Dreaming of Sewing!

 So this lusciousness is about the prettiest plaid fabric I've ever seen.  It's magical, perhaps due to its Rainbow hues.  I'm torn about which fab 70's pattern it should become.  

   I know, they're very similar. I like the center view of Simplicity 8649, with the long sleeves, scoop neck and pants, and the from Simplicity 9504 I like every view, especially the skirts. 

Next up, we have my obsession with brocade.  I feel like this conglomeration is a perfect example of how I seem to want to be a mix of  mid-60's bouffant Liz Taylor and 1975 Cher.  Seriously, look at the two different illustrations for View 1!  One is Cher, the other Liz!  I have enough of this fabulous brocade to make hot pants too.

 This gorgeous fabric is a wool blend, and it's crazy how fantastic it is.  I like the idea of View 3 for this.  It's a little mod, a little Sound of Music and just a little less modest than the Sencha blouse from Colette Patterns.  I really can't go with long sleeves on a wool top, or I will get too flushed.

All these amazing fabrics were found from Dreaming of Sewing on Etsy!  I was lucky enough to notice she was local to me, and got to meet her and view her amazing stash in person!  Corinn has great taste, and such a passion for thrifting that she has additional Etsy stores! dreaming of vintage , dreaming of jewelry, & dreaming of crafts.  Definitely go check out her wares!

As inspiration morphs..

Behold!- a lovely tropical floral tricot.  It's super silky, very drapey too.  When purchased, I was envisioning a 70's blouse with a ruffled neck. But what I didn't realize was how big the floral motif was on this fabric!  The flowers are the size of softballs, and although I'm a big fan of using pattern lines to break up a fabric motif, I'm thinking this fabric is begging for simpler lines.  

In fact I'm thinking right along these lines..

I like it.  It has a certain Faye Dunaway quality to it.  Breezy, competent but feminine.  Inexplicably, it seems like something one of Doctor Who's companions might wear.  Or Miss Trixi.

Adventures at Sewtropolis

Today I got to Sewtropolis! I was excited to buy some Colette Patterns (Sencha is finally mine, and I got Crepe for Gertie's December Sew-along, since I passed on participating on Lady Grey (even though it's named after my favorite tea ever).

Oh the fabrics at Sewtropolis, and the space! It's a terrific environment. The sewing stations are neat and well-placed, and there are great examples of any multitude of projects to complete with the patterns and fabric provided. I got to meet Patty and talk about projects, and I got to see first hand just how cozy and lush that double gauze she's cutting out for Crepe is! I felt like a kid in a candy store for sure. The fabric there is like a feast of color, pattern, and texture- and I could've been there for hours. I couldn't limit myself to just buying patterns though, so I bought some of the lovely new knits that just came in.

As if the lovely hand and juicy colors weren't enough, my favorite thing about these Oliver + S fabrics is that the wovens and the knits match perfectly.   I bought the above to make two tops, the yellow for Spring, and the persimmon polka dots for my immediate gratification to go with the plaid skirt below.

Okay, it's not an actual skirt yet, it's more of a wild hair of inspiration still.  I got the new Anthropologie catalog, and amongst its considerably whimsical styling was, of course, inspiration worth obsessing over.

What you unfortunately can't tell so much from this picture, is that the skirt hem is lined with a great bold floral.  I don't know that I'm going to line the entire skirt with a print, because I'm pretty cheap, but I figured I could at least put a good four inch facing on the hem and use horsehair braid. I am not a fan of asymmetrical hems really, but this one is fairly subtle, so I'll toy with the idea.  I bought my wool without having the catalog as reference and managed to match it as exactly as you can for $5.99 a yard wool from Mill End.  I really just went with my gut, and I am already wishing I had gone for colors less staid and more out of character for me (perhaps gray with peacock), but this will pretty much go with a large chunk of my wardrobe.  I feel like I want to find a larger print for the facing too, but I'm going to cut and sew it tomorrow so it can hang for a while to accommodate the bias stretch. I figure if I have to look for the lining/facing accent fabric still it'll help me be less antsy as the skirt hangs.  I'm very devoted to instant sewing gratification you must know.

 I'm also toying with the idea of making the back of the skirt fuller to mask my somewhat flat behind and accentuate the lower hem as well.  I like the idea of adding gathers like in the dress pattern here, which also reminds me of one of my first inspirations for Fall wardrobe from the Louis Vuitton Fall show.What do you guys think?