Sunset Over the Sea

I've decided that I need to make time to do some sewing for myself. After losing weight this past summer, I gave away all my cute clothes that I've made. Now that I've gained it all back, I don't have anything to wear. I have been spending time shopping at the thrift stores so I'm not completely nakky, but I'm not dressing as cute as I used to. So, as I journey through weight loss again, I need to make some things to wear.

While searching through my fabric collection, I've found some pieces that will work together for a mini wardrobe SWAP (sewing with a plan). I'm calling it, "Sunset Over the Sea," based on the photo at the top of this blog post. My pieces will include a black and a white cardigan, three printed knit tops and two pair of pull-on pants. Each top will go with each pair of pants and the cardigans should go with everything as well.

I started with the pant fabric choices, which are eggplant and teal. It was a lot of fun shopping in my collection. I have so much fabric that I really won't need to buy more in my lifetime. Of course that would be ridiculous. However, I'm planning on shopping in San Francisco for the Patternreview meeting at the end of April, so I'm saving my money for shopping then.

 

These three knit prints are from Michael Levine's Loft, which I've mentioned before. I always find the greatest knits there. I remember Gigi Louis saying that good knits are hard to find, so you need to get them when you see them. This probably isn't true any longer, especially for me since I love so close to Los Angeles, but I still live by that idea. 

 

Burda 2569 is my TNT pull-on pants pattern. I've probably made it a dozen times or more. It's made for stretch fabrics, so every pair I've made from the pattern fit weather I'm up or down in my weight. I've also made pajama pants from the pattern with quilting cottons, but I add one inch at the side seams for a very comfortable fit. Unfortunately, the pattern is out of print, but you still might be able to find it on-line somewhere. The eggplant fabric I'm using for the pants is a Rayon/Poly/Lycra woven suiting fabric from JoAnn's and the teal fabric is a poly/cotton/lycra stretch twill from my local mill-end store. Both have just the right amount of stretch for my pattern. Luckily, I haven't lost this TNT pattern yet. I need a vault for all my TNT patterns. I still haven't given up hope for finding my TNT t-shirt pattern, although I have run out of places to look.

This is the pattern from my mini dress from my last blog post. I'm going to make the top with 3/4 length sleeves from the knit fabric with the colorful zigzag stripes. I think the print will be interesting with all the twist and gathers in the pattern.

I'm using this pattern with the straight hem for the knit fabric with the black background. It has a pretty large print and would benefit from a pattern with few seams. I will eliminate the center front seam and the sleeve tabs. It will be a quick and easy top to make since I've already made it once before and know it fit me large last time. Oh goodie, a pattern I won't have to enlarge.

 

For the last knit fabric, the one with the green, teal, and purple with a white background, I'm making this hotpatterns top with the short sleeves. I've made the pattern before and really like it. The last time I made it I shortened the tie which makes it so much more wearable. This top will look good with either the black or white cardigan.

Because one my tops has dolman sleeves, I decided that I needed to have one of my cardigans with dolman sleeves as well. I'm making the drape front cardigan from a black rayon/lycra jersey that has lots of drape. It's not very heavy and won't be warm, but it will help give my new wardrobe some polish. I should be able to wear this item with each of the tops.

The other cardigan I'm making will be the jacket from this pattern. It's a raglan sleeve shirt style with no closure. While knit isn't one of the suggested fabrics, I will be using the heavy white cotton lycra knit. I will be adding a FBA rotated into gathers in the raglan sleeve seam. I think the fabric will be soft enough to handle the bulk of the gathers. The knit will also make this jacket easy to fit, especially since it has a pleat in the back for more room to drape over my behind.

My plan is for these pieces to be quick and easy to make and fit without a lot of alterations. I hope they will be too big for my once spring is in full swing. Tomorrow I have a friend visiting after work, but by Friday, I should be able to get started cutting everything out. I expect to bang out a few items this weekend. I can hardly wait to have some cute, made by me, clothes to wear next week.