A cover for the round table...

One of the furnishings I wanted to put on the newly remodeled porch was a round patio table...because I figured that would be an inexpensive table...with a glass or metal top, and a tablecloth, to hide the fact that it was a patio table.

We found a suitable table at Costco...not perfect, because it had legs on the perimeter instead of a pedestal/ legs in the center...but for the price, it will do quite nicely until I find exactly what I wanted. 

My standard tablecloth fabric is cotton upholstery fabric...it's 54 ish inches wide, and it's treated to be stain repellent.

I looked and looked and found ONE fabric that looked suitable on fabricdotcom's website.

I was delighted when it came in...the colors in it are dead perfect for the sunroom.

But, the table is 50" in diameter.  1" waste on each side for the selvedge meant my fabric was only about 52" wide. 

I didn't want a long drop...I hate it when the tablecloth gets tangled up in my knees and gets pulled askew...but 1" on either side just wasn't going to be enough.

So I pieced the  sides, cut a 60" diameter circle and serged the edges.

The pieced seam looks like a crease in this photo...can you find it?  :-) 

I have the pattern well balanced on the cross grain, but when I put it on I realized it really was not possible to balance it well on the lengthwise grain.. it's asymmetric and directional, which I didn't perceive until I put it on the table.

But the colors are so perfect I'm not gong to let that bother me.  It works.

Choir Wardrobe 5/29/16

May wardrobe colors:  navy, tan and coral.

Cross-woven linen...hot pink and yellow...that reads coral, made up in Vogue 1055  - one of their Adri collection patterns.  I really, really like it and have another piece of fabirc - a silk/linen blend - that I intend to make up into this but I just have not been able to bring myself to face the button loops and 12 teeny mitered corners again.  One of these days I'll steel my nerve and do it.

Navy rayon/lycra jersey Jalie 2566 t, and, well, boot cut Levis.

Next month:  Navy, gray and...hot pink...

And, my kinda-sorta-weekly shout out to Debbie-who-won-the-fabric...please resend your address to tig77LW at yahoo;  I had a bit of a dust up with my inbox and the original email got deleted.  The fabric is in the box...waiting for the address... ;-)

...and the drapey cream top....workwear thirty-three...

The ribbed rayon cowl neck top  slightly modified Vogue 8669...the last of the SWAP pieces to be worn in public.

With the original Hippy Earth Mother skirt and my old skool CWC denim jacket.

Yeah.  Kinda retro hippy.  But really comfy.

It's all officially broken in now.  Back to our regular hit-or-miss blogging schedule... :-D

Choir Wardrobe 05 22 16

May colors are Navy, Coral and Tan.

The only actual me-made item here is the Jalie 2919 pleated cardi that I've been wearing in the coral months since, well, ages ago.  The T is a tan w/gold linen t that doesn't look nearly as yellow in real life as it looks in the photo.  RTW jeans and a scarf I found at the Hallmark shop.

The scarf, which also looks more yellowy than it really is, makes it work, I think.

It has been a very, very busy weekend.  I need another Saturday tomorrow...lol... ;-)

How many ways can I complicate something simple?

Erm,  the ten year celebration giveaway goofs have surfaced again.

Firstly,  I still need Debbie to resend her mailing address to tig77LW at yahoo dotcom, because I had one day in which slow response time apparently resulted in me deleting way more emails than I meant to and I lost several addresses.  The other ladies have all re-emailed, but I haven't heard from you yet. :-)

Secondly, I just got an email from one of the fabric winners thanking me for the extra pattern.  She was happy to have it, as she used to and then it disappeared.  So I'm tickled that I wrote her address on it...but that means one of the pattern winners did not get a pattern.

So if you were supposed to receive a pattern and didn't, PLEASE email me at the above address and let me know.  I've heard from one or two that they've received theirs, but I don't know who was supposed to receive the one that went to the person who was obviously supposed to have it. :-)

Thanks for your patience!  I'll get it straight yet...

Workwear 32 and the black SWAP top

Yeah, it looks a little rumpled...And the collar is not arranged nicely...
But, y'all, I'd just helped The Flute Player move back home and we had about 15 minutes before we hopped back in the car for evening obligations.

So.  It is what it is.

And it is the Combo 1 top (Jalie 2682), black Lee jeans and a ten-years-plus old Silhouette Robin's Jacket; it was the first one I made from the pattern, before I whacked down the height of the shoulders for less Dynasty-looking shoulder pads.

This is a great black top.  Love, love the fabric; wish I could remember for sure where it came from. I have a bit more;  thinking of making a long cardi out of it.  If I have enough.

I think that's everything worn and photographed EXCEPT the cream cowl-neck shirt.

As the church offices are closed on Fridays, it'll be next week before I can get that last photo.

