Happy New Year!

Yes, I know it's February.  Today, however, is the Lunar New Year.  I had a friend over on the weekend for a Sewing Day and we got to talking about how we didn't really live up to our expectations for ourselves for this year (aka we totally sucked at some of our plans only one month in).  We decided to use the Lunar New Year as a turning point to reassess and make some adjustments in our plans for the coming year.  We also decided we're going to be accountable to each other for some of our plans.

The past six months or so for me have been somewhat of a blur.  An amazing blur, but a blur nonetheless.  Work has been crazy busy, with a change in positions. It's been an adjustment but it's working out very well.  I enjoyed a vacation that saw my entire family together celebrating the wedding of my brother to my favourite sister-in-law.   My daughter and her spouse announced that they are expecting their second child, and my first grandchild has grown in leaps and bounds (literally and figuratively).  I travelled A LOT. I spent one weekend in September at Disney for a very close friend's birthday.  I spent the following weekend in New Orleans for work. I also travelled a lot for work in my home province, essentially I only spent at most two nights in a row at home through the entire month.   As a result, I was sick as a dog in November with sinusitis, bronchitis and an ear infection that took a lot out of me.  As soon as I recovered, December was in the full Christmas spirit swing, seeing the usual round of social activities, parties and family get-togethers.  I rang in January with what is now happily becoming my traditional Sewing Retreat.  In all honesty, I'm not really sure where January went, but it's been cold and snowy.  And here we are, February and all caught up.

I've been sharing some of my makes on Instagram (I have a private account, but if you've got sewing or knitting or something related in your profile, I will approve your request to follow me), but am very aware of how little I've shared on this blog.  I'm not going to apologize, but I really do miss the accountability factor that sharing my goals and planning blog posts bring to me.  I can't promise how much I'll actually be posting, but I really do enjoy interacting with my sewing friends online.  So...let's get on with the most recent post!

I have been sewing like someone obsessed, because...well...I am! Ringing in the (calendar) New Year with a sewing retreat reset my creativity and made me really want to spend some more dedicated time in my Atelier.  I'm currently working through some planning that I did a few weeks ago and have almost finished the capsule that I planned. 

There are a lot of options for planning a capsule wardrobe.  For this one, I chose the Sewing Sudoku method as the basis for this wardrobe.  You can find a free printable here:  Melly Sews Wardrobe Sudoku Planner. I have a work trip at the mid-to-end of February and thought this would make the perfect opportunity to work a few new things into my wardrobe.  The Sudoku method sees four tops and four bottoms coordinated with four pairs of footwear/shoes and four accessories.  For this plan, I am including all layering pieces rather than accessories as it is COLD in Canada in the winter and I need the extra pieces in my wardrobe to stay warm. I LOVE my accessories and will be adding them in, but not in a formalized plan.

My plan is this:

WARM WINTER SUDOKU WARDROBE

Tops
Top #1 - Butterick 3124, Sandra Betzina Today's Fit with cowl neck (view A), in olive green stretch lace


Top #2 - McCalls 5536 Twist Top (view C & E), in espresso brown rayon/lycra jersey


Top #3 - Butterick 3124, Sandra Betzina Today's Fit shell (view B), in cream stretch lace


Top #4 - Sew Over It Pussy Bow Blouse, in cream lightweight polyester textured crepe


Bottoms
Bottom #1 - Vogue7607 asymmetrical skirt, in olive green textured faux leatherette


Bottom #2 - Vogue 8202 wide-legged jeans, in espresso brown fine wale corduroy


Bottom #3 - Simplicity 4596 pleated skirt (View A), in greige textured faux leatherette


Bottom #4 - Closet Case Ginger Jeans,  in rust orange lightweight stretch denim


Layering Pieces
Layering Piece #1 - Vogue 7764 military style jacket, in olive green cotton velveteen


Layering Piece #2 - New Look 6013 vest, in a heavyweight sueded olive green knit


Layering Piece #3 - Vogue 1517 jacket, in brown wool blend suiting

Layering Piece #4 - McCalls 7257 cardigan jacket in loosely woven fabric in cream, rust orange, khaki, and burgundy


Shoes
Shoes #1 - Brown faux alligator heeled pumps
Shoes #2 - Khaki boots, similar in styling to faux Doc Martin
Shoes #3 - Cognac low heeled riding boots
Shoes #4 - Cognac suede booties

I'll have to buy a few notions but this plan uses mostly items from my stash - even some vintage stash! 

