And just when I thought it was safe to open the windows and doors, and enjoy the fresh air -- here comes Old Man Winter again!  Die you old fart, just die!

As much as I love this coat I made, I really didn't think I would get much wear out of it this season.  I would've gladly packed it away until this coming fall.  But it seems that I'll be putting it to a little more use this March.

And I realized a few days ago that I hadn't worn these pants in a while.  So I thought the camel and coral were a great match.  The bright coral pants keep the sweater and coat from being so -- sedate!  I love my classics, but I like to keep them plenty of fun!

Wearing:  coat: Simplicity 1759; pants: Vogue 1143; sweater: Gino Paoli - Made in Italy (Vintage - 1960s).

I've been so busy in the last week that I haven't had time to do proper "What I'm Wearing" posts.  I really, really hate doing "look at me" wordless pictures only posts (even though that formula works for some bloggers quite successfully).  I personally feel that MY blog posts should be accompanied by some sort of text.  I owe you faithful readers that much!  I like to leave the quick and dirtiness to Instagram!

So, let's get started...

My favorite blue nail polish!  Butter London "Blagger".

Again wearing the black peplum top.  This top has the versatility of a t-shirt.  Probably why I love it so much.  And my Vogue 1039 red cigarette pants.  

My house is pretty empty and quiet this week because of Spring Break.  And I'm pretty happy that it'll be a rainy weekend so I can hideout in my sewing room!

This is what I wore Saturday night to the finale of Birmingham Fashion Week.  Let me just tell you how awesome that show was!  Simply amazing!  More on that later...

This is an "Inspired by Pinterest" look.  I grabbed my inspiration from all over the place.  I'll share a few images to show you my thought process:

The red, black and white was inspired by these two looks.  Isn't that glenplaid trench coat everything?  I'll have to find similar fabric and add this to my Fall 2013 plan.  

And fur collars are all over the place.  I love "Street Style" blogs, and I'd been looking at a lot of images from fashion weeks in New York, London, Milan and Paris.  And I saw so many coats and jackets with fur collars.

Photos from Pinterest.

A fur collar on a coat looks so elegant and dresses up any outfit.  Notice the jeans.

Wearing:  Coat: McCall's 5766; top: Vogue 8815; trousers: Vogue 1143; purse: vintage Chanel bucket bag and shoes: Shoemint.com.

Don't you just hate rainy days?  I know I do.  I wish I could just opt out of every obligation and just stay home and sew.  Grocery shopping?  Sorry, I'm not going.  Eat whatever you can find... it's raining.  My child needs to be picked up from school?  Sorry kid.  Bum a ride... it's raining.  I kid... 

So, instead of being a Grumpy Gus about the weather... you know, matters completely out of my control.  I decided to suck it up, put on a nice outfit and attend an early morning event.

Can I tell y'all how much I still love this jacket?  Oh, and my husband told me I have way too many consecutive posts wearing sunglasses.  And he'd appreciate if I gave them a rest.  Well, since there was no sun, I granted his wish! LOL

click to enlarge

So, the reason I got out in the cold rain was for Belk's Spring '13 Fashion Tour that was held on yesterday at the Birmingham Summit Mall location.  And it was totally worth it.  I'll talk more about the fashion trends that were introduced in a separate post.  But I wanted to share with you the beauty trends that were gifted to us in our goodie bag.  I can't wait to fully experience all of the products.  But as of right now, my favorite 2 are the AHAVA Mineral Hand Cream and Isaac Mizrahi's new fragrance "Fabulous".  The hand cream is amazing.  I've been using it since I left the store yesterday.  It doesn't have a greasy residue and it's perfect to use while handling fabric and using a touch screen device.  And the fragrance smells wonderful.  And what better name for what I'm certain will become my Spring/Summer signature scent.

Wearing:  jacket: Vogue 8333; leather peplum top: Vogue 8815; pants: Vogue 1143; shoes: Shoe Dazzle.com; necklace:  BCBG Max Azria (old); purse (old); umbrella: Totes.

Every year, Pantone, the global authority on color, watches the trends, designers and brands to see which colors are making a splash. After conducting polls and research, the institute picks one color that will act as a sort of "running thread" throughout the tapestry of fashion and design trends. Their pick for 2013 is lively, radiant and lush emerald green.

Emerald is a jewel tone. It mixes perfectly with rich purples, blues, reds, golds and brightens up black like what I'm wearing.

I decided to pair my green pants with a black turtleneck sweater and my black cape.

