The Mini Wardrobe - the final cut.

Thanks so much to everyone who commented with thoughts about which tops to include in the mini wardrobe.  I've been stewing over it all weekend!  There were some seriously compelling arguments in all directions, but I finally just went with a simple vote and the two knit tops won by a landslide!

So, here is the updated storyboard.

And the final composite.

I will say that this was a seriously tougher decision then I thought it would be!  The fact that the woven top was the more difficult piece to sew has weighed on my mind, and I nearly went with it to replace the printed RTW copy tee, which is a very simple design.  In the end though, not only did the tee get almost twice as many "votes", I just like it better, so in it goes.  I have worn all of these pieces now, and I have to say, I really love them all.  No matter how the contest goes, I totally won, since I got to add all of these wonderful pieces to my closet.  As a bonus, I discovered an unexpected talent for fashion design in my hubby!  Who knew?!

Which tops??

Well, after much too much angst on my part, my mini wardrobe is finished.  Some of the angst had to do with the fact that my capris were too small, but Mitch managed to save the day with a great skirt design, which I love.  So the only unresolved issue is which tops to enter.  I made 3, but can only enter 2.  Here are my selections, paired with both bottoms for your convenience.

This is the first top that I made, but I didn't really intend it for the contest, I just really love it and think it coordinates well.

This is Mitch's favorite.  Clingy knit + tons of cleavage - who's shocked by that?  I like it, too.  It's fun and cute and looks good with both bottoms.

This is my token woven.  I'm not sure I love it, and my instinct is to throw it over for its knit buddies, but then my wardrobe is 3 knits and a pair of jeans.  Hmm.

What do you think, dear readers?  I'd really love your input!  Which tops are your favorites?

Self drafted skirt

For my last (whew!) mini wardrobe piece, I went with Mitch's excellent advice and decided to make a long, full skirt out of my Ponteroma knit.

Since I didn't have a pattern that matched the design in his head, I decided to draft my own, starting with the basic skirt from the Cal Patch book.  I lengthened it and slashed and spread to add fullness, then added a wide, foldover waistband.  Looking at the pictures, the waistband probably could have been wider, but it is quite comfortable as it is, and I didn't have a scrap of this fabric left over!  This is a nice firm knit, so it didn't need elastic.  I cut the waistband a inch or so smaller than my actual waist measurement and it is just right!

I really think that this is going to become a go to item in my wardrobe.  I may need to get more of this knit as well!  I love this stuff.  This is actually the second time I've used it.  The first was for Myra's top and leggings, which she has worn all winter.  I love sewing it, and it is wonderful to wear.

Now I just have to put together my wardrobe.  Now that I've made all the pieces, I'm not really sure which ones I want to use.  I think I'll just have a big photo shoot with everything and let the pictures decide.  Don't be too shocked if I ask y'all for a consultation!!

New Look 6704

This should have been the last item for my mini wardrobe.  Alas for the capri fail!  This top turned out better!

Not perfect, but better!  I think my FBA is a little low, so there is some extra space below the bust that is visually making the girls look lower than they are.  Not my best look.

You can see it from the side as well.  I'd try taking in a bit in the princess seam, but that sucker is topstitched.

A decent fit from the back, particularly in the shoulders.  The yoke is quite nice for shaping there.  I could stand to shave off a bit more in the waist, but that may exaggerate the problems in front, so maybe not.  As the surgeons say - The enemy of good is better.

For piece #4 of the mini wardrobe, Mitch suggested that instead of the gauchos I make a long skirt from the heather grey ponte knit.  I think it is a great idea!  I'm going to use the yoga style waistband from the Butterick gaucho pattern and draft a basic A-line skirt in an ankle length.  Thoughts, anyone?

Vogue 8157 - Tell me what to do!

Item # 3 for my wardrobe should have been the simplest piece.  I managed to completely mess it up, so I'm going to have to replace it in the wardrobe.  For the sake of honesty in journalism, I'm sharing it with you.

This picture actually looks not too bad.  These aren't supposed to be hoochie tight, though.  My major error was actually post-cutting.  I cut a size 12, then once I had sewn all the major seams, I tried on.  I zipped them up, and they immediately fell off me.  So I pinched out a bit at the side seams and at CB and ran back to the machine, made the corrections as pinned, and finished the pants - without actually trying them on again.  Ooops.

From the side you can see  the wrinkles at the hip and how the waistband is straining to hold me in.  Not an attractive look...

The back view actually isn't that bad, but they are saved only by the 25% stretch in this fabric.  I wouldn't be able to zip them otherwise.
It really is too bad that I screwed them up.  This is nice fabric and I like the contrast yoke (done with the wrong side of the fabric).  I think this pattern is a winner, so I'm going to try it again.  Just maybe not right away.  I need the sting to heal first.

I actually would have worn them this way, since I don't tuck.  I'm also not really happy with the way that they look with this top, so I was considering replacing them in the wardrobe anyway.  The problem - with what???

Here is my storyboard as it currently stands.  I'm going for a casual but pulled together look.  I'm thinking about a simple skirt or a different capri, but I have no idea what fabric I want.  Here are a couple of things from the stash I'm thinking about.