I love planning wardrobe capsules.  I love new clothes and I love being able to have a highly wearable wardrobe when they're completed. 

Sewjo is a Fickle Thing

After completing the Spring in Prague SWAP, I was a little lost as to what to sew next.  I hadn't lost my sewjo, but just really couldn't choose what to sew next.  Does anyone else feel this?  It was probably a combination of too much sewing stimulation while I was on holidays, as in "I want to sew ALL the things!" because I actually had time to browse blogs, but had no access to a sewing machine.  Combine this with jet lag and no real plans, and it turned into a full-blown analysis paralysis situation.

I took the proverbial step back after realizing it was the end of June with the start of July being very near (How did that happen?), and we were more than the halfway through the year.  I made some goals at the beginning of the year that I hadn't reviewed for a while and decided to pick my next project from the #makenine2018 list I had made.

While I was on holidays, I was struck by the number of gorgeous dresses I saw women wearing. Dresses, in my opinion, are the perfect answer to hot weather, especially if they have no defined waist.  Due to the unseasonably hot weather we've been having recently, I chose McCalls 7387 from my #makenine2018 list for my next project.

I decided on a cross between View A and View C, using the sleeve bands, and the style of hem from View A, but the length of View C.  I also opted not to include pockets.  I chose a black cross-weave cotton-mystery blend fabric from my stash.  I thought that the mystery fabric was mildly stiff but should relax with washing.  If it didn't relax as much as I want as quickly as I wanted it to, I figured I would wash it with some Coke.  It turns out that I had the perfect amount of fabric for this dress.  I cut size Large, and didn't do any of my standard adjustments - I figured that it was a pretty relaxed fit with plenty of ease, so I hoped it would be okay and just went ahead and cut.

I started sewing it with high hopes, but then my sewjo just took a dive.  I couldn't figure out why at first and came up with all sorts of reasons as to why I was avoiding the sewing room.  It was too hot.  I was too tired.  I worked a 14 hour day.  It was too early to go into the sewing room.  There was too much stuff on the cutting table.  I had laundry piled on the ironing board.  It was too late.  The dog ate my homework...you get the idea.  I had a sewing retreat planned with a friend of mine and really needed to figure this out!!

This past weekend was our sewing retreat and I was still sort of "meh" about this project, but it was my current project that was already in progress.  My machines were threaded up with the right colour, and had the right needles, and I really wanted to finish the dress just for the sake of finishing it.  I told myself that pressing will make the dress better.  The fabric will get softer as I wear it over time.  I had hangups about the back pleats and how the fabric sort of stuck out from my butt when I tried it on, as well as the shoulder width feeling much too wide, but I just told myself it would be magically okay if I kept working on it.  So, in spite of all of this, I soldiered forward telling myself I couldn't make any judgements about this garment. 

I kept merrily sewing along, to the point of the directions for the front "fly," front "band" and front "facing."  Things did not go as planned, and I ended up with a very nicely executed backwards opening front hidden placket that seemed significantly lower than what the pattern illustrations indicated.  When dissecting the instructions to figure out what went wrong, my sewing friend kindly pointed out that I had been kvetching about this project for the entirety of the time we were in my Atelier and that maybe I should just ditch the whole thing and start fresh.

Which is what I did.

And I'll be damned if it didn't feel good!

Of course, this coincided with the end of the sewing day for us, so I very happily poured myself a glass of a celebratory glass of wine for the return of my sewjo and delved into plans for my next project*. 

