12 Months 12 Outfits - January

Ok, I've got this month's 'outfit'  ready with a couple of days to spare, lol.

Here's the scarf; this is the retail image and the colors are really much more vibrant than they appear.  But, try as I might, I couldn't get a good photo showing the colors; they washed out in all the lighting I tried.

So, here's the outfit for January:

 I polished up my several-years old SAS loafers...and discovered upon sticking my hand in the toes that the lining is developing worn out spots so they are not going to last a lot longer.  But they'll do for a bit.

The earrings are on the shirt, but you can't see them  so here's the image from Novica:

I probably should have picked something with a bird or flower theme to suit the scarf, but the truth is I picked the scarf for the colors, not the motif, and I'm really not a bird/flower fashion type.  I find that earrings that have pointy features flatter me the most, and, for whatever reason, these really struck my fancy.


Individual pics of the garments; they were all taken in the same light so I don't know why the white t-shirt came out so dark.  Lack of contrast with the background, I guess.

McCalls 6844 Cardigan in blue Rayon/nylon/lycra ponte.  Long straight view, patch pockets added.  The color here is considerably lighter-looking than it is in real life.  Again...I just have a cheap camera.

Jalie 2566 T, cotton lycra.  I added an inch and a half to the length; I've decided I like my T's a little on the longer side.  Also, this is a pretty firm knit and fits somewhat snugger than I would like.  Hopefully that will be rectified if I can maintain my dietary discipline. 

Sewing Workshop Helix Pants; I added pockets from Loes Hinse's Oxfords because, well, pockets.  It's from Telio's Rayon/Nylon/Lycra Jockey Ponte, which is pretty much my favorite double knit at the moment.  It's ultra smooth and drapes beautifully.   I realize the details don't show...black pants and all...but the truth is the top few inches are always covered when worn anyway.

So...that's it for this month!  Friday we'll get the February choices; I'm already scouring the dress pattern stash to see what I might be able to come up with if the February choice is a dress, as it has been in the past.

Through the black-threaded machines....

Lawsy  I do need to clean the dust off the mirror.... 

Black Helix pants, constructed this week from Telio's Jockey ponte, which is amazing stuff.  I also made the tank top from Vogue 9057, to wear over the Starfleet-Science-Officer-blue  T.  Worked great; I didn't feel the 'live long and prosper' vibe nearly so much this week, lol.

The pants are part of the 12 months/12 outfits capsule wardrobe; the top and over top are just because I needed choir clothes.  But they should work with the scarf as well, which is cool.  But I'll have to make royal blue a 'neutral' in my wardrobe if I want to put the pieces in SWAP.

But, ya never know. Depending on what I end up doing for the next 4 months of the capsule wardrobe challenge, it might just work.

Sad News

I logged on to social media this morning and discovered one of my absolute favorite sewing teachers, Cynthia Guffey, succumbed to throat cancer on Monday.

This is a real loss to the sewing community; Cynthia was absolutely one-of-a-kind. She obviously loved what she did...and she was very good at it.  Practical, down to earth,  and witty...she would go through page after page of flip charts as she drew and slashed and taped.  She would slice muslins (she called them 'mock ups') up in a heartbeat...often to the audible gasp of the class, first at the shock of someone just taking scissors to a whole garment, and then, when she pulled and taped (she proved to me that masking tape is an invaluable sewing aid) up the slashed garment, there would be another gasp of appreciation as we all saw that the garment now hung properly.

She told stories, shared recipes, gave makeup and style tips...and loved dark chocolate.

On the occasions when I was able to attend the Sewing Expos over the years, I always loaded up on her classes.  It didn't matter if I had seen/heard the topic before; I always came away challenged and inspired.

I have several of her books and videos and even a few of her patterns.  Maybe I can figure out a way to put one of her patterns into my sewing plans as a memorial.

RIP, Cynthia.  You were loved and will be missed.

Sneakin' in a T for Choir...

Something that rarely happens...

I ordered some fabric. It arrived.  I washed it and cut it out the day it arrived.  Sewed it up the very next Friday and wore it out the door less than a week after it came in the door.

Because I needed a royal blue top.

And, for some reason I feel inclined to urge everyone to live long and prosper....does this make anyone else think of the Original Series Science Officer uniform? Just a little?

