Wore the August Outfit...

When I promised myself last week that I'd wear this outfit sometime this week, I didn't think about the forecast for rain every.single.day.  Fortunately, the boots are waterproof, lol.

I'll be honest; I got two white blouses, slightly different styles, from Lands' End that month and I'm not entirely sure that the one I'm wearing here is the one that I put in the post.  But it probably doesn't matter much.  It is annoying that the buttons don't line up quite where they need to...probably the strongest reason I have for making my own button up shirts, lol.

That skirt is going to be a wardrobe staple.  A perfect length, nice fabric...I do believe I have replaced the black skirt I wore forever in the 80's and 90's.  Since I'm probably past the point of shirt-tucking-in, it's not going to matter that it's an elastic waist, lol.

The boots are...ok.  The leather is rather stiff, and where it bends it kinda bumps my foot/ankle and it actually hurts a little at the end of the day.  That may change somewhat once they are well broken in.  They are really snug in the calves, but they have an elastic gore in them so they can zip...

Here's a tip:  Use a wire coat hanger to zip snug boots.  Stick the hanger hook into the hole on the zipper pull  and then use the hanger as a giant pull.  It gives enough purchase that the zipper will close right up.

I'd credit the source on that but it's been years, lol.  But I have to work now to dig up a wire hanger; I've mostly switched out to plastic and flocked hangers.

The outfit is a winner.

12 Months 12 Outfits - Thoughts on the journey

2019 was an interesting sewing year; having watched Janice at The Vivienne Files build six wardrobes around six Hermes scarves for the previous three years, I decided to get a scarf and, following her choices based on the scarves she chose for 2019, build a wardrobe over the course of a year based on my own scarf.

I didn't  have to  make it all; I allowed myself to pull garments that were already in the closet or purchase something if I couldn't get it made.    I found a wonderful scarf on sale at Nordstroms in the fall of 2018, Hightower by Ted Bakker London, and pulled a color palette from it to use as the basis of the wardrobe and we were off:

Note that I re-did the monthly outfit combo pics for Jan - May from the original lay-it-out-flat pictures I used to the composites that I used the rest of the year.  I will say this... putting the composite pictures together has REALLY made me appreciate the work Janice does to get her wardrobes up for her readers.  It's not a quick process at all...and I didn't even include links, or new combinations each month. It's a bit of work!

The first four months of the year I ended up staying pretty black and white; a blue jacket and a green t shirt were the only two out of eight  garments added to the wardrobe that weren't either black or white, and I did make everything these first four months; partly because I also used these garments in the annual Stitchers Guild sew-a-wardrobe contest known as SWAP (Sew With A Plan).  My greatest difficulty was finding shoes.  I began a dance with Zappos that basically lasted all year...they sent me stuff, I stuck my foot in it and then sent it back.  Short duck-shaped feet that have...issues...do not lend themselves to fashionable shoes.  For January and February I pulled shoes from my closet but for March I had nothing that would work with the culottes.  I ended up with a pair of all black Keds.   Sort of worked.  But in the spring I was diagnosed with Achilles Tendonosis, and the dr told me to avoid flat shoes.  After wearing the Keds to work one day, I realized he was right.  They just don't do what my feet need.  Later in the year, I found a pair of wedge black espadrilles that were the shoes I wanted for that outfit all along.  The Taos Moc Stars from the April outfit, on the other hand, are wonderful shoes with excellent support and I bought a gray pair as well, which doesn't work with this wardrobe but has gotten a lot of wear just the same.

The other problem I had was trying to alter up patterns to get what I wanted.  March and April both came down to the wire because I spent a bunch of time working on a pattern that just needed way too much work before ditching that and going with something that was easier to fit.

 

May to August was a mix of me-made and purchased garments. I'd added the white pants from Lands' End to the wardrobe in early spring and they came in handy with the striped tops in July.  The white SAS sandals are some of the most comfortable sandals I think I've ever put my foot in.  They were in the shoe rotation at Disney in the fall and, even though my feet got tired,  they never got sore.    The denim dress was a major pattern overhaul that I actually stuck with.  I'm glad I did, but I almost wish I had made the dress sleeveless so it could double as a long vest.  I will be honest, though...I haven't gotten up the nerve to wear the skirt and boots yet.  Maybe I just need to give myself a deadline...like, I should make myself wear it to work next week.  I think it's a sharp outfit...I just have gotten completely out of the skirt habit.  OK, Lisa...wear it next week!

In the last four months of the year, taken all together, I struggled to get any personal sewing done.  We traveled a LOT, and as soon as we got through all our trips, the Christmas costuming hit and didn't quit until the production on December 22nd.  I didn't actually make any garments for September, October or November, and two of the December garments have been in the closet for a number of years already.

I would say that the least used purchase here was the white puffer vest...probably the weakest fashion addition to the whole wardrobe. I've found that I really don't like my arms un-insulated so I'm not a good candidate for a puffer vest.  My hubby loves them and uses them for outerwear quite a bit, so I bought that one a couple of years ago but found I just didn't wear it much.  But I could pull it from the closet for the September wardrobe.  Had I had time, I think I would have made myself a non-insulated fashion vest to wear but, alas, I had not the time. That's another wardrobe item I need to work to use.  If my office wasn't so hot (it's been averaging in the upper 70's for the last couple of weeks...old boiler system) I could maybe wear it but the thought of putting something warm on to work in is rather wilting at the moment, lol.

I ordered the heavy coat from Lands' End during a 50% off sale back in October, and literally about two days after it arrived the bottom fell out of the temps and we were in the upper teens.  I wore it, was toasty warm, and was very glad that the wardrobe challenge kinda pushed me to stop procrastinating and just get the coat.  We've  had one other cold snap that made it useful since then, but I don't think we're going to get much more winter now.

As I mentioned in the December outfit post, the silver top doesn't really fit with the palette; that shade of gray is not in the scarf.  But by that time I just needed to get something dressy that would work with velvet pants and it does that, hands down.  So I'm living with a little faux pas. 

