Choir Wardrobe 12 13 15

December colors: Red, black and gray

Modified Jalie Pleated Cardigan in red rayon blend (same as last week, actually);   black and gray rayon/lycra jersey stripe Jalie 2566 cap sleeve T , gray Lee jeans and red Cobb Hill shoes. (Quickly becoming a fashion rule of thumb for me...if I can get away with red shoes, wear 'em!)

We put up and decorated a Virginia Pine Christmas tree that we cut fresh yesterday; we haven't had a fresh tree for several years.  It was something of an adventure, as the first tree farm we visited had  a selection of truly pitiful little trees.  I had a huge 'to do' list, but a series of light string failures (three in a row!) put us very late finishing.  So I'm going to do the blog posts and then just get up in the morning and finish the urgent part of the to-do list.  I've got some vacation hours to burn  anyway.


The tree is pure kitsch...mismatched lights,  random ornaments, not a shred of tulle or feathers or flowers or fruit anywhere to be seen.... ;-)

And yeah, the window's open.  El Nino year and all..it was 73 today.  Good thing the tree is up; I'd never get myself to believe it was December otherwise...

Choir Wardrobe 12/6/15 - With the Choir in Red, can Christmas be far behind?

Well, technically the colors are red, black and gray. 

And this is a hop-in-front-of-the timer photo.

But it's all good. 

Modified Jalie 2919 Pleated Cardigan and a sleevless mock-t that I quite honestly can't remember the pattern on...both made of rayon/lycra jersey blend in a kind of twist on a twinset.

Jalie basic flair legged pants, made up in a dollar bargain lycra/poly blend that came from the dollar table at Wal-mart.  Have never managed to review the pants,  and the fabric feels icky but is a wonderful red and white pinstripe coloration, so it stays in the wardrobe.

And it just so happens I made the necklace, too...my first venture into wirework jewelry.

It was not as hard as I thought, and it didn't take as long as I expected...I'll probably do more.

In my spare time, of course.

Bwahahahahaha!!!

Choir Wardrobe 11/29/15

November's colors:  black, gray and burgundy.

On the finished porch!  By the charmingly pathetic retro aluminum Christmas tree! Who cares what I'm wearing? LOL

But...because it's the sewing blog and all...burgundy slinky Textile Studio Monaco Shell,  Gray rayon jersey Sewing Workshop Ann's Cardigan and black Lee jeans.

Some one (at church, no less!) happened to ask if I were sporting University of Alabama colors.

Um...that would be a big fat NO.

November choir colors.  Ahem.  One of my favorite combos, actually.  Such a shame it gets confused with other intentions...

Happy 1st Sunday in Advent!!

A Little Photo Catching Up...

 A quick catch - up post.... we took Choir Wardrobe photos last week and this week, but I'm not going into great detail on them; last week, the only thing I wore that had passed through the sewing machines was the silk/rayon burnout scarf.  Today I made the tunic dress and the leggings...the dress last year and the leggings, oh, 20 years ago?  Maybe?

But the renovation work is finally done.  We still have to move the furniture back in...but that's going to involve a LOT of rearranging in other parts of the house, so I'm not sure how long it will take.

If you compare those in-front-of-the-fireplace photos to earlier ones, you'll see the difference between the yucky pink carpet and our new tile hearth apron.  It looks so much classier.:-)

A couple of composite photos to just share the transformation; each of them show the appearance of the room when we bought the house in the upper left, and the end result in the lower right.

First, the den, which we didn't plan to renovate at this time, just because we didn't put two and two together and realize that, duh, we were knocking the wall out...we need to redo both rooms!









 Then the sunroom, which has been in transition for about 4 1/2 years.  I was nearly despairing of ever seeing it done...

Because I was impatient, the 'finish' photo isn't quite; we still needed lights and the ceiling fans.

So, here are a couple of photos showing the lights and the ceiling fans, which My Sweet Babboo installed yesterday.

So...now begins the frenzy to get the furniture redistributed before Thanksgiving...



And, as I likely won't get back to the blog for anything significant for at least a week, Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow 'Mericans; I hope you get to spend time with family and friends and that you have much to be thankful for!

