What do you think of my new background colour? The black was suddenly feeling too heavy and since it might as well be Spring out here, it seemed time to shed the dark Winter colours.

Recently, whilst organizing the old storage unit, it dawned on me the obscene amount of fabric I've been amassing for the past ten years or so, and I decided 2010 would be the year to turn some of that raw material into useful items. So, to go with today's Spring theme, I've pulled out a few of my floral fabrics. I would love to hear some suggestions on what I might do with them.

I thought maybe a 30's puffed sleeve blouse with this.

I'm really not sure what I had in mind with this one.

I only have a small amount of this and I had always figured on making patch pockets with it, but now I'm thinking perhaps a blouse yoke.

Ooh, this fabric is so delicious!!! I got it at Mandors and so far I've been too afraid to cut into it. Some day I hope it will become a dress.

I look at this fabric now and think "Why?". It really looks like horrible kitchen curtains, but at the time, I think I thought it looked like a Marimekko print and at one point I was going to make a skirt. I'm not so sure about that now.

I have so much of this fabric (A. and I bought a huge roll of it). Some day I'm going to design a whole collection around it just so I can get rid of all of it.

Okay, so I didn't finish my fifth garment by Sunday. I'm a little disappointed, but naturally I have obligations such as going to work that took precedence over my little project. Nevertheless, I am quite pleased with how much I got done - I don't usually get this amount of sewing done unless there is a grade being given out at the end. Incidentally, here is the pattern and fabric for my fifth garment (the blouse) which I hope to finish sometime this week.

Here's garment number four, a Cynthia Rowley design for Simplicity patterns. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out, though I accidentally melted a bit of the skirt with my iron (maybe if you view the enlarged photo you can see it - it's up in the gathering near the waistband). Even though I diligently measured the pattern before cutting, it still ended up being a bit more snug then I had anticipated. It's very comfortable while standing, but as soon as one sits down and consumes a bag of roasted nuts, it becomes necessary for one to unzip the zipper.

God Save McQueen!

Like everyone else even remotely interested in the world of fashion, I am deeply saddened by Alexander McQueen's tragic death. Though I was not, nor probably ever will be, able to afford any of his more magical designs, the more down to earth diffusions pieces that I have been able to purchase are among the favorite and most beautifully crafted pieces in my wardrobe (the above dress and leggings being two examples). In a sort of tribute to him, I have decided to tackle the kimono jacket pattern of his from SHOWstudio, something that I have long contemplated, but never felt experienced enough to take on. Now seems to be the perfect time to rise to this challenge.

garment 3

Oh man, this thing was a beast to sew!!! The garment itself is extremely simple and would have been quite breezy to do had I chosen a nice woven fabric like the pattern envelope suggested. Instead I used this tricot I've been hanging onto for years (I think it's probably from a yard sale) which made topstitching the arms and neck edges waaay more annoying than it needed to be. Sadly I didn't have enough fabric to do a nice job matching the border detail and had to piece the back. Oh well, the important thing is that the fabric is no longer sitting in a box and can now go about life as a productive member of my wardrobe. This tunic is based on Simplicity pattern 2472 with a few design overrides by me.

garment 2

So this came out a bit different from the picture. Well . . . okay, not THAT different, but mine has more of a yoke thing going on, while the original has almost an empire waist that is clearly not happening on me. I'm not complaining though, I actually prefer how mine has a higher cut neckline.

here's the original from Vogue Knitting Spring/Summer 2002

garment 1

Garment number 1 is this cozy green sweater. The pattern is by Twinkle and it basically took me a week to knit up including having to rip it up and start over not once, but three times!! Thank god for chunky wools! As you can see here the buttons are popping out, because even though I used the size called for in the pattern, they are too small for the button holes - something I am going to remedy as soon as I can find some new buttons. These current buttons, by the way, are vintage ones I bought a few years ago at the PCC swapmeet.

Welcome back readers! I've missed you. I took the last month off from posting, partly because of a lingering illness that made me just want to wear sweatshirts, jeans and slippers for the past month and partly because by the end of 2009's wardrobe project my closet was not more organized (indeed quite the opposite) and the whole business had become a bit tiresome. Posting endless pictures of my daily outfits without some sort of formal structure behind it is not something I can feel good about doing. Please don't get me wrong, I love seeing all the blogs and flickr pictures of other girls in their finery, right now I just don't feel like doing it myself.

At the moment I have several fashion related projects up my sleeve, the first of which being that I have set myself the goal of completing five garments by Valentine's Day (with extra points being given for finishing items that have been languishing in the sewing room for who knows how long).

Why five and why Valentine's Day? Well, lets just say that it involves my personal guilt over buying new clothing and a sale going on at a certain store.

Let the countdown begin!