So, here are all the garments (save the heavy black coat), arranged by type.  A black check is something I made specifically for the wardrobe, a red check is something I bought specifically for the wardrobe.  If it's not checked, then I pulled it from the closet (and it could be something I bought or made at some point in the past).

Just for full documentation, I'll add the accessory collection picture too:

I probably should have indicated here what I obtained specifically for a month's outfit and what I pulled from Things I Already Had, but I didn't think about that in time.  MOST of the accessories were things I already had, to be honest, but there were a handful of things that I got just for a particular outfit.  Mostly shoes, lol, I think 5 pairs. Two necklaces and a couple of pairs of earrings; one bracelet.  Um, yeah, I think that's it. 

It was a great exercise and succeeded in getting me some options to wear with the post-menopausal body that I don't recognize anymore.  I did make myself stick as closely as was reasonable...and maybe even a little closer than that at times...to Janice's posts.  Were I to do it again, I would probably give myself more leeway.  I don't think I would push myself to add a pair of different shoes with each wardrobe (to be fair...she did skip shoes on one month's outfit last year). The March outfit (black culottes, green T, heavy scarf and black Keds) was probably the biggest stretch for an 'outfit'.  It looked and felt awkward; it might not have had I been able to source better shoes and a lighter scarf. I have worn the T and the culottes multiple times...just not together, lol.

But it was a good exercise in discipline.  And I might do a slightly scaled back version with another scarf...later, lol.

 I really, really need to spend some time on maintenance in my sewing areas; they are 100% trashed at the moment.  And my serger needs some work.  And I'm hearing rumors of a costumed Easter something, too.  So who knows when I will have time to do any  wardrobe sewing...lol...

Finally....The final 2019 Wardrobe Outfit

January ended up being almost as busy as December...and then I got sick, lol, and didn't feel like doing anything.

I waffled over what to do.  Should I finish?  Call it good after November?  What?

Well, I DID order some black stretch velvet in December...and I HAVE wanted some stretch velvet palazzo pants for ages...so I thought, hey, it's worth pushing through and doing this.

So I modified a TNT pull on pants pattern  a little (New Look 6203) and created, rather slowly over about three weeks, a pair of drapey stretch velvet pants.  But the question was...what do I do to make a dressy outfit with it?

I thought a minute...My Sweet Babboo and I have nice reservations for dinner on Valentine's Day at one of our favorite get away spots.  What if I planned my dressy outfit around Valentine's Day since I'd clearly missed Christmas?

Bingo.

I looked through the clothes in the closet and added another outfit to the wardrobe.  When I was putting the pictures together, I realized I made a boo-boo with the  color palette.

Oops.

I thought a minute and then decided  I 'd live with it, lol.  It works for Valentine's day.    For what it's worth, Here're the outfits Janice posted for December.   Six dressy winter outfits, with a skirt (or velvet pants) a sweater (or a velvet tunic), earrings, bracelet, a small bag and dress shoes.  I am not hitting that 100%, but I think it will work.

The silver top is the boo-boo; I don't have any gray in my palette.  The gray in the scarf is more of a taupe-y gray and is really hard to match.  I didn't realize that until I put it on the slide with the scarf.  I really didn't want to just wear a black column; partly because  I didn't have a suitable black top to use.  But I looked again at the top and realized it was metallic, not really gray, and I have LOTS of silver jewelry for it to coordinate with; if I call it silver and not gray...it kind of works, lol.  So I am fudging it in (I will admit to being shocked to see that I'd made it in 2013).  You will notice I have three garments instead of just two, but the silver knit is 1) sleeveless and 2) very light and floaty.  It needs some help to be worn in the winter.  So...I added a cardigan.  The red jacket is the same pattern as the blue one I made for the first outfit in January, McCalls 6844.  The fabric was originally a much more orange-y shade of red; I overdyed it to a pretty garnet shade and made the jacket and a pull on skirt about 3 years ago.  I think.

I changed the accessory choices, too.  I should have a bracelet, but it really wouldn't show under the long sleeves of the cardi, so I pulled out a heart necklace on a short chain that will sit above the drapey neckline.  It doesn't hurt that it was a Christmas gift from My Sweet Babboo a couple of years ago.  All in all..perfect for Valentine's day.  The garnet earrings I actually bought from Novica back in February last year, thinking I'd use them for the February outfit...and then I went with a royal blue scarf and they didn't work.  They'll do nicely here.  A wallet-on-a-strap is a quick little bag for going out; that came from, of all places, the Hallmark store.  I've been using it as a wallet for several months now, but it's also easy to pull out of my larger bag and throw over my shoulder for a quick trip.

The shoe saga may be at an end...maybe.  I can't begin to tell you how many pairs of variations on black pumps I ordered from Zappos and sent back because they pinched my toes.  I finally went with the more pricey offerings ('Elaine' by SAS) up a half size from normal, in a double wide.  And they still pinch my toes a little.  But I am thinking they will be tolerable for short events that require dress pumps.  At the moment, they are in the closet...but I still have the packaging should I change my mind before I actually wear them out of the house.  I have about 9 more months to ponder them, lol.  We'll see if they actually make the cut and stay.

So,  here's what I ended up with after the final outfit (everything but the heavy black overcoat):

I will likely do one more post on the 2019 Wardrobe, kind of a look at how practical this exercise has been, what I learned by doing it and what I will carry forward.

But...it's done! LOL.

What Happened to the 12th Month's Outfit?

I have debated a while what to do.  Should I just consider that I blew it the last month, write it off and start over?  Or should I let it drag into the new year?

Well, I decided that, since my sewing got diverted to volunteer work for the last six weeks...well, for the last two months, if I'm honest...of last year, I would cut myself some slack.  I'm letting myself sew that last outfit this month.  So...sometime in January, I'll post what I come up with and finish out the year.  Yeah, I missed the Christmas party season with the fancy clothes but, if truth be told, I didn't have anything on my social calendar that required fancy clothes anyway.  So I'll finish up this month and still have something dressy in the closet should I need it.

I have some black stretch velvet to hand, and I ordered a bit of textured royal blue stretch velvet that should be in hand by the end of next week...one of those things will get used.

