Hey all! I'm back on the Indiesew blog tour! I am a lucky lady because my Burnside Bibs pattern was chosen as part of the Indiesew Fall/Winter 2017 Collection. If you aren't familiar with Indiesew collections, Allie Olsen(the genius behind Indiesew) puts together a seasonal group of patterns and fabrics offered on her site and sells the patterns as a bundle - a mini collection and a larger complete collection. They are always accompanied by a blog tour featuring some inspiring sewing bloggers. I am always happy to be a part of bundle sales blog tours as it gives me an excuse to do some selfish sewing and check out other great indie patterns. I love buying patterns but rarely have time to sew up much besides my own pattern samples. Plus, it's always a great excuse to get a new pair of shoes and a haircut too.
Last year my Toaster Sweater #2 pattern was part of the 2016 collection and I took part in that blog tour as well. As I was sewing and photographing my two makes for this year, it occurred to me that #1, I am again making a black garment and #2, it's been a year since my last hair cut. I cut it just before last years blog post and then the time just flew by so... I figured that it was time to cut this hair again. The result is a little bit crazy so I've fallen back on my old bun stand-by in many of the photos.
CORAM DRESS
First up is my Coram Dress by Allie Olsen of Indiesew. The pattern has options - a top or a dress with or without a tie. It's a simple, and very versatile raglan sleeve pattern that is beautifully drafted and well written. I decided to make the dress but shorten it an inch and a half so that I can wear it as a tunic over jeans. I can still wear it as a dress but for this cold, rainy fall weather, I need something on my legs. I made it out of a black Pendleton wool gaberdine I had from my days working there. It's light weight enough that it has a slight drape but still enough body to make it sew up like a dream. It's perfect for a nice Northwest fall garment. I'm not the best photographer so it's difficult to see my details but I added a saddle brown topstitching on all of the seams, darts and hems.
Here's a close up of some of the stitch details.
The tunic (dress) can be worn with or with out the waist tie. The instructions are so clear and it's a pretty quick and easy sew. I love the flat felled seam options. Any excuse to do some topstitching is good for me.
Here is the obligatory leg shot. This is a fabulous dress so I thought I'd show it that way. I'm a little self conscious of my legs, especially in cooler weather but here you are or rather, here they are.
Here is the obligatory leg shot. This is a fabulous dress so I thought I'd show it that way. I'm a little self conscious of my legs, especially in cooler weather but here you are or rather, here they are. It was raining cats and dogs when I took these photos so had to shoot indoors. The details didn't show up well so I took more outdoor photos quickly before I wrote the post as the sun came out.
I really don't have that much black in my closet. When I first moved to Oregon a long time ago, a friend of mine from Bend mentioned that people in Portland wear black most of the time. Ever since her comment, I've been conscious of adding color to my closet but every once in a while I realize that I don't have enough black and that I think I look good in black. I'm currently lacking it so I made the Coram in black and this next make in grey.
MATCHA TOP
And here we have the Matcha Top by Sew Liberated. I love this top even more than I thought I would. I was missing something like this in my wardrobe and it's so me. After I photographed this, I immediately wore it to a party. It's also a quick make and I again used some fabric I had on hand in my stash. I used a grey rayon challis but a very nice quality one. I really love this color - it's such a great backdrop for jewelry. The pattern has a center front seam with an open V-neck and neck gathers enclosed by the collar. There is an option for three quarter length sleeves or sleeveless. It's also a shorter length - which works well for my body type.
I plan to make another sleeveless version of the Matcha when summer roles around again. I have lots of Ikat fabric that will look great according to Meg of Sew Liberated's website version and Jen of Grainline Studio's blog tour version.
