ADDITIONS TO MY FALL WARDROBE...

Despite being temporarily slowed down by a traveling cold, I've been productive in the studio and online, adding to my fall wardrobe.

In an interesting and mostly successful trifecta, I combined V8929, V1034 (OOP) and my custom pant pattern by Lynda Maynard, and made a pair of jeans in a beautiful red/black denim from Silhouette Patterns.

I need to change the waistband to a contoured one and take a few tucks in the back leg, but I'm pretty pleased with them. I am pairing then here with a TNT
B5954, a tunic in a pretty paisley in red, gray and black from Fabric.com.

I made the same tunic (can you tell I like it?) in a cozy sweater knit with polkadots from Marcy Tilton, this time without the cowl collar and with a contrasting neck binding.

Paddywack approves...AND matches!

I couldn't resist a long sweater jacket from Orvis in a black and gray houndstooth...

And, a fun, funky short pullover taffeta vest with a wire collar from Sun Kim,
a division of Comfy.

So, that's what I've been up to! I'm off to Artistry in Fashion next weekend, to

see old friends and meet up with new ones, and, just maybe, do a little shopping...

TTYL

STRIPES!

I've been blissfully busy in the studio lately, summer travel over, no houseguests  expected in the near future, leaving me free to do what I love: dream, create, sew and "putter". 

I've wanted to duplicate the striped pants on the pattern cover of V8929 for a long time...I've made the pattern half a dozen or more times, but not in the stripe as shown on the envelope

Both pattern and fabric are from Marcy Tilton. So I finally did!

(Unfortunately, stripes DO emphasize tummy curves...) but the pants are fun and comfortable and Paddywack loves them!

Then, with potential candidates for a travel wardrobe in mind, I made V1453,
by Sandra Betzina.

I decided I wanted a more body-conscious fit, so I darted front and back and recut the side seams, to make this:

I made it out of black taffeta and trimmed it with black and silver striped silk dupioni...I didn't really mean to be so matchy-matchy, but, oh well!

The pockets are cute and practical on this vest...

So, I'm in the middle of doing one of my favorite things...making a travel wardrobe. We are going to Portugal in October.

TTYL!

YET ANOTHER CATCHUP...

Well, I meant to post before this; I needed a good week to recover from all the socializing in Oregon, then I went to the Bay Area for a quick trip (see 
Sham's Post for details and pictures), then I spent almost a full week doing a major clean "out and up" of my studio and then had a wonderful weekend visit from DD Maggie...we celebrated her May Birthday, Mothers' Day and my June Birthday all at once. FUN! And... she got behind the camera to do a photoshoot on all my new clothes, both sewn and RTW. It's so much more fun to do that with someone, rather than using a remote control! After we finished on Sunday late morning, we went out for a lovely leisurely brunch at Petros' in Los Olivos...

On to the clothes...

I made this top  and these pants for my trip to Oregon...

The fabrics are both from Girl Charlee, a black, red and gray sweater knit, and a gray stretch denim.  And to go with them, I made this wonderful red raincoat
V 9070 in a juicy red rainwear with a little metallic thread in it, both fabric and pattern from Marcy Tilton.

Of course, we had wonderful sunny weather in Oregon, but the coat is fun to wear anyway.

Also, before I left, I made these wide-legged pants in a silky crepe (black and white, of course!) I can't remember which pattern I used, but they are very cool and comfortable.

While  shopping in Portland, I found this little sleeveless tunic

and this one, with sleeves...

Later on in the week, I went to Cannon Beach with my friend Willie, and we
found these lightweight rayon pants:

To round out my summer wardrobe, I found this wonderful Vince Camuto poncho

and this breezy Chico's top, bought with my now-canceled Indian trip in mind...

 And, to finally come to the end of this endless post, here are pictures of Maggie, Dave and me celebrating my birthday a few days early...

A big thanks to Maggie for taking so many of these pictures and making the weekend SO. MUCH. FUN!

TTYL...

P.S....I'm heading over to the "Hat Attack" at the lovely Judith's Style Crone blog...come see all of us in our head gear!

ANOTHER CATCH UP!

WARNING: LENGTHY POST AND LOTS OF PICTURES!

That's what happens when I let 3 weeks go by between posts...I have been busy and actually have some clothes to show for it!

But first...a few pictures of our redecorated bedroom wing. We finally got the painting we wanted for over the fireplace

It's called Spiral Dance; the artist is Seyburn Zorthian whose wonderful painting
I bought 25 years ago and is over our living room fireplace.

(Remember when the contents of our closets were in the living room?)

Seyburn is a friend of ours; we love her work and are enjoying waking up in the morning to the sight of her Spiral Dance.

A few more pictures of the bedroom

The antique Katagami stencils above our bed were used to stencil family crests on clothing and goods in 19th century Japan.

These are old purses and bags I've collected on our travels; I hung them in the hall so I can see them every day. The color we used in the bedroom wing is very

difficult to photograph...the pictures of the bedroom show a more realistic color

match.

So...on to sewing! I made another pair of Marcy Tilton's Vogue 8929 pants,

although for my 4th pair I changed them enough that she might not recognize them!

The fabric is an abstract print stretch denim from Emma One Sock.

They're very comfortable and the type of pants  I wear most days.

I made another pair of loose harem-y pants from Sandra Betzina's V1355,

using a dreamy Ella Moss rayon challis from Hart's Fabric. This fabric is so perfect for travel to hot climates (India, I'm talking about you!) that I just ordered some more for another shirt.

I'm wearing a batwing tee with them...!

And for my final submission, I made yet another version of B5526...

in a wonderful French Circles and Squares crinkled jacquard from Emma One Sock. I am wearing it here with Eileen Fisher's Slouchy Ankle Pant in Silk Georgette, another supremely comfortable pant.

Well, if you've stayed with me this long, THANK YOU! I'll try not to stockpile

post material again...

TTYL