I'm going to see about doing a little analysis of what I did last year, too...probably in February.

But I plan to sew some fun stuff in the next few weeks as well...stuff I wanted to make last year but were pushed down the priority list by the 12 outfits assignment.

Interestingly, Janice has chosen more, um, economical scarves for this years 12 months/12 outfits exercise.  Have a look-see; you don't have to buy a pricey Hermes scarf to have a good wardrobe foundation. ;-)

A Snowy Afternoon....

Well, well, well, there are visible flakes in the air in the Rocket City and, despite the fact that the whole system is going to blow through really fast and the ground is crazy warm as it's been in the 60's for the last few days... one of the local school systems closed early, which mean my office also closed early, as we follow the schools.

There are perks to working for a ministry, even if the salary might be below industry standards.  I got to come home at 2 today.

So I thought I'd take a minute and catch up on some stuff.

Like, where I have been for the last...month...lol.

I have been appointed the head seamstress (NOT the costume mistress, lol...I am only in charge of the costumes being sewn) for an original production we are doing at church the weekend before Christmas.  I've held off on posting pictures, because, well, I don't want to spill any beans.  But I have made a couple of angel costumes unlike any other angel costumes we've used in the past.  They did some video taping Saturday, and the only change I have to do is add a wee bit of velcro hook to the hem of one of the guy's britches (yeah, britches) so the pants will grab his socks and not work up out of his boots (yeah, boots).  I will post some pics after Christmas and you can see what we had, lol.

But that wasn't the end of it.  Spent Friday and Saturday at church, working on the Tiny Sheep.

Four years ago, we did the first version of this production, and we had some tiny sheep who were, like, 4th graders.  This year, our tiny sheep are, like, kindergarteners.  The costumes from the previous show are way too big, but I didn't want to cut them up in case we needed bigger ones in the future.  So we got some more of that crazy curly poly fleece and made 8 little v-neck vests for the current crop of tiny sheep.  Remembering the mess from the first set, I  was determined to make them at church, instead of either a) bringing the mess home or b) sending it home with someone else.  So we had a workday and a friend cut them out.  I gave her my coverall apron and a construction filter facemask...she was puzzled but wore them when I insisted.  She soon saw what I meant.  'This stuff is worse than styrofoam!' she said.  We swept the floor about a half dozen times but there was still feathery fluff on it on Sunday morning.... The fleece did NOT play nice with my serger, which seems to be having knife issues again, and what I thought would take 90 minutes took all day Saturday and then some...I still wasn't done.  Grumble grumble grumble.

Fortunately, I have, like, 17 hours of sick leave to use or lose by next Thursday, so I am going to burn sick leave...in order to avoid getting sick by staying up until way late trying to do stuff.  I got a good bit caught up yesterday afternoon, and should be able to do the last bits in a couple of hours.  The other ladies worked on alterations and ironing all the Bible costumes we have for the nativity scene at the end; unfortunately, we seem to have lost a number of our Bible costumes pieces over the years.  I'm short a few robes, but I am REALLY missing the head drapes that we use.  I like to use two for the ladies and I don't even have enough for one apiece at this point.  The guys wear smaller drapes and can actually go bareheaded if necessary, but the ladies MUST have something on their heads.

So, I will be hitting my stash this evening at some point to see if I can find some 'why did I buy this?' fabric that will work for head drapes...our cheap fabric sources have gone away and I can't do $5/yd for the head drapes that get lost so easily.  So maybe I have something up there that will work... I hope.

I haven't forgotten my 12-months - 12 outfits challenge, either.  This month Janice posted dressy outfits...mostly sweaters and skirts...with accessories.  I'm not sure I'm going to get anything done on it; certainly not before Christmas.  Maybe after, which is a shame since the dressy outfits are intended to be worn to the Christmas festivities.  And I really, really want some black stretch velvet pants. Cross your fingers for me, lol.  I actually HATE sewing stretch velvet, but after that sheep fleece, it should seem simple...

12 Months 12 Outfits - November

I am way ahead of normal this month...because I didn't actually sew or make anything.   But that works out well, since my sewing time is pretty much consumed with costuming at this point (I will have a post on that...eventually, lol).  But I would not have made this stuff in any case.

If you recall, this month is Outerwear month. I knew it was coming and I debated over what I would do.  I kinda thought I'd just use the trench coat; after all, I used it in the SWAP collection and it worked really well with everything; I had the whole deal to go with it.  BUT...I have needed a new WARM, semi-dressy winter coat for years; I've just kept making do with the old one that had a broken zipper and looked dingy.

If nothing else, this exercise has pushed me....more than once...to buckle down and add something to the closet that I had been postponing...mostly because I wanted to lose weight, lol.

So. Anyway.  I gave up looking for the perfect coat and got a coat from Lands' End that, while not elegant, will keep me warm in Alabama's coldest days.  We get very cold days...but the cold spells don't last long.  More like 3 - 5 days of really cold weather, and then we're back up into mild temps...or at least, mild compared to where I grew up.  Single digits happen (rarely, yes, but they do happen!), sometimes with below-zero windchills, so I need a warm coat for those situations. They happened to have a 50% off outerwear sale going on, so I feel like it was a good time to get it.  I downloaded a picture...they didn't have any of JUST the coat without a person in it...and then just today discovered that it was a very small, low resolution picture.  Tried to get another one, but LE apparently sold out of the coat and the image is gone.  So I'm putting the picture in this month's outfit slide, but I'm not going to try to squeeze it into the wardrobe collection.  It's a black coat. LOL.

You will notice I didn't add a hat; I have a black beret that I could throw in, but the coat has a hood.  Between the scarf and the hood, I didn't think a hat was necessary.  The gloves are  from some past offering at Lands' End...I know that from the tag, but I honestly can't remember if I bought them or if I got them for Christmas.  The scarf is a sentimental thing; it was hand crocheted for me by one of the girls in the high school class I taught at church for a season a few years back.  She worked on it in class, while we were having our discussions, and then gave it to me for Christmas.   The boots are definitely for wearing in the weather; from Propet via Zappos;  there's room enough for some substantial socks.  You can bet this stuff will get hauled to northern Indiana next month when we visit.

