Looking for Inspiration and Reassurance!

Tonight was a short evening out with the Ladies of the Bus.  I ride the bus with the most incredible group of interesting women!  We're all different ages, but most of us are single for various reasons.  We'll probably get together again during the holiday season for an evening out after work.  It was a great time tonight.  We had everyone in the bar laughing; you know how sometimes the positive energy just builds and each line that comes out is funnier and adds on what the other said before you, and round and round it goes, and it's all just perfect. 

I hope I can do that with my sewing of this jumper project!  Now, I know I fell flat on my face picking out the plaid I wanted for my jumper.  That jumper I had back in the 1970's - it was bright yellow and green large plaid!  And it was fabulous!  I wore it with a green turtleneck bodysuit underneath, LOL!  Of course, my figure was different then than it is now, but that's why I picked out a straight up and down pattern - it will hide that which should be hid from public view :)  I was intent on a read plaid material.

So, what did I choose?  Nothing anywhere near the red plaid I'd envisioned.  I picked a sedate brown menswear plaid.  What was I thinking?  And yet it is beautiful material and I think it will make a very cute jumper.  Sooooo.... guess I'm just thinking up excuses to getting started sewing.  Sort of the sewing yips, I think -- like not being to make a sure-thing putt in golf, I'm not able to put those first stitches to material.  EEK!

I'm looking around the internet right now for jumpers.  I still cannot believe that when tonight I typed in plaid jumper a whole host of sites appeared, whereas a few short weeks ago, when I typed in jumper and women's jumper dress no plaids appeared!  Duh!

Here are some jumpers that I sure hope mine doesn't turn out looking like!

I think this jumper has a lot going for it - it has
great style and the plaid is bold which I like, but the pockets,
oh my, the pockets - way too big and placed too high, totally
ruins the proportions of an otherwise excellent jumper!

This is just ugly.  I didn't like the dropped waist style when it was
"in fashion" and it still sucks now.  This dress is also poorly
stitched - look at the dip right in the waist seam right at the front!

Awful!  Like a potato sack and the plaid is ugly, too.
Shoulders are too broad, the v-neck is cut too shallow,
and the light-weight cotton does not have a decent drape.

The following jumpers, on the other hand, I feel have a lot going for them:



I love the cut of this jumper and it has excellent
tailoring - the buttons down the front add a nice touch.
The plaid is conservative (like the one I chose) and
will work perfectly in a business setting with the
right accessories.

Ohmygoddess, how cute is this!  I love the tartan
plaid and the bow tied front is just gorgeous!  I don't
think I can carry off this look but possibly a variation...

The caption for this jumper at Etsy said it was
"1960 vintage wool".  I love its tailored lines and
the conservative plaid, great for work, but I would
give it a scooped neck or a v-neck.  I'd also want to check
what it would look like with a turtleneck or blouse
underneath with those mini-cap sleeves.

So, we'll sew and see...

Photos of Some New Stuff!

Goddess, I've turned into a regular material girl :)

First, the items I purchased at my trip to Joann Fabric store on Saturday, 9/17/11.  My goal was to find one or two materials to use to make up vintage McCalls Easy stitch 'n save 9436 (women's jumper dress).  Oh, Robbie Burns was soooooo right when he wrote that the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray!

After hunting around through current patterns I just wasn't finding anything that was ringing my chimes; I'd decided to sew a jumper as my first (and hopefully not last) project since I figured it would be easy.  Well - that's another story...

Suffice to say, I turned to vintage patterns and found lots of possibilities, but hardly any available in the size that will fit my measurements.  I want to start with a way too big pattern and work it down rather than starting with a too small pattern and trying to work it up!  So - this is the pattern I settled on.

I had hoped to get a really nice red plaid for jumper #1, and possibly mix it up a little with red/black/white for jumper #2, but somehow things didn't work out.  I think I got overwhelmed by the selection - and not finding exactly what I had envisioned - and in the end I selected a sedate men's wear plaid in a light brown/camel blended color with a light blue thread running through it:

While I was roaming up and down the aisles eyeing all the cool stuff, I came across this material, and I fell in love with it:

This photo doesn't do it justice!  It's a very trendy snake-skin print in neutral tones with some gold  in it, black, tan, beige.  Semi-shiny and very pretty. 

I have a special project in mind for this material - I'm going to duplicate a "poncho" with "bat-wing sleeves" that I purchased from Macy's recently (as part of my new wardrobe, wooo wooo) in a black light-weight knit and fell in love with the fit and how the sleeves move and how comfy it is.  I think it was an Ana brand top - but don't quote me on that. 

Today I once again visited the mall downtown during my lunch hour and toured the women's clothing section at Boston Store.  I saw a few new items that I went "hmmmmmmm....." over but, all in all, nothing enough of a bargain to tempt me to part with more dollars.  I did see a sweater in a rust color that was very similar in design to the Ann Taylor "wedge v-neck" sweater I wrote about.  It was a lower price too, plus 40% off, but still not reduced enough...



Rainbow purchase #1 - a multi-colored
light-weight knight "poncho" style top.

As I was walking back through the Mall I passed the Rainbow store.  I've passed it many times but I only recently ventured into it about a month ago - I didn't buy anything but I left thinking that there were maybe some things there for me despite it's "urban hip" image.

Today I hit paydirt!  I went into the Rainbow store and came out about 15 minutes later with two sweaters for less than I would have paid for one sweater at Boston Store.  And I'm very happy with them!  They are so cute!

They're light-weight - they're meant for summer/fall wear, but I know I'll be wearing these into December over mock turtlenecks.

I took these photos this evening with the clothes hung upon a light colored door in my manse :)  It looks so tiny!  But it fits!  The colors of Rainbow sweater #1 are beautiful:  turquoise/light blue, rust, beige, a little brown - and an open airy weave that will show the top underneath.

Here's a close-up photo I tried, spread out on the dinette table.  Professional photo NOT.  The colors are almost irridescent, but there is no lurex in this top.  I'm going to wear this to work tomorrow, over a cream scoop neck tank top with my heather taupe slacks (purchases for the St. Louis trip).  The unseasonably cool temperatures we had last week have been replaced by seasonal temperatures and more humidity than we should be experiencing this time of year.  I can tell because my hair is frizzy!  It will be comfortable in the mid 70's forecast for tomorrow and will give me some coverage in the overly air-conditioned air in my office! 

Here is Rainbow sweater #2.  You know, I'd been looking for something in black and red ever since returning a knit top I'd purchased online at Macy's over a week ago.  I loved that top but it was just too small - it just was not flattering, even though it was an XL.  NOT!  This top's material is not the spandex blend knit that I'd purchased at Macy's, but it's colors and pattern are reminiscent of the top I sent back (I've done of a lot of that since shopping for clothes online for the St. Louis trip!):

This photo of the sweater isn't too flattering.  It's made out of a very stretchy light-weight weave/knit with a knitted band around the bottom, the arm cuffs and the neckline and will be perfect over a black, red, grey, or white cami, tank top or mock turtleneck!  I love this versatility.  It's a dolman short sleeve style so can be worn practically year around.  SCORE! 

I plan on wearing this top next week Monday with either a black tank or a black mock turtleneck and the black slacks I bought for the St. Louis trip -- geez, I bought a ton of clothes for that St. Louis trip!  More about that in another post.