They top left is a heathery grey ponte knit.  I've been planning to make Butterick 4807 out of it.  I think it would go with my theme and color scheme, but I can't see it with my last piece, which is a button down shirt.  Next to that is a vertically striped twill, also grey, which I would love to make into BWOF 06/2009-104.  This would be awesome with the buttoned shirt, but I'm afraid there would be too many stripes going on with my burda style tee.  The bottom two are a navy linen and lavender twill.  I don't have specific patterns in mind for them, but I was thinking a simple capri or A-line skirt would work for either.  What do you think?  Would you change it up with a skirt?  Keep the capri?  What fabric do you see here?  I have no idea where to go!

burda style 02/2010-122A

Item #2 for the Mini Wardrobe contest is done!  Sorry for the dark pics.  We had to take them in the AM before Mitch went to work.

After two muslins, I got the fit ironed out and the neckline is nice and flat.  I like the style of the top, but I'm not sure that I'm in love with it for the wardrobe contest.  I'm going to finish up my other pieces and see how I feel.  As you can see, Mitch talked me out of the boring solid lavender and into this stripe, which is how the top is styled in the burda mag.  You can see it here and here.  Since they made it in a stripe, burda included stripe matching markings on the pattern pieces.  Boy, were those awesome!!  You can see (I hope) in the above photo how well the stripes match across the side seams, despite the bodice being in two pieces and the back only one.  Pretty nice.

And the sleeves matched up beautifully as well.  You can barely see the seam!!  You can also see ow much I changed the neckline from the original.  I added 3 (!!) inches at CB and tapered around to 1/2 inch at CF.  Now it covers my bra straps!  I also added 2 inches to the length and did a 1 inch FBA.  After constructing this top twice, for the third I tossed burda's instructions entirely and did it my own way, which was much better IMO.

After wearing this top all day, I pretty much like it.  It's soft and comfy.  The only thing that bugged me about it was that it had a bit of a tendency to ride up over the girls, so I spent a lot of time tugging it down.  I'm wondering if maybe I needed just a tiny bit more length.  If I make this again, I think I'll add 1/2 inch or so to the length of the upper bodice.

McCall's 5142

The heart-stoppingly cool jeans are finished!

And I am mostly happy with them.  I am still trying out jeans patterns, so this is McCall's 5142, the Palmer-Pletsch "Perfect Jeans" pattern.  I don't know about perfect, but I will give it a pretty darn good!  I have a few radiating lines from the front crotch, which don't make me totally happy.  I did scoop out the curve about 1/4 inch, which improved the situation there, but didn't completely eliminate it.  They are quite comfortable, though.  No binding or pinching.  These are made in non stretch denim, so the fit is fairly unforgiving.

From the side you can see that the fit through the hips looks good, but I have a few diagonal lines that go from hip to knee.

You can see them better from the back view.  I am wondering if I shouldn't have scooped a bit out of the back crotch curve as well to improve the fit back here.  I did take in 5/8 inch at center back starting at the waistline and tapering out to nothing at the beginning of the crotch curve.  Regardless of the wrinkles, these are very comfortable pretty much everywhere.  My biggest gripe for these jeans is that this view, which is a lower rise, has a straight waistband.  Despite my alteration to the back of the pant, the waistband gapes!!  I think a contoured waistband, which the other view (with the "Mom jeans" rise) has, would be better for this view as well.

Here is a better view of the awesome pockets.  I borrowed another cool detail from Mary Nanna and copied her back belt loop, which she copied from RTW.  I think it looks cool.  I realized after taking all these pictures that I totally forgot to apply the rivets!!  I think jeans really need rivets, so I'll be putting them on soon.  You'll see them again, I'm sure!  At least when I post all of the mini wardrobe pics!

So anyway, with regard to the search for the one true jean, I don't think this is it for me.  The things I like are the rise - not too low, not too high, and the shaping of the jean itself, particularly in the hips, thighs and back.  Things I don't like - The front pockets gape open just a little, the waistband would be better if it were contoured and the legs have no shape at all - they are completely straight.  Will I wear them?  Heck yeah!!  They may not be perfect, but they are a whole heck of a lot better than anything I've ever gotten in RTW.  I mean really, have you ever seen jeans for sale with EKG pockets?

I also have to give another shout out to Mary Nanna.  Not only have I blatantly copied so many cool details from jeans that she has made, she gave me several tips regarding this pattern that were very helpful as I was going along, particularly with regard to sizing.  I've gotten so accustomed to the ridiculous amount of ease that you typically find in McCall's patterns, that I generally cut a 10, despite the fact that I measure to a 14.  This pattern actually has a reasonable amount of ease.  I cut the 12, and am really glad that I did!  I also have to credit KnitMachineQueen for her timely post full of jeans sewing tips.  Was that ever helpful!

"Gorgeous" top

I finally figured out how I wanted to use this yard of the most fabulous knit ever that I got from Gorgeous fabrics.

It is the simplest pattern ever; just a front, back, neck and sleeve bands.
I copied it from my absolutely favorite tee shirt, the cap sleeve tee from Shade. This is actually my fourth version, so I think I can count it as a TNT.  I wanted something very simple, since the print is so wild.

You can see from this that the repeat is pretty much a yard long!  The scallops are going in opposite directions and I wanted to match where they meet in the middle under my bust, as well as avoid any medallions over the girls.

Here's the side where you can see the pattern matching.  I also managed to avoid a bullseye on the girls, so I'm pretty happy!!  I've actually been thinking about using this as one of the tops in my mini wardrobe, but I think I'll just see how everything else comes together.  You'll be seeing my jeans next, after the giveaway closes.  You already signed up, right??