Here are the accessories to date:

When I started this journey, I planned to use royal blue as much as possible for the accessories and accents.  Red has been MUCH easier to source...

I haven't changed the garment slide, since I'm not putting the pitiful coat picture in , but just for a reminder, here are the garments I have so far:

One month left...wow...

12 Months 12 Outfits...November Assignment

Janice posted the November outfit selections yesterday; no surprise; she's included a coat virtually every November since she started doing the series.

Let me tell you about my winter coat.  When The Princess was in 5th grade, my sister in law gave her a hand-me-down down coat.  It was too big for The Princess and she didn't really care for it; after a couple of years of it hanging in the closet, I tried it on...and lo and behold, it fit me pretty well.

Conservatively speaking, that was 20ish years ago.

It's a beige-y color that doesn't suit me well, but, you know, we don't have a lot of BITTER cold weather here so I only really wore it during the coldest days.

The zipper broke several years back; it's a below-knee coat with a one-way zipper, so it got a lot of stress. The tape behind the bottom anchor tab just shredded and the thing came off, along with the slider.

I made do with the buttons.

It's picked up some stains here and there...not bad ones, just enough to make the beige look more dingy.  It really needed replacing.

But I did like the vertical quilting; it was about as slimming as a puffer coat could be.

But, y'all, it was way beyond needing replacement.

So, prodded by the 'add a coat to the wardrobe' requirement for this month, I opened up my trusty Lands' End page and discovered that they had coats on sale for 50% off.

I waffled.  I put a coat in the bag and got cold feet and logged out.

LE sent me an email to remind me I had something waiting check out.

That process repeated itself for two days, y'all, before I finally just steeled myself and ordered it.

It's not at all flattering, I'm sure, but it will be warm.  It will zip.  Hopefully...it will fit, lol.

I have boots and a hat; probably have gloves as well.  And there is a scarf I could use, if I want.

So, no sewing is likely this month, either.  But that's probably a good thing; costuming work has finally started for the church Christmas production...and we are not having folks jumping up to volunteer. So my sewing plate will be full anyway.

OH...I had better go download a pic of the coat, just to make sure I have it when I'm ready to do the post, lol.

12 Months 12 Outfits - October Outfit

If you want to refresh your memory , here's what Janice picked out for her hypothetical owners of exquisite Hermes scarves....

So, I've managed to hang in there another month, lol.  It was dicey; I didn't sew anything, although I did make the necklace.  Caught a sale at Lands' End and added some red to the wardrobe:

I have learned my lesson; if I order something from Lands' End, I need to download the photo immediately; they pull the pictures of sold out stock way faster than I thought they did.  Anyway, I have a red plaid shirt that I actually wore to work today...and, while it fits pretty well, if I had made it I would have positioned the buttons differently.  Like, so one of the buttons would have been right at the line of the full bust.  Sigh.   It is actually a good match for the sweater; the blouse looks darker, due to lighting, and the sweater looks lighter, because, well, probably lighting, lol.    The jeans are standard blue denim (despite the dark picture) boot cut jeans...from the Lee outlet down the road.  

I didn't put my crossbody -strapped wallet in the set after all; I bought the back pack from Amazon earlier this year and I've been carrying it for a couple of weeks.  It's the PERFECT size.  Finally.  I've been squeezing my stuff in a just-barely-big-enough backpack for ages.  I probably need to invest in a true crossbody bag that that would hold more than my phone and my checkbook.  Someday.  This is working well enough for now.

The necklace, well, there is a story there.  I have mentioned that My Sweet Babboo is part of a frontiersman's reenactment-type group; one of the things he's been sort of interested in and slowly accumulating is trade beads.  About a month ago,  a set of about a dozen or so ceramic trade beads he'd ordered arrived in the mail.  They were really cool; denim blue, with a spiral white viney pattern around a rope spiral pattern  in white, red and royal blue.  They were huge...about 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 inches long.

I managed to beg three beads off of him....and put together the long necklace with some red glass and lapis beads from Hobby Lobby.  It might look better with a leather cord, but it's ok with the chain.  Took me a couple of evenings to put the bead sections together.  It was nothing to add the chain.  Since it's so long, I didn't have to add a clasp.  It works well with the sweater; I thought the necklace needed to be rather hefty to not get lost in the texture.  This one certainly came out hefty! 

So, with two months to go, here is the wardrobe to date:

I am really hoping I can squeeze the last two months on the slides, lol!

12 Months 12 Outfits - October Assignment

So, here we are at mid-October and I am just now getting around to discussing the wardrobe picks Janice posted 2 weeks ago. 

I have been THINKING about it a lot...as we've been driving around and spending our weekends places other than home.

That makes it really, really difficult to get any sewing done, y'all.

So, the October outfits are, in a nutshell,  a pair of pants (ranging from funky to corduroy to denim), a button-up shirt (mostly dress white shirts, but there are a couple of plaids in the mix), a pullover sweater, a crossbody or shoulder bag and a necklace (no feetwear this time!).

But Janice did say that she considered each wardrobe...and what it, individually, needed.

So I'm kind of using that as my basis.

I'm going to go with jeans as my pants for this go round; I don't have any listed in the wardrobe and they will just be pulled from the closet.  As will my cross-body bag...smallish thing that's actually a wallet with a long strap. Actually, that's just going to get pulled outta my everyday bag; I carry it as a wallet but sometimes pull it out and just wear it as a crossbody if I'm just making a quick run somewhere. I have LOTS of options for a necklace. So that leaves me with the sweater and the shirt.  Or some kind of equivalent.

Now, I have a crew-neck pullover sweater that I think would go with the color scheme well.  But...y'all, they have turned off the chiller at work and now we are, um, warm.  By the time it's full on winter and the boiler is going full blast it will be a sauna.  I could pull the sweater from the shelf and put it with the wardrobe for non-work-related wearing, but...is there something I would wear more often if I had it?