The moral of the story is that sometimes it's just best to cut your losses and move on! 


*I'm pleased to announce the sewjo has returned with a frenzy and the cutting table is currently littered with fabric and patterns for my next capsule wardrobe!

My Current Favourite

While scrolling through my photographs recently, I realized I had a couple of finished items that I haven't yet posted about.  I felt compelled to write a post about this particular finished object because it really is fast becoming one of my favourite things to wear. It truly is a multipurpose dress (that's a Kinsey Milhone reference for those who enjoy Sue Grafton's novels as much as I do!). It can be dressed up or down, depending on the accessories.  It has no defined waistline, which for me at the moment is great - hello winter of too much lazing about combined with changing hormones!  That also means it is super cool and breezy to wear in the heat of the summer.

My current favourite multipurpose dress is the shorter version of McCalls 6559.



I've made this dress three times now, once as the maxi and twice as the shorter length.  While I love the maxi, I feel too warm when I wear it in the summer.  I honestly also feel rather disproportionate with the swath of fabric emphasizing my long legs and shorter upper body (I'm 5'9" with a 35" inseam).

The shorter versions, though, have been worn a few times a week.  I'm also gravitating towards them when I come home from work and need to get into something comfortable.  I made a black one a few years back out of a cotton/rayon/lycra jersey.  My most recent make is out of a chartreuse green microfibre jersey.

 

This is great fabric.  It feels so dressy and sexy to wear, it skims the curves and just hangs so nicely.  I had some trouble with the photographing of this dress, as you can see - the photographs came out in all sorts of different colours.  The truest colour is the photograph of the back view on the right.

I finished the neck and armholes with strips of self-fabric cut on the cross-grain.  I cut the strips 2" wide and just shorter than the length of the opening.  I joined them in a circle, then folded them in half, wrong sides together and stitched them to the right side of the openings.  A light press with the iron finishes them off.  I think it is just a more professional finish than the turn-and-stitch hems often recommended in the pattern.

I also made the longer cardigan that is included with the pattern out of the same fabric.  I opted not to hem it at all because the topstitching of this fabric was giving me FITS.  It was easy enough to do, I used a rotary cutter to cut it out and make the seam edge very even and clean.  It made the cardigan a super-quick project.

 

I wore it a lot on my recent vacation, including a dinner at the Zofin Palace in Prague!

I'm sure I'll be making more of these this summer - in fact, I already have some treasured souvenir fabric from my vacation last summer pulled for this!

Spring in Prague SWAP Wrap Up

So, despite the uninterrupted posts from my blog, I am back from my vacation to Prague and Vienna.  So recently in fact, I'm still going to bed at 9 pm and waking up at 3 am.  Jet lag is an unavoidable evil when travelling to Europe!  I don't seem to have much trouble with it while I am away - mostly because we packed our days so full of exciting things to do and walked so much (about 10-20 km a day), and it was SO hot, we were worn out by the end of the day and slept like babies!  Any ideas on how to re-assimilate into real life would be very much appreciated!

Real life while away - here I am hard at work (I am actually checking work emails)
at a cafe in Prague wearing Infinity Dress B5606

I thought I'd do a little summary of my wardrobe and how my plans turned into reality and how my wardrobe actually worked  out while I was away.  I varied a little from my SWAP plan, and I can honestly say I brought too many clothes. 

Mom and I on the St. Charles Bridge in Prague
I'm wearing a self drafted shirt over a RTW cami and brown cotton skirt

In reviewing my photos, I've noticed that despite my intentions to have each outfit photographed, that never truly materialized, this despite taking a million selfies to document the trip. 

Mom and I at the Schonbrunn Palace Rose Gardens in Vienna
I'm wearing a Loes Hinse Perfect Tee in a shear animal print
with a beige cami underneath with a beige cotton skirt

So, after a distinct lack of me modelling my clothes for you on this blog, this post will contain *a few* of these selfies and that will hopefully give you at least a bit of the flavour of my travel wardrobe.  And my trip :) 

Marillen weiss gespritzt on a boat on the Danube,
wearing a RTW top - it's too hot for a necklace!