I know I do. :-)

Choir Wardrobe 10/18/15

 Busy weekend...I didn't get my brown top cut out; mayhap I can get that done next week....

So I went with old and familiar... for the third week in a row, my brown wool jersey Pamela's Patterns 110, over my orange stretch lace Jalie 2566 T shirt, a burnout poly scarf from a remnant, and the new brown RTW jeans that obviously need to be rolled up just a bit.  I don't want to shorten them just yet; experience has taught me to let jeans go through 4 or 5 wash cycles before deciding whether or not to hem them.  I don't plan to put these through the dryer, due to the lycra content, but I am not going to do any adjustin' until I'm convinced they're not going to change length.

My inlaws did make it down; we went to an annual Royal Ranger event; a fundraiser for a local ministry that allows the Rangers to have use of their property for various camp outs during the year.  They run a number of 'buy a ticket and have fun' events.. and invite the community to come and have fun. 

My favorite activity was watching My Sweet Babboo man the 25-foot rappelling tower; he did the final hook - up for the kids and coached them over the side.  That's a pretty cool guy I married. ..in his FCF gear, getting a young fellow ready to go over the side.

:-)

Choir Wardrobe 10 11 15

Yeah...that's the same cardi as last week; wool jersey  Pamela's Patterns 110 .  It's such a nice brown....

I have a tan Guipure lace tank, bought on a double clearance rack last year on an out of town trip for significantly less than I would've paid for the lace yardage.  It has some gappy going on at the armholes, but as long as I've got a cardigan over it that totally doesn't matter.:-)  I've got a burnt orange Jalie 965 tank on under it,  to be consistent with the colors for the month of burnt orange/burgundy/tan/brown.  It's funny...I bought the lace top last year with the intention of putting it with the orange and brown for October choir, but figured I'd wear it with other colored tanks through the year.  None of them pop quite like that burnt orange one....I don't know that I've worn it with anything else...

And Levis.

Not sure when the seasonal clothes are going to get switched; the home renovation is kinda messing with my  normal schedule for these things.  I have some brown rayon jersey pulled from the stash...I may just have to make myself something...lol...

Choir Wardrobe 10/4/15

October colors are burgundy, burnt orange and brown or tan.  I went with the neutrals today...

Brown wool jersey Pamela's Patterns Draped Front cardigan #110, worn over what I *think* is a sleeveless Burda boatneck T #108  from the Feb 2009 issue of Burda World of Fashion (now known as 'BurdaStyle'), with some slightly modified (looser leg) Loes Hinse Oxford pants in a nice tan Tencel twill.

I don't think I've put this combo together before, but I rather liked it.  I squeeked in a little burnt orange in the necklace combo.

I haven't really talked much here about the wall-replacing we're doing;  but I thought I'd show the plastic barrier that's up to try and keep the dust out of the main part of the house:

(Novel use for a Really Big Zipper, no?)

My laundry and my sewing cave are both on the other side of that zipper.  It's kind of a nuisance to haul stuff  (read: laundry baskets) through it; it's really not that big of an opening. And the power cords are strung over my ironing board.  So I'm tracing patterns and will likely add a couple more garments to the queue in lieu of actual sewing.  Our contractor thinks he can finish the job in a couple more weeks; I think that's pushing it a bit but it should be close.  Definitely will be before the month is over.

It's going to be a big change on that end of the house. I'm excited to see the finished rooms, even if we're not going to get all the decor straightened around for a while yet....

Choir Wardrobe 9/27/15

I know, I know, it's Tuesday, for crying out loud.

But Sunday...well, Sunday was a pretty incredible day.  Aside from it being extremely busy...as in, I was only home just long enough to jump in front of the camera and wolf down a Jimmy John's Unwich (lettuce wrap 'sandwich'), we had some powerful worship at church Sunday.

The choir did not come down off the platform at all during each of the first two services (normally we come down during the transition from worship to teaching).  It was spontaneous...it was so...well...you just had to be there.  Sorry.

And it's really hard to come home from those services and write about what I wore.  I just can't shift mental/spiritual gears sometimes.

And it's not like I wore anything truly faboo anyway; I went to the back of the closet and pulled out a top that technically fits...it really doesn't strain or pull...but looked better 15 pounds ago, nonetheless.  All the style ease has been converted to wearing ease by the slow accumulation of the years.

