Check My Math.

Believe it or not I worked in academic medical research for a damn long time. I say this because I am truly math challenged. Money is a whole other matter, that part of my brain works fine! The rest looks at numbers and goes to sleep.

The point of all that was I have been writing out the combinations possible with my choices. There are going to be a lot! I wanted to get a rough number of just how many since I've already got a hand cramp and I'm barely done with the outfits that start with pants as the bottom.

So here is what I figured out: 3 bottoms x 5 tops is 15 outfits of 1 top and 1 bottom. Each of those outfits can be worn with the cardigan for another 15 (30 total) or the sleeveless turtleneck sweater for another 15 (now 45 total). The T-shirt and a bottom can be worn under any of the tunics, of which there are 4 x 3 bottoms for 12 more outfits (57 total). The wrap dress can be worn alone or with either the cardi or the T-neck over it so I'm up to (60 total) outfits. The drape-y shirt, black t-shirt, blue silk tunic, and the b/w tunic, can all be worn under the dress (64 total). All of those, minus the t-shirt, and the denim tunic can be worn over the dress for 4 more outfits (68 total). Now the dress is on the shortish side, a little south of mid-thigh so I could wear it alone or with another bottom under it.

And yes I was the girl who wore shorts under my skirts at school. I was a fiend for the monkey bars and the boys used to look up girls skirts and I played a mean game of tag with diving tackles and everything. I also had a mother who was a debutante. There was a lot of fashion we did not see eye to eye on.

Anyway, back to the numbers! So if we pair the dress with each of the bottoms we are up to (71 total). But I can still wear the lighter tops under the dress so that brings us to (75 total) Oh good Lord! I am dreading the pictures of all of this!

The leather sleeved cardigan

This is a key piece in my classier (but still me!) wardrobe. It is based on an Eileen Fisher piece Currently on sale at Neiman Marcus for $278. I don't doubt that it is beautifully made but that is still a little rich for my blood.

Here are the pictures of the front and back:

It wasn't till I pulled these images that I realized the sleeves aren't entirely in leather. That could be a cost saving measure or/and make the sweater easier to fit. It totally solves my "Yikes, I don't know if I have enough lambskin to make the sleeves" problem. I have a Jan Bones T-shirt pattern that has a side panel that continues up the underarm and becomes the bottom part of the sleeve arm. If you HATE fitting sleeves into the armscye this is a great pattern. I've used it a bunch and like it, don't know why I didn't think of doing that with this.

It even has a jacket pattern that I could do with a crew neck. I really need to pull this out and look it over! What I was thinking I would use was Amy Barickman's cardigan pattern from her Magic Pattern book. This shows all the different iterations of that basic pattern. I was thinking the one second from the left would work well.

I like the length, though for someone so short I am incredibly long waisted (with shorter legs than a Hobbit!) so as much as I might like the length it may look awful on me. In my dreams, I have that model's legs, in reality, not even close! She made it up in a woven here and there is no closure. I am thinking to use a piece of merino wool knit for the body but I am undecided on the closure issue.

I am tired of never being able to close my sweaters and have tons of fly away front sweaters, but... I never see me wearing it closed, I just want to know I can which is stupid really. I know I don't want buttons and button holes but a zip? Maybe? Okay I am off to look at that Jan Bones pattern again!

The plan has already gone off the rails. I blame it on writing a story about Eris, the goddess of Chaos

I have what in theory is a plan now for ALTERswap over on Stitcher's Guild. Here's the thing, I conceived of the ALTERswap concept because I have plenty of clothes and nice ones too that with a little shuezzing (Yiddish(?) for fixing up/ making special) I don't need a whole new 11 piece wardrobe. If you do and you sew, go check out the regular SWAP thread. There are some gobsmackingly gorgeous ideas percolating.

So here is my plan as it stands now: Pictures WILL follow! (Emphasis