Spot On for April!

 I'm on the third month of my white shirt challenge and it's April and it's getting pretty warm in Key West.  It's definitely T-shirt weather!

This white shirt starts with two T-shirts.  I found some really light and really soft T's at the Gap store.  I got a white one and an ivory one in the largest size they had so I would have maximum jersey real estate to work with.  My plan was to do a 'slow' sew' project ala Natalie Chanin.  I love her embroidered garments with the all over designs, I just don't have the stamina for them and it was already mid April, I certainly wasn't going to get anything terribly elaborate finished in two weeks!  

I carefully took apart the shirts thinking I might want to use the ribbings.  I cut two fronts and two backs out of the white and one front and one back out of the ivory.  

For one side of the shirt I layered the two colors and stitched my design through them and then cut away the interior of the shapes.   On the other side I appliqued the design onto a single layer.  I wasn't sure how well the concept was going to work because the two fabrics were really close in shade.  Once I got it together I think the idea became apparent.  

Because I was using circles, I was particularly careful about the placement of the design, especially on the fronts.😏 I cut out a bunch of paper circles and scattered them around to make sure I liked it before I started stitching.

I used a double running stitch to make the center, side and shoulder seams.  I was standing in front of the mirror pondering what to do to finish the edges and decided I WAS finished.  I left them raw.  The fabrics are so light weight I was afraid that too much stitching on the edges would just make them droopy.  I also like that they echo the raw edges of the appliques.

I was half thinking this would be a 'car project' for the drive back to Michigan, but now I'll have to come up with something else.  I'm glad I have it to wear right now...it is nice and cool!  

That's the April installment, a white on white tank top....now on to May!

Feeling Boxed in, but it's OK!

Thinking about the day I received my box from Merchant and Mills at this point in time is quite different than my thoughts on the day.  I was so excited and rarin' to go, now I'm thinking about savoring and slow sew projects.  I'm so glad to have the new patterns and fabrics to keep me entertained while I'm hiding out. 

When it arrived in Michigan it had been almost 2 weeks from the time I was picking out stuff to ship home and I really couldn't remember exactly what was inside.  I had picked out a lot of things and then had to narrow it down a bit ($$$$$😲).   And the way they pack things...each piece in its own little parcel, tied up in strings, with little notes.  It really is like a Christmas package. 

What a haul!  Of course the things that I had made at the retreat were there....

My shortened, hooded version of the Parka

My Indian cotton Fielder dress

...And my linen Eve pants.

I couldn't resist a few other patterns.  And I also got the Workbook which includes a whole bunch of the original patterns.  

I checked out several of their bags while I was at the shop and brought home some hardware and straps to try the Costermonger bag.  

I had seen the Whittaker jumper (called a dress in England because a 'jumper' is a sweater.) on one of the shop helpers at Liberty when I was in London.  It was really cute.  She had made it in a small hounds tooth linen instead of the denim that is shown on the pattern envelop.  It was much softer and hung closer to the body.  I wanted to try it, so I got the pattern and a stripy linen.

I found a really huge waffle weave linen.  By huge I mean that the texture of the fabric was very pronounced.  Thick and spongy.  (And even more so after a wash and dry!)  I have no idea what to make with it, but it came home in the box.

...And of course a few lengths of miscellaneous linen...

As I mentioned, I had visited Liberty of London on the trip and, guess what?  They have fabric!!!😏

The series of fabrics for 2020 were done by artists all over the world and were supposed to represent a 'Love Story.'  The prints are more contemporary than the older Liberty prints, but still just as luscious.  I chose a silk and two cotton jerseys.  If you look closely you'll see that the silk and one of the jerseys are the same print just in different color ways.  These came home in my suitcase.

I have made a couple of things, which I'll share, but as I said at the beginning of the post, sewing right now is about savoring...making a project last for days instead of hours.  This is different for me, but OK.  As we talk about the "new normal" in our world, slow luxurious sewing may just be part of my new normal.