The Dirty Dozen

Here they are:

Blue fleece jacket, black knit top, Pucci-style
print (from Gorgeous Fabrics) top

Brown and white sleeveless dress, brown
rayon cardiwrap, brown pants

3/4 of 3/4 length sleeve top (work in
progress), shown w/brown pants

Mesh top, DKNY black jeans

OK, there's a few things missing.  You'll just have to imagine a pair of blue jeans, an apple-green long sleeve fleece pullover, and a long-sleeve scoop neck t-shirt with a muted gray-green print and a sprinkling of copper studs.  The battery in the camera died before I could capture them all, and it will be at least several hours before they are recharged again.

Two in one day - possibly a new record!

I bet you're thinking I finished sewing two items today.  But you would be wrong, dear reader.  So wrong.

Tonight, after posting my 12-piece wardrobe plan for the "Express Checkout" experiment earlier in the day, I pulled together all the pieces to photograph them so I could show you the clothes. The black Slinky knit tank top (from Chico's via Goodwill many years ago) was balled up on the floor next to the laundry basket, and when I picked it up, I saw that it had holes.  Puppy-teeth-shaped holes. Sigh...

Guess I'll take that top AND the torn linen/cotton jeans:

off my list.  (Dammit.)

Let me introduce my *new* top, a black knit draped neck top with 3/4 length sleeves:

I'm hanging all the remaining pieces up nice and high in my closet.  And keeping the door closed.

"Express Checkout" Experiment

I'm going to take a shot at Duchesse's "Express Checkout" experiment beginning this Saturday.  Basically, I'm going to see if I can limit myself to 12 items of clothing for an entire month.  (There is no limit on accessories, such as scarves, shoes, jewelry, etc.)  Since I will be traveling a good chunk of the time the experiment is running, I'm starting with my travel wardrobe and adding a few items. 

My 12 items include:

Pants:
1. Black DKNY Soho jeans 
2. Indigo Slouch brand linen/cotton jeans  Michael Kors indigo jeans (The Slouch jeans split down the front four hours after I posted this!  Seriously, I just heard/felt a little rrrrrip! and looked down to see a two-inch tear a couple inches beside the button fly.  WTF? I really liked these $4.49 Goodwill jeans, too...)
3. Brown rayon/poly/lycra blend pants (I reserve the option to swap these out for another pair of pants if I finish them before Nov. 14.

Tops:
4. Long sleeve cotton t-shirt
5. Black tank top
6. Nylon mesh print long sleeve top
7. Brown/gray print 3/4 sleeve top (which is not yet finished!!!!)
8. Pucci print top


Sweaters:
9. Brown rayon cardiwrap
10. Green fleece pullover
11. Royal blue fleece jacket

Dresses:
12. Sleeveless brown & off-white Lily dress

I'm not going to count outerwear in my 12 items as Duchesse is; if I did, there would be 14 items (a plum wool car coat from LL Bean and a North Face rain jacket).  I may not even take all of it on my trip (11 days), since I will have access to a washer and dryer most of the time we are away. It will be interesting to me to see if/how the same 12 items work in the Pacific Northwest and northern New England at this time of year.


My plan is to take pictures each day (I'll probably post a bunch when I get back, so you'll have to wait until the end of this month to see them). I don't think limiting my wardrobe this way is going to be particularly difficult, since I am one of those people who wears 20% of their wardrobe 80% (or probably closer to 90%) of the time.

But wish me luck, anyway!

PatternReview.com to the rescue!

I posted my problem with the NL6735 on one of the Pattern Review.com message boards and got a great suggestion: this Burda Style magazine dress (01-2009-106):

I like the semi-flounced sleeve - some fullness, but not overwhelmingly so.  It looks like it has three two pieces, but one of the reviewers who made it did a version with four pieces, which is what I think I'm going to try. I think it's a perfect solution to my problem of not having enough fabric.

Now if I only had enough *time* to draft & sew the sleeve!

Somebody's trying to tell me something...

...but, of course, I'm not listening.

I started in on my New Look 6735 top today.  It's been painfully slow going for a simple knit shirt.  First off, I left my pattern pieces spread out on the dining room table, and the puppy got hold of the front and chewed it up (this was one I had previously done an FBA on).  So I ran out to Jo-Ann for a replacement.

Then, after spending almost an hour tracing my pattern pieces, re-doing the FBA, and trimming all the seam allowances to 3/8" (because the last time I made this up, I forgot that only the neckline SA was 3/8", and I serged the neck trim piece to the neckline using a 5/8" seam allowance.  WAY too low cut, even for me.)  I finally laid out the pattern on my fabric.  It's this lovely knit from Emma One Sock:

 I made sure to keep the big round medallion-looking things off my boobs, but I realized I had only ordered 1.33 yards, and I needed 1 3/8 for the 3/4 sleeve version. (And, of course, the fabric is sold out now - right after I realized how nice a matching skirt would be...)

I have enough to cut one full sleeve, but I'm short a few inches on the other piece.  It's a very busy print, so I think I can get away with piecing the sleeve, but I'm not sure how best to do that so it looks like a design element, and not a major screw-up on my part.  (Any thoughts?  Feel free to leave suggestions in the comments below.)

Also, I'm thinking of adding some ruffles to the neckline with the very tiny amount of leftover fabric I have, sort of like this Marc Jacobs top:

(Yes, the fabric has a very similar color scheme to the EOS knit print.) Anyway, I'm feeling a bit discouraged at the moment.  In theory, this should have been a 90-minutes-from-start-to-finish project.  I think I need to take a break (before I do something I'm going to regret) and pick it up again in the morning.

In the Queue: Anthropologie Facile Camp Shirt

I'm looking for some longer length tops to layer up this winter, and I like the military trend but prefer a softer look.  I think this shirt fits the bill:

You can't see the detail too well on these images, but it looks like the epaulets are made from bias tubes that have been braided, same with the detail across the back yoke.  Very soft and feminine looking, though it will have to be in a color other than army green, I think.