Amazing Colors

A few months ago I had some less than enthusiastic thoughts about Girl Charlee fabrics. So why did I go shopping there again? Well, here's the thing. We're building a house. Now when most people say, "We're building a house," they mean, "We hired a contractor to build us a house," but we, my husband and I with occasional help from sons and brothers, are hands-on, DIY, literally building a house ourselves. And it's getting close to 100F these days so I need some more cool clothes to work in. I have plenty of old t-shirts but it is too hot for anything with any sleeve at all or a high neckline and I have only two sleeveless knit tops that I have been wearing for working on the house which is, honestly, enough but I thought it would be nice to have a couple more in case I wanted to put off doing laundry for another day or two.

Girl Charlee always has good prices on knits and given my purpose for these it doesn't really matter a lot if they come out less than presentable. The fabric I chose is a cotton/modal blend. I have had no idea what modal is but that's what Google and Wikipedia are for. It's a type of rayon. (groan) What is it with Girl Charlee and rayon? They need to rename the company Girl Rayon. But anyway, this is different. It turns out, it's a very nice, smooth, surprisingly stable, easy to sew knit.

Well, I have babbled enough. Here it is, finally.

OMG! Look at those colors! And the fit is good. It's not twisty or wonky in any way. Now I'm thinking this is way too nice for construction work. I almost exclusively wear dresses in the summer (except for working on the house or in the yard, obviously) but this would go great with a cardigan for cooler weather and there are so many colors I could pair it with.

I used a t-shirt pattern, Butterick 5215, left off the sleeves and adjusted the arm holes so they wouldn't be so gaping, and lowered the neckline. (I could have lowered it even more.) I made narrow facings for both the neckline and arm holes.

So now what am I going to wear for working on the house? Well, screw it. I'm going to go buy several modest sports bras and just work in those and cargo capris. Did I mention that it's been getting up to nearly 100F here? (It's supposed to be above 100 this weekend.)

* * * * *

BTW, the house is post frame construction, which is more tornado and earthquake resistant than conventional construction. We have both here. It might look like not much has been done since the last picture I posted of it (back in January, I think it was) but we have actually done a lot of work. Most of the work so far has been up above, on the roof and the second floor. You wouldn't believe all the little details of roof construction!

Happy Colors

I love this shirt! In this shirt I shall go forth into a world overwhelmed with grays and browns* and spread light and happiness wherever I go, even if it's only the happiness of getting to say you can't look at me without sunglasses.

Here's a close-up of the fabrics. The colors in this photo are reasonably accurate, at least on my screen, except the yellow, streaky fabric is a bit more orangey in real life.

The main fabric was a two-yard piece I purchased at a local quilt shop. For a long time I wasn't sure what to do with it. That store always has a lot of one and two yard pieces that always tempt me. They usually end up being sleeveless or short sleeved tops. I can't really remember my thought processes with this but after having it for a few months I somehow decided it needed to be a Simplicity 1538 so I went back to the same store to look for the contrast fabric. I originally wanted something predominantly the sort of harvest gold color in the main print but I didn't find anything like that and settled on this bright orange-yellow. I'm glad I chose it because I love the way it turned out.

This is the second time I have made Simplicity 1538. It's a good basic shirt pattern, relaxed fit but not sloppy. The sleeves are a little longer than I like. Somehow I always end up with sleeves a little too long or a little too short. They're also a little bit too loose at the cuffs but, overall, acceptable.

*The grays and browns of nature haven't taken over yet. It's been almost as warm as summer here and the grass and foliage are still ridiculously green for November. I'm not complaining.

Colors! My Colors! (And a Monstrous Run-On Sentence)

Have you ever decided that you are absolutely not going to buy any more fabric for a long time because you are suddenly slightly horrified to realize how much you already have, but then a local quilt shop has a 30% off on everything sale(!) and you remember you actually do need a few small pieces to finish or refashion some things, like contrast for a couple of shirts you're planning, for example, so you go just to buy those things and you leave the store proud of yourself because you only bought what you went there for but then you keep thinking about that one really gorgeous fabric that you didn't buy because you were determined to be good and you go back and buy some because, what the heck, it's 30 percent off!?

Yeah, that's what happened to me. (This is actually lighter weight than "typical" quilting fabric, perfect for a summer dress.)

I am so excited about this fabric, I was going to cut it out today but then I realized that I do not have a zipper or thread to match. The only place within an hour's drive of me that has sewing notions (other than quilting notions) is Walmart and they probably have the right color thread but no chance on the zipper so I'll have to order that. :-(

For the most part, it seems like I have been sewing some uncharacteristically subdued colors lately. I mean, I like all the garments I've made this year. I like a wide variety of colors - sometimes it's the print that's the main thing - but I have been craving some real COLOR! Summer's last fling, perhaps. So for now I wait and look through my stash for something else colorful, though I know I have nothing else quite this bold.

Colorful Cats

I needed this. I was feeling a need for some outrageous color. These colorful cat silhouettes are just the thing. I used the bodice of Butterick 5748 with a plain gathered skirt again. (I don't know if I will ever make it with the circle skirt. I like the idea of a circle skirt but I'm not sure about actually living in one.) I also lowered the neckline a little and I'm not really happy with the shape of it this time.

This photo is out of focus but in some ways I think it's the best of the photos I took of this dress.

Most of the photos had these goofy wrinkles across the bodice. But you know, that's life. We are not department store mannequins. We move, we breathe, we are imperfect. But I do need to talk about that bodice a little bit and not just to make excuses for it.