Here's a list of what I brought:

- KS moto jacket in sage green cotton twill blogged here
- Helen's Closet Blackwood cardigan sweater in dark khaki lacy sweater knit blogged here
- V1291 top in blush pink blogged here
- self drafted men's style shirt in natural linen blend
- B5678 in black lightweight cotton voile
- self drafted men's style shirt in snakeskin print poly georgette
- New Look 6068 sleeveless top in brown and blush print (also blogged here)
- New Look 6068 sleeveless top in green and black print
- RTW sleeveless top in leopard (or some type of animal) print (very similar style as New Look 6068)
- RTW camis, one in beige and one in chartreuse microfibre knit
- three RTW cotton tees in rose pink, blush pink and olive green
- two Loes Hinse Perfect Tees in cocoa with gold lightweight knit and one in sheer animal print
- RTW cotton tank in olive green
- M7686 view A off-the-shoulder top in light olive green microfibre knit
- Closet Case Patterns Ginger Jeans in beige stretch cotton/poly blend
- V8330 jeans in blush stretch cotton
- McCalls miniskirt in beige stretch cotton/lycra blend
- McCalls miniskirt in textured brown cotton/lycra blend
- McCalls miniskirt in green cotton/lycra blend
- RTW grey running shorts
- RTW grey/black lightweight pullover sweater
- self-drafted olive green yoga pants
- B5606 infinity dress blogged here
- M6559 dress (shorter length) and matching tie front cardigan in chartreuse microfibre knit
- M6886 dress, sleeveless in black and white stripe medium weight microfibre knit
- one piece bathing suit in totally uncoordinated colours of turquoise and red (the only one I have that I really want to be seen in public in if I'm not swimming laps!)
- dark olive green pashmina
- cream cotton/linen/rayon blend lightweight scarf
- pink/gold cotton blend lightweight scarf
- two pairs of wool handknit socks, various shorty socks, undergarments & toiletries
- various jewelry
- burgundy lightweight Reebok running shoes (fitted with my orthotics!)
- beige heeled Rockport sandals
- beige ballet slipper style shoes

Entering the Subway in Prague to travel to Vienna with all my luggage
wearing Blackwood cardi, New Look 6068 top and blush V8330 jeans

I wore the beige jeans, moto jacket, cream shirt, brown and blush top, heeled sandals and olive green pashmina on the plane.  Believe it or not, the rest of this wardrobe fit into a standard carry-on bag.  I fill my shoes with small clothing items (underwear, socks, camis) and put them into my suitcase first.  I use the rolling method of packing - I roll everything and literally compress it into the suitcase space, starting with the large items and filling the gaps with the smaller items.   

I also carry a standard day-size back pack with organizing pockets, which had my small size travel umbrella, camera bag, knitting projects (socks because they're so portable!) and extra yarn, iPad, Kindle, various chargers and electrical adapters, maps, hand sanitizer, sunscreen and wipes and my (very small) purse.  When touring around during the day, I leave some of that stuff at home, bringing my camera, umbrella, one sock knitting project, maps, hand sanitizer, sunscreen, wipes and my purse.

Cafe in Prague, New Look 6068 top with green cotton skirt

Ready for the day in New Look 6068 top and
McCalls stretch cotton skirt

I always research the anticipated weather before I travel.  I expected the temperatures to be about 20-23 degrees Celsius in both Prague and Vienna while we were there, with a few days of rain.  Despite my research, it was unexpectedly unseasonably hot and humid (about 30 degrees Celsius or more most days), so my two pairs of pants saw very, very little wear (only on the train and plane). 

