Choir Sundays 2010 #19

June Choir Colors: Purple and/or lavender and/or black w/blue jeans.

Once again, the Cold Water Creek bootcuts, this time matched with Christine Jonson's Base Wear 2 sleeveless t-neck, in a marvelous cotton/lycra print I got eons ago from Emma Onesock and my Vogue 8305 cardi-wrap, made up in rayon/lycra jersey from Gorgeous Things.

I think this is going to be the last of the Choir Sundays posts for a while; for quite some time I've felt like I'm pretty much posting the same things over and over again; I think I need to give it a break, at least until I can talk about something other than my two pairs of dressy jeans that I keep alternating!

It's cool to see how the clothes someone makes actually get used in the wardrobe, but since I'm just recycling the same wardrobe pieces week end and week out it is losing the luster.

Plus, we're doing services on Saturday AND Sunday now...I could easily do two outfits a weekend. But, if they're just variations on the same ol' same ol' I don't think there's much purpose in that.

I met my original challenge...to go a year wearing at least one garment that I made every Sunday... long ago. Plus, back when I started doing Choir Sundays, I was a stay-home mom and Sunday church was about the only chance I got to wear something other than just bum-around-the-house wear. But now I'm working, so I get to dress for work, too.

Maybe one of these days I'll do a variation on the 'Me Made May' posts I so enjoyed on other blogs and talk about what I wear to work...that will have some more variety!

Anyway, Choir Sundays has had a long and enjoyable run, but I really feel like it's time to retire that now. I'll still be wearing my creations in choir, but I think now I'll just limit my posts to days when I wear a new garment/combo.

If I ever get a chance to spend some quality time in the sewing room making new things... ;)

Thanks to everyone who has followed the weekly adventure, and especially thanks to folks who have commented and encouraged me along the way!

Choir Sundays 2010 #18

May Choir Colors: Turquoise, white and/or black w/blue jeans

The Jeans are from Coldwater Creek; I've got on a turquoise silk/lycra charmeuse shell top modified from Loes' Hinse's City Dress, and a white poly/cotton twill Vogue 8045 jacket.

I finished the HMC mantles yesterday and turned them over to the staff last night; if you're curious, you can see the whole grad service online tonight, starting at 6 PM Central, at therockfamily.tv. The Artist will be participating as an alumni tonight...the young man who was going to play Jesus had a bad sprain/fractured ankle and is walking in a boot so he's playing the part of the understudy.

I think I'll be much relieved to see him playing Jesus instead of the enemy... ;)

Choir Sundays 2010 #17

Wow...it's been a long day. This evening was our annual girl's ministry's Father Daughter banquet; choir was eons ago!But, anyway...

May's colors are turquoise, black and white w/blue jeasn.
I wore the Lee bootcuts again, with a New Look 6407 shirt, made from turquoise cotton/lycra broadcloth from Hancock's. The scarf is a really pretty printed silk oblong from Talbot's and, while it doesn't match the shirt absolutely perfectly, does a good enough job of camouflaging the alterations boo-boo I made that rendered the neckline too low.

Whew. Y'all, ah'm tahrd! G'night!

Choir Sundays 2010 # 16

Wow, has this been a long day...

My apologies for the poor photo, we were rather rushed today.

May's choir colors: turquoise/black/white w/blue jeans



The Lee bootcuts, with my black rayon/lycra jersey Jalie 965 tank top playing the role of a cami, under the Burda May 2009 #103A top, in black/white/grey/turquoise poly lycra jersey.

And, just for the record, all the mantle pieces are with my embroidery queen friend Miss A getting lettered. So hopefully I'll get my stripey trousers finished before the mantles come back...

Choir Sundays 2010 #15

May choir colors: Turquoise, white and/or black w/blue jeans.