Likewise the button up shirt.  I have two white shirts in the wardrobe already...one rather casual and one quite business like.  Should I add another shirt?  A pattern of some sort...or, maybe just a black button up?  I have been wanting to add  a black shirt to my closet for a while and even have some fabric stashed to do it. It wouldn't go with the sweater I have in mind, but it might go with another one.  Or I could find a patterned fabric and sew a shirt that would go with the sweater.

But what I don't have is time.  The running around hasn't quite ended and the costume sewing for the Christmas production is about to kick into gear.  My sewing time for the rest of the year is likely going to be consumed by costuming.

So, what shall I do for this month?

I'm thinking, I'm thinking....

12 Months 12 Outfits -- September

Oy.  I know it's October 6th; I've been out of town.  I had the whole outfit well before Sept 30; but this has been a CRAA-- ZEE fall and I've had problems getting pictures, let alone posting them., lol.

So, anyway, just to refresh your memory,  HERE is the link to the outfits Janice picked for September based on the selected Hermes scarves.

And, here is my interpretation thereof:

The actual new additions to the wardrobe are the flannel shirt and the stretch corduroy pants, both purchased on clearance from Lands' End in mid-September.  But I was so short on time when I purchased them that I didn't download the website images...and when I tried to do so today, I found that those particular selections are both sold out and no images available.  So I had to do the ol' hanger shot.  And, as per usual, the colors did not come out true.  The corduroy pants look navy but they are a deep royal blue...pretty much a dead match for the darker color in the scarf, which is a wool burnout from Novica (also sold out) and was my travel scarf to keep me warm on the airplane flight to Israel earlier this year.  The pants had to be shortened 3"; I have learned that, while Lands' End petite pants fit well when they arrive...it's not too long before they have shrunk to high water stage.  So I ordered regular inseam length and washed these first, then shortened them.  It was the only sewing I did on this grouping, lol.  The down vest is at least a year...maybe two...old; I've had the lined leather gloves several years.  The short boots were purchased on sale at the end of last winter to replace my previous short boots that popped a rivet on a decorative button.

So, here's the total collection now; I split it into two slides as I was having to make the individual pictures just too small to fit on one:

I will weigh in with my thoughts on the October outfits in the next day or two.

12 Months 12 Outfits - September Assignment

Janice's selections for the  6 Hermes-Scarves wardrobes are up on the Vivienne Files today.

In a nutshell...corduroy pants and a long sleeved shirt, with an insulating vest, a scarf and a pair of gloves/mittens and short boots.  No jewelry this month!

I followed up on most of the links, looking for details.  I did find out that all the pants are corduroy, so...hm.  I have no corduroy in the wardrobe at this point.  I *used* to have some corduroy pants that I loved wearing with pullover sweaters...here's a pic of me and My Sweet Babboo, back in 1983....and I'm wearing corduroy pants, a shetland sweater over a button up blouse.

Been a long time since I dressed like that.  The squishier my old body gets, the squishier I want my clothes to be, lol.

But maybe I could add a pair of cords.  Break out of my fashion rut a bit.

To go with the cords, Janice has added a long sleeved blouse....cotton flannel in most of the outfits, but there are a couple of exceptions.  I treated myself to a  cotton flannel shirt from Lands' End a couple of years ago, and enjoyed it so much I bought a second one last year. Of course, neither of them co-ordinate particularly well with my hummingbird scarf.  I have a bit of black-and-blue flannel in the stash, which might do if it weren't for the fact that I already have a puffer vest that I can use in this month's outfit...and it's winter white.  So I really think a flannel shirt will need some white in it so I can pull in my already-in-the-closet insulating vest.

I have some short black boots, bought on clearance at the end of last winter's season, to replace a pair I'd worn for about 4 years that popped a riveted button. (Hm.  maybe a cobbler could fix that?  If I had the button...lol).  I think I have gloves and a scarf I can pull, depending on what I use for the shirt and pants.

And, you know, this is a crazy making season...I think I have only 2 free Saturdays between now and the middle of November.  Not much time for sewing.

I *might* have poked around on the Lands End site  whilst I was link checking...you know, just to see if there were any deals to be had.

I'll let you know if the deals work well enough with my scarf once I see them in real life....

12 Months 12 Outfits - August

Just for a refresher.... HERE is the list of August wardrobes from the Vivienne Files.

And, per my typical dithering, here is what I came up with for the August outfit:

The blouse is a new purchase from Lands' End...my intention to lose weight this summer has backfired; so I bought a couple of blouses a size up.  Because that's what this whole exercise was intended to do...force me to get clothes that fit the body I have now.  It is, in theory, one of their no-iron blouses, but I found it did need a touch with the iron after coming out of the dryer.  Next time I will try taking it out slightly damp and see if that helps.
After dithering about the skirt...I pulled the wool twill out of the stash, began working on the pattern and then got busy with other stuff.  Time was running out so I reconsidered the whole thing again.  Years ago I had a straight rayon blend black skirt that I wore to absolute DEATH.  When it got too small I never got around to replacing it.  So I decided  to make a basic skirt after all.  After making the January pants and the February dress, I had slightly over a yard left of the Very Nice Telio Jockey ponte...perfect for a knee-length skirt.  I used the pattern for Loes Hinse's Swing Skirt; the short, unflounced version and, of course, I added pockets.  I used the pockets from the Oxford Pants in her pattern line and they worked great.

The sweater came from the closet -- very  light merino wool from Lands' End, purchased in something like 2016.  Long enough ago that there were no longer pictures of it on the website, so I had to just make do with a hanger shot.  You can tell it's black, that's about it, lol.
Rockport boots that are a job to get zipped over my rather full calves...they may very well make a trip to my local shoe repair guy for some wider elastic goring in the back. I actually had ordered them before the August assigment went up; my previous tall black boots were failing and they needed replacing.  Caught these on a significant discount, so even with the cobbler's modification they won't be as much as the 'wide calf' boots would have been.
I don't often wear brooches; I have a leadership badge that I wear to church so brooches seem kind of redundant.  I did find a cute little hummingbird brooch that I liked because it referenced the scarf, but, well, I don't wear brooches so I hated to buy it just so it could sit in the jewelry box.  I dug around in the jewelry box and found one with the scarf colors in it that I had forgotten I had; I'm thinking it was a Christmas gift some time ago.  Maybe I'll wear it to work, lol.
I didn't select a ring; I did do a bit of internet shopping and actually picked out a couple, but, well, I don't wear rings (lost the diamond from my original engagement ring about 8 years after we got married; I apparenlty caught the prongs on something and I am now paranoid about losing settings/snagging them on stuff) so I decided to save the bucks and just pulled some earrings out of the jewelry box as well.  I do like these and wear them quite a bit; they have a vintage vibe that I like.

