 |
| Style Inspiration – Sources can be found on my New Style Pinterest board |
I’m excited. I’ve been thinking a lot about what I’ve been chatting about in recent posts – my struggle with finding a style that suits me. And by that, I mean that it has to suit my body shape, obviously, but it also has to suit my lifestyle, and suit me aesthetically. Although fit and flare dresses and bright coloured mini skirts are fun to make, I just knew that I would not end up wearing them very much, day to day. And ultimately, I want to sew things that I’m going to wear on a regular basis. So I need to find things that I enjoy making, but fit into my existing ready-to-wear wardrobe (because I’m not going to start sewing jeans, coats and jumpers….for now anyway!) and I feel comfortable wearing – AND look good on me. Not asking for much, am I?!
I was feeling in a bit of slump about it up until recently because I guess I was giving myself a bit of a tough time with regards to self image. I’m sure a lot of us do that to ourselves every now and again. But, with Pinterest as my weapon, I think I have really started to get a better grasp of what I think is a lot more ‘me’! And like I said, I’m excited!
As you can see from the inspirational photos I’ve pooled together above (you can see them all, plus more, on my New Style Pinterest board), I seem to be drawn towards black, white, navy and a little bit of colour. Gingham, stripes, geometric shapes. No florals! Thats quite a shock for me because I’m always drawn towards floral fabric. I feel like it’s also got a little bit of biker or rock look going on too, with the leather and skinny jeans.
Speaking of skinny jeans, I live in skinny jeans. I mean, I. live. in. skinny. jeans. every. day. of. every. month. And there must be a reason for this. Stuck in a rut? Maybe. But it’s a comfortable rut and I think it suits me, if I wear them the right way. And for me, they work best with a loose top. Dressed up or down, if the top is loose and the jeans are skinny, then I’m happy!
So once I had realised that, I knew that my initial plan of attack, would be to sew some tops. I brainstormed an awful lot of ideas and paired many different patterns with fabrics. But I know that I don’t sew very fast and I don’t have a lot of sewing time, so I had to be a little realistic and narrow my sewing plans down to something that I feel is a bit more achievable. In no particular order, here are my Spring 2016 sewing plans:
 |
| Cheyenne Tunic and blue gingham brushed cotton |
First up, The Cheyenne Tunic, which I plan to make up in a blue gingham brushed cotton. As soon as I saw the Cheyenne, I knew it was the perfect shirt (or pop-over as I think the Americans call it) for my wardrobe. I love that it has a curved hem as it’s a lot more flattering than one that just cuts straight across. And I’m excited (er – or nervous) about the placket. It will be a first for me so hopefully it’s not too difficult.
 |
| Tova Tunic and charcoal grey chambray wool mix |
Oh the Tova. I have had this pattern in my stash for I don’t even know how long. I’m hoping to sew this up in a really lovely charcoal grey chambray wool mix fabric, but I’m still undecided about that. It’s a heavier fabric than I thought it would be (I bought it online), but I do think that the Tova could cope with it. But I have a feeling that, although I’m sewing in in Spring, it will probably be an Autumn top (who am I kidding, it’s freezing all year here in NI!!).
 |
| V1247 and navy snake skin poly |
Vogue Patterns V1247. This has been around awhile now. Initially when I saw other bloggers sewing these up I didn’t really get the appeal (I was still right in the middle of my floral dresses love-in), but while trawling Pinterest I saw a few of them and realised that it would actually fit into my life really well. That’s when I discovered it was out of print. Damn. I was able to find a copy on Amazon (UK, but it was posted from USA!), and although it cost me £14, I decided to go for it. I’ve paired it with a snake skin print (yes) poly which has been in my stash for about 4 years. I thought the random print would work with the unusual seams and wouldn’t cause too much of a headache with pattern matching!
 |
| Camas Blouse and black and white geometric viscose |
And my final sewing plan for Spring is the Camas Blouse, sewn up in a monochrome geometric/ikat print viscose. This exact fabric was actually suggested in the Thread Theory Camas Blouse Sew Along and as soon as I saw it, and saw it was UK based, I knew I had to get some! It is totally something I would be drawn to in a clothes shop, so knew it would be perfect. I’m excited to get this one sewn up.
Actually, I’m excited to get all of these sewn up. I can honestly say that I can see all four of these fitting into my every day wardrobe (perhaps the V1247 won’t be an every day item), and being worn in high rotation.
I’ve used the word ‘excited’ an awful lot in this post, but I can’t help it. This is the most thrilled I’ve felt about sewing since….probably since I started 6 years ago!
