Skip to main content

It's Snowing Again, Time to Think Spring SWAP!


If you could see what I'm seeing- grey skies, snow blowing horizontally, and the thermometer dropping, then you would understand.  I've got to start thinking Spring!

I started doing SWAPs (Sewing with a Plan) last year from seeing what the wonderful women on Patternreview.com had created for their contest entries.  Basically, you choose a color theme, and then plan several coordinating pieces so that when they are all made, you'll have instantly gorgeous outfits that you can pull out of your closet at a moments notice.

I completed my first swap just in November with my Green Goddess Wardrobe entry.   I can't tell you how much I have LOVED this wardrobe.  It is so wonderful.  I wear something from it every other day.  But, I want to switch out of the greens for Spring, and have settled on a very traditional combination of Navy, White and Dove Grey.  Since these colors are all neutrals, I'll pep it up with accessories in chartreuse and bright fuschia.

My last wardrobe was very flowy- lots of chiffony tunics.  This one is going to be more classic- button front shirts, pencil skirts, knit tops, and jackets.  The center piece of the wardrobe will be a beautiful white and navy ribboned boucle from Vera Wang's Lavender Label collection.  I'm going to make a simple jacket from it using  Butterick 5429.

I've got the other fabrics and patterns picked out.  I noticed that the last time I did this, I wasted an enormous amount of time changing my mind before I cut anything out.  So, this time, my plan of action will be to cut three items out at once that can all be sewn from the same color thread.  This way, I won't waste as much time waffling back and forth about what to make, and changing my serger thread.  The very worst case scenario is I end up with a couple of UFO's (unfinished objects).

So, I'll keep you posted as I progress.  There is not a contest for this at Patternreview this Spring, so I don't have a deadline to meet.  Except of course, to get it made before the weather turns hot for summer, which here isn't until June.  Wish me luck!

Comments

  1. I tried the Wardrobe contest at PR and didn't finish, but I did love the process of thinking about what I was going to sew and putting a wardrobe together that would work well. I may try that again, although it will probably be for my 5 year old dd as I sew mostly for her.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks for visiting my blog! I would love to hear your opinions! Please share your comments here.

Popular posts from this blog

What to Wear in Madagascar

To be honest, I have no idea what to wear in Madagascar, and this title may need to be changed to "what NOT to wear in Madagascar" in a few months.  We will have to wait and see.  My 22 year old daughter, Alyssa, left for the Peace Corps this week, and she will be stationed in Madagascar for the next 2 years and 3 months.  Yes, you read that right- TWO YEARS and three months!!! We are very proud of her for wanting to help make the world a better place, and for being fearless in doing so, but it will be a looooong time for Mama and Papa back home. Not knowing anything about Madagascar, the first step in figuring out what to pack was to figure out the weather and the cultural norms.  Madagascar is a very large island off the southeastern coast of Africa.  It's very, very unique in it's ecosystem, and has many species that are not found anywhere else in the world- most famously lemurs. Right now, it is experiencing it's rainy season, as you can see by the

Vogue 9305 Asymmetrical Tunics

It's April and we're expecting snow tonight.  Have we switched hemispheres?  Nevertheless, I am sewing with visions of warm sunny days.  And for those warm sunny days to come, I imagine sitting in the shade with a light breeze flowing through the air, enjoying a light beverage with friends.  Just close your eyes and you can imagine too.  What would you be wearing?  Well,  I love a dramatic asymmetrical tunic made of the softest linen.  As luck would have it, I found just the fabric in the "As Is" section in Fabric Mart's sales category.  With just some irregular dye marks on the selvage, it was marked down, but still completely usable.  It started out as a solid color, but I did an ombre dip dye process to get this look- more on that later! For my pattern, I chose Vogue 9305 , a tunic with a shaped hemline, and two styles of pants (I didn't make the pants).   This pattern must be the biggest bang for your time possible.  The tunic went tog

Grey Cashmere Coat Simplicity 3672

For the past few months, Fabric Mart has had the most gorgeous array of Michael Kors Wool Blend Coatings that I have ever seen!  During COVID stay at home time, I've been letting my gray grow out, and I thought that even though some of the delicious sounding shades like apricot and apple green would be beautiful, the heathered gray shade would be the most flattering to my gray hair and the most versatile for a winter coat.  And it was one of the coatings that listed Cashmere as one of the fiber components, so I was curious as to how that would feel.