But it garnered a few comments, nonetheless...probably just because it's a little out of the ordinary for me.

September colors: white, black and gold.  Black jeans with a ca. 2006 Hot Patterns Cadeau Top in marvelously beefy black and white stripe rayon/lycra jersey.  With a gold necklace and earrings.

And, yeah, those are birki sandals.  So glad I had those on...lol...

Choir Wardrobe 09 20 15

Hello again!

Our annual women's conference at church was last weekend; due to the stage set, we didn't even have choir last Sunday; the risers were gone and there was no place for us to stand.

But we're back this week; September colors are black, gold and ivory.

Kinda makes me wanna shout 'Boiler up!'...but I managed to restrain myself.

I actually indulged in a bit of online shopping last month; stumbled across a metallic T from J Crew that I thought would do nicely.  It looks tan in the photo, but it really is a sparkly gold. If I had made it, there would be a few tweeks I'd make before I made it again...chief among them being I'd add about 2.5 - 3 inches to the length of it, and I'd lengthen the sleeves just a bit so I could roll them up.  Or maybe put a  faux cuff on them.

And I might raise the neckline just a pinch, so I wouldn't have to wear a cami under it.

But I didn't make it, so I won't be worrying about it.

Except I like the loose T concept...so I may actually be doing a little alteration to one of my T patterns, using this T as a guide.  We'll see. ;-)

It's teamed up with my black cotton/lycra sateen La Fred Daphne Pants and what is probably the single most-worn item in my wardrobe, the black twill vest from the 05/2008 issue of BWOF. 

I'm rather amused that I've got the Birkies on; I meant to put on my black ballet flats but I was wearing the sandals around the house before we left and just totally forgot to switch.

At least they matched.

We have some home renovation work starting...or rather, starting back...this week.  I have a queue of sewing projects that have been languishing wilst I did the push to get all the registration ready for the conference, and then we went straight into cleaning/moving things to get things ready to knock a hole in a wall; I'm hoping to spend some time with my sewing machine in the next couple of weeks.

I don't think I'm going to get the gold leather vest done in time to wear it this go-round...

In Which She Wears Nothing She Made

It had to happen sooner or later.

I've come close a time or two, but usually managed to squeek in a cami top or a scarf or something to keep the string going.

But today we were requested to wear the shirts that promo our upcoming women's conference, if we had them (as we did a video shoot for the conference, many ladies in the choir did).  It is a black shirt w/ metallic gold lettering...and September choir colors are black or ivory w/ gold.

So today I wore my SHE t-shirt and blue jeans.

No cardi, no vest, no scarf...nothing that came off of my sewing machine.

It was hard.  I didn't realize what a point that was for me.  I kinda like the 'I always wear something I made' vibe.  I actually pulled a vest out of the closet that time has rendered a bit too small...and made myself put it back, because it detracted from the shirt.  Uniformity is the point.

You know, anything can be carried too far.  Maybe I should make myself wear a RTW outfit once a month or so, just so that I don't let that become part of my identity.

I will admit there have been times when I put back the first outfit I pulled out of the closet because I hadn't made any of the pieces.  Even though it was a really cute outfit in the right colors.  I was too hung up on the 'I must Wear My Makes' kinda deal.

So.  Not stopping the Choir Wardrobe posts...but admitting that there will be Sundays when I will find myself dressed in stuff I bought.

And that's ok.

But I probably won't post those photos. This ain't no style blog.  (but you knew that already  ;-) )

Choir Wardrobe 8/30/15

At least the choir wardrobe pretty much guarantees at least one post a week! :-)

I did spend a little time in the sewing room yesterday and cranked out another McCall's 6559 Maxi.  Pictures as soon as I can manage it...

But today was the last day for August's coral/black/gray combo.

Gray/black stripe rayon jersey Jalie 2566 t shirt under my coral rayon blend jersey Jalie 2919 pleated cardigan.  Black Lee jeans that should stay black...they've got a good bit of poly blended w/the cotton, so hopefully they'll hold that nice dark color.

