KCW - Day 1 WIP

Last week in anticipation of KWC I cut a pinwheel dress for J. and made the bias tape to go along with it.  Even with that done, I have a feeling it's more than slightly ambitious of me to think that I can get it sewn up during the week.  It's not a difficult pattern but after all it is two separate items.  Plus all there's all that bias tape!  Not my favourite part for sure.

I also cut banyan shorts and a class picnic blouse as part of my initial plan to round out J.'s wardrobe with some much needed staples.  That plan also included a hopscotch skirt in a neutral colour and some summer pjs.  The pinwheel dress jumped the queue though because I got excited about the combination of fabrics and because J.'s got a big performance coming up -- she's an extra in a local theatre production of Wizard of Oz and I'm sure there'll be an after-party or two that will require something dressy.  She could wear her ombre fairy tale dress but that dress doesn't even make it to the laundry -- it gets hung up and worn again until I insist it needs a wash. I'm super glad she likes it but she needs some variety, lol!

I tend to do most of my sewing on the weekends so here's a shot of what I did yesterday.  Hopefully I'll find some time to do some more today:

This is totally unrelated to KCW but I thought I'd throw it in here.  Since Liesl Gibson asked for feedback about favorite outfits on the O+S forum, I've been thinking a lot about what I do wear and what I would like to wear.

I have some evenings out planned over the next couple of months and on the weekend I got myself all in a tizzy about having nothing to wear.  In a trip to the fabric shop, I found a bolt end of extra wide black/grey linen/cotton shirting in the clearance section for $3/m.  Although it wasn't what I had gone looking for (something to replicate this pretty Laurel blouse) I really liked it and couldn't believe my luck at the price.

That very same evening, I had it washed and cut and mostly sewed it into vogue 8581.  I had been meaning to try this pattern with a woven for ages but I'm not sure what made me think this fabric was the one to try with.  Yeah, it was called "shirting" but that didn't mean it was lightweight or drapey.  In fact, when I first picked it up, I was thinking it might work for a vogue 1247 skirt.   But it was only as I was gathering the neckline, that the doubt set in.  Then trying it on confirmed it -- I was fully into clown land with big puffy sleeves and a poofy chest and back.  Urrgh. 

Although the fabric was only $6, I was so ticked at myself because it would've made a great button up shirt (hmm, "shirting" should have tipped me off!).  I might be able to eek a skirt out of the leftovers but even though it was too stiff for the shirt, I'm not sure it's heavy enough for that.  Oh well, not this week anyway!