Completed: One Short Day in the Emerald City Coco...

"One short day in the Emerald City, One short day to have a lifetime of fun" - Wicked

Aka my favourite musical of all time. Seriously guys ever wondered what the tattoo on my wrist says? Defying Gravity thats what. 

(There is a running joke in my family that when I'm old it will say Defying Gravy...)

Moving on!

This Coco is a Minerva make. The emerald ponte is the one I used for my Mabel skirt too! I do love to use up leftovers, 

Behold!

 This Coco has long been on my inspiration board. I have an unhealthy obsession with Boden and I had pinned this dress ages ago. I was going to have a go at her peculiar model pose but I'm not sure i'd look a sylph like...

I decided matching buttons were not for me so I went gold! I halved the collar piece but I could have been more brutal, my version is still quite high but overall I'm happy with the result.

I have however come to the conclusion that this Coco will only ever be a winter dress for me. Its very short for one so hobbit-like and I feel very exposed without tights. Not to mention the long sleeves, I was so warm taking these photos!

I am glad I picked this ponte. I think the colour is much more flattering to my skin tone than the more grassy green Boden dress. Its also super forgiving, very few lumps and bumps let loose!

Wearability is going to get a 7/10

I know I live in the UK where the weather is changeable to say the least but I'm banking on this being a Autumn/ Winter staple its a bit too snuggly for the summer! I'm loving this colour with Navy and I can see it looking great with my Virginia leggings I finished for the SWAP.

Ah well C'est La Vie Coco!

Swap 2014: Completed!!!!

Wooo I actually finished a SWAP you guys! Look out!
There are some Newly completed garments ahead!

I promise they will get their own posts later but i'm too happy not to post the results up. weee!!

This was 11 garments... 11!

I'm quite proud of myself (can you tell?!) as I totally bailed last year after two garments.
There are some really lovely talented ladies over at Artisan Square and they have been a fabulous support since January. Not forgetting you my lovely readers of course!
The plan was 3 3-pacs and two wild cards. Making 11 Pieces that co-ordinate.
I found working in 3's so helpful! I decided to theme each 3 pac to give me a focus.

So here goes number one: Home Comforts
This consisted of my Coco Dress, Mabel Skirt and Previously made Briar Jumper (Green glitziness taken off.) Did you guess my first unblogged?

Next 3 pac was named smart to casual. I wanted Items that could be dressed up or down easily depending on how I was feeling that day. My McCalls dress is totally Pajamas in disguise!

Team that with my Coppelia Cardigan or wear my cardi with my Lisette Denim skirt I can be comfy and still feel i've made an effort.

(Snuck another unblogged in didn't I?)

 Then Came my favourite outfit of the entire SWAP!

My Later Nights 3-pac! This is where my Skull Pansy Victoria and Simplicity skirt meet! Oh yes as requested here it is as a kind of suit! Crazy no? I love this outfit! I may never wear it out like this but its awesome. The third item is the navy Plantain tee just as a bit of a backdrop.

 I can see myself wearing it much more as a skirt and tee or tee jacket and jeans combination. Either way this is totally my favourite!

Finally onto the two wildcards, one of which doesn't feel that wild but it didn't fit anywhere else really in the end. My Virginia leggings, made from the same fabric as the Plantain Tee! These are so interchangeable I could wear it with all my 3 pacs if I wanted to! As you can see I paired it with my Coco for the photos.

Finally the real wildcard was my Georgia Dress! The cobalt isn't present in any of my other makes except maybe the Skull Pansy print. But I felt adding another blue gave a bit more depth to my palette and lets face it everyone needs a wildcard dress like this right?

I chose to keep my makeup and accessories simple so it was easy to see the outfits in the same situation. With 11 garments I think I can make at least 15 different outfits just mixing and matching skirts and tops alone. I will have a play with it over May and let you know the results.
Capsule wardrobes are something i've always considered but never properly tried. Making 11 pieces seemed impossible and I thought it would bore me to tears. But by keeping my plan flexible and open to interpretation I was able to keep sewing and make new exciting patterns work with existing ones I had started. I deviated quite a bit in the end. I only sewed three garments from my original plan made in January but managed to sew 9 from my updated March plan only changing 3 around to fit the final swap.

 If I've learnt anything on this little sewing journey I'd urge anyone to try out 3-pacs. Making three co-ordinating items means one perfect outfit. With a bit of consideration it gave me clothes that I love to wear, fit my lifestyle and look pretty lovely together. Go on, Give it a go! Have you ever sewn a capsule wardrobe?

Completed: I Said I Never Would...

