WIP Wednesday: the one with drafting

Trying to draft a slip undergarment using the Sicily Slip Dress pattern. It's not going quite as well as I'd hoped. Also, things are little crazy this week so I'm not doing great.

It's an undergarment, so I could probably fill in the gappy back bits just by sewing extra pieces on. It just means cutting them and adding stuff and...yeah. *sigh*

Cousin Quilts: the c3quilts - Cousin M Five

Finished Quilt One of the C4 quilts. It's not quite the planned colourway but close enough. I'll post it as a 'Finished Friday'.

I might have started on the next quilt in line - the one for Cousin P (Number 7 Cousin), but due to a trip I'm planning to make to Europe, I was thinking I'd make (and hopefully finish) the quilt for Cousin M (Number 5 cousin). They're the C3 quilts, and I've decided on the quilt pattern: The Bird's Hill Quilt by Stacy at The Blanket Statement. Modern style but will look good with some solids and some patterns, too.

Cousin M (Number Five) is getting married next year, I'm not sure whether we'll be invited to the wedding. He's been overseas for at least 5 years now, and we've drifted apart since then. Fond memories, but no guarantee we'll be invited to his wedding anymore. Anyway, I'm going to be in the UK in October and might try to see if I can meet up with him (and his fiancee). Hopefully with a quilt!

This is his colourway:

The problem with this colourway with the Birds Hill Quilt is that a background colour is needed. I don't have enough of the brown, and I think the blue is the best choice, given the background of the image above - the other colours are accents, which should probably be used quite sparingly.

And this is the fabric pull:

The browns are not quite as red as they're depicted, and the blue is more aqua than royal/ocean/pacific. I'm trying to decide if it's an okay choice for a forty-ish guy with a fairly bubbly personality.

Frocktober: the wardrobe switchover

Every year I think I'm going to do one of those 'Frocktober' or 'Sewvemmber' things, but I'm never in time - like decently in time with enough space to make plans and be involved in any meaningful way. And then this year, I remember, but I plan to be away for most of October!

Hm. Maybe I should plan my travel wardrobe for October. I guess it's a bit like a capsule wardrobe? Certain pieces set up to mix and match, based on personal style and activities.

So my style is casual comfortable, with the ability to dress it up and look nice - neat casual, I guess. I'm not stylish and wouldn't need much by way of 'stylish' I think.

Most of the travel is going to be touristing, walking in autumn weather in Europe and North America but not expecting any big hiking. (Note: locations will be Turkey, Scotland/Wales, and the north-eastern US/south-eastern Canada, and in mid-to-late October, these are likely to get coolish - possibly cooler than I'm accustomed to for the autumn period, so long sleeves, jackets, and warm socks for sure.)

How To Pack A Carry-On Luggage. Also checking out Autumn Carry On Capsule for Europe

The 4 by 4 Wardrobe:
Core 1: 2-3 tops, 1-2 bottoms, all in neutral (probably black)
black swing wrap, black slim jacket, black pants, black slinky
Core 2: 2-3 tops, 1-2 bottoms, all in a different neutral
denim jeans, black longsleeve, navy padded jacket, blue shortsleeve
Core 3: 2-3 tops, 1-2 bottoms, in third neutral or filling up from previous neutrals
white shirt, white shorts/capris/wraparound, black leggings, black shortsleeve
Core 4: 4 tops, accent & variety
red slinky, blue shortsleeve, sleeveless pink top, sicily top
also: Swimsuit, PJs, trench/rain jacket, desigual travel jacket, sicily dress (in a dark), black skirt, 2 scarves (red/orange or purple/blue, and the butterfly scarf)

From this, I'm thinking I could do with sewing:
-one sicily slip dress in dark print suitable for day/night wear
-one culottes/trousers/capris in white linen
-one sicily slip top in blue/patterns suitable for day/night wear

Although really the only thing that I really need would be the Sicily slip dress.

Maybe this is all more for summer than autumn? Hm. Need to think about this, my tolerance for cold is rather less than your average European or even North American.

WIP Wednesday: the one with a non-working sewing machine

My JUKI DX7 needs a service. It's decided to no longer work.

Which means I'm going back to the JUKI TL-90P, straight-stitch. Nothing wrong with that, I just haven't used it for...a while. Quite a long while, actually. Possibly years. Which is about as long as since I had the DX7 serviced, come to think on it.

I cleaned out the bobbin and the surrounding space, pulled off the bottom of the machine, and everything but I guess I knocked something out of alignment because it's no longer working.

Clunky noises. Won't even sew a straight stitch anymore. Underside looping. ARGH.

Luckily I think the pickup point for the machine is pretty much next suburb over...

Anyway: state of the C4quilt:

frocktails and clothing

Gotta work out a dress for frocktails. Either that, or lose weight to fit into my silvery party dress. (There's a lot of trousers I don't comfortably fit into right now, tbh.)

I started getting a tattoo yesterday. It's a Chinese-style dragon on my back, and yes, cue all the jokes about "girl with the dragon tattoo". I've wanted this tattoo for the last twenty years, which rather predates the book. I just never found a tattooing style I particularly liked.

What this means, though, is that backless dresses are going to be a thing going forward. Which could be a problem for my breasts, since I am easily a size C/D cup.

Anyway, the Portia Party Dress by Rebecca Page looks promising, although I don't know what fabric I'd use for it. Not that I have a shortage of fabrics available...

Alternatively: YT vid for cowl neck halter dress - straps around the back.

Another YT vid for cowl neck halter dress with zipper

...or I could just go the Sicily slip pattern. Which worked really well, actually.

To do clothing-wise before summer:
- Tea House dress
- finish hemming Sicily slip
- make the garden party dress from Pretty Woman

Clothing Posts (tag)