P.P.P.P.?*

*Pretty Piece, Possibly Paris?

What fun I had, sewing this silk duster! The pattern is the Fillmore, by Sewing Workshop, and the gorgeous fabrics (plain silk taffeta and matching pleated silk taffeta)
are from Marcy Tilton.

I was inspired by Martha, of Now Sewing, who made this in a lovely red Brussels Washer Linen. I'm a sucker for a cross-woven fabric in red and black...witness my recent raincoat

 my red taffeta travel vest

and my red jeans from my Portugal wardrobe

These are three that come immediately to mind...suffice it to say a cross woven red/black fabric gets my immediate attention!

This pattern has very interesting seaming and was perfect for two coordinating fabrics.

I made the pattern exactly as printed. I had decided not to pre-wash the silk, but when I had finished the duster, the crispness of the silk didn't work with the volume of the skirt, so I washed it in the washing machine on cold/delicate and hung it to dry. Perfect!

Apparently I was on a Sewing Workshop pattern binge...as I wrote back in May,

I am somewhat obsessed with trying to successfully match this fabric

with an appropriate pattern. Since the only success I've had was a pair of loose pants for my friend Joan many years ago, I went back to that pattern (Sewing Workshop Trio Pants) and sewed it again, just for me!

The fabric and the pattern are a good match...and although this style of pant is not what I usually wear, it's "good enough".

What it DOES do, is allow me to wear some beloved items of jewelry which don't fit in with my usual black, white and red...I have always been very attuned to gray-green stones and have quite a collection of them, from precious moss aquamarines and labradorite, to

coke bottle glass (it's true, the silver and green large beads I found in a market in Mali!)So now I have something to wear them with! Although the pants are not terribly flattering, they ARE very comfortable and I could imagine wearing them on a road trip or plane ride.

I tried another iteration of this pattern in a gray Taslan I had in my stash...

 

 These will probably be passed on to someone else. I hope I'm over my Taslan

obsession..

My next sewing project will be home dec in nature...I am recovering these chairs and ottoman.

If these turn out ok, I have SIX more chairs and FOUR more ottomans (ottomen?)but I will probably farm those out to a professional.

In other news, we celebrated Dave's birthday Friday with an excellent dinner out

and received a new picture of our great-granddaughter Amethyst...

Isn't she pretty?

We have been availing ourselves of the glorious summer fruits available from our neighbor and having an occasional VIVID breakfast outside on the deck...

As for the puppies...

MicMac is enjoying his last few weeks of being top dog (er...cat). On Saturday, July 23, we will pick up our new baby in Grass Valley and bring him home. Oh,

Joy!

I'm heading over to Visible Monday at Patti's Not Dead Yet Style...come take a look!

TTYL