Spring Colors

I had a very pleasant vacation in FLA, This is the "Where’s Waldo" view from our 19th floor condo.

The lovely view from the upper  floors was offset by woefully inadequate elevators. There were 20 minute waits during check in and peak times when everybody was going to or coming back from the beach. Is that normal in high rise resort hotels? It was the first time we have stayed in one. I thought I would return from FLA with lots of motivation to sew spring clothes, having just enjoyed warm weather, bright colors, and being well rested. It didn’t work. I dithered away valuable sewing time looking through  my pattern and fabric stashes, but nothing inspired me. I think my problem came from having too many fabrics and patterns choices.

Mid-month I read about the Pattern Review.com "2013 Spring Pantone Contest". The rules: Sew a two-piece outfit for a woman or a man. The two pieces must be able to be worn together. And the 2013 Spring Pantone colors must be the prominent colors in the outfit. 

The contest gave me a  specific goal  combined with some room for creativity. The teal, green and orange colors are my summer “go to” colors and I had some in my stash. I was inspired.  I have an actual Pantone color card set. When  the contest picture above is printed on the home printer, some of the colors do not quite match the same numbered color on the Pantone cards. Just for fun I took the cards to my local Jo Ann and Hancock Fabrics stores. Not surprising, they don’t appear to subscribe to the Pantone service and are out of the color loop. There was not much selection in the colors above.  The colors I chose for my outfit were Grayed Jade and Nectarine

 Because I was starting a bit late in the contest sewing time, pattern choice was driven by ease of construction. New Look 6194, a cute cropped jacket over a fitted top caught my eye.

 

The top is a simple shape, shaped hem, and front and back darts,. Bias bands are used to finish the neck and armhole openings.  I liked them on the armholes, but not on the neckline. I think I will use a bias binding on the neckline next time for a more controlled finish. The fabric is a tie dye print poly. There is supposed to be a zipper in the side seam, but with the light weight fabric and my shape, I am able to pull the top on over my head without a zipper.

 

The jacket is supposed to be lined to edge using  the garment pattern pieces to cut the  lining.  My first thought was this would be  easier/faster to sew than facings and a turned up hem  combined with a lining.  But I  remembered my personal experiences with lined to edge jackets.  If the cutting and sewing is not super accurate, there is the potential for the lining to be smaller or larger than the outer fabric.  So I drafted  facing patterns and added hem allowances to the garment  pieces.   A bit more work – but a better chance of a good looking jacket. Also there was no ease in the lining, so I added a center back pleat.

Lining

The back neck edge did not lay flat on my upper back. I have some curvature there.  Adding a couple tucks took care of that.

Back Neckline Tucks