A Lot of M's...

MANTEAU #3

Our trip to Iran is a month away...so I made another cover-up, AKA "Manteau".
I went back to my TNT shirt pattern B5526, which I've made too many times to count and came up with this:

It's got front and back princess seams, I added side-seam pockets,  lengthened it to just above knee level, and added a belt.

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The fabric is a wonderful hand-dyed cotton from Marcy Tilton called "Shibori Moon". Isn't that an evocative name? It's quite light weight, so will be good for the hotter days.

MARFY I made two "MUSLINS" in my search for a pattern for my MOTHER-OF-THE-BRIDE jacket for DD's wedding in October. I have a gorgeous fabric and am looking for a worthy pattern. I dipped my toe in the
Marfy pool (an Italian pattern company) and tried these two patterns:

which was pretty, but too large, and not really right for my fabric... and this

which was a smaller size, but still just not right  (do I sound like Goldilocks?) I am eager to try this vintage YSL

but will have to wait till I get back from Iran.

I found this picture on a blog I've been following, Manteaus Daily,

which shows some Manteaux in a store...they're brighter than I thought they'd be, but I don't see any patterns. We shall see...

MORE FROM MARGY LATER!

and MORE color!

Sewing my red pants was so stimulating, I decided to make a top to go with them (and silver pants and black pants), so I made this knit tunic

The fabric is a poly/spandex knit from Mood Fabrics that I've had my eye on for a long time... I used 

V8691, a Katherine Tilton top that I've made 3 times now. It has a particularly lovely fit through the torso, and this time I tweaked it a lot...

I added 4 inches to the length, and did not put the "ruffles" on that the pattern calls for (see here). I raised the neckline by an inch, and added a cowl collar. I also lengthened the sleeves.

I was a little leery about a poly knit, but this one is very high quality; the print is beautifully done, and it
feels good to wear.

A little Shams twirl...

 Color is fun!

COLOR!

As promised, I temporarily abandoned my usual black sewing and stitched up
a pair of RED PANTS! I seem to be on a perennial search for red pants I love...I'm very picky about the shade of red, and because they are so out there, the fit is more important than usual. I went back to my wonderful
Lynda Maynard pattern for these:

The fabric is a bengaline from JoAnns...80% polyester, 15% rayon and 4%

spandex. There have been comments that the JA bengaline pills more than

the bengaline from Australia..we will see. The color was exactly right, so it's

worth a try.

Unattractive pose, but you can see that the under-the-butt wrinkles are not a

problem. Yay, Lynda!

I'm taking a few days to unclutter the studio...and to decide what's next.

TTYL!

Manteau #2

Up for consideration in my travel wardrobe challenge is Manteau #2, using one of my TNT patterns, M5433 (OOP)

For this garment, I used a tone on tone animal print ponte from Sewing Workshop. I redrafted the pattern to include a center zipper and changed the shirt collar to a mandarin collar.

                                                             

The zipper I used is probably a little too heavy for the fabric, which is a lighter-weight ponte. I can also
wear it with a belt:

Now, I'm going to go out to my studio and sew something COLORFUL!

MARNI & ME

I've been dying to sew the Style Arc Marni Ponti Jacket since it was issued; I'm surprised there aren't many reviews of this...it's a cute jacket:

I wanted to intersperse "wear-it-now" sewing with my ongoing "Manteau Auditions". Here's my jacket

                                                             

I used a medium-to-heavy weight ponte from EOS for the body of the jacket, and used a heavy-weight black ponte from Denver Fabrics for the facing and sleeves. I mention the weights of the ponte knits, because I had a problem with the 3/8 inch seam allowances; with the heavier weight fabrics, it was hard to make the seams lay flat, and I wound up topstitching everything in order to flatten the seams. There are many different weights of Ponte knits, and I think this jacket would have been easier to sew had I used a lighter-weight knit (like a Sophia knit) or if I had cut the seam allowances a little larger.

I had trouble understanding the closure (if any) for this jacket, so what worked for me were two skirt/trouser hooks and a button just for show. It needs a cami under it...

I've worn the jacket twice and gotten many compliments on it; I love the fit of it and will definitely make it again.

I've been AWOL for the last two weeks due to an allergic dermatitis outbreak around my eyes. UGLY.
I just finished the patch test for 71 different potential allergens (I haven't been able to shower for 6 days...) and so far, am positive for only one, lanolin alcohol. Unfortunately, it's in a lot of common products, such as cosmetics, cleaning compounds, etc., so I have to start looking closely at ingredients.

NSFW Image!!!!!

It's good I'm fond of polka dots..... and I finally showered this morning...YAY!

Manteau #1

Inspired by a spot-on Christmas gift from my soon-to-be Son-in-Law

(a dozen silver and black antique buttons) and my upcoming trip to Iran, I made the first attempt at a
"Manteau", a covering for the upper body worn by many women in Iran. If you recall, this 
is my challenge:

This is my first attempt:

The pattern is B5822, a shortened and unlined View B.

I used a lovely, drapey tone-on-tone black rayon brocade...I've had it so long, I've forgotten where it came from! (photos have been lightened to show details)

I'm afraid I'll have to switch out the buttons for the trip to plain black, but these lovelies will go right back on when I return. The unlined rayon is quite cool to wear.

On another note, last week I had a meet-up with ReAnn Scott, who lives in Chicago. She was out to California for the birth of her first grandchild, and managed to fit in a brief trip to my part of the world.
We went out for a long and chatty lunch

(blurry iPhone photo) and then I shared my somewhat meagre brick and mortar fabric stores. We had a
great time...meetups are so much fun!

KAPPOGI!

And what is a Kappogi, you ask?

I grew up in Hawaii and loved the "mama-san" aprons worn by Japanese women; they seemed so attractive, while being practical at the same time. I've never understood those skimpy little aprons worn by a lot of women...they must not be as messy as I am when cooking!

I know, I know, in my last post I was all set to do a major cleaning of my studio, and I DID, for a day or so...but I had ordered, then lost, this pattern a year ago and when I finally unearthed it, I NEEDED to make one for myself...

I used quilting cottons that I had originally bought in my purse-making days and used the pattern as is

except for lengthening the sleeves. There is elastic in the wrists, so they can be pushed up out of the way when doing dishes.

It's a little late, considering my holiday cooking and cleaning is over, but it never hurts to have a cute
"costume" for every day!

close-up

Now, back to cleaning!