When I purchased this Italian Black/Off-White Stretch Cotton Print, I bought a large cut of it because I knew I wanted to make a two-piece.  

The jacket is McCall's 7730 and the pants are Simplicity 8655. I cut the size 14, D cup in the jacket. I like the style of the jacket, I felt that the lines were a little plain. So, I decided it could use a little zhooshing up.

I selected this design -- Midnight Blooms from Urban Threads. 

On my Baby Lock Aventura II, I adjusted the colors so that they would show up on my fabric and compliment the print.

I made a test design and decided where I wanted to place it and using my 6.25" x 10.25" embroidery hoop, I hooped the jacket fronts prior to sewing the darts so that it would lay flat. And I flipped the  design orientation the opposite way for the other side. Instead of using stabilizer, I interfaced the entire fronts.

I like the way the design turned out. I wanted to do more and get really creative with the placement. But sometimes, less is more. I didn't want to overdo it and end up trashing the whole project. So, I decided that as I get use to adding embroidered designs, I'll gradually become more playful with placement.

For the inside of the jacket, I lined it in an Antique White China Silk/Habotai from Mood Fabrics.

This was a really easy jacket to bag a lining on, even with the vent. I added an embroidered stitch to the lining as well.

I didn't want the sleeve flounce to collapse, because I think that would take away from the design. I added horsehair braid to the hem.

I love adding separates to my wardrobe. They create a great ensemble and also work with the other pieces in my closet.

I do believe I that I questioned Mother Nature's intentions in my previous post.  Even though yesterday was the first day of spring, the temperatures sure as hell didn't reflect that.  It was cold!  It wasn't freezing here... it was in the 50s.  But after being in open-toed shoes for a while and having my air conditioner running for a couple of weeks, it felt like I was freezing.  And the wind was no joke. I'm glad I made the wise decision to pull my hair back and not even bother to fight it.  Hopefully, we'll be back to our warm temperatures this week, because I'm so over winter!

What better way to welcome spring and give Jack Frost the finger than with bright and cheerful colors, like this sunshine yellow crepe de chine fabric from Mood Fabrics that demands warm and sunny days.  It's a stretch poly crepe de chine.  Now, they also have a 100% silk crepe de chine in an almost identical color, but I'll tell you why I bought the poly:  For the ease of washing and drying.  I have 2 silk blouses tossed on the shelf in my laundry room right now, because I'm too lazy to hand wash them at the moment and I don't want to spend the dollars on taking them to the cleaners.  So they're going to sit there until I'm pressed to wear them again.  I love silk, Lord knows I do.  It's one of my favorite fabrics.  But I also love things that can go from washer-to-dryer-to-hanger.  And this fabric is pretty darn awesome.  Oh, did I mention it has stretch!

I was inspired by this Etro blouse from Farfetch.com.  It comes with a hefty price tag of $840!  Mine was around $20 to make.

By the time I saw the Etro blouse, I'd already purchased McCall's 7360... so I was going to work with that pattern because it was on my "to-sew" list anyway.  In my opinion, the most interesting detail of the Etro blouse is the sleeve ties.  So, that's what I needed to make happen with my version.

I started out with View C and I cut the size 12.  I removed about 4 or 5 inches -- I don't remember exactly, but I knew that I wanted the sleeve to stop right below the elbow.  I omitted the sleeve cuffs and the tabs.  And I sewed everything else as instructed. 

I absolutely love a shirt with yoke!  It's one of my favorite details for any shirt.  For the sleeve ties, I snatched that detail from old out of print Simplicity 3835 from 2007.  It's a 9 year old pattern, but that sleeve tie style is so of the moment.  So I'm probably going to play with it for a while.

I finished my seams with my serger and it has narrow hem.  The poly CDC pressed remarkably well, so I may order more in another pretty color.  And it wears like a knit top, but with a more luxurious appearance.

This pattern has some amazing variations that could fill a lot of warm weather wardrobe gaps.  It has everything from sleeveless to the possibility of being made into a shirt dress.  This blouse is a great addition to my spring/summer wardrobe and I know it'll be fun to wear.  

I've been a sewing fool this week.  I haven't sewn so many things for me in such a close period of time in only God knows when!  But I call this "Stress Free Sewing".  It's always fun being overwhelmed doing something YOU love.  So for the last day of Birmingham Fashion Week, I wanted something else new to wear.  I'd bought this great Tribal Diamond Black and White Stretch Satin Suiting Cotton Fabric -- to satiate my love of black and white and I wanted a printed pair of culottes.

