As many of you know, last week I guest pinned for The McCall Pattern Company.  Usually, as fashion transitions from one season to the next and also with sewing, I get overwhelmingly excited.  Sure, there are always basics for the new season that I want to sew.  But I also like to add in certain colors, fabrics and style trends.  When I was granted a reason to pin instead of just my random pinning, I really started to see my personal trends developing.  

Who knew I needed velvet in my life?!  Velvet is one of those luxurious fabrics that I never even think about until it's holiday season.  But wouldn't that gorgeous velvet blazer simply look amazing just with jeans and boots?  I think so.  And a black stretch velvet bodysuit, paired with a full midi skirt?  I'm thinking to die for!  And the richness of the blue wide leg pants?  Yes!  So velvets will be on my fabric shopping list.

Another fabric that just came out of nowhere and wasn't on my radar is wide wale corduroy.  I see corduroy every fall, but I never think to purchase it.  And I actually own a RTW brown wide wale coat.  I love the asymmetrical wrap skirt, the flared pants that are so 70's and the trench coat is amazing.

I thought I was over blanket coats since I've made a couple.  But I guess I'm not!  Not only is this one of the quickest coats you can make, they're so easy to wear.  

So, Butterick 6244 is currently on my to-sew list.

I'm currently Fall/Winter 2015 wardrobe building.  I'm going through my current wardrobe and I'm just kind of filling in gaps.  The things I need most are pants.  A lot of my older pants and some of my favorites have had to go to the donation bag because they're currently too big.  This is a good thing -- It's always good to become fit and healthy and being a smaller size is simply a byproduct.  But the downside is that I had a limited amount of pants to wear.  Having to reach for the same ones all of that time? Well, that ain't cute... So I decided to focus fall colors and styles.

One of the first pair I'm making for this new season is out-of-print Vogue 1323 by Rachel Comey.  Has it really been that long that this pattern is OOP?  Wow... time does indeed fly by.  It just seems like I made the top, which was actually about 3 years ago. 

I love the style of these pants.  They're shaped like joggers with their elastic waist and elastic cuffs.  But the tailored details set them apart.

I cut the the size 12 and lengthened them by 3 inches.  The only major change I made was to the welt pocket construction.  I posted a single-welt pocket tutorial for how I did mine.

Also, these pants has some of the greatest details.

Here is the sewing porn -- the inside shot.  The waist band has seam binding.  I used a contrasting off-white satin binding.  It's also around the cuffs.  These pants that are made from a stretch cotton twill from Joanns, have French seams... the seams and the pockes.  And even though these pants have an elastic waist, they still have a front fly with a hook and eye closure.

They aren't pants I can sew together in an evening -- it took me a couple of days off and on.  But I really enjoyed all of the details.

And I'm sure I'll enjoy wearing them too.

I'm currently working on Vogue 1323. And when I got to the welt pockets, the instructions were pretty bad.  Welt pockets aren't necessarily hard.  You just have to be precise in your stitching to insure that your welts aren't skewed.  In the Vogue instructions, I feel that they added unnecessary steps that might cause a novice sewer to feel intimidated by this technique, which looks great when sewn well.  I'm going to share how I do my welt pockets.

For this particular pattern, I'm eliminating steps 23-36.

Here are the pattern pieces for these steps.  I'm only using #20.

I cut out four (3"x7") pieces from #20.  These pieces are the (2) welts and (2) facings.  I cut these in the same fashion fabric as the pants.

For the pocket bags, I cut two (15"x7") in lining fabric.  I used a lightweight cotton.  Take a 3"x7" piece of fashion fabric and turn under one edge (or you can serge it) and sew unfinished edge to the top edge of the lining fabric (wrong side to right side)... this piece will become your welt.  Edgestitch the turned under end.  Take the other piece and finish both edges.  Sew 2" from the bottom.  This is the pocket facing.

Cut a 3"x7" piece of fusible interfacing and center over the area for the welt box on the wrong side of the pants.  Transfer the markings from the pattern piece.  Or draw a box 1/2"x5" long.

Draw your welt box on the wrong side of the lining fabric on the backside of the welt area.  Pin right-side to right-side on the pants, matching the lines.  And stitch precisely!

Slash through all of the fabric down the center, stopping 1/4" from each end.  And clipping diagnally into each corner.

Turn the pocket to the inside...

like this.  And serge (or zig-zag) the top edge.

Fold down the top and press the welt opening seam.

And open it back out and press the entire thing.

To create the welt, fold up the bottom part even with the top of the welt opening.

And press.

Turn over and press the right side.  Now you see your welt!

To hold it in place, edge stitch around, while making sure sure to keep the lining fabric out of the way.

Here's the what the wrong side looks like.

To create the pocket, fold the lining fabric up to the top edge of the pants.

Fold back and carefully stitch the top of the welt to the pocket fabric right above the welt opening seam.  This is to secure the pocket fabric to the welt.

Stitch and finish the sides of the pockets and baste to the top of the pants.

Done!  I hope this makes welt pockets a lot easier for you.

So I spent my Sunday morning perusing the huge September issues.  I love fall!  This is MY season.  I'm a Virgo... my birthday is approaching... I love layering... wool, tweeds and boots!  I love seeing the foliage and feeling the crisp breeze.  I love all things fall!  I get overwhelmingly excited while planning my fall wardrobe.  I want to make everything!  My list is always a pages!  So here are some things that I've currently added.

I imediately spotted a major trend: The Bow Blouse.  They were coming at me from every direction.  I've toyed with the idea of making one for a couple of years.  

Vogue 8772

But being that I'm currently loving all things 1970's, I'm defintely making one this year.

And for added inspiration, notice the pants in this ad?

Vogue 1464 will be going on my list.

A fall maxi dress.  It's always so hot here, that I can't stand being swathed in yards of fabric in the summertime.  I like my maxis when it's a cooler.  And this beautiful interpretation from Chloe in a fall floral print is boho chic perfection!

McCall's 7242 is a great version.

A fringed skirt, which can be made by modifying a basic pencil skirt.

It's the end of summer, and to celebrate I needed a great dress to close out the season.  And what color represents sunny days than a gorgeous yellow.  I picked this Sunflower Yellow Faux Dotted Swiss Polyester Chiffon from Mood Fabrics.com.  It was perfect for (OOP) Vogue 1240.

This is an old pattern that was released in 2011, so there were plenty of reviews.  I knew going in that the armholes were "side-boob-revealingly low".  So I cut the size 10 and graded out to the size 12.  Underneath all of that draping, the body of the dress is basically a shift with horizontal darts.

This poly dotted chiffon sewed and pressed as well as a silk chiffon.  I was concerned about how well it would press since I was making French seams and narrow hems.  

I interfaced the collar with silk organza because it was the best choice for this fabric.  And I lined it with a Bemberg rayon from stash. 

This is a short dress!  This is the length with the addition of the three inches I added, and I love it!  It's a step out of my wheelhouse, but every girl needs a cool, fun and flirty dress in their wardrobe.

This fabric was an amazing choice for this silhouette.  It couldn't have been more perfect.  

I picked the Lamis Pointed Pump in Magenta.  I'd seen the yellow/magenta color combination in a wedding once and I loved how it looked together.  And let me tell you... these pumps are super comfortable.  The heel is 3.75" and there is cushion under the ball of the feet.  At my age, I take the comfort of my feet serious!  These are great pumps and I'll be wearing these often this fall!