I will wear it with black tights, and turn the cuffs back over scrunged up sleeves.  And tell myself I will get serious about watching the diet after our trip to see the mouse.

Here's the whole collection to date; I'm kinda suprised I'm still able to squeeze it all on one slide.  I will probably have to break it up next month.

August Outfit Options

Ok, I've been pondering all week what I want to do for this month.

I could totally pull it from clothes already in the wardrobe.  And, if I run into a time crunch, I might.

But I am pondering a new skirt.  I have a pattern (out of print Butterick) for a bias cut skirt w/ a side godet...it would be swishy and look cool with boots.  Of course, I would have to add pockets, because, you know, that's what I do.  But that would let me move the side seam zipper to the interior of the pocket and hide it, which I always consider a good thing.

And I have some black twilled tropical weight wool that I bought a number of years ago that I have been stewing over.  Because of the black/white threads (it was sold as a 'wool denim-look'), it has a pretty noticeable diagonal on it, which made it really, really hard to decide what to use it for...and how to use it. 

But it occurred to me that, with a bias cut, I could run those twill lines vertically and they would look like pin stripes.  And my little brain went Hmmmm....I could add a kinda quirky skirt to the wardrobe AND make use of a tricky fabric.

The pattern is just  a front and back piece (one piece) and the side godet...it shouldn't be too hard to fit.  Oh, and it's lined.  Or, at least, there are instructions for lining it.  I will add a waistband with a touch of elastic (instead of interfacing) so that it has a bit of stretch.

At least, that's the plan.  About 10 years ago, I made a really cool black wool boucle up into a Sewing Workshop Plaza jacket that would look great with that skirt and boots.  Not sure about a blouse under it, though, it works better with a turtle neck.  so we'll see.

And I have a brooch that I wear with that particular little jacket as a closure, so that would work well, too.  I'm gonna substitute earrings for the ring in the accessories; my stubby little fingers do not take rings well.

So, now it just depends on how much sewing I can get done in the next three weeks.

12 Months 12 Outfits - August Assignment: Do I really want to do Fall yet?

Heaves a big sigh as the reality that it is August 2nd slaps her face...

Here are the August outfits over at Vivienne Files.   Janice stayed with the pattern in previous years, but this month she built the outfit around tall boots.  Last year's August picks included a range of boot styles, but this year it's all about the tall boots.  And every outfit includes a skirt, a blouse (woven)(ETA -- no, there is one Eileen Fisher t shirt in the mix.  I thought it was a soft woven until I clicked through), a sweatery cardigan, with a ring and a brooch for accessories.

Now, I will be straight up honest with you; anticipating this, I was already preparing my little commentary of how, in Alabama, we don't need fall clothes until October.  When my kids were growing up, I didn't even do the seasonal clothing switch until Fall Break...which was usually the first full week in October.  Didn't buy new clothes for the school year until I saw what still fit...and what didn't...from the previous fall/winter season.  There just wasn't any point in it if the temps in the daytime still made it up to at least 80 degrees most days.

But my arguments have dissolved in the face of those tall boots.  See, I have Very Wide Calves, and tall boots that will zip all the way up are like, the Holy Grail of shoe searching.  I bought some a few years back; the style was kinda stodgy but they zipped so I just worked with them...and I really didn't wear them that much.  But, despite the fact that they were made by Maine Trotters, which is supposed to be a high-quality shoe, they have not held up.  The leather is tearing along the stitching lines...just like a perforated piece of paper.  One of the decorative tabs on the back has come off, and the zipper guard is flapping on one of the boots and really won't last much longer before it tears completely off.  So, after last year, I told myself I would need new black boots for this year.

About two weeks ago, looking through Zappos site, I saw that the sandal selection was dwindling.  Several of them I had flagged as favorites were no longer available in my size, or were only available in a few colors.  Suddenly, it hit me that if I wanted the best selection of boots...maybe I should start looking now.  I cruised through and found one style with a wide foot...and what looked to be a reasonably wide calf, although it wasn't marked as a wide calf boot, there was a significant gap between the boot and the calf of the model in the video.  And it did have elastic gores in the back.  So I put it in my favorites to watch.

While writing some reviews for shoes last week, I went to my Favorites page and saw that those boots I had put in the Favorites list were on sale for less than $100.  So of course, I ordered them.  Immediately.

They have arrived and I have tried them on.  I had to WORK to get them zipped, but they just. barely. did. zip. I was wearing moderately thick socks; if I were to wear thin socks or tights it wouldn't be so bad.  The wide width foot fits well and is cushy...I'm just now trying to decide if I want to keep them and wrestle to zip them.  I may try another pair with a wide calf...but there are only a few in my size and price range.  So I'm likely to need to order quickly.  At least it doesn't cost anything to try them on, other than the hassle of returning the ones that don't fit.

All of that is to say....maybe it does make sense to build an outfit around tall boots in August despite my earlier plans.  Even if I don't wear any of it for two months, lol.  So I will be pondering the skirt/blouse/cardigan options while I make up my mind about the boots.

12 Months12 Outfits -- July

As a reminder, here are the outfits Janice picked to coordinate with the 6 Hermes scarves for the month of July...  Basically, a pair of shorts, two tee shirts, a pair of sandals and a necklace.

I debated the shorts.  I really don't wear shorts outside of housecleaning/yardwork, and I do have one pair from last year that serves the need if I'm just in a situation that requires shorts in a public setting.  So I decided once more to forego the shorts and just use summer pants.

