Look What Followed Me Home

Does anyone else ever feel pangs of guilt when they contemplate the extent of their own good fortune?

Faux Cowl Top

 I have yet to figure out why it takes me so long to do things. I mean, there is nothing else going on in my life beyond work, the gym (now that rowing is finished for the season), laundry, groceries, cleaning occasionally and the other stuff that makes up our lives. Once I got down to it, this top took less than an hour to sew. This is the first of my fall sewing -New Look 6301.

It is starting to get dark once I get home from work, and I was too lazy to set up my other photographic method, so you get mirror reflection shots. (Excuse the wrinkles. Being rolled up and packed into panniers for my ride to the gym, then worn at work all day has an effect on things.)

The top still fits fairly well even tho' it is designed for a knit and I made it out of a stretch woven. There are gray spots in the flowers to match the gray skirt, but it is hard to pick those out here.

Pilates balls and old kitchen countertops in the background.

 I lengthened the sleeves slightly to slide better inside a sweater.

Old computer and desktop articles.

 I have also made this top with a very stretchy rayon knit. I call this my Europe shirt ("I see London, I see France...") because it is so very drapey when I lean over ("...I can see your underpants.") I wear a very high-necked camisole underneath.

A close-up of my freckles and the Geek's family pictures.

I think it turns out well enough from the woven fabric, but knits are obviously optimal.

It's Not Part of the Plan but It's Still Fall Sewing

This corduroy skirt, Vogue 1247, was cut out this spring. And since I am very fickle when it come to sewing projects, it jumped the queue.

It went on a bit of a wearing marathon after completion.

I wore it to work on Friday.

Then on a hike in the Pembina River Valley with my family on Saturday and to a fundraiser at a dog park on Sunday (no pictures of that tho').

Saturday was cool and it had just finished raining when we arrived but the walk was just as much fun as last time.

The walk was muddy and I had forgotten all the up and down sections of the trail. I wore the skirt as none of my jeans fit very well. The skirt was fine, except in places where I had to take really long steps to maintain my footing.

I constructed the skirt in manner similar to the yellow one and used seam binding to finish the hem.

I used iron-on interfacing to reinforce under the pocket openings to they wouldn't stretch too badly.

And serged around the pockets and seam allowances instead of using bias tape. I was going to change the serger thread to brown, but decided I liked how the blue looked against the rust-coloured corduroy.

I have totally adoped Tasia's Hollyburn waistband/ zipper method. That is such a neat and tidy way of putting in a zipper. I never thought of attaching the waistband before sewing up the back seam and then inserting the zipper. Everything lines up and you don't necessarily need another waistband closure.

I now need to apply some self-discipline and sew up the top and skirt I cut out and are now waiting on my cutting table.