I had previously added Butterick 6183 to my collection when the pattern came out because I thought it was really cute.  And plus, I'm going through a culotte phase.  This is my first time sewing a Lisette pattern.  Even though they're cute, they've never really appealed to my aesthetic until this latest collaboration with Butterick.  I googled, but to no avail I didn't find a review of the pants/culottes.  It seems there is great fondness over the top though.  So, I was literally sewing this unknown, new pattern a couple of hours before I was to put these pants on and go.  I like to live life on the edge.  

This pattern runs small based on my experience with other McCall Pattern Company pants patterns. And I've sewn PLENTY to make that judgement call.  Based on the flat pattern measurements I cut the 16, when I would normally cut a 14 with possible waist and center back adjustments.  It's cut very narrowly, so I'm extremely happy that my fabric had stretch because this pattern has no ease -- whatsoever.  I personally think it would work better for a ponte knit instead of a woven.  And yes, as you see, they sit pretty high at the waist.

I sewed these straight from the envelope.  I didn't add any length, however I didn't cuff mine so that was an extra couple.  This pattern in general doesn't hold a candle to my beloved Vogue 9032.  And I unfortunately regret not using my fabric for that culotte version.  But I wanted something quick and V9032 has a LOT of pieces.  Will I sew this one again?  Definitely not.  Do I recommend it?  Meh... going into it, just be aware that you WILL need to size up.  And if your waist isn't significantly smaller than your hip measurement, you're going to have an issue there as well.  A year ago, this pattern would've been an EPIC failure --  I wouldn't have even gotten the zipper up.  The outcome was pretty mediocre, but I really loved the tribal print of the fabric.  And I added a simple Norma Kamali off-the-shoulder knit top and my beautiful Maasai necklace.

I bought this great Rebecca Minkoff fabric from Mood Fabrics because, well... because it was pretty!  I'm so particular about prints that when I find a printed fabric that I love, I'm almost giddy.  I can usually track down the RTW finished products of a particular designer fabric, but I had no luck with this one.  But I know that Rebecca Minkoff does prints really well and I decided that this one needed to be pants.

This pattern is Simplicity 1696.  And before I even start, I'm going to tell you right now that these will be made again.  I love this pattern!  It's already been added to my TNT list.

I cut the size 14 in the average cut.  I added 3" to the length. This pattern is drafted with 1" seam allowances for fitting.  I probably could have cut the slim version, but I liked being able to really tailor this for a more personal fit. I eliminated the carriers, so I had to take in the waist a lot.  

For the order of construction, the front pockets are done first...

 and then the fly front...

 and the zipper.

Okay... when I got to step #14, I used the Sandra Betzina Easy Fly-Front Zipper method.  And I added the underlap at step #19.

And this is how they turned out:

And here are the faux welt back pockets:

So, when I saw this pattern (without reading first), I thought those were real welt pockets.  Cool... I haven't done any in a while and I thought it would be great practice.  Well, they weren't real and I was a little disappointed.  *Womp, womp*  

That was the only downside to this pattern.  But I will find another pattern and make a great pair of wool trousers with REAL welt pockets for fall.

Blazer is Simplicity 2446, reviewed here.  This is my TNT blazer pattern until I find one that's more incredible than this one.  And the top is the Vogue 8815.

Wide-legged pants are back.  And I really like this pair.

McCall's 6515 is a great pattern to interpret this trend.  

I cut the size 14 and lengthened by 3 inches because I plan to only wear these pants with flat sandals.  It was really easy because there is only the front, back, waist bands and it has an invisible side zipper.  I probably cut, altered the pattern and sewed these up in less than 2 hours.

The pattern suggest a narrow hem.  And since I used this lightweight, drapey poly crepe (I *think* I bought this fabric from Hancock Fabrics.) -- the narrow hem was sufficient.  These type of pants are meant to "flow".  If I chosed a woven (or even a fabric like a ponte), I would go with a wider hem.  I think this is a great pattern if you're on the palazzo pants wagon this season.  And I also think that view A, would sew up beautifully in a ponte or a double knit.

I've never been a t-shirt kinda girl.  If I'm going to wear a white knit top, it better have some kind of interesting detail about it.

Like this one!  I love the back of this shirt.  This is Vogue 8879 - view B.  It's an open back drape top.  

It was very easy to sew and I only had to add an inch to the length.  And I decided to omit the sleeve bands and just have a plain cap sleeve.

I added clear elastic to stabilize the neckline and the shoulder seams.  Because I could easily see the lightweight rayon spandex knit stretching out of place.

The fabric was perfect for this style of top.  Because you need to use a knit fabric with significant drape.

And I love how effortlessly it paired with my sequin pencil skirt from Asos.com and my DV by Dolce Vita sandals.  

And with my printed pants and Steve Madden pumps.