And I just so happened to have purchased a pair of white jeans from Lands' End back in, oh, April or so, and they just so happened to be the very pants featured in the Vivienne files post on White Jeans, and I was really glad to have already bought them because by the time that post came out LE was sold out of the white jeans in my size.   Unfortunately, I didn't snag an image from the LE site before they took them down for the fall colors.  My bad...I will be more pro-active in the future.

No more layout on the bed pics, since my facepalm moment last month when I realized I could use the same pics I'm taking for the year-to-date collage for a monthly collection. It only took me six months to have that epiphany (snort).

 Here's the July set:

I used two different patterns for my T Shirts; the blue cotton/poly/lycra one is the slight modification of Jalie 2566  and the red rayon/lycra one is, I think, a modification of Vogue 9057.  Maybe.  I traced a full pattern some time ago, so I could do a single-layer cutout on stripes, but I forgot to write the pattern number on the full size pattern and it doesn't exactly line up with the 9057 pattern.  So it's a Mystery Pattern, lol.  With an added dart.

Shoes are SAS Pampas...crazy expensive sandals by my standards but by far the most comfy ones I own.  This is actually my second pair; I have one in red, too.  Finally, the sweet little hummingbird necklace is from Novica; I was tickled to finally find something that referenced the scarf.

So, squeezing everything in the slide, here's the wardrobe to date:

 

This is progressing nicely.  And you know what?  I'm already thinking about a scarf for next year, lol...

The denim dress...

Ok, just for grins, here's what I started with.  The pattern is for a shirtdress, with a copyright date of 2001.  Um, Yeah.  2001.  It's been in the stash a while.  But I have always liked the lines of it, so when I was looking for a pattern to use for my denim shirt dress, it was the one I ultimately pulled.  

Here are the pattern pieces I had to work with:

 

There were optional fisheye darts in the front and back; the sleeve length options were full length, elbow length or sleeveless.

I cut the dress off at the 'lengthen/shorten' line, which ended up being right at my knees...pretty close to the length I wanted to end with.  The first muslin showed that I needed to move the bust shaping down about an inch, and shorten the dart considerably as the point wrapped way too far past where it should.  And I needed to give myself just a pinch more ease.

Because it was going to be a wide, fairly short dart, I decided to rotate that puppy to a princess seam.

I will add that this is the first time I have tried this, and I did learn a lot.

I had to lengthen the center front section...and this was after it had already been lengthened once for a full bust adjustment.  I thought that was odd, but walking the seam after I closed the dart clearly showed that I was going to have to lengthen it.  Also, the top buttonhole was pretty much at full bust level, so I moved the collar shaping up about an inch and a half.

Wouldn't you know, the next muslin showed that the bust shaping was now about an inch too low.  So I moved that back up to where it started, basically.

Hind sight...maybe I used the wrong pivot point?  I might should have researched that a bit more.  I didn't put the sleeves on the first muslin since I was just checking bust dart placement and girth, but the second muslin showed that there was too much ease in the sleeve cap; the sleeve had to be slightly gathered to fit the armsceye (not shown at all in those lovely smooth sleeves on the pattern photo...).  So I shaved down some of the curve, and cut a bit of the length off the front underarm so that it matched the dress (not sure if the mismatch was my fault or the patterns at that point).

And, of  course, I added an inseam pocket.  I also eliminated the front facing and just cut the center front pieces twice so I could sew the facing into the princess seam. Plus, I wanted a shirt tail hem, with the back slightly longer than the front, so I curved the hemlines accordingly.

However, I was somewhat short on fabric and I had to shorten those curves a bit from my original plan just to get it to fit on the fabric.

Here  are the pattern pieces I ended up with:

 

The fabric was an indigo blue cotton/lycocel from JoAnn's.  Not at all cheap, either, at about twelve and a half bucks a yard.  But I'd bought it for one thing and ended up using something else for that project, so it was available.   I was disappointed to see that it wasn't square; I tore both ends for a straight edge and when the fabric was laid out with the ends even there were terrible ripples down the fold.   I had to offset the selvege ends by about 2" to eliminate that rippling.  So I am attributing any wonkiness in the hang to that little issue. 

I had to change up the sewing order considerably; I sewed the CF and CB together at the shoulder seams; added the collar and put the facing on and pressed it well; basted together the raw edges on the CF seamline.  Then I put the pockets on the side front...putting on the facing piece, then the pocket so the pocket opening is finished off and the pocket becomes the sideseam. Then I sewed the side front/side back together at the shoulder seams, then sewed the sides to the centers.  Then I did the side seams and inserted the sleeves.  Hem, button holes and buttons.

Sounds simple, eh? LOL. 

 The dress, emphasis on the added pocket:

 The June outfit, bracelet, earrings, shoes and bag as well:

The bust shaping still feels a shade low to me.  Not enough to really worry about, but I'll probably adjust it if I make up the pattern again.   The sleeves bind a bit if I raise my arms, but that is just something I ALWAYS deal with on woven garments.  I haven't yet figured out the magic combination of ease here and fitting there to keep that from happening.

And you can't tell about the shaped hem at all; it's just not pronounced enough to show, although it does look just  a wee bit longer in the back if you look close.  

These pics were taken very late last night, after birthday festivities, so it is a bit rumpled.  But it was very comfortable to wear.  I expect to wear it at least a few times this summer.

12 Months 12 Outfits - June

So, here we are, a week into July, and I've just now got the June outfit ready to post.  But, considering I completely lost the first week of June to jet lag, AND I completely worked over a new pattern, rather than using TNTs, I don't think I did too badly.

 Just for a reminder, here are the June picks at Vivienne Files.

The denim dress does not want to photograph well.  It just sags on a hanger and rumples lying flat.  I think it's because of the shaping;  it just has to go somewhere.

But, anyway, here's the June collection:

And, you know, it JUST occurred to me  (like, as I'm typing all this up) that if I am collecting images for the 'whole wardrobe' picture I could make a better collection to see the month's outfits.  Oy.

(timeout while she goes and builds a slide for this month...)