Emerald is a perfect hue for accessories such as handbags and jewelry.

It's not surprising that emerald green is the "IT" color for 2013.  It was already popping up everywhere back when I first made these pants.  It was one of my must have colors all summer.

Do YOU have any emerald green in your wardrobe or fabric stash?  If not, do you plan on incorporating any?

I've been needing to add cool basics to my wardrobe.  Let's face it, sometimes I just want to throw on a pair of jeans.  But since I'm no where near a "jeans & t-shirt" kinda girl, I need some cute tops.  You'll notice a few of those being added to my wardrobe in the near future.

Inspiration:

I used Rachel Comey's pattern, Vogue 1323 for my top.  If you had only looked at the extremely editorialized pictures on the VP website, you may have passed on this pattern altogether.  But with experience, I've made it a habit of looking at the line drawing of each and every pattern released.  Trust, it's worth the time.  You may miss out on something great if you don't do that.

For this pattern, I added an inch to the length.  Everything else was fine.  I used this gorgeous silk crepe de chine by Marc Jacobs from MoodFabrics.com.  It feels like heaven and was perfect for this type of shirt.

Nail color is Essie "Penny Talk".  Love it!

The description of the top is:  loose-fitting, pullover top has collar, front button bands, self-lined yoke, forward shoulder seams, flaps, pleated pockets, and sleeves with pleats, button cuffs and continuous lap. Narrow hem. Collar, bands, yokes: cut on crosswise grain of fabric. 

I really love the collar and the neckline.  

I love the front bands and the pockets too.

And the back has a self-lined yoke, which I wish all button-front shirts that the Big 4 release would have.  

And the hemline with the side slits make this top look really nice when worn untucked.

And here are the cuffs.

I really love great wardrobe building pieces, and this top falls right in line.  

I can't even tell you how ready I am for Fall!  My mind has been on nothing but wanting to sew "transitional" garments that I can wear now and later.  

Inspiration:

It's no secret that I'm in love with all things peplum.  So I made another peplum top and I can promise you that this one will not be the last one.  I still plan to make a couple with sleeves for the Fall/Winter.  This one is New Look 6130.  

Love the neckline and my polish is Essie "Good as Gold"!

The only alteration I made was adding an inch to the waist.  I used this fabulous stretch white cotton sateen from Mood Fabrics.com.  And I added an exposed zipper to the back for that extra bit of pizzazz. 

I bought the zipper from Joanns.  It's this one and it's 24" long.

And I made another pair pants from Vogue 1143.  This time in a gorgeous bright coral lightweight stretch wool crepe from Mood Fabrics.com.  Believe me when I tell you that this fabric is beautiful.  The drape is amazing and it's light enough to wear now and I can add tights for cooler temps.

In case you didn't know, color and I mean gorgeous happy colors will still be trending for Fall 2012.  Check out the Pantone Fashion Color Report for Fall 2012.

I'd been wanting to make more colorful pants for fall.  But finding a pants pattern I really like is always a challenge.  You can have a particular silhouette in mind, but finding a commercial pattern that fills the requirement is always difficult to me.  This is what I wanted in a pair of trousers:  A midrise; flat front with darts; darts in the back; fitted through the hip and thighs; flaring at the knee; a leg opening wide enough to cover my shoes while sweeping the ground.  You'd be surprised at how difficult that is to find.  Most commercial pants patterns with wide legs are usually wide from the hip down.  Now what I've discovered about myself is that I look best in the least amount of fabric.  And those pants with all of that fabric falling from the hip line just make me look bigger and wider than I am.  It's the same reason I prefer sheath dresses to those with full skirts.   

I've had Vogue 1143 by Guy Laroche in my pattern collection since it was released.  I don't know why I'd never noticed the cut of these pants before.  I guess it's because the style of the jacket was stealing the limelight.

If you've made pants before, these are pretty standard -- so I won't go into great detail.  However, I cut the size 16, in a stretch twill and added 6 inches to the length.  I wear heels and I wanted my pants long.  I ended up with a 36" inseam, which is really hard to find in RTW in really nice pants.  I used a 2" hem and followed Mimi's great tip on "Weighing Down Hems".    

And over the weekend while shopping with my daughters in Forever 21, I came across this really cute collar necklace and it begged to come home with me!  Check out this trend:

Wearing:  blazer: Simplicity 2250; top & belt: TJ Maxx; clutch: Vintage; necklace: Forever 21.