Choir Wardrobe 63013

I made My Sweet Baboo take this before we left the house this morning; that Vogue 1055 over blouse is linen and I knew it'd be all wrinkled and tired by the time we got home ;-)

It really is a pure coincidence that it is such a close color match to the knit Vogue 2925 top underneath, but I'm really glad it matches up since coral has been a regular summer wardrobe color for several years now.  I would never have put it in my wardrobe otherwise, but I think I'm getting used to it.  Sometimes I even wear it when it's not a Sunday...

This pair of Lee bootcuts is marked 'Short', but every time I put them on I wonder if that was a mislabel; I've got to wear shoes with at least 1 1/2" heel with them; right now my feet are bothering me and wearing any heel at all costs something. But I wore the cool sparkly silver sandals with the heel anyway.   Paying for it tonight.  Wonder where I put that foot spa?

I did try something new and different today; I put one contact lense in and left the other eye uncorrected in my DIY- version of monovision.  I can read just fine uncorrected, but my arms are simply too short to read anything with glasses or contacts in.  So I either wear my glasses, and pull them off to do any reading (and consequently wander off and forget where I left them), or I have to wear reading glasses with my contacts.   Trying to get away from that hassle, I decided to try monovision.  It wasn't too bad, except going down the road.  I wasn't driving, which was why I decided to try it,  but I don't know that I will ever get adjusted to it enough to actually drive.  But it didn't bother me in choir or trying to do my weekly data entry, so I may actually give it a serious go.  Seeing as how I have a six month supply of daily disposable lenses, and both eyes use the same prescription, I might as well...


I am going through serious sewing withdrawals; but there doesn't look to be any chance to get behind the machine for at least another couple of weeks.  I hope I'm wrong...

...And the Light Dawns.

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

I figured it out.

I really didn't understand why 'claiming my blog' was such a big deal; but after reading  Rhonda's post yesterday,  I realized that 'claiming' one's blog allows the claimant to view stats about who is using Bloglovin' to read their posts.

I'm all about finding out if anyone actually reads my blogs or not; this one is not such a big deal but, to the best I can tell, just a handful of folks read my faith blog and I need all the encouragement I can get over there, so I linked that one up.  Since I'm in link up mode, here's my required post telling everyone they can follow Sew Random over there, too. 

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming. ;-)

checkin' in

Data base migration at work; we are hitting the crunch time leading up to the switchover.

I have been dreaming about the data base...only obliquely.

Also dreaming about getting into my sewing room, but that's of the day dreaming variety.  And then only in the moments when I tear myself away from my computer.

That's the downside to working on the cloud...you can work from absolutely anywhere there's an internet connection.

I commented to one of my co-workers that I was thinking about taking one of the ancient church laptops on our upcoming visit to my parents' so I could work on cleaning old records while I was gone.  'That's a good idea,' she said.  "No!" I replied, 'That's a terrible idea!"

But it may not matter because the check engine light has been on on the car all week and I'm not going to go anywhere until it's fixed.  We've already done 'break down in Nashville and rent a car to follow the tow truck 95 miles home' once and I NEVER want to do that again!

Actually, I want to tell everyone we've left town and then stay home.

And not touch the computer.

Maybe I could sew.

Choir Wardrobe 061913

 Ok, this is pretty much the same thing I wore a couple of weeks ago, allowing for a different necklace and different jeans, so the main reason to even talk about today's photo is the haircut.

After deliberately spending three years growing my hair out to one length, I went to my hairdresser Friday and had her re-layer it.

I'm not so sure I feel at home in such frothyness, but, believe it or not, that is my hair in pretty much its natural state.  I have fought it for most all my life, trying to get it to lie down and behave and be NEAT, but it just won't cooperate.  Since I'm trying to define my own personal style, I decided I needed to start with accepting my hair the way it is.  I could get it chopped off short,  and I may yet do that, but there's nothing distinctive about short hair.  This may be weird and un-neat and not quite appropriate for a Woman of A Certain Age, but it is uniquely me so I'm going to TRY to make it work for me.