I had a long sparkly necklace on, but during 2nd service I was working on data entry in my office and the necklace caught on a corner on my desk and the jump ring at the clasp failed.  If something had to break, that was a good thing as it's easily repairable...just need to sit down for a minute with my needle nosed pliers.  But it's not in the photo and you totally miss my attempt to get on board the multiple necklace layers train...

Next month:  Black, ivory and gold....

Choir Wardrobe 8/23/15

Back again after a quick trip last weekend to Indiana to visit our parents and celebrate our 35th anniversary with a side overnight trip to Turkey Run State Park...one of my favorite places on the planet.

We got back Wednesday night, and I had a grueling 3 1/2 hours in a dentist's chair the next morning to put a car in my mouth...er, prep 6 teeth for crowns.  I now have a six-tooth temporary crown in place for the next 10 days whilst the permanents are being made; I've joked that it's a Barney tooth....totally non functional but keeping me presentable.  I'm being Very Careful as to what I eat...

So, no sewing to speak of has gotten accomplished in the last two weeks, which is ok as there is plenty of gray, black and coral in the closet.

This week it's a gray rayon jersey Sewing Workshop Ann's Cardigan, which is really way too big in the shoulders and more than a little aggravating but definitely worth tweaking and making again, over an ancient coral rayon jersey Vogue 2925 shell top , which is over a charcoal gray Jalie 965 tank.

And, since we were headed south on the Pennyrile Parkway and therefore going right by the Vanity Fair/Lee Outlet in Hanson, KY, we stopped for a little wardrobe refreshing and I found a pair of really black jeans to replace the ones that have faded to dark gray.  We'll see how long I can keep these black. ;-)

I did a bunch of cutting out in July; going to try to get some of those projects sewn up in the next couple of weeks.

Crossing my fingers...the women's conference is just around the corner; I may be busier at work than I'm expecting...

Choir Wardrobe 8/9/15

I can pretty much guarantee it will be all old stuff for August; our colors for this month are black, gray and coral.

I have plenty of black, gray and coral in the wardrobe from past years, so  there's no need to crank out more at this point.

Black Lee jeans with a dove gray ...fine cotton?  It's been too long...jersey made up in a sleeveless version of  Jalie 2682, topped by a variation of my favorite knit cardi pattern, Jalie  2919 in a rayon blend jersey.

However, next month the colors are going to be black, white/ivory and gold, which are the colors for our women's conference that will be happening the 10th - 12th, themed 'She is BRAVE'.

And I have a metallic gold half calf skin waiting on me to be very BRAVE and make it up into a vest.

So.  We shall see.  I did pull the piece out and put it on the cutting table. ;-)

Random Road Trip means simple Choir Wardrobing 8/2/15

My Sweet Baboo's brothers are both active Barbershoppers...one sings with the 'Voices of California' chorus, which is based in Sacramento, and the other sings with the quartet 'New Found Sound' in Pennsylvania.

Well, this year the VoCal chorus (clever nickname, no?) attended the week-long Harmony University in Nashville, which was capped off with a showcase concert of sorts in which VoCal was one of the featured choruses.

So of course, we loaded up the van and took a quick road trip up to Belmont University campus for the event last night.  We could not pass up the opportunity to see a live performance.

It started at 8 PM.  Which was a good thing, really, as it meant we could wait for The Actor to get off work.  Prince Charming had some other things going on, so it was just the six of us in the van...which I don't think has happened since Christmas 2010.

Now, you know, we are probably the least musically talented branch of the family, but we can sing...sort of.  Church Choir, family Christmas Caroling...but this was a whole 'nuther level of musical exposure for the kids.  Most of the audience were HU participants; although it was open to the public, it was very much  a show celebrating the shared experience of the week, with lots of inside jokes.

There was even a bit of audience participation singing at the beginning and end.  'Let Me Call You Sweetheart' was led by an elderly gentleman that we met after the show when we were chatting with DBIL...who told him that we were 'non-barbershoppers'.  He dug in his shoulderbag and pulled out pins for all of us. 'You sang with me!' he said, passing them around.

