Rules for the Timmel Fabrics 2008 SWAP have been announced and the twist is to make at least three of the required 11 garments from one ‘wardrobe” type pattern. For example a top, pants and jacket that is included in one pattern. Going through my pattern stash, I found that there are actually a lot of patterns like that. Some are labeled “wardrobe” patterns; others are not but have a skirt, pants and tops. I usually buy a pattern for one garment, typically a unique jacket, and use tried and true patterns for skirts and pants. But I definitely have a lot of the patterns. I have been stashing fabrics in various weights and textures of grey, cream and accent colors of blue, pink and green/yellow (see picture of blue fabrics) for my 2008 SWAP. I think I will hold off on choosing the wardrobe pattern until closer to the Jan. start date. New styles and patterns will come out between now and then. Grey is an “in” color now, but I have always liked it as a basic wardrobe color. However, I am feeling ambivalent about the SWAP, even with all the enthusiastic postings at
http://www.artisanssquare.com/ The problem is I normally sew work clothes and I was all excited about sewing some dresses to wear to work. Then rather suddenly, my office was moved from a satellite office building to the manufacturing plant. The parking at the plant is a good 10 minute walk from the building in a “wind tunnel” paved with aggregate concrete. A long walk hauling a laptop bag. A horrible surface for heels. And I will probably need a lined water resistant coat for bad weather. Umbrellas are tough to manage in the wind tunnel. No more mad dashes from car to building. And the product made in the plant has an odor. Not unpleasant, but noticeable (think baking with chocolate) that is absorbed by clothing and hair. To attend meetings within the plant will often require donning safety shoes, safety glasses and earplugs. Want to take a nice dress and make it look ridiculous? Don aforementioned items. I will have to focus on nice tops, pants and the occasional jackets. No dresses.
For fall, now until January, I am trying to do SWAP type sewing around a purple/green/grey color scheme. When purple was announced as a fall color, I went though my huge stash. I have lots of purple fabrics, both violet (red) and blue based. I found several nice wool boucles. There were a lot of muted dusty purples fabrics too, which look boring and sad. Back in storage they went. I have a plaid swing style jacket that is just about finished. Unfortunately my husband's cousins are stopping by for a few nights and I have to clean up the sewing room/dinning room. Mid week overnight guests are a logistical nightmare for someone who works full time, has teenagers with after school activities (irregular meal times) and a husband who has to go out of town on business. We will get through it.
I switched to Vogue 8262 as my SWAP wardrobe pattern. It includes an unlined 'Jacket", an A-line skirt and pants. All very easy to sew. I have made the jacket before and I wear it as a blouse, both tucked in or worn out. The reason for switching wardrobe patterns so late in the game; the neckline/collar of the jacket from the original wardrobe pattern doesn't work well with any collared tops. I didn't like being limited to scoop neck tops for my SWAP. I plan to make a different jacket that is not part of a wardrobe pattern. So my wardrobe pattern had to include 3 pieces that fit into my SWAP, and that were quick to sew. There are a couple more weeks to finish all the SWAP garments. One of which I will be spending in the Cayman Islands without a sewing machine. I would really prefer to be sewing summer clothes for the vacation. In particular, I have been studying a picture of a Gottex bathing suit and seriously thinking about trying to duplicate it. It would be nice if I could make my body duplicate the model's, sigh! I am trying to use up leftover 2007 vacation days, so I took Friday off and had a long weekend. I made the skirt and jacket from the new wardrobe pattern. The jacket is from a polyester print. I liked the print so much; it overrode my aversion to the fabric content. The skirt is made from a remnant of wool I purchased last weekend in St Michaels, MD. (See Mom, sometimes I do sew up fabric without aging it in my stash.)