Vogue 9057.  I made it in the same size I wore, um, 10 pounds ago and know full well that to fit now I should have done some finagelin'.  But, I'm workin' on that issue from the other side and hoping this top will fit way better come NEXT January....and meanwhile, I'm grateful for lycra, LOL.

If you clicked through to the pattern, you'll notice I have the diagonal running the wrong way.  WELL...the light in the room where the cutting table is located isn't so great and I cut it with the wrong side up.  But nobody needs to know it's wrong, right? LOL.

Black thread on the  machines now, and the cut out projects include the black pants for the 2019 Wardrobe. Hopefully will finish those on the holiday tomorrow...and that will leave me with only a white T to get this month's assignment done.

2018: A dismal year for sewing

The stats from the year:

Fabric In:52.75 yds
Fabric Out: 24.875yds
Last fabric added: 12/29/18
Garments made for me: 12
Accessories:0
Garments made for other family members: 0
Home Dec Items: 1
Wadders, er, Unintentional muslins: 0
"Donations" : 1
Muslins:0

Misc. Church Sewing:

'Reserved' Chair sashes...team effort 

Well...at least I averaged one garment per month, lol.

I looked back over the year's projects to see if there were any that were remarkable in any way; probably the most outstanding of the mediocrity was the Arcadia Green top and the adventures in dyeing that I took to get  that minty shade of green:

I will say that I have worn that top quite a bit; it's a cheerful color and the cotton knit is substantial enough for an Alabama winter. But, really, that's as exciting as it got around here.  I didn't even manage to average one blog post per week, since I discontinued the choir wardrobe posts.

But,  I did keep the 'fabric in' yardage down, even if I still only managed to sew up about half the amount of yardage I purchased.  That percentage seems pretty consistent....but I'm choosing to look at the total yards in.  Yes, I did better.  LOL.

I only bought TWO new patterns last year.  That is a DEFINITE improvement.

But, then, that may be because the friendly neighborhood Hancock's store, with their 1.99 pattern sales, is also a thing of the past.  Removing the temptation...

But...2019 is a new season, and I have a wardrobe plan to execute.  I'll probably  have some church costuming to write about. So hopefully I'll be hitting the 'publish' button a little more often.  

Here's to more sewing and more blogging in 2019! :-D

One of three this month.

So, I have one item on the January wardrobe assignment done.  McCall's 6844, with patch pockets added.  Royal blue viscose/nylon/lycra ponte, and I love the way it feels on.  Black RTW jeans and a Jalie 2682 top for the solid column under.

Next up ought to be the black pants, but I may slip in a royal blue T this week just because I am a little short on the royal blue for this month.  I pulled my only royal blue top - a funnel-neck T that I hadn't worn in a long time -  out of the closet and discovered that it had a CUT in it!  A pointy corner slash!  I have NO IDEA how that happened or when it happened.  So, suddenly I have not a royal blue top to wear with my black for choir this month.

T shirts are quick.

January Assignment - 12 months, 12 outfits

Janice's picks for January are up. I went through the Hermes scarves again yesterday and found that some of them I'd chosen earlier weren't on the site anymore, so I re-did my guess list. I nailed one -- the scarf for the Brown wardrobe -- and I had two other scarves sort of correct, although I picked the wrong colorway.  I'd picked a scarf for a tan neutral and she used a different colorway of that scarf  and switched Khaki for tan this year.  I had picked a different colorway of the Act III scarf for Gray (So glad she picked one of those!  Such a fun scarf!).  I ALMOST picked the scarf she chose for Black, but ultimately picked a different one with a larger color range. 

That was fun.

So.  Now, how shall I interpret her choices for the first outfit of the year?

She has a pair of basic pants from the anchor color from each wardrobe; all but one has a white short sleeved t shirt...4 out of 5 are the same shirt.  The 5th one is a little dressier...and the last T is the same shirt as the 4 white ones but in black.  The cardigans are all one of the primary accent colors...again, except for that 6th wardrobe, where the cardigan is the anchor color.  But I think that sixth one is going to be a bit of a oddball all year, since the scarf for that wardrobe IS all accent colors.

Loafers and earrings in the accent.

So...here's my assignment for the first month:

Black pants, a white T and a royal blue cardigan.

White T shirts are...difficult...because it is so doggone hard to find white knit fabric that is not nearly transparent.  I've been buying white knits for years, trying to get something suitable.  I think I have one or two pieces that should be safe.

The black and the royal are ready to hand. 

Here we go!