I finally pulled out my spring/summer jackets; this is the jacket from Vogue 8045 in a white poly/cotton twill from Hancock's, worn over the scoopneck Simplicity 4076 in a poly/cotton? jersey from the Vogue Fabrics booth at the Atlanta Expo(...two? Three? years ago...) worn over my test version of the Jalie 965 Tank top, from a poly/rayon?/lycra jersey from the cheap table at Wal-Mart.

The jeans are my Regular Lee Bootcuts, which means they're really about 3" too long and I should wear high heels. I wore the lowest shoes I could get away with...not ready to subject the low back to standing through worship (twice...) in heels.
The shorter jeans have disappeared into the black hole of the laundry; I'm beginning to think they got put into someone else's basket...I'll have to make inquiries amongst the children to see if someone has my jeans in his/her closet....

Happy Mother's Day to everyone who's raised kids, mentored kids, taught kids, rocked kids, loved kids or prayed for kids! Great is your reward in heaven... ;)

It also happens to be The Actor's 17th birthday; he was born on Mother's Day, 1993. Time flies... (and yes, he chose a cherry cheesecake instead of a baked cake for his birthday. We tried candles last year...they won't stand up on cherry pie filling!!!)

Choir Sundays 2010 #14

May Choir Colors: Black,white and turquoise.
Today happened to be our 11th anniversary, so instead of blue jeans we're just a tad dressier w/black pants.

I've got on Loes Hinse's Bistro jacket, made in a black poly herringbone weave suiting; my favorite black wool gab Loes Hinse Oxford Pants and a silk/lycra charmeuse shell made from the bodice of Loes Hinse's City Dress

I'll post a 12 weeks update tomorrow; I didn't quite make 12 garments in 12 weeks...

Choir Sundays 2010 # 13

Choir Colors for March: Black, gray and yellow w/blue jeans

I've got on those same ol' bootcut Lees, with a modified version of Textile Studio's Monaco Shell, in a gray poly/rayon knit that I *think* I found at Wal-Mart, and the Vogue 8305 cardi-wrap, fabricated in a black rayon/lycra jersey from Gorgeous Fabrics.

Plus the yellow plastic jewelry.

April's colors will be turquoise, black and white with jeans. 'Cept for next week, which is our anniversary weekend, so we'll be dressing up just a bit and wearing black on the bottom instead of jeans.

I'm so ready to be done w/yellow... ;)

'12 Weeks' update tomorrow...

Choir Sundays 2010 #11

This was another one of those marathon days at church...and the photo was taken afterward. So, yeah, I look pretty tired. And my *usual* fashion photographer wasn't available, so The Flute Player filled in. I definitely need to give her some pointers about taking pictures. But, well, it is what it is. I had to wait until the computer was available to post the photo (homework takes precedence!), and I'm waaaayyyyy sleepy (as in my ears are ringing)...you wouldn't believe the typos I've made just this far. I hope I catch 'em all before I hit 'post'...

March colors are black, charcoal gray and yellow, with blue jeans. In addition to the dark wash boot cut Lees, I'm wearing a black silk/lycra charmeuse modified Loes Hinse City Dress shell, my gray wool/lycra Loes Hinse Bolero Jacket, and a $5 crinkled scarf from Wally World.

The rest of the month will probably be some variation on what I've worn already. I suppose I ought to just break down and make myself a yellow tank top so I can layer it under black, since it really looks like yellow is going to show up in the rotation at least once a year.

I'll think about that tomorrow. ;)

Choir Sundays 2010 #10

Colors for Easter weekend: black/charcoal gray/yellow w/black pants

Not very Easter-y, I know...after I got to church, I suddenly remembered that I have a lovely black eyelet skirt that would've been very nice to wear today, but, I was stuck in a pants mindset for some reason.

They're my black stretch cotton sateen LaFred Daphne pants. These pants always look better in the mirror, I think. Every time I see a photo of them I make a mental note to pull them out and tweak the fit a bit...anyway.

