Simplicity 1692 - Lovely Leopard

I've spent this past week working on Simplicity 1692. I decided to do View B, and I picked this lovely leopard print cotton that I purchased from a buy/sell/trade group I'm a part of. I had just the right amount for the blouse. As I have discussed in the past, my wardrobe is in desperate need of some separates so this is the first in an effort to remedy that situation.

If you follow me on Instagram, you may have already seen some of these. I've been posting my progress updates all week!

This was the progress after the first night. I had all the darts and tucks sewn, along with the bodice sides and shoulders stitched and serged.

After the second night, I had the back opening faced and the button and loop added. I also had the neckline bound and hand stitched down.

Night three saw the sleeves attached and bound. All that was left at this point was to add a zipper... (I would have done that sooner but I didn't have one the right size and color) and add the decorative bows on the arms and neckline.

They were added this morning. The pattern calls for an invisible zipper and that requires an invisible zipper foot. I don't have one of those and I'm terrible at inserting zippers by machine. So... I hand picked the invisible zipper! I'm so pleased with how it turned out. It's completely invisible and I'm very proud of it. I promise I will work on zippers and learning to insert them by machine in the very near future... Maybe.

So here's some pictures of the finished top. Modeled by my lovely purple headless assistant Millie.

I'm also very proud of the inside of this top. All my seams are completely serged and finished neatly. It's as lovely inside as it is outside.

And finally some pictures of the top on me... Ignore my lack of makeup and my 'hanging-out-around-the-house-with-the-kids' hair. Please. The fit on this blouse is pretty good. It's a bit snug in the arms, but that is normally a problem I have with both hand made and ready to wear tops. Guess I'm going to have to do a few more arm workouts each week.

All in all this was a great make and I'm pleased with how it turned out. This makes #VintagePledge make number four for me this year! I pledged five so I should have that knocked out soon. I'd love to double my pledge this year. 

Thanks again for hanging out through this. I hope everyone has a wonderful Memorial Day weekend (here in the states) and remember the reason why we get to celebrate this weekend. #rememberthebrave

Wardrobe Architect Challenge 2015 : April

April Task

The entire series covers Designing and Building Thoughtful Attire. The April task is Troubleshooting.

From the Coletterie Blog - "This month, we thought we'd take a brief pause in our Wardrobe Architect process to ask you: What challenges have you faced so far in planning your wardrobe?"

What is your biggest wardrobe challenge?

I posted my answer to this question in the comments on the blog as requested:

My biggest wardrobe challenge right now is my fluctuating weight. I am currently attempting to get myself into a better post baby shape. So I'm slowly knocking off the pounds. Which is great, but it's hell on my wardrobe. What fit last week, may not fit this week. I did however just purge 5 bags of clothes from my family wardrobe and that was such a huge breath of fresh air.

The more I think about this though, the more I realize, that I have several other problems that I need to troubleshoot as well.

Along with working to give myself a better post-baby body, I'm a nursing mom to a very active toddler. So I always have to take that into consideration. I need to make sure my wardrobe is nursing-friendly and not too complicated. I also need to make sure that my very unattractive, but necessary, nursing bras don't peek out, so neckline shapes play a factor here as well. I'm also chasing a five year old around, so comfort has to come into it also. when I'm not chasing them, I'm working in an office that requires my clothing to be business casual. There are lots of things to consider regarding my wardrobe choices.

What kind of problems do you face in your wardrobe?

What are some changes you would like to make?

Wardrobe Architect Challenge 2015 : March

March Task

The entire series covers Designing and Building Thoughtful Attire. The March task is Planning Your Sewing.

Once again, I've fallen behind on this. This time of year, is crazy in my house, birthdays and vacations and projects galore going on. So hopefully, I can get caught up by the end of this month. But then again, I'm offering no promises there... You never know what I might get up to.

I bought myself this adorable and invaluable little notebook full of pages for planning and designing garments. Beth Byrge (the creator of said book) has filled this book with resources for planning all of your sewing projects. You can get more information here! (*disclaimer - I have not been asked nor paid for a review of this book. This is just my personal opinion and observation.)

Simplicity 1692 - Planning to sew view B in this leopard print cotton.

Butterick B5708 - Planning to sew view A in this adorable pastel argyle cotton.

Vogue 2267 - Planning this dress and jacket in this lilac quatrefoilish print cotton.

McCall's M6993 - The chocolate brown suiting in this picture will be the skirt in View A. This is meant to coordinate with my Capelet from the Capelet-A-long.

I've collected quite a few patterns this year, and tons of new fabrics, so I'm sure that there will be an update to this post at some point when I get the chance to sort through them and make more future sewing plans. I know that it will include many more separates, as I'm learning I'm in desperate need of tops... like seriously, desperate.

Those are the sewing plans for now. This is always subject to change... As A.A. Milne said, "One of the advantages of being disorganized is that one is always having surprising discoveries!"

Until next time my dears!