January Assignment - 12 months, 12 outfits

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

That was fun.

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

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

Loafers and earrings in the accent.

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

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

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

The black and the royal are ready to hand. 

Here we go!

The Sewing has started for SWAP...

At least, it's started on the Stitcher's Guild site.  I'm not going to even decide what I'm doing first until I see what Janice's picks are for the January wardrobe sets.  Pants and cardi in the main neutral with an accent top?  Accent pants w/ neutral top and cardi (twinset)?  Or will she do something other than pants?  I kinda doubt that...she has long maintained that a good basic pair of pants is the best first garment in wardrobe building.  But she has used a different neutral/accent combination every year so far...and with three pieces in the January set, she's pretty well exhausted the combos already.  So I'm not sure what we'll see when the posts go up.

But I've been digging around on the SG site and found that there have been some more definition/explanation added to the rules, one of which has me wondering if I can actually meet the requirements AND stick to my 12-months 12-outfits plan.  See, I'm required to pick two neutrals...which isn't at all hard, but I can only use 5 total pieces of additional fabric for the accents.  In other words, I couldn't have black and gray for my neutrals and then have two royal blue pieces made from different fabrics...if I had two royal blue pieces, they would have to be from the same fabric.

So that means a MINIMUM of six garments from the two neutrals, unless I manage to squeeze multiple garments from a length of fabric.  Twinsets R Us and all.

This may complicate things; if the picks for the month happen to be all accent pieces I could be in trouble.

But I have decided on ONE garment....my Epic Trench Coat from 2014 has never actually made it into a SWAP wardrobe; it was the only piece of the plan I actually finished that year.  And it will work well with the color scheme, so it's going to be my pre-made garment.

Which means I can't use the taupey brown again, as I don't have any more fabric to use for even shorts or something.

So more pondering, with decisions to be made this week after the new scarf inspirations and the January choices are up.  I'm kinda curious to see what scarves are chosen this year; I confess, last month I did a pretty thorough look through the Hermes site and picked out six scarves that I think met her criteria for wardrobe inspiration...so I'm curious to see if I guessed right.

Just so Facebook has a pic to put with the post when I link it up, here's a reminder of the inspiration scarf for this year's new wardrobe:

In other news, I ordered some more dark green fabric in case we use it again in choir next December.  A piece of poly/lycra stretch velvet, which I hate sewing and am not fond of wearing, but the COLOR was just gorgeous.  A yard of sequin-encrusted lace and  some forest green poly chiffon.  No pictures, because my cutting table is currently in use as a Christmas wrapping station (oh, yes, we traveled for the holidays so our family Christmas gathering will be January 1st...the 8th day of Christmas, for those who track such things.  I still have the trees twinkling and the Christmas music playing and everything.  Bucking the culture, but it works for us.... ;-)

2018 sewing recap post coming sometime soon...not that there's that much to recap, lol.  Next year should be different...

Another top done...

Hanger shots are pitiful...but, I probably won't get this worn till next week, and then the festivities will prevent a true blog post.

Last January, I ordered a couple of pieces of forest green knit...a 4-way jersey and a ponte...because we had been using that dark green color in choir in December and I had, like, nothing. 

Sure enough, the forest green came up again this year.

So I pulled out my jersey, and discovered that it had a serious void running all the way across the fabric about 7" from the end.

Then I remembered...I think this came from the roll ends page, and had a note about a flaw.

So, well, I cut it off at the void and then had to pick the pattern based on the length of fabric I had left.  I had intended to make Vogue 8691with the flouncy bits because I thought it would move so pretty, but, well, there just wasn't enough.  I played with some other patterns, but it pretty much boiled down to a plain T...or I could make 8691 without the flouncy stuff.

So I squeezed the 8691 onto the fabric and had enough, since I was cutting the neckband from the waste bit past the flaw.