It was an amazing evening; I haven't had that much fun in a long time. Bad jokes, wonderful music, and lots of standing ovations (seriously.  My quads are slightly sore today from the up-and-down.  And...embarrassing side note...as I sat down after the first one, the back of my head kinda bounced against the pot belly of the guy behind me, who hadn't sat down yet.  After that, I checked and made sure he sat down before me...).  But on the way home, one of the boys commented, 'I think we've just been initiated into a cult....'

The show ended at 10:15;  it was 2:30 AM before I actually hit the hay, and we had to be at church at 8 AM this morning.  I just kinda pulled the first thing out of the closet that met this month's criteria...we're wearing black, gray and choral for August...and headed out the door.  No makeup, no contacts...but I was there. ;-)  And...I had a fresh appreciation for the gift of being able to sing, even if it's just in the middle of the choir.

Vogue 2925 coral rayon jersey top,  the hopefully-soon-to-be-replaced Jalie 2919 cardigan, slightly modified, and RTW jeans.  A great service with guest speaker Robert Madu.

All in all, a very good weekend.

Yawn.... ;-)

Choir Wardrobe 07 26 15

Believe it or not, I found a place in California that claims to repair  my Powershot  lens error issue; I boxed it up and mailed it out Friday...so, we'll see.  If it all comes back beautifully, I'll write a blog post.  If it's a dead end, I'll write a blog post.  Either way...blog material is coming. ;-)

But my hubby loaned me his old 7.1 megapixel camera, so I can at least get some photos.  Good enough is...good enough.

So, today was the last day for the choir to wear black, gray and kelly green.  And I wore the cotton/lycra zig-zag print Jalie 2566 t...just because the colors were right...with  Oldcoldwatercreek (as opposed to the new company with the same name) jeans that fit around the middle but are too big everywhere else, and my wear-at-least-once-a-week black cotton twill Burda magazine 05-09-108 vest.

Not real fancy...I'd've liked to do something different, but too much birthday cake and ice cream in the last couple of weeks has limited my pants choices considerably.  (insert rolling eyes).


I took a couple of days off last week...it was youth camp week and 85% of the staff was involved in either the youth event or the concurrent pastor's conference...so I took advantage of the resulting light work load for the DBA and stayed home the last half of the week.  Found the bottom of the laundry basket (yay!), helped The Princess a bit with a costume that she is working on to wear to Disney world later in the fall (she is sewing.  I am helping), did a few oddball projects that have been waiting and waiting...and made myself a McCall's  6559 maxi knit dress.  I think I'm really late to that show...it's got 112 reviews posted...but it wasn't choir-wardrobe-able so it just didn't get high on the list. 

I'll write a review once I can corral someone to take a photo of me in it. ;-)

So...a productive weekend!  And I've still got over a week's worth of comp time to burn...and I haven't touched the vacation yet...

Choir Wardrobe 7/5/15

July's choir colors are kelly green, black and gray.

Actually, it's pretty much crayola green, so it's not too hard to find.  We've worn it before, so I had a couple of wardrobe residents that would work (no doubt they'll show up here before the month is out...)

But I found a great piece on the 75% off remnant rack at Textile's moving sale back in May, and snagged it for the predetermined purpose of making a top to wear in July.  Despite the color resolution on the photo, it really and truly is kelly green on black lace:

I mulled over what to make of it for a couple of weeks, then had the idea of using Louise Cutting's Stars In Heaven tunic pattern.  I'd made it up before in linen and linen/rayon blends, so I knew it didn't require stretchy fabric.

But, at some point last winter I'd made some adjustments to it...I'd added a slight FBA, and I'd increased the curve on the front a bit, as I really like that style line.  But I didn't really remember how much I'd done. 

I pinned the sleeve pattern pieces together and just cut the sleeve as one unit; the seaming wasn't going to show at all on the lace so there was no real reason to put seams in the sleeves,  I just turned and stitched all the edges, although I did miter the hem corners.  I intended to get some black lace trim to use on the edges, but Hancock's didn't have anything that would be at all suitable so I just left it.  I used a serpentine zig zag to topstitch and it literally disappeared; doesn't show at all.

The color in this photo is even worse than the closeup of the fabric, but you can see the lower curve.  I think I overdid the lower curve; it looks odd to me as it is longer than the back (didn't think of that).  I'll pull some of that back out before I make it again.

