Catching up

Where does the time go?? I can't believe it has been weeks since I blogged and this time, I don't even have the excuse that I went to France. I may have a touch of the ennui of Henri. Not really but every time I watch that video, it cracks me up.

SO! I made the two white shirts.

I've been wanting to try this new shirt pattern, McCall's M5630 because it has a classic two piece collar. I'd made Simplicity 9877 to death and it fits really well but it has a one piece collar that doesn't do up properly. Not that I will be wearing a tie but I used to sometimes (I think it was the 80s when the style was in) and you need a proper collar to take a tie. Anyway, this new pattern also fits really well so I may make it for a while now.

I had quite a bit of some white cotton that had been on sale and it has a bit of Lycra in it which makes for ease in wearing. After the long sleeved shirt, I had just enough left over to make this other sleeveless white "shirt", of which I have at least half a dozen variations. It's very simple to make and very comfortable when it gets hot and humid, especially with no collar to heat up the neck. I can wear it over a t-shirt too as a sort of vest. Very versatile.

One "excuse" for not blogging was that I spent a whole day (yeah, only one) on July 3 at the Habitat build. It was pouring rain that morning but I had already planned to bike (otherwise, I could have taken a bus I suppose) so I went and got soaked from the knees down. But there was so much rain and water on the street that I got soaked every time I took my butt off the bike seat for a traffic light and then got back on the seat. So until the rain stopped and the place dried out a bit (some time after 2 pm), the water wicked up my cotton pants and I was wet from the ribs down, despite my good Goretex rain jacket. I was wearing my Habitat t-shirt from last year and they offered me a new one for this year, which I wasn't going to take until I realized that I was freezing so the rest of the day, I wore two t-shirts. Next time, I will wear a fleece that stays warm, even if it gets wet. I ended up shoveling about a ton of gravel in the basement and could hardly lift my arms the next day.

So after the success (at least in terms of the sewing) of my linen outfit, which I know isn't finished yet because I need to sew on snaps and get different buttons but that will wait until later, I decided to make this other short, unlined jacket pattern in a navy linen-rayon blend. I figured I could wear the navy skirt with the natural coloured flowered linen and it could work together. This is Butterick B5143.

I usually fold up the long views if I am making the short and then I don't have to try to fit the cut-off pattern pieces together again but with the curves and things in this hemline, I had to cut off the long views. I don't think I would make the long versions anyway. I am going to make the stand-up collar, not the two piece collar, just like view A. So far, I have cut everything out, including lining for the skirt (which will be the same as the previous, high-waisted linen skirt) and have done most of what I call the prep work, which is sewing on the interfacing (I went with sew-in this time, as I did with the linen), finishing some edges, making darts. Since it is supposed to rain tomorrow, I think I will go read on the patio now, and save the sewing for after dinner.