Summer Travels

July was a month of much travel and minimal sewing.  Our early July trip was to a hot, humid location  so I decided to sew some linen garments and see if I would find them more comfortable/wrinkle free in that type of climate.

DS#1, age 29 decided to quit his job as a wine salesman and go to law school. He starts his classes at Louisiana State University in August.

Early in July,  DH and I  helped he and his fiancé  drive their cars from Richmond, VA to Baton Rouge, LA.  It was 3-days of driving through 7 states. There were a few adventures. I discovered disposable face masks are good for other purposes when one finds oneself in a grubby gas station bathroom in rural Georgia  (detour around massive traffic jam on I85) with no toilet paper.  Or who knew the best restaurant near Atmore, AL is hiding in a dilapidated strip mall, furnished with a mix of booths repurposed from multiple types of restaurants; western, 50’s diner, and 70’s chic.  But the food was great, prices were low (what? no "7.5% meals tax" on top of local tax), and all mixed drinks were guaranteed to contain 1.5 oz. of alcohol, according to the sign at the bar.  The large number of  local policemen, having a  group dinner in the back room, kept us from extensively testing the validity of this claim.

 Before our trip I sewed up a pair of linen/cotton shorts and cotton lycra T shirt. The pattern for the shorts was Burda 12/2010 /108 pattern hemmed at knee length. I used this pattern last summer for the shorts in my  Birthday Suit.

 The printed linen cotton blend fabric was a “4 yard for $10” deal from FabricMartFabrics, purchased a couple of years ago. The print is lime green and beige. A color combo I had never considered wearing. But it is one I have seen a lot this summer, and it is starting to grow on me. And I remembered I had a necklace with stones of peridot green and beige druzy crystals.

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  I also made a coordinating, wide neck, cap sleeve cotton/lycra T shirt from Vogue 1141.

Vogue 1141

Back to linen. I though Richmond was hot and humid, but Baton Rouge is much hotter and more humid, especially after the daily rain shower. 

 The wearing test  was while touring the LSU campus. The linen shorts were very comfortable. They still wrinkled but at least they did not lay on my skin, soaking up sweat and showing it in dark damp spots like the T shirt.  I don’t perspire much, even when exercising, but I did that day just walking around . 

LSU Law building

Wrinkles and damp spots

DH and I had our picture with the statue of the LSU tiger mascot.  I felt a bit disloyal to  the  Penn State Nittany lion statue of my alma mater. We also visited Mike the tiger, a real Bengal tiger who lives in a leafy, green habitat near the football stadium. He was sleeping in the shade, an appropriate activity for the weather that day. 

I had seen and admired some linen print, short and top sets on Net a Porter. 

 They were  very cute but a bit frilly.  I made a top  from a Burda envelope pattern in the same fabric as the shorts.  

Burda 6819

And now I now have my own linen short set. A bit more tailored than the N-a-P sets and in a subtle print, but something I would actually wear.

Linen print short set

  By far the most comfortable clothes I wore during our stay in Baton Rouge were loose fitting  shorts and tops of woven fabrics.  I took a bunch of the silk tanks tops I had sewn in the past, and they were cool, comfortable and looked great. I came home from my trip and made a few more,  which I will share in the next post.

Fun with Fads

I enjoy fashion and some of the fads.  It is one of my guilty pleasures. This fall  it was the plaid suits worn by the glamorous “somebodies” during fashion week in London, NY, etc.

This is the look shown on a lady close to my own age.

and here are others on younger models to show the variety of colors.

The jackets were often  double breasted, with a peaked lapel.  The pants either  tapered or cropped.  

So where did  I go for patterns for these styles, –   Burdastyle Magazine

 Lets start with the pants

Plaid pants. Not for everyone. In fact for some they are associated with playing  golf or  the  basics of a clown's wardrobe.

I like plaids, but I realize plaid pants put horizontal lines on my widest body part.   The safest plaids for pants  would be muted /dark colors with very little contrast.  Boring.   How about a navy, gray, red plaid wool flannel suiting from Denver Fabrics? The colors made me happy.

When I sew my own plaid pants, I can achieve  a customized fit, and better plaid matching than RTW.  And if I don't like them for everyday wear, I tell myself  that  I just made a pants muslin with obvious horizontal and vertical  lines  that I can use to fine tune fit.

The pants pattern I chose was a high waisted, tapered leg style from Burdastyle 12 2010 108.

 

 

An easy sew as I left them unlined. The wool fabric had a gabardine weave and hard finish.  Not itchy at all.

 

 

 

 

Ah yes,  I also bought  a pair of  cream boots. Fast fashion faux leather for less that the price of a yard of wool fabric from Mood.  They remind me of the white Go Go boots I had in grade school.

 I remember those boots because it was the first time I had an article of clothing that was considered in style,  and I was so excited about wearing them.  Thinking back, I don't  believe my mother bought them for me, too frivolous.  They must have been a present from my doting paternal grandmother.  I remember her fondly for her habit of buying me cool presents (impractical and not age appropriate in my mother’s words) from expensive department stores. I loved her presents. That she thought I was the type of person who appreciated the latest fashion and jewelry. Even though my mother was right. I remember disliking the scent of the Windsong perfume, and the beaded hippie necklaces didn't go with the dresses I wore to school. But the perfume bottle sat on my dresser for years and I still have those necklaces somewhere.

Back on topic.

For the blazer, the style had to be double breasted with welted flap pockets and a peaked lapel. Patterns for this style of jacket are offered every couple of years in Burdastyle. Burda 7/2015, model 125 and 9/2018 model  117 are almost identical.  I chose the latest incarnation from the Oct 2018 issue. It is in tall sizes. I am an inch shorter than the tall size height. I decided that was not enough lack of height to  worry about alterations.

 If I had really thought about all the work this blazer was going to require, this project would have ended before it started.  Many seams, plaid layout and matching, welt pockets with flaps, collars with stands and shaped lapels, I haven’t made a jacket like this in years.  When  it was time to do the welted pockets or the collar and lapels,  I definitely needed remedial help. The YouTube series "How to sew a jacket" from Atelier Saison  a Japanese sewing factory that sews garments individually, was just what I needed.  The video series was recommended by Tany .  And while the videos have no verbal instructions,  and minimal text translation, which are only visible in full screen mode on my computer, the footage is very clear and the process flow is logical.

 

 

 

And though I don't think I would wear both pieces as a suit, at least not to work. I did have fun cavorting around the back yard in them. And taking photos that would embarrass my children.

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