I've got a black Jalie 965 Tank Top under the SIH tunic; I've got a BUNCH of different tanks I can wear with this if I choose.  White,  green, gray, cream...and the ladies at Textile said if I  put yellow, orange or red under it it really pops.  Not sure I'm that brave, but, well, we'll see.

I think I could put a turtleneck or long sleeve crew neck t under it as well for a different look this winter.

It may be more versatile than I expected.

Choir Photo 062115

June choir wardrobe colors are black, gray and hot pink.

Black/white pinstripe pants that are a modification of Loes' Hinse's Oxford pants, black poly suiting Bistro Jacket, also by Loes Hinse, and one of my go-to summer knit patterns, Simplicity 2603 in hot pink rayon jersey.  All of this is more than a couple of years old, but that's ok.  I kinda feel like the wardrobe is working when I pull out lonGstanding wardrobe residents. ;-)

I finished my brown stripe linen pants yesterday and are planning to wear them to work tomorrow.  They may be a bit rumpled by the time I get a photo, but I'm going to try to post two days in a row ;-)

Choir Wardrobe 5/31/15

...a day late.  Yesterday was a jam-packed day; I barely managed to get a photo during the 90ish minutes we were at home.  And the light washed the color out completely; I thought I'd have a good photo of the lavender linen top but it just looks pale pink.

Oh well.

Lavender Herb, black and gray were the colors for May,

I have embroidered rayon/linen Stretch and Sew 704 pants, Vogue's 8305 cardigan in black rayon/lycra jersey and the Cutting Line Designs My Heart's AFlutter shell top from what is actually, really, lavender linen.

The last time I wore the cardigan, I pulled it off and got a glimspe of daylight showing through.  There were some places that the seams had popped (it's pretty stretchy) but the fabric is just honestly wearing out.  It's really thin in some places and some of those seam holes were fabric failure.  I did some quick and dirty mending on it but it is now on my 'replace asap' list...

The costume jacket is finished to the button and buttonhole.  I think I"m going to hit the skirt next before I switch up the setup on the sewing machine.

Or maybe I'll just pull out the Kenmore and make a substantial cam buttonhole...

Choir Wardrobe 5/17/15

You really can't see much of the new Hearts A'Flutter top; you'll just have to trust me that it's there under the much-worn Jalie Pleated Cardigan.  The dark wash jeans are new; but they are a brand I didn't recognize off the sale rack at a local department store.  It's the same fringy scarf I wore last week; just tied differently.  Last week I wore it hacking-fashion (folded in half with the tails tucked through the loop at the fold) but that fringe is so heavy that it kept snugging up against my neck...I was continually tugging the loop back down into place.  This week I tied a slip knot, which worked much better.  I was worried that it would look crazy long, but as it turned out it blended in with the hemline of the jacket quite nicely, so it worked.  All nice and lavender-and-gray.

But it covered up the top.

Which probably isn't so bad.  There are  few fit issues; I have to remove some of the extra I added to the lower front and I need to adjust the bust dart and raise the underarm slightly.  It's also a little short to wear with any pants that do not come all the way to the natural waist...not as much overlap there as I'd like...which means most of my jeans (including the ones I wore today, which were the only dressy ones clean) are risky.  The cardigan makes that a non-issue.

The top is mighty comfy, though;I'll try and get the pattern tweeks done and make another one before the summer is over.  I'll review it once it's good to go.

 Loving this linen; I think I'm going to go ahead and make up the rest of the piece, just so I can wear it.  It won't get done in time for Choir...I've got an urgent project that's going to boot it out of the lineup, I think, but it can definitely go in the workwear rotation.

Choir Wardrobe 05 10

...In Which She Actually Remembers the Scarf:

Colors for May are Black, Gray and 'Lavender Herb'...which is kind of a pinky lavender.  Or maybe it's pink with lavender overtones.  Whatever.

CWC jeans with a gray Jalie 2566 T and Loes Hinse's Bistro Jacket in black poly suiting.

With the fringy poly burnout scarf.

Photo taken after three church services, a delightful lunch and ice cream treat with the kids.  Mother's Day and all...always glad for an excuse to hang out with the offspring. ;-)

Now I'm going to go up to the cutting room and not come out until I have something cut out of the lavender linen...