We'll see how it goes.

And then there was the one that got away....


I bought some lovely black/white/silver knit from one of my favorite online vendors and proceeded to make up my latest TNT T shirt pattern, Jalie 2566.  I knew I was dealing with fabric that didn't have a boatload of stretch, but I thought I'd be ok.  I have a version of this made from a really stretchy knit that's almost too big, and another made from a fairly stable knit that's ok. 

I guess this knit is more than just 'fairly' stable, because once I finished it and put it on...well, 'sausage casing' came to mind.  Fortunately, it fits The Flute Player rather well.

Which is ok...she needs some real wardrobe T-shirts, instead of just the graphics-printed promo shirts.  So I gave it to her... Sigh...

Choir Wardrobe - 06 16

Repeats and reruns....
Colors for June: coral, yellow and gray.

Coral Jalie cardigan, silver shot gray Simplicity 2603 top.  Straight leg Lees.  Simple.

;-)

Last time I wore this cardigan, I had to carry a couple of pizza boxes (with pizzas!) from one end of the church to the other, and I ended up with a grease line on the left side.  I thought it was gonna be a gonner.  But it did wash out, mayhap due to the Carbona stain treatment I put on it.  Whew.


And I must be tired; almost posted this to the wrong blog.  Realized it when I pulled up the label list...time for some shut eye!

Choir Wardrobe 060913

Yeah, I know.  This is turning into 'when I can get to it' instead of 'what I wore today'. Oh well. 

May's colors: Gray, coral and yellow. 

We had a lot of gray knit cardis on the choir risers this week! ;-)  This one is the 3rd iteration of Jalie 2919, from a pretty thin rayon blend knit that probably isn't going to hold up much longer; it's got a couple of teeny holes in it and some ink stains on one of the sleeves.  But...until I can get it replaced...it looks ok on stage.

Teamed up with  a soft coral rayon/lyra knit Vogue 2925, knit jeans from Coldwater and a really cheapo crinkly cotton scarf from Wal mart.

All lovely for a Spring...but I'm a Winter.  Honestly, though, it doesn't matter so much if it makes me look wonderful or just ok.

I'm fine with ok...and this is ok. ;-)

Tweaking RTW

Every once in a while, I get out in the retail world and actually buy stuff.  Sometimes it's even stuff I could make.

After all, as I've heard quoted somewhere, even Julia Child went out to eat every now and then.

Today's foray into the world of seasonal mega sales netted me a pair of white jeans, black shorts, a blue sweater shell, a white knit tank top and the photographed lace shell.

The actual objectives of my hunt were white jeans and a sleeveless white or cream sweater shell.

Apparently the kind of sweater top I had in mind is dead out of fashion; I couldn't find any.  So I started looking for alternate simple white tops to wear under jackets.  The tank top I found was a pretty substantial knit...not quite a fine gauge sweater knit but almost.  However, I found this on the clearance rack; after the additional sale markdown it was a fuzz over 20 bucks.

Now, it obviously needs a good press, but it needs a little help too.  I've already replaced the button on the back; it's a button-loop closure and the loop was really snug on the button.  It didn't help that it was a covered button...covered with the lace, believe it or not...so it was lumpy and draggy as well as being nearly too big.  It was a trick to get the loop off the button so I could try it on; there was no buttoning it back behind my neck.  But, y'know, I have a button stash, so I brought it home and switched that puppy out for a slick little button that I think I can manage.

Then I noticed the black labels.

That totally show right through the organza-like lining and the lace (you can see the shadow of the rather large care label on the right side just up a bit from the lower edge).

But, you know, I really don't need care labels; I'm pretty well used to washing clothes that do not have them.  So they will also come out.

A little touch with the steamer and this RTW top will be about as good as made-at-home. :-p

Also, I'm seeing a great resemblance between this top and Simplicity 2599. I have some black lace yardage in the stash.  Once I finish adjusting that pattern I might just try a little copy action... ;-)

What's Up with this Choir Wardrobe Thing?