Lunch in a monastery/brew pub in Prague
wearing a Loes Hinse Perfect Tee in a cocoa/gold knit
and the brown cotton skirt

A sleepy me, first thing in the morning wearing a RTW
lightweight knit sweater and self-drafted yoga pants

I wore the jacket once and the cardigan two or three times. I wore the grey/black sweater and yoga pants in the mornings when I woke up if it was cool.  The running shorts and grey cami/tank were worn as pajamas. 

St. Peter & Paul Cathedral in Prague, wearing
B5678 shirt over New Look 6068 top

Overlooking Prague, wearing B5678 shirt over New Look 6068 top

I threw in an extra skirt at the last minute; all of the camis and two of the sleeveless tops were last minute additions as well.  I'm very glad I had my "extra items" - they got a lot of wear in the hot weather.  While the camis were quite bare, I wore them under the shirts with the sleeves rolled up - loose and cool, yet covered from the sun.  If I went into churches or galleries, I would button up the shirt or tie the shirt tails at the front.  It was so hot, I often wore two or three tops throughout the day, so I'm really glad I had them all.  We had laundry facilities at the AirBnBs where we spent the majority of our time and the camis and tanks got washed a couple of times. 

Dinner in the Zofin Palace in Prague, wearing M6559

At the operetta Gasparone in Vienna, wearing B5606 Infinity Dress

I also wore both dresses a few times - we went to a fancy dinner in the Zofin Palace in Prague and we also went to an operetta in Vienna (amazing, particularly because it had a screen with English subtitles), and I wore the dresses on days that we were sightseeing and forecast to be particularly hot.  The dresses turned out to be very cool as they had no defined waistline or belt, and could be dressed up or down depending on what I wore with them. 

Infinity dress B5606 

I didn't use the olive green pashmina at all, except on the plane to Europe, but the cream scarf came with me everywhere.  It was great if there was an unexpected draft from air conditioning in galleries or museums, or if I wanted to protect my shoulders from the sun.  The pink scarf didn't get out of the suitcase at all.  Not sure why, it would have worked just as well as the cream one. 

Stairway to Klimt exhibit in Vienna
wearing a RTW olive tee with the cream scarf

Rose garden in Vienna near the winter palace
wearing Blackwood cardi with the cream colour scarf

I only wore the off-the-shoulder top once which also means I only wore the specialized undergarment (strapless bra) it needed only once.  I never wore the bathing suit but knew it was only "just in case."  I also didn't wear any of the pink tees - they just felt too heavy and hot, even first thing in the morning.  I never wore the ballet flats either - I opted for the lightweight running shoes almost every day.  They were very breathable, and I needed them for all the walking!

Ready for Dad's conference opening ceremony
and reception, wearing M7686 View A

As noted above, I often throw in extra things at the last minute, just in case, particularly if I have the room in my suitcase.  This worked out really well in the long run for this trip, but I had a lot of things I really didn't particularly "need" but ended up being really nice to have.  I did however expand and check my suitcase on the way home, and bought an inexpensive bag to carry a few souvenirs with me (ahem, yarn, ahem, sewing magazines and some new scarves that worked really well with the colour scheme of this travel wardrobe along with some books and clothes for my grandson) that I couldn't resist.  I almost regretted the decision to check my bag when waiting for half an hour around the luggage carousel waiting for my bag to come out, but souvenir yarn and La Maison Victor!!  Need I say more?

Aperol Spritz on a HOT day in Prague, wearing M6886 dress

I love planning travel wardrobes.  I love feeling prepared for the adventure of a trip, and I absolutely love that we were mistaken for locals many times on the trip (until we opened our mouths to say anything, that is!). 

Lunch at a pub in Prague with Mom, I'm wearing a RTW olive
tank top with a beige cotton skirt

The one take away for me is to be a bit more ruthless when packing and not throw in things at the last minute, just in case, which will leave some room in my carry-on bag for the inevitable souvenirs.  Then I can truly say I traveled carry-on.

Travelling from Vienna back to Prague on the train, wearing
one of the new scarves I bought

What an amazing trip.  I am truly blessed.