Workwear 31

The gray T from Pack 2 makes an appearance today...with the original altered Oxfords and my favorite Jalie Draped front cardi...the only one I've made w/the pleats turned to the outside as intended.  It was a boo-boo at first; I misread the directions.  But I honestly think they look better turned in.  Lots of vertical lines and no noticeable fluff.

But it's such a bright color (last April's choir blue)  that it kinda overrides the fluff.

I almost didn't post this;  I've been wearing the gray T since I made it and it's already shown up in several choir posts.  But, since I'm in a series...and, today being a 'visit the chiropractor' day stretchy comfy was the rule...why not.

It's Me-Made-May anyway, right? ;-)

Workwear 30

Same dark corner as yesterday.

Wildcard pack Helix pants, with Vogue 8691 (also made in the SWAP time frame, now that I think about it.  That's the first garment I finished this year) and the black cotton twill vest from Burda Style 05/2009 that has been a wardrobe workhouse since I made it ages ago...

And I've been making necklaces again; I've got a coral-and-gray one nearly done (it'll show up on choir posts, even thought gray is technically not in the mix I think it will work...) and last night I finished a knock-off of a necklace I'd seen (and nearly purchased) from a direct-sales company.  But the stated measurements in the catalog were just a hair shorter than I wanted, so I made my own.  It's convertable...I can wear it doubled, short, or single strand, looonng.   I want to put one more charm on it, but I gotta stop at Hobby Lobby to see if they've got what I have in mind...

Workwear 29

It's a dark picture, but it was the best of the set-the-timer-and-hop-in-front-of-the-camera selfies...

Today's SWAP wardrobe item to mix with old stuff is the New Look wool crepe jacket.  It actually fits very well...and shows  it, when I have pulled the sides in and draped the jacket just so.  But, like other kinda-sorta double breasted styled jackets, it tends to swing out and down and look like it's baggy. 

It actually took me a bit to figure out why it looked so boxy in some photos...that's why.  I hadn't pulled the sides in.

But, you know, it's ok.  It's wool, but it's an airy crepe and it's single layer so it actually works really well in an over air-conditioned world.
It's gonna get a lot of choir wear when we put gray back into the mix.

And it's playing well with my zig-zag cotton Jalie 2566 T and gray Lee jeans...which probably would look way more on trend if I'd've cuffed them a wee bit.

But, well, somedays you feel like a cuff and somedays you don't... ;-)

Choir Wardrobe 5/15/16

May Colors...Navy, tan and coral.
I've got two shades of navy...lol.  The jacket is an old skool Coldwater purchase, in herringbone weave linen, that actually has pockets and is as comfy as all getout.  If I'd ironed it it probably would've hung better, but I made do with a quick steam.

Sigh.  I miss the old Coldwater...

The top is the re-dyed Simplicity 2603, and the pants are super dark navy tropical wool Sewing Workshop Plaza pants, slightly modified to reverse the direction of the front pleat so I could sneak in some pockets, which are weirdly in the very front but work to hold a kleenex when necessary. ;-)

Workwear 28

But first, an update on the 10 year anniversary giveaway...

I went by the post office today and dropped off Marilyn's box and the 4 pattern consolation prizes :-).
That means everyone's prize is in the mail EXCEPT DEBBIE'S.  I still need Debbie to resend her mailing address to tig77LW at yahoo dotcom;  yahoo and I had a bad day about a week ago and the original email with your address apparently disappeared.

The tattersal wool plaid is in a box, waiting on an address.... :-)

But I had a delightful conversation with the mail clerk...who sews and asked for the blog address so she could stop by.  How cool is that? :-)

But...today's work-with-the wardrobe SWAP post...

The Pac B pants, with a mixed-texture T from the Old Version of Coldwater Creek and my turquoise wool gab Vogue 1100  jacket, which I love but seldom wear because it's hard to put with pants.  But I really like this combo; the top matches the button on the jacket and matches the stripes in the pants.


So...I have a new combo.  Win.

No work wear tomorrow...I'll be wearing utility black-and-white, as we're serving an appreciation luncheon for local social workers and others who work with children in foster care or crisis situations.  All church staff become wait staff for this event...which we've been doing for something like 10 years now.  Which is hard to believe... But it's cool to thank some folks who seldom get much appreciation.

Workwear 27

It's the Easy, Ageless, Cool rayon challis campshirt from the Combo Pack today...with a gray rayon knit Jalie 2566 and black RPL double knit Loes Hinse Oxfords.  I will probably wear the shirt as a topper as much or maybe even more than I will wear it as a shirt.  It's very, very loose and flowy...I love it in the rayon but I think it would be too oversized in a lofty cotton. Drapey fabric is a must! 


I  recruited The Actor to take the photo for me as soon as I got home from work today...the kitty was still in 'welcome home!' mode.  And there is a nice coating of cat hair below the knees of my pants now...lol...

