecidos on holiday in Madeira in Feb 2017.
Its a white jersey with a burgundy print of leaves. I love it so much I bought the soft green version also.

The garment photo is more accurate than the photo of the fabrics.

I've used New Look 6735 again, though lenthened the sleeves here to full length.

I am planning a 5th top, but have other committments for a few days, so it may be a little while before that pops up on the blog.

In the meantime I leave you with the four tops and the coatigan.

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I am now up to 110m sewn this year. I'm just going to keep going.

Burgundy Autumn Collection: Top 3

I bought these fabrics in May this year on holiday in Madeira from Tecidos Zarco.
I've not sewn up any of the others yet, but managed to get a New Look 6735 knit top with 3/4 sleeves out of the burgundy snake skin print (top right).

The print also includes a little touch of brown, but is mostly burgundy on white. I had a smallish remnant and have pieced the neckband at both shoulder seams.

Burgundy Autumn Collection: Top 2

Here's the second top in my Burgundy Autumn Collection.

I bought the fabric at Feira Dos Tecidos on holiday in Madeira in Feb 2017.
It is a beautifully soft viscose jersey knit in dark red and eggplant. The base fabric is dark red with the eggplant floral pattern then printed onto that.

The garment photo (top) is a more accurate colour than the original fabric photo (above).

I've used the pattern I made from a favourie RTW top, though I've raised the neckline slightly and lengthened the sleeves to be full length rather than 3/4.

Due to the print this top reads as more casual, so I probably won't wear it with the coatigan for work.

Burgundy Autumn Collection: Top 1

I decided to build on the Burgundy coatigan and sew a small burgundy based collection for the Autumn.

I started with this abstract plaid check print in dark red, black and white. (I first used this fabric in June 2010 when I made a dress with black bands, it never quite worked and is long gone).
There was some fabric left which I had kept so I sewed it up as a top. I chose not to do contrast bands this time although I have both solid black and dark red which could have been used.

I think I might use this as my entry into the TSP Plaid contest. The photo doesn't show it, but the print does align across the centre back seam and side seams. I think this will work well for work with black trousers and a burgundy jacket (I have RTW as well as self sewn).

I have used the top from New look 6735, though I've added a little at the sides to reflect the looser fit in knit tops since this pattern came out.

I have some more fabrics to sew up in my Autumn collection though the others are not quite so bold!

Autumn Sewing plans

I had all sorts of complicated plans for Autumn Sewing.
One involved sewing the Sewing Place SWAKOP, the sewing place tartan contest and the mate-your-orphan contest. Then maybe some burgundy pieves and a few other assorted items.
Another involved challenges by numbers of garments.
And a third assigning 'points' to each garment based on complexity. And having a points challenge.
I have not decided yet, and may well just stick to the 100 m challenge for the year!