Every once in a while someone asks about the choir wardrobe...why do we do it and who decides it and such.  Usually I just reply in the comments, figuring that it doesn't hurt to explain it every now and then so folks who are new to the story can catch up... but as I was answering the latest set of questions, it suddenly occurred to me that I should just make it a whole post, then link up that post on the sidebar so anyone can find it at any time.

D'uh.

So.  Well, we go to a non-traditional, non-denominational church, The Rock Family Worship Center.   We never did choir robes; we're just not that formal.  In the beginning, choir attire was just expected to be neat and modest.  We had a few...very few...points in the dress code.  Things like no mini skirts and no sleeveless tops.  Basically, within those very minor guidelines, we wore whatever we wanted.

Then we began video taping/live streaming.

We learned pretty quickly that, wow, if we all just wore whatever it looked like a trainwreck under the lights, plus it drove the shaders in the video control room crazy trying to get the lady in the light taupe sweater dress and the lady in the sequinned orange top and the lady in the cobalt blue sweater  all looking like they were neither dead nor glowing in the dark.

We needed to blend.

Some choirs have gone w/ some kind of uniform (think matching polo shirts) rather than robes, but in an area with a highly mobile/fluctuating population, where folks are always moving in and moving out, it's really hard to maintain everyone in the same garments.  So, we did not elect to use a uniform but to just dress more or less in the same color scheme so that we would blend.  And the color scheme changes on a monthly basis.

 We always have some neutral -- gray, black, tan, etc -- in the mix, so if the main color doesn't work for someone they can go with the neutral.   It *has* helped a lot w/the way the choir looks on the screen.
 
Our choir director picks the colors; lately she's been consulting  Pantone's seasonal color page so that garments and/or accessories in the specified colors ought to be easy to find.

As  you can probably understand, the choir wardrobe drives a lot of my sewing choices.  So a few years back I started doing weekly posts about wearing what I sewed for choir.  It originally was a challenge to myself to see if I could go a year and wear something me-made every week. I don't get a lot of traffic, so it's a stretch to say that series was popular, but it was about as 'popular' as things go in these parts.   So, with a hiatus here and there, I've pretty well kept the series going.

And I do throw in a disclaimer every now and then that, you know, it really ISN'T about what I'm wearing; sometimes we have incredibly moving services and to come home and write about what I wear just seems so ...shallow.  But this is a sewing blog and I was deliberately writing about garments that I'd sewn.  So I started a second blog, Beer Lahai Roi, so I could have a place to talk about the deeper, more significant aspects of walking out a Christian life.

And then I got a job and all my sewing and blogging time pretty much evaporated. ;-).

But I do enjoy making things, discussing making things and I do like to explore issues of faith, so, while I'm not blogging with anything like the frequency I used  to display, I'm still posting now and again to both blogs and the Choir Wardrobe series pretty much insures that I drop by here at least once a week and talk about wearing clothes that I made.

So it has its purpose.

Thanks so much for asking! ;-)

Choir Wardrobe 6-3-13

Yesterday was a long day; from the pre-service choir practice to the end of the post-service extended worship, including accompanying my high school girls class to the membership seminar, it was over 12 hours.

12 good hours, but, well, 12 hours is still 12 hours and I was all in when I got home.

But...new month, new wardrobe colors.  This month is yellow, coral and gray.  I've got on my yellow sweatery knit Simplicity 2603.  This is the top that disappeared last summer and finally resurfaced when I did the seasonal clothing switch; somehow it had gotten mixed in with the fall/winter items.  It is the ONLY yellow top in my wardrobe; I'm not all that fond of wearing yellow but I was glad to find it.  The cardi is the Jalie 2919 draped front cardigan; I think this was the 2nd of about 4 (so far) iterations.  I've come to the conclusion that this may not be the most flattering cardi shape for me, but it's so easy to wear that I will probably go ahead and make more just the same.

Lee boot cuts.  Someday I will tackle making jeans...