2014 First Day of School Project, Part 2

I'm well underway with the making of the matching capris for the peasant tops I showed you in the last post. So far, I've completed a blue linen blend pair. This fabric is from stash and came from TSW.

 and two gray cotton pairs. I bought this fabric from JoAnn's last year for boys' pants but the gray looks perfect with the fuchsia, yellow, and gray print tops.  Since they're both the same, I'm just showing one:

They are View E of the same pattern I used for the tops (Butterick 5776). I stopped by JoAnn's on Friday and got a green linen look fabric to match the two remaining tops. The final two pairs are all cut out and ready to be sewn.

A good thing too, this project comes to a close on July the 10th when the outfits have to be turned in. It does not appear there will be any little boys' outfits this year but that will be my priority for next year, assuming that we'll be doing this project again.

This weekend, my sister in law Dorothy came to visit from New Jersey for a little getaway.

Instead of doing a lot of touristy things, we mostly stayed around the house, logging a lot of time on the back patio.  We did go out for a couple of nice dinners and a lunch, since she has become addicted to chile.  She and I also went shopping on Friday at ABQ Uptown--Coldwater Creek, the Loft, Lululemon,  Ann Taylor and Alfred Angelo. I'm not much of a RTW shopper but did find a few items. Of course, Coldwater Creek is liquidating and the pickings are really getting slim, but I did find a couple of t-shirts that are wearable for work and some baubles.

(Note to self: find something to clean the permanent marker stains off the cutting mat.)

I also found a cute t-shirt at the Loft, which was a total surprise. It's eyelet on the front and sleeves, and the back is knit. Sorry for the odd angle but this was the best of the lot for showing the eyelet.

It's wearable as is, but I may make a couple of minor tweaks to improve the fit. The darts are too high for me and of course, that bugs me as a sewist. So I'll be adjusting them.

Lululemon is a new store for Albuquerque. However I'm dubious that $100+ yoga pants will go over with the local citizenry. Or maybe they'll be wildly successful, who's to say?

We stopped into Alfred Angelo, because Dorothy is MOB for an upcoming wedding and is trying to get some ideas for a dress. She doesn't sew and will be buying a gown.  I do sew and will be needing  dresses for the wedding and rehearsal dinner. October will be here fast, so I'll have some work ahead of me.

2014 First Day of School Project

The Albuquerque ASG is repeating this project this year.  Unfortunately there are still a lot of kids who don't have clothes for school. We had such great support for it last time that it was an easy decision.

I set aside several pieces of fabric that were left over from other projects as well as some donations (thanks Patti F.!).  I'm using Butterick 5776 again for the little girls' tops and pants.

I was able to cut all the tops out at a recent Material Girls meeting:

Two sessions of sewing and the basic tops are done. I'll decide about embellishments later because I still need to make the pants.

The first three are made out of lightweight linen from JoAnn's, which I originally used for a couple of tops for myself.  A watercolor print:

I had enough of the fuchsia/yellow/gray floral for two tops. Matching tops for twins, sisters, or best friends? I hope so!

The next two are cotton. The green came from JoAnn's and was previously used for the Mary Bridge project:

This cotton came from Nob Hill Fabrics in Albuquerque. I previously made a summer nightgown from this:

I have two pair of gray cotton pants and a pair of blue linen blend ready to be sewn. I'm still trying to find stash fabric for pants to go with the green floral and gold/red/purple floral tops.

If time permits, I'll start on some outfits for boys. We have a visitor next weekend, and I have mandated overtime for a few weeks as well.  I'm not sure I will get to all of it by the July deadline, but I'll have least five outfits finished.

Follow up: Another Kwik Sew 2565 and TSW Sandra Betzina Skirt

This is the third of the skirts I made over Memorial Day weekend. This one is from the TSW Sandra Betzina faux wrap skirt pattern. I had a chance to wear it at work today with its matching TNT T-shirt by Kwik Sew. It worked pretty well as a dress look, but offers the flexibility of separates too.  The fabric is a polyester matte jersey I've had in the collection for a number of years. It was a dream to sew, and very comfortable for office wear.

Follow up: New Skirt Photos

Well, two out of three anyway. I'm saving the TSW Sandra Betzina Skirt for when the matching T Shirt is complete.

LJ Designs Asymmetrical Skirt:

Simplicity 2416:

Details of the patterns are on the previous post.