June 16, 2012

  • I made a successful SWAP several years ago — successful in the sense that I actually finished all the pieces, and had the pleasure of wearing all the nice things I had made in coordinated outfits — and have, just about every year since, planned a SWAP. Each time I have made about half of the pieces. Sometimes I have just made the muslins, using inexpensive fabrics, and worn them without getting around to making the Real Garments for the SWAP.

    There is an element of the pathetic in this, admittedly. However, I have ended up with some completed, wearable, handmade garments in this way. Accordingly, I’m going to plan another SWAP this year. If things go as planned in the business, I might be able to find the time to make all the pieces. If not, I’ve had the fun of planning them.

    I found the color grouping at left on Pinterest, and it looks like a good grouping for fall. The fabrics below arrived this week in the mail. The print is a very soft rayon that should add a bit of drama to the otherwise understated collection. I plan to be traditional and start the SWAP with a two piece dress in the print, a jacket-skirt-pants suit in the gray, and jackets in the pink fabrics. I wouldn’t wear pink pants or a pink skirt suit, and I just bought a couple of pairs of trousers in different shades of gray, so I just bought enough of the pink fabrics for jackets. I plan to take a bit of the print to a fabric store and choose all the accent colors for blouses, looking for Bellflower and Rose Smoke. Alternatively, if I cannot find suitable solids, I may go very wth pale neutral linen, which I know I can find online. Local fabric stores tend to stock lots of fleece, polyester prints, and quilting cotton, and not much else.

    I’m doing the Craftsy jacket class, so I imagine that I will be adept enough to sew up all these jackets I’m imagining.

    The pattern counts as TnT, I think, since I’ve made and fitted all the parts. I also have a basic pants pattern. The blouses are yet to be determined.

    The brown may not really work with the print. I thought it would, but now that I see them together in person, I’m not so sure. The print is always the hard part. For me, it’s also the part that gets worn least. I should learn something from this. I’m not sure what, though, so I clearly haven’t learned it yet.

     

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