During these last few weeks I’ve been recovering from major surgery, I’m very fortunate that the pandemic hasn’t really altered my daily routines except trips for food which Rich has been doing for me.
I haven’t had much energy to sew much but I have been looking at my wardrobe and how I wear my clothes and these are my key findings:
- If I have somewhere to go I usually wear a pretty dress.
- During the day when I’m home I like to feel put together, usually it’s a pants and tee/jumper combo.
- In the autumn/winter I prefer to wear knit fabrics and in the spring/summer I prefer woven cottons/linen.
- For bed it’s always pjs and I definitely prefer these to be knits.
I’ve decided I need more comfortable casual lounge wear that can be worn around house and still smart enough for a trip to the shops (when we are allowed back out).
Sewing lounge wear right now seems extremely appropriate too, Ive got no plans to go anywhere for the next several weeks so clothes that are cute and comfortable seem ideal.
I’ve recently made a couple of woven tops to see what kind of style I would prefer to wear, the Cielo top by closet case pattern was first on my list, I made one in a cotton and loved the style and it was comfortable but not the style I wanted. It looks super cute with my linen cropped trousers and nearly the look I want.
Then whilst browsing the merchant and mills site (I’ve got a huge crush on their linen) I came across the Florence top and fell in love with the floaty feminine style. I immediately downloaded the PDF and got to work making a version in this indigo dyed light cotton I have in my stash. I purchased it form cotton reel studio and think it might of been merchant and mills fabric.
The top features short sleeves then a gathered peplum thats low at the front, high at the back it also features a button up closure at the back.
I cut a size 18 and the only adjustment I’ve made is a a bicep adjusment and added an inch to the width of the sleeve. I used the By hand London blog for this. For my final version I am going to add an inch to the length of the peplum.
For the trousers I’m going with the millers by paper theory, they have. comfit relaxed fit with an elasticated waist and pockets. Exactly what I’m looking for.
Next job on for the mini collection I wanted was pulling together some fabrics …
This wasn’t too hard as whilst I’ve been recovering from my surgery I’ve done quite a lot of fabric shopping, some of it whilst under the influence of some very strong painkillers, lets just say if you shouldn’t be operating heavy machinery whilst taking them then you shouldn’t be ordering fabric!
I sifted through my fabrics and these are the few I choose. (the purple needle cord is a fabric for a blog that will appear on sew me sunshine very soon but is part of this mini collection)
This delicious emerald green and lilac gingham cotton from Fabworks (unfortunately I got the last of it)
Lavender washed linen from 1st for fabrics. The colour is just dreamy!
And this caramel brown twill … now brown isn’t a colour I wear (drugged up Sam ordered this) and with the other colours it works perfectly and is buttery soft so will make perfect pants.
I put together some sketches (using procreate) of the outfits to get a feel of them and how they will work together, I love the looks a lot!
Paired the images with the fabrics and I’m super happy with them!
That’s it for this part! I’ve already started cutting and sewing these projects so keep an eye on my instagram feed for more progress shots and updates. I’ll be back with more on my planning/bullet journal process and let you see how it’s come together.
Take care, stay safe, stay home and happy sewing,
Samantha x x x
Purple sewing cloud 