As much as a I love a beautiful dress, great separates keep my wardrobe moving on a daily basis. Sure, a dress is the epitome of one-piece dressing ease. But the ability to rework separates again and again, makes creating new outfit possibilities endless!
Lately, I've been working on filling gaps in my wardrobe and I discovered that I need more knit tops that are wash and go and easy to throw on. And a striped nautical knit top is a perfect addition. I chose a beautiful black and ivory striped viscose fabric that was so popular that it's sold out on the website. But here are some more viscose striped knit options here and here.
I used McCall's 6964 for the shirt. This is a decent pattern with lots of tips for adjustments and it's also cut quite long. And since I used this great fabric with good stretch and recovery, it sewed straight out of the envelope for me.
I fell in love with this ever-so-popular neoprene fabric from Mood Fabrics. And it's in red, which is one of my favorite colors to wear! A lot of people have questioned whether or not neoprene is easy to wear? Well, this is my second garment that I've made using this fabric. I wore this skirt all day with temps in the mid 80s. And it wears about the same as a denim skirt.
The other side of the neoprene is sweatshirt-like fabric so it feels really soft and comfortable. And this neoprene is surprisingly easy to sew. I did however use a large needle, I size 16 (a jeans needle).
For the skirt, I used Simplicity 1428, view E. I added 3 inches to the length. I wanted it to be short, but not a mini. This is skirt is a sporty style with a slight high-low asymmetrical hemline.
These are too amazing new pieces. I'm going to have have fun mixing and matching these pieces in my wardrobe over and over again!
I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm still loving color blocking. I know a lot of people don't like it. And that's probably based on them not understanding how to do it. Color blocking can be subtle, or it can be completely over the top.
I like to keep mine pretty simple: a top and bottom. Maybe a jacket too, sometimes. Or a color blocked dress. Simple accessories... no colorful statement baubles... just basic gold or silver in delicate pieces.
And I like to punctuate the look with neutral shoes.
For this look I pulled out one of my favorite silk blouses, Vogue 1323. And it's still available here. And the skirt is Vogue 8928. Also available here.
My shoes are Report Signature Zesta Tan Sandals from DSW.
Which leads me to an event I attended a couple of weeks ago, that I've been meaning to talk about.
I had a fabulous opportunity to blog B-Metro Magazine. Which is a local magazine here that caters to everything cool, hip and hot in the city and surrounding areas.
It was for a #ShoeLover party at our new #DSWBham. The store is fabulous and now my new favorite location. And asking me to blog about shoes is like leaving a kid in a toy store to talk about how great all of the toys are!
Graphic and bold, black and white shoes are clearly trending for this season. You know a pair of these came home with me, right!
And mules are back! These aren't the slides of yesteryear. These are hot and oh-so fashionable. I really think I'm going to get a pair. I think they'll look divine with a midi or culottes!
And great ankle strap wedges in neutral colors are wardrobe staples.
All in all, it was a great event. We all know how much fun women have when shoes and prizes are involved!
Every year since this pattern has been released, it's been in my "to sew" pile. And I'm just now getting around to it. And I want to kick myself because I absolutely LOVE this dress! I can't believe I foolishly kept pushing this one to the side year-after-year.
This is Butterick 4974 which is OOP, but currently available on the website (well, temporarily unavailable right now). The description is: Close-fitting, above knee, lined halter dress has straps attached to back with purchased rings, side seam zipper and back slit.
I cut the size 14 and graded to the 16 at the hip. But since I used a jersey, I could've stayed with the 14 all of the way. I lengthened at the waist 1 inch and 2 inches at the hem. And I omitted the zipper and the back vent. But I did fully line the dress.
The back was the biggest draw to this pattern. That's what made it different and why it was a "I must sew this right now" make.
I got my rings from the jewelry making section at Joanns. And I had to tweak the fit of the underarm by taking it in to prevent gaping. I also had to pull the neck straps a lot tighter than suggested. And yes, this dress is (strapless) bra-friendly.
Once again, I used another color of the ponte nylon knit from Hancock Fabrics in Bali. I love this fabric! According to the website, it's available in white. If I can't find it in my store, I just may have to order! It's the perfect weight to prevent see-through. And I'll probably be making this dress again. I have to make up for lost time you know!
I've been seeing a lot of pastels -- well, because it's spring, Easter and those were the primary hues on the runway for this season. I'm not really fond of those soft, muted, "baby colors". I prefer more saturated, bright, bold, primary shades.
But this shade of mint green or teal green, was just perfect to me. Everything about it says "spring" to me. It's a very happy color!