But, the season being what it is and all, it laid on the cutting table for a week and a half or so before I finally cut it out...and I made myself cut it out before I started wrapping Christmas presents (the cutting table is also the Christmas wrapping station...isnt' it?).  And then it sat on the sewing machine table for another week or so.

I wasn't in choir the first two Sundays anyway; last week I made do with basic black and a black and green scarf.   I won't be in choir next week, either, and I don't know if I'll get laundry done in time to wear it on the 30th.  But I have it now.

And it would look better a bit longer.  But there just wasn't enough fabric for me to add even an inch and a half to the pattern, so I just went with what I had.  Maybe I'll hunt around and add lace or something sheer to it later....but it'll do for now.

I clicked through on Janice's links from the December Outfit-a-month post and, based on her recommendation,  splurged on a Lands' End sale and got a pair of dark green stretch velvet jeans and, except for being a little long (I didn't order petite), they actually fit well.  And they look good with the sparkly gold print on forest green long sleeved T I bought to go with them.  And, I believe they will work well with this top also.  So I've pretty much got the Christmas party outfits set, even if I don't wear the dark green for choir this month.

Maybe I'll clear the Christmas prep off the cutting table and see if I can squeeze in one more top...ever the optimist...

Bravery required....

The Alabama State Royal Ranger Leadership retreat was the last weekend in October; always a nice break to get away to the state AG conference center...which is a beautiful spot a couple hours south of us.

 

Every year, missionaries come in to share their ministry; this year, we had both home and foreign missions represented....including a young couple working in India.  One of the areas they are working in had a lot of women with very little opportunities, so they began a small business, employing the ladies to sew from home making Kantha quilts.  They taught the ladies how to sew the quilts and now these ladies actually have a marketable skill and can help their families.

They  had some small and medium blankets with them for sale, plus scarves and headwraps.

I got excited.  I'd seen so many GORGEOUS projects made from Kantha quilts.  It was quite a challenge to go through the pieces they'd brought to find something that I could use.  The largest blankets they  had with them were medium, which are about 40" wide and 6 feet long.  I could get a jacket front and back from one piece, but I needed another piece for the sleeves.  Finally I found a medium blanket and  a  small blanket with comparable pinks and close-enough greens.  The  larger piece is 5 saris thick (two outer ones plus three layered inside) while the smaller one is 3 saris thick (only one inner for batting).

They have a website, with quilts available, as well as a link to meet their artisans and learn their stories:

 ReMade India

The blankets have labels with the names of the ladies who made them.  Whatever I make, the labels are going to be part of the finished product.

First issue:  deciding on a pattern to use
Second issue: Placing the pattern on the quilts to best use the fabric design
Third issue:  Being brave enough to cut into it.

Not sure when this is going to happen...but I gave myself the challenge to finish it so I can wear it to next year's conference. ;-)

A little charity sewing...

One of the featured elements of any gathering related to Alabama Royal Rangers (Boys ministry program similar to Boy Scouts, only more faith-based) is an auction to raise money for missions.  Items range from gear for the 18-century frontiersmen auxiliary group to Ranger collectibles (patches, etc) to home decor and jewelry (because we need something for the ladies, too) if it's a wives-included event.

The annual sectional Thanksgiving dinner is one such event, so I made a TSW Tamari Apron for my contribution:

It's terrible to photograph...you can't hang it up, because it's worn on the diagonal....head and right arm through the loop on the right side, and it ties to the other end in the back.

The fabric was leftover from my first attempt at a circle table cloth, so it's upholstery cotton canvas.  Which means it's Scotchgarded and stain resistant...perfect for an apron, yes?  I made the ties out of bias tape instead of the canvas, which I felt was too heavy to tie easily.

It got $25 at the auction (I did pull a friend up to model it, lol).  A fair price.

I'm off from work this week, but not much sewing is likely to get done. Too much pre-holiday housecleaning to do.