I've also got on my gray rayon/lycra Jalie 965 tank top and my black rayon matte jersey Simplicity 4076 Surplice top. And the yellow plastic jewelry again. ;)

You may very well see that yellow plastic jewelry every Sunday this month. ;)

Choir Saturday?

Well, in order to accommodate all the folks we anticipate coming to church this weekend, we added a Saturday night service just like the services on Sunday. So the choir sang and we were in black/gray/yellow. This is 2/3 of my new Double twinset...the Jalie cardi and Christine Jonson's Basewear Two turtleneck shell, made from yummy rayon/lycra jersey knit from Gorgeous Fabrics. And, since it's Easter Weekend, we're wearing black pants (or skirts!) instead of jeans. I have my old reliable Vogue 7881 pants from black cotton twill, one of my best Wal-Mart dollar table finds ever.

The yellow plastic jewelry is my nod to the color; I just *couldn't* do Easter weekend in black and gray. I snagged a scarf at Wal-Mart that I may wear tomorrow...haven't decided yet. Yellow and I generally are not on speaking terms. ;)

And I have a confession...I am not going to get my 8th Gorgeous Fabrics garment done before midnight. It's all cut out, and the interfacing is on, but, well, I knew it'd be dicey once we started cranking on Macbeth. Incidentally, we started cranking, then one of the gears stripped out, so I'm rather on hold on that at the moment. But I did get all the kids measured; I should know by Monday what direction we'll be heading.

But, throw that AND Easter weekend preparation/extra services in my week and I just flat ran outta time. But I did manage a garment a week for 7 straight weeks; that wasn't too bad! I *will* finish all 12 garments...it's just going to take a fuzz longer than 12 weeks now.

Choir Sundays 2010 # 9

(sheesh, blogger's acting WE-IRD today; I moderated a comment on yesterday's post that shows up if you click on '0 comments', but isn't registered as being there; doesn't show up on the 'edit posts' page, either...well, anyway...)

March Choir Colors: Green and black w/blue jeans


It's the Lee Bootcut jeans again along with my black poly/rayon Textile Studio Florence Jacket and the Burda 8/2009 blouse I finished yesterday.

It's funny; last week I wore the blouse I originally purchased this fabric for...felt marvelous in it, loved wearing it, love the blouse...and got ZERO comments on it. Today, I wore the bonus blouse and wasn't at all sure the style suited me and was even wondering if I would hang on to it or not and I got 5 - 6 compliments; some from people I barely knew. So I guess I'll keep it.

We took a couple of other photos of just the blouse, both tucked in and untucked (sorry for the wrinkles), since it is tunic length. It looks better when belted, but I need a belt to hold up my jeans and two belts just DON'T work.

I'm not crazy about the way the sleeves/armholes look, but under a jacket it's ok.

Choir Sundays 2010 # 8

March choir colors; Kelly green and black with blue jeans

Why the vest (Burda 05-2009-108)? Well, My Sweet Baboo and I have lay leadership positions in church, and we have magnetic name tag/badges that we wear, but we can't wear them in choir. So I needed a top layer so I could get the badge on/off easily. A black vest would've been a lot better, but, um I forgot about the black velveteen vest that's also lurking in the closet and just grabbed the denim one.

I tried tucking the shirt in, but it looked way too American Old West, so I just let it be untucked.

Um, it's the Coldwater Creek bootcuts this week, and the OOP McCall's blouse that was fresh off the sewing machine last night. Here's the review...

But I gotta say, I *love* this blouse!!! It feels very elegant on. How many do you suppose my wardrobe could stand?

Choir Sundays 2010 #7

March Choir Colors: Kelly green and black w/blue jeans

Hey, might as well wear the new shirt, right? Jalie 2682, in the Gorgeous Fabrics green rayon jersey, worn with the Vogue 8305 Cardi-wrap, which, if I remember right, is also a rayon jersey from Gorgeous Fabrics. I've got the points tied at the back of my neck...mostly just to keep the sweep under control.