Dress:  Much modified out of print McCall's 3254 made from indigo blue cotton/lyocel 'denim'; I will do a whole blog post on that later in the week.  Shoes are Rockport/Cobb Hill Hannah from the closet; I've had them for about two years and absolutely LOVE them...they are very kind to my picky feet.  In fact, I may have just talked myself into ordering a pair in another color.  I hunted and hunted for a tote bag with a hummingbird motif but had absolutely no luck...they were either gaudy or just basically reusable grocery bags. But I found this one that looked like a good denim color, and it's about a dead match for the shoes...and the turquoisy color in the original scarf.  I actually purchased a bracelet...since I had a reward that needed using at Novica.  And a light beaded bracelet is not nearly as annoying to wear as a clunky bangle.  The earrings are some that I bought years ago...at Kohl's, maybe?  They are my favorite wear-with-denim earrings.

AND...here's everything so far.

Now, on to July's T shirts...

12 Months 12 Outfits - July Assignment

Ok, you have no doubt noticed that I have not posted my June outfit yet.  Well, there's a reason for that.  It's a denim shirt dress that needs about 10 5/8" buttons.  I dug through my button stash but could not find 10 matching suitable buttons.  I'm not sure I have 10 matching buttons, period, actually.

So, given the disappointment that my last foray into retail looking for buttons turned out to be, I pulled up WAWAK and ordered two 1-dozen packs of buttons...one of which should work.  Since they were only about $2.50 a package, I thought it would be worth it.  Also ordered some serger thread, since it was on sale, to make the shipping worthwhile, but $2.50 for a dozen buttons is so much less than I would have paid for three or four cards of buttons...IF I could find them...that I didn't mind the shipping; it may still have been cheaper, lol.

So, I'm waiting for the buttons to get here. The dress needs the final top stitching pass around the front and the collar but, aside from the buttons (which are to arrive tomorrow) and buttonholes it's done.

Quick slip-on seems to indicate that the dress is going to fit well...except for some binding in the armsceye/sleeves.  The bane of any kind of fitted upper body.  If its truly annoying I will pull off the cap sleeves and finish the armholes with some bias binding.  I didn't notice it on the muslin, but there was an excessive amount of ease in the sleeve to put into the armsceye; it was kinda puckery.  So I shaved off a little bit of the outer curves on the sleeve cap...small amounts, really.  I didn't think it would make that much difference.  But, apparently it did. We'll see if it's an actual problem once the buttons are on and all.

But, I'm 4 days into July and Janice has posted the wardrobe picks for July....as she has done in years past, July's picks are shorts, two t-shirts, a necklace (well, earrings for one outfit) and sandals.

I could totally pull items from my closet to cover July, but I have been in sore need of some T shirts with red in them; that's a definite wardrobe gap that needs filling.  I've recently acquired a couple of pieces of red and white stripe knit, so one of those will get made up.  I'm waffling on the second T...I have a royal and white knit that would make a good T and would work really well with my wardrobe...or I could sew up a woven red T that's been cut out since February.

It probably depends on what I decide I want to do for the shorts.  My first impulse was to use white jeans; I have some that were added to the wardrobe back in the spring...as it turns out, it is the same white jeans Janice featured in her 'Ten Ways to Wear White Jeans' post back in May.

Can I admit to a slight smug feeling to realize I was ahead of the curve?  Which is a good thing...I clicked through to make sure it was the same pants as the ones I'd purchased and discovered that my size was sold out.

So there's that option.

But...I may scrounge around and see if I have a remnant of fabric that would be suitable for shorts.  Just because, well, that might be a good way to use up a bit of something.

So...if I go with white pants (or shorts) , then the two stripey fabrics will do nicely.  If I opt for something else, well, that may change the second one.

And of course, if I run short of time (short of time!  hahaha) I can always just go to the white Lands' End jeans.  So...decisions will be made after I get the buttons on the June dress.

July's necklace and sandals will not be a problem. 

Denim dress (June Outfit) progress

Well, this is the pattern I selected as being closest to what I envisioned.  It's from, um, 2001 and LOOKS like there are some bodacious shoulder pads in it, to my eye, but shoulder pads are not called for in the pattern.

There is also a knee-length cutting line, so that's what I used (LOL...in hindsight, I realized that is the shorten/lengthen line.  But it worked).  Did a FBA on the pattern and threw together a quick muslin.  Now, the P/P patterns come with a 1" seam allowance on the side seams...and, as you can see, the largest size in the envelope is a 12.  Well, I haven't been a size 12 in a NUMBER of years, so I used a 3/8" seam allowance in stitching up the muslin and omitted the front and back waistline fisheye darts.

Well, firstly...that bust shaping has to go down about an inch.  And the dart was way too long.  So  I lowered it an inch and shortened it up.  Much better.  It doesn't seem to be too small, but I think one more inch of wearing ease would give me some breathing room.  So I'm going to add 5/8" to the side seams, which will let me increase the ease by 1" AND use 5 /8" seam allowances...much better for adding an inseam pocket.  Which you KNOW I will do.  And the shoulder seams are about 3/4" too long...which is common for my absurdly narrow shoulders. I do NOT have to do a square shoulder adjustment...the square shoulders on the photos were true square shoulders, I suppose.

So that pretty well takes care of the fitting.  Except, I now have a short fat bust dart, which I believe will be nigh impossible to press without a dimple at the end.  So I've pretty much decided to convert the dart to a princess seam.  And cut the front double instead of using a front facing.  If I want to sew the facing into the princess seam ala Loes Hinse's techniques, I will need to create a princess seam on the back as well, so I can  just do the center bit and sew in the collar before sewing the princess seams.  Thinking on that one.

But I've a bit of styling I want to do differently, besides just adding the side seam pockets.  I want a shirt tail hemline, with the back a wee bit longer than the front.  And possibly cap sleeves.  Gonna pull out a shirt tail hem to copy for the bottom...and I may find a cap sleeve to copy or I may just play with cutting the existing sleeve down.  All decisions that will be made on the fly.

So, that's my sewing project for this weekend...finish hacking the pattern.