The Actor is coming home for Thanksgiving (maybe I should change his moniker since he's not that involved in theater...still, children's ministry IS largely performance art, so maybe it still works...) and the married kids will be with us this year.  We're totally traditional...the Macy's day parade, turkey dinner with all the trimmings.  No football here...we watch the old black and white Miracle on 34th street to usher in the holiday season.  I may even start pulling out Christmas decor this weekend, even though it's still November.  Next weekend is booked up, as is the weekend after, so, well, this may be the only chance before the middle of the month.

So...off to see how much cleaning I can get done in the next two days. 

Wishing all my US friends a blessed feast of Thanksgiving, however you celebrate!

Hit a sale....

What possessed me to click on Fabric Mart's website a couple of weeks ago?

And discover that they were in the midst of a 60% off everything sale.

So lookit what landed on my doorstep last Thursday...

4 pieces...the most expensive of which turned out to be $6.04/yd, after taking into account the discounts, the generous cutting, and flat rate shipping.

Gray cotton/poly/lycra suiting...for next year's wardrobe, the gray is good with the scarf, as is the creamy white of the denim-like stretch cotton/lycra twill.  Spring/summer, probably, as light as the colors are.  The royal blue and white was a bit of a disappointment...it's REALLY thin and sheer.    Not sure what I'll be able to do with it.  Not what I'd planned, that's for sure.  But the brown/white/blue print is a nice weight rayon jersey.  Haven't put it up against the scarf yet to see if it will work with the colors, but even if it doesn't it will be a good knit top.

And that's pretty much all the sewing anything I've gotten done in a month, lol.  Well...not quite.  We did a scene from the Gospel According to Scrooge at a small town 'tree-lighting' celebration last Friday, and it was, well, chilly for these parts.  I found the renmant of the army blanket I'd whacked ironing board pads from, squared up the dangly bits and made a stout wrap to keep me somewhat warm whist we haggled over Scrooge's fine linen shirt and bed linens wot we took off 'im whilst 'e was lyin' there....lol. I also found one of the first attempts to make skirts for the charladies...a straight draw-string skirt that didn't work for the era...and sewed up the bottom to make a bag for 'aulin' th' spoils'....So maybe I did get a bit done   Kind of appropriate as last week (the 4th, actually) was the 13th anniversary of the day I logged on for the first time to talk about costuming the 2005 production of  Scrooge.  The plan was to just do the scene for the Friday night event, but rumor has it that we will be doing it again for a Sunday morning service in December as a 'teaser' for the revival of the show in December, 2019.

Hm.  I may have blogging material again. LOL.

SWAP 2019 -- Pre-swap musings

The Stitcher's Guild 2019 SWAP Challenge Rules are up and...wow, pretty much anything goes.  I mean, well, there are some guidelines but they shouldn't be hard to work with.  Basically...build a cohesive wardrobe of 11 garments. (For the unfamiliar, SWAP = 'Sew with a plan')


So long as you start with an inspiration piece...artwork, photograph, natural object, or...scarf...

Lawsy, lawsy, if I don't participate in the SWAP next year it will be a shame, as I'm going to spend the year making a wardrobe based on a scarf.

I think I've decided to go with the hummingbird scarf.  It has more options, including gray and royal blue (which I didn't swatch...I swatched the denim-y blue), which are not in the fox scarf.

The colors in the photo are quite muted, compared to the actual scarf, so the tiles are muted, too, but at least that is something to work with.  And I may not use those accent colors....those are just some I pulled for the practice of it.  I hope to get a better photo...one that really shows the color saturation...and then I can pull the swatches better.
Now, sewing the 12-months-12-outfits, I would only have about 8 garments by the end of April...and that's if I make EVERYTHING.  Now, the SWAP rules do allow for one purchased garment, one garment made prior to, well, this week, and one garment made between now and the official start of SWAP sewing, Dec. 26.

This is going to be way more structured than the last SWAP wardrobe I did...which was all about sewing fast.  This one...I'm going to have to do some real planning and disciplined sewing.

Not my strong suit, but, well, I need clothes, so we'll see what I can manage.