And the Lee bootcuts. Again.












And, just for the record, this is the green shirt by itself:






















Yeah, I think cap sleeves would've been better. Oh, well. It'll be under a jacket mostly anyway.

I know these aren't great pics...but I was at church for 11 1/2 hours today. I'm beat...zzzzzzzzzz....

Choir Sundays 2010 #6

March colors: kelly green and/or black with blue jeans
So, yeah, the green top I finished yesterday, Jalie 965 from green rayon/lycra jersey from Gorgeous Fabrics, is paired with the surplice view of Simplicity 4076, which is made from a yummy rayon/lycra matte jersey I found at one of Textile Fabric's summer sales.

The jeans are the Lee bootcuts you've seen in Choir Sundays about a bazillion times. And will likely see about a bazillion more...although I *have* traced the Jalie stretch jeans pattern. Maybe I'll get those made one of these days...

Choir Sundays 2010 #5

February colors: Black and White

Since this *is* the last Sunday for black and white, and I hadn't worn either of my recent black-and-white creations, I thought I ought to wear ONE of them, anyway. Since I wore the striped top to work this week, the choir winner was Jalie 2682, from a yummy knit I got from Gorgeous Fabrics a little over a year ago...I *think* she called it 'Fireworks'. I'm wearing it with the regular ol' cotton twill Vogue 7881 pants...just a basic top/pants combo, but it worked!

Choir Sundays 2010 #4

February's colors: Black and White

Well, this is a good example of an outfit that *almost* works...mostly because the jacket is a near miss. I really ought to call it a donation and pass it on, because it just doesn't quite fit right, but, well, I need a black-and-white jacket on occasion. So, until I manage to replace it...it's what I've got.
But a couple more photos like this may cause me to go hunting some smashing black-and-white houndstooth to make a replacement.

Anyway, the jacket is McCall's 5529 in a double face poly/rayon blend suiting. Nice and drapey...it's the perfect fabric for this pattern, but I didn't make a muslin and, well, it could fit better.

I'm wearing it with a Jalie tank top, that you can't see, and my black RPL double knit Loes Hins Gore Skirt modification from the 06 SWAP combo. The sash is an Ultrasuede copy of a RTW wrap-and-velcro sash from...1992?

And the new Valentine's scarf. I didn't get it tied as I wished, and I kept fiddling with it all morning. More scarf-tying study is needed. ;)

Choir Sundays 2010 #3

February's colors: Black and white

It's funny; with two new black-and-white tops out of the sewing room in the last week or so, I chose to wear an old favorite today. There's a reason for that; this is one of those days that I feel chubbier than usual and for that reason I wanted something a little, well, camouflaging. ;)

So I pulled out my Hot Patterns Cadeau T and wore it with some black straight-legged Lee jeans.

And didn't feel the least bit sausage-casing-like. ;)

Choir Sundays 2010 #2

January's colors: Royal Blue and black
One more time...the Sewing Workshop Chopin Blouse in to-die-for striped silk duppioni, worn with the standard black wool gabardine Loes Hinse Oxford pants The new camera was set wrong, so the flash didn't go off (still learning my way around it...), but I used this picture anyway because Frisco wandered through...just for my fellow feline afficiandos! ;)

Choir Sundays 2010 - #1

One of my Christmas presents this year was a new digital camera; my hubby and my kids got tired of coaxing the old Olympus into taking my sewing photos and went together and got a nice little Canon purse camera for me.... So here's the first photo with the new camera! ;)

January's colors are Royal Blue and Black; this is my Loes Hinse Milano jacket, made from royal blue poly/lycra moleskin, Christine Jonson's Basewear 2 turtleneck (I lengthened the sleeves to full length), from rayon/lycra jersey knit, and my boot-cut modification of Loes Hinses' Oxford Pants, from woven RPL.

I got some sewing done over the break, and I have some reviews to post; got some pattern acquisitions to report, too. So stay tuned.. ;)