Getting Ready for Spring

I went to JoAnn's after work today and had luck in locating linen blends from which to make some casual pants. I had previously mentioned at Sewer's Guild that JoAnn's didn't seem to have any rayon/linen this spring, at least judging by the the San Mateo location. But it was a different story at the Coors store. I found 3 plain colors (slate blue, olive, and lavender) that would work well, then for fun I also got some camo cotton sheeting with floral tone-on-tone embroidery. I know it sounds ghastly but really, I like it! I think it'll be fine for some kind of cropped pants or capris.


I also found this pattern, Simplicity 3796. I have a TNT pattern for drawstring-style pants, but I'm not totally happy with the in-seam pockets. This looked like a nice alterative, especially at $1.99 sale price.

This has some nice features, including a little yoke in back that could be used for fitting. I'm planning on raising the waistline if needed--my years of low rise were over sometime in the mid '70s and the pattern says that the waistband falls 1" below the waist (and looks like more on the envelope). I'll also probably lengthen the white shorts a bit so they're more of a true capri length. Although I reserve the right to change my mind, I'm not loving the bermuda cargo shorts look.


As for Easter sewing, there isn't any--at least for me. Since I'm a member of the Aesthetics Guild (aka decor committee) at St. Michael's, I figured my time might be limited and I was right. Good for me I bought this skirt from Coldwater Creek. I'll be wearing it with a cream sweater or twin set vs. the coral in the catalog photo.


I'm actually planning on using this skirt as a starting point for a sewing project. What you can't really see in the photo is that the dot fabric shows through the floral, a nice effect. As it happens, I have several light weight sheer florals and geometrics in various scales and colors, so I'm thinking it might be fun to play around with how the shadowing works on them.