Workwear 26: Workin' the SWAP Wardrobe...

Not exactly Me-Made-May, but I decided that I'm going to try to wear pieces from the SWAP for the next couple of weeks, and, if I can, get photos of those pieces working with the existing wardrobe.

So today's first piece is the topical wool Oxford Pants from Pack A.  SO COMFORTABLE!!  I put it with my pinky-lavender My Heart's A-Flutter shell from Cutting Line Designs,  my denim jacket (from Coldwater Creek, back in the day...) and a silk scarf from Talbot's.

I have become a huge fan of tropical wool.  I need to sew up more from the stash...

Choir Wardrobe 05/08/16

Choir wardrobe colors for May:  Coral, tan and navy.

The sole me-made garment today is the Sewing Workshop Thai coat, in a white-on-navy pindot that is so tiny it reads navy.  Which is good.

And it literally looks like I threw myself together, jumped in front of the camera, and took the photo...then ran back to what I was doing without even checking to see if things were hanging right.

Which is pretty much what I did.  It was a busy day. ;-).

Navy blue sleeveless cotton sweater shell from Lands' End,  some no-name bootcut jeans and a coral and tan scarf that I happened upon in, of all places, a Hallmark shop.

I had a couple of folks ask me if I was emulating Stevie Nicks today.

Works for  me.

The SWAP photo shoot...

...such as it is.  We are allowed, I think, 15 photos, but I really didn't have that much patience and I didn't want to impose on My Sweet Babboo any more than necessary.

All but 2 garments were in two pictures; I woulda had to repeat a pair of pants to get that second photo of the gray T shirt and gray knit cardi.

But I think there are enough photos to get the idea.

If  I did the math right, I could have 49 unique outfits from this combo, given that I can use the camp shirt as a 3rd layer over the knit shirts.

Anyway ...here's the whole wardrobe:

I wasn't happy with the light on the composite and tried various things to make them all look the same. But I just couldn't get them there...

And a smattering of combos.  For some reason the gray jacket didn't want to play nice today.  I think if I make it again (and I probably will) I will narrow the shoulders a bit.  Or maybe I just need to pull the shoulder pads out after all.  But it honestly looks much better in the mirror.

...and a reminder to my giveaway winners, Debbie and Marilyn...Yahoo has been squirrelly and ate some of my emails.  Including the ones with your addresses.  Could you resend to tig77LW at yahoo dotcom?  Thanks!!!

Egg On Face... A notice for the giveaway winners...

After focusing on finishing the SWAP, I finally sat down to match addresses with boxes.

And I found that about half of the addresses were, um, missing.

Despite the fact that I 'starred' them so I would NOT inadvertently delete them, it looks like I nonetheless inadvertently deleted some.

So...  could I get Amy Bailes,   Marilyn, Debbie and Kathleen to resend your mailing addresses to me?

I'm determined to get these things out in the mail within the next week!  Y'all probably thought I forgot...lol...

tig77LW at yahoo dotcom, if you need a reminder...

Thanks so much!!!  And...mea culpa... :-)

Choir Wardrobe 0501 and the Purple dress...

As I said yesterday, the irony of making a gray-and-black SWAP, basically for choir (we've worn gray and black for the basics for the last 6 months) is that...the day after I finish, we remove gray and black from the lineup for summer.

May's colors are Navy, Tan and Coral.

But I have a bit of that already in the closet, so we're good.  It's just not new.
Coral rayon blend jersey Jalie 2919 Pleated Cardigan, with a bit of modification in the sleeve and back;   a RTW guipure lace tank over a navy blue rayon jersey Jalie 965 Cami/Tank top, with Tencel twill Loes Hinse Oxford pants that, in one of my tweaking iterations, came out with wider legs than standard.

 And, we have a special event at church tonight that really leans towards a bit dressier attire than is typical, so I decided to pull out the new Toni Designer Dress from the SWAP. 
(I may yet change my mind and chicken out, as I haven't really gotten the photos I want for the SWAP set...and I'm just a little apprehensive about doing something to damage it before I get the photos...)

But, I need photos for a review of the pattern, too, and these are probably good enough for it.  

My Sweet Babboo just shook his head when he first saw it; The Flute Player did photography duty for the dress and she was fine with it until I pulled out the corners.

But, based on the fact that 4 out of 5 of the patterns that I got in the batch from Amazon has pockets, I'm thinking that the designers at SA totally get the pocket codependency that I live with.


  The dress is rayon challis, and so very, very lightweight.  It will be a dream to wear in the heat of summer, but it's a little damp and airish tonight, so I'm also risking the new cardigan...which does tone down the oddity of the dress.

Somewhat.

Love me some fun and funky stuff...when I can...