You may remember that the first time I used this pattern my usual size (16) was way too big. So this time I cut a size 14. Well, it turns out that a size 14 in this pattern is a little bit tight so I let out the back seam a quarter of an inch. That's not much and it still doesn't have as much ease as I'm used to but it did give me a little more breathing room and it's not uncomfortable at all. I think those wrinkles are due to a combination of it being a little bit too snug and just a smidgen too long for me. If I use this pattern six more times I think I might get it all figured out.

The trim is cut from a small piece of fabric I had left over from another project. It wouldn't have been my first choice of trim color if I had been buying something new but I already had this and it was a spur of the moment decision and I think it looks okay.

Here's one more pic. The goofy pose mostly smoothed out the goofy wrinkles.

Overall I really like it. It's not perfect but it's perfectly wearable and super fun.

Inspirations and Temptations

For a long time I've been thinking I need a weekly feature and even knew what I wanted it to be but I've been hesitant to start. In "real life" I am exceptionally good at keeping to schedules and commitments (you might even say obsessive) but online it's a different story. So, instead of a "weekly feature" I'm just going to call this a "randomly recurring feature". Here we go...

~ ~ ~

First, from Advanced Style (I'm going to only post smaller versions of other people's photos. Follow the link to see it full size.)

Overall, this is not my style at all. I like the look on other people but for me the long, loose, flowy business doesn't seem practical for my life. Also, nobody around here dresses like that. Not that that would bother me, especially; I probably dress weird anyway, but this just seems totally alien to our region.

What I can take from this is the colors. Orange, red, rust, turquoise, and a bit of green. The leggings and a more me-styled tunic? (whatever that is) I don't know when I'll get around to it but I'm definitely keeping this combination in mind and I will be looking for these colors and similar prints.

~ ~ ~

And landscape print dresses!

You know that thing they do on TV with the ray of light from heaven and angels singing, "Aaaahhhhhhh..."? Well, when I saw Roisin's blog post it was kind of like that. I have been seeing and loving and being tempted by big landscape prints but I always think, "What can I do with that?" and since all I can think of is a quilt that I would get around to finishing in maybe 15 years I, sadly, move on. So why didn't I ever realize how perfect and lovely a landscape dress would be?

Roisin always inspires me with her use of wild and crazy prints. I'm always attracted to novelty prints but sometimes timid about using them, especially larger prints. I love that there are people out there to inspire me to do what I always wanted to do anyway.

~ ~ ~

And here is temptation to which I have already given in:

If you have decided that you are absolutely not going to buy any more fabric for a while DO NOT go to Fabric.com (or any other fabric retailer) "just to look". How could I possibly resist fish paisley? Fish paisley! How awesome is that? I already have a black and white paisley dress. Just normal paisley, of course, but still, I thought I should do something different with this one so I bought the black on white polka dot to go with it. I'm thinking that will be the bodice but I haven't decided on all the details yet.

I love colors; I've never seen a color that I thought was too bright but there's something very appealing about black and white too. I've seen it recently here and here but I can't honestly say those inspired me this time. It was definitely the fish paisley.

~ ~ ~

And this pattern:

This one has been tempting me for a while. I already have at least a dozen patterns that I haven't used yet. But I finally decided to get it. I'll make this one soon. Really.

~ ~ ~

And a couple more: Anna has found a blouse pattern with hem facings. I'm generally not a fan of facings but that seems like a really good idea for curved hems.

And a temptation I will definitely not give in to: Oonaballoona's bright floral print trousers. She's got the booty to rock those things; I do not. But, for me, maybe some print leggings with a modest tunic? I don't know. I'll let that one simmer for a while.

2016 Colors

Hello and Happy New Year everyone. Surprise! This is not an abandoned blog. I have been sewing but the real challenge is in getting around to photographing the stuff I want to show off. But I will. I must. The lovely Anne's Jungle January is upon us. But that's not really what I wanted to talk about.

I take pride in being a bit of a fashion rebel, or to be perhaps more honest, simply unfashionable. So when I talk about the Pantone Top 10 Colors it is usually to declare that I will not be jumping on any fashion bandwagons and that I will continue to wear what I like, fashionable or not, or to make fun of the color names, like a few years ago when the color of the year was a lovely pink that for some reason was named after a yellow and white flower, the honeysuckle.

But anyway, this year's colors...

I actually like most of these. I might have to risk being fashionable by buying fabric in some of these colors. (Of course, by the time I get around to making something of it it won't be "in" anymore.)

I like almost any kind of pink from insanely bright to something very delicate like this year's color of the year, Rose Quartz. Delicate pastels usually don't look that flattering on me but I think I might need something in this color anyway. Perhaps I need a pair of Rose Quartz color shoes.

The Peach Echo is nice too. I used to have a dress that was almost that color and I think I already have some t-shirt knit that is close to it.

Serenity - not really a fan. (of the color, that is. Of the movie, a huge fan but that's not what we're here for is it?)

It seems like Snorkel Blue is just a new name for a color that's been around a long time. I like it a lot and I definitely want something this color.

Buttercup - Yes! I love yellow. It's a sort of scary color and not particularly flattering on me but I often wear it anyway.

Limpet Shell - I have been loving aqua and seafoam and similar colors in the past couple of years so I am very attracted to this lovely color but it's more something I would paint on the walls than something I would wear. It's another delicate pastel that probably wouldn't look that great on me.

Lilac Gray - I have practically been on a crusade against dull, grayed out colors so, no.

Fiesta - Yes! Orange is still in!

Iced Coffee - It's okay as a background color, I suppose.

And finally, Green Flash. I can't decide how well I like this color. I do like some greens - most greens, actually. I'm just not sure if I like this one a lot or only a little.

What about you? Are you considering adding any of these colors to your wardrobe?