Hi lovelies!
I always said I would never wear animal print. Some people can make it look fabulous and sophisticated,

Others... Well you can make up you're own minds on that one...

I have broken all my rules with another item from my SWAP!

 McCalls 5974, Its a really clever dress. Made to look like a wrap dress but its totally not! It has lovely crossed wide ties that wrap around your body and give the illusion with none of the potential peek a boo moments of a normal wrap,

Yay for practicality!

I couldn't help but buy this fabric you guys, its just so, so, glowy? It reminds me of cats eyes and for my original SWAP palette of Caramel, Navy and Blues it ticked all the boxes.

Not to mention its comfy, Its a viscose jersey but not a bad one. In terms of opacity its pretty good. The only place I notice it is the front band that isn't covered by the faux wrap.

I left the sleeves long as I love the security of putting my hands inside my sleeves when its chilly. Anyone else like that...?

 Moving on, this dress has great swishability and will look great layered up with tights in the winter. I feel like this is a pretty autumnal kinda dress due to the long sleeves and darker hue.

I can see this dress being revisited, but maybe not until the weather is colder. It could make a cute short sleeved dress but this is my go to clothing in colder climes.

Stats:

Fabric: 2.5 m of Viscose Jersey plus shipping £13

Notions: In Stash £0.00

Total: £13

Wearability 8/10

Not bad for a comfy dress! I have been pulling lots of stashbusters recently so its quite nice to see when I do purchase I'm rarely breaking the bank. I imagine if i'd bought this dress it would have been somewhere like Monsoon in terms of style and most definitely more expensive

What is your take on Animal Print? Yay or Neigh!

Completed: Wardrobe Basic Plantain...

Ahoy Me Made May'ers and other sewing lovelies! I warned you it would be back! Yes this is another item from my SWAP. The oh so basic but oh so lovely Plantain.

This one is made from a lovely soft jersey with a slightly brushed side and little glittery white bits in! They give it a nice casual marled effect. I'm so glad I picked this up in another colourway as this is the comfiest top evah!

 I could have made a size down but I wasn't after it being too fitted. The last one I made behaved very differently due to the cotton element of the knit. It tended to cling, not unflatteringly but I didn't feel I needed adjustment. There is a tiny bit of pooling around my shoulder but I think thats more due to my stance rather than my narrow shoulder as the other one looks fine.

Overall not too much to say on Plantain No. 2 except that it may be my favourite tee pattern to date! The neckline is still flattering and the shaping still looks nice over my waist with minimum swayback. Totally a wardrobe basic! This is how its often worn and how I wore it for Me Made May this week with a cardigan. I will do a blog round up either mid way or the end as I'm only doing 3 days a week.

Stats:
Fabric: Viscosey brushed glittery knit stuff from Goldhawk Road: £8
(But I've made leggings too!)
Notions: Thread £2.50
Total: £10.50 being conservative I could split the fabric cost and it would only be £6.50!
Wearability: 10/10! I could wear this all day every day and the benefit of it being Navy is its actually quite a nice neutral for me as I'm not a big fan of black, it tends to make my complexion look rather ghoulish! Navy is a good compromise so yay!
How do you feel about sewing basics? I've always preferred cake to icing in every sense!

Completed: I May Be In Love With Mabel...

For Serious guys... I never knew I could be this much in love with an Item of clothing.
You may have heard my squeals of excitement around the world when I heard that Colette were doing stretch patterns. I was so desperate I hit buy on the presale book and pattern combo so hard I almost sprained something.
I'm here to tell you they did not dissapoint. I would like to review the book in a later blogpost remind me won't you?
Now back to my Love in with Mabel...
I have bought knit skirts before, they are always this viscose jersey and usually leave nothing to the imagination. Cue a leftover bit of fabulous Emerald Ponte and an hour to spare... Voila Mabel!

She doesn't cling too much, but she fits, she holds me in, but doesn't make me feel like i'm wearing spanx. In short. You are going to see a lot of these. so many in fact, they may rival the Renfrew or Briar. So be prepared to write me a complaint! Please put the subject as "Stevie we can't take anymore Mabels!" 

Stats Time!

Fabric: Under 1m of leftover Ponte from May's Minerva (On the blog end of the month) £0.00

Notions: Thread already on my overlocker £0.00

Total: Big fat ZERO

Wearability: 11/10!!!! 

I wasn't joking about more Mabel's, I've been fabric shopping specifically to make more of these babies. I think I can change up the styling a little. These photos were taken for another purpose really which is why its paired with Briar (can you guess why?) This will go with 90% of my wardrobe already, plus with so many awesome variations I could be sewing these for some time... Mabel you are a Me Made Lifesaver!