So I decided to make something fun out of this great ponte/nylon knit I picked up at Hancock Fabrics. This is a peplum top with cutouts that I designed. I've been looking at a lot of Cushnie et Ochs designs and the way those two ladies use cutouts and straps is so inspiring.
So I decided to juxtapose this soft color with a bit of naughty, vixenish appeal.
I started to make this a dress, but I knew I'd want to throw on this top with a pair of jeans or shorts. So this became a peplum top and a pull-on, elastic waist midi-length pencil skirt. Exactly like this red one.
I used (OOP) McCall's 6281 for the back cutout pieces.
It's seems pretty befitting that culottes would make a comeback for spring/summer 2014. Midi skirts have been so popular now that it just makes since that such a similar silhouette would follow suit.
And for a lot of women, I'm sure they'll appreciate the longer hemlines since culottes are a great alternative to shorts and clam diggers.
For my culottes, I dug way back and deep into my pattern cabinet because I knew I had several options to choose from. These were pretty popular around 2006. The pattern I re-visited is (OOP) Butterick 4861. I used a white ponte knit. I cut the size 16, and added 3 inches to length to achieve that mid-calf hemline. I had to take them in a tad at the center back. I interfaced the 1 1/4" hem.
I wanted the hem to be crisp and clean and slightly weighed down. Even though the pants are knit, I still wanted them to have a tailored appearance.
For my top, I used New Look 6735. It sewed perfectly out of the envelope without a single alteration. I used this great red and white striped nautical knit fabric from Joanns.
It has great stretch recovery, which is the key element I look for in a knit fabric for this type of garment.
I love creating garments that I foresee in the making, that I'll receive major mileage out of. And that a striped top and white culottes will be worn many, many times this season!
And never mind if you wore these back in the day. They were awesome them and even better now! I can't wait to make a pair in a wool herringbone tweed and wear them with tall leather boots!
I'm sure you all noticed that prior to this week, it had been kind of quiet around these parts. That's because I was getting my life back together!
With the holidays and the vicious winter we're all trying to recover from, I gained a good deal of hibernation weight! Not wanting to venture out, the comfort foods and libations damn near did me in.
You can fight your way into a pair of Spanx and angle your body into the mirror and lie to yourself all you like. But the camera does not lie. Mine is brutally honest. And if you take as many pictures as I do from all angles, it's a harsh reality that I had to face. My ass had gotten fat!
And I was feeling terrible -- physically terrible. My knees had started to ache and swell often. And I was constantly feeling bloated. And my energy level was completely depleted. At 43 years old, I should NOT be winded walking up stairs. So I had to get busy.
So, I had a pity party for all of five minutes and then I bought myself a brand new gym membership and downloaded the My Fitness Pal app and got busy! If you follow me on my Instagram: @ericabunker, you've seen my progress. I've turned into a total gym rat. I'm serious about getting in my 4-5 day a week workouts, which include an hour of elliptical cardio (I'm a beast on that thing! I average around 700+ calories burned.) And strength training which is excellent for women my age. Especially those of us experiencing perimenopausal symptoms. Yes, I'm starting to night sweat and I'm pretty sure this also contributed to weight collecting in my middle. So I'm pretty much in the fight of my life.
But that's okay, because I'm winning! A couple of months ago, I couldn't even almost fasten these pants. Now they slid on and fastened with the greatest of ease! Now why have I decided to share all of this? For accountability. Now that I've put it out there, I have an image to uphold! LOL
For March, the Mood Sewing Network challenge was to sew something "inspired" by the spring ready-to-wear collections with our monthly allowance. I chose a Clements Ribeiro that I saw on Net-A-Porter.com.
My inspiration:
I chose Clements Ribeiro because I wanted to highlight a lesser-known designer. And, I love this dress!
I was drawn to the fabulous floral print and the back lace panels. As you know, a fabulous (non-knit) print for spring is hard to find. But luckily, I found this stunning black and white cotton-lycra medium weight twill at Mood Fabrics.com. Along with this beautiful Anna Sui stretch floral lace.
For my look, I used Simplicity 1873 for the bodice. The front of the bodice is lined in a lingerie tricot fabric from my stash. The back is lace and (obviously) unlined. I did however interface the zipper area. The back neck and armholes are just turned over and hemmed with a 5/8" allowance.
For the skirt, I used Burda Style 6955, view D. Now this is a petite pattern. Any petite pattern can be "un-petited" with alterations.
I added 3" at the hip line and 3" near the bottom, above the curves.
The skirt is also fully lined. The pieces attached beautifully. The is fabric is incredible. It has a slight crisp hand and also a comfortable amount of stretch that is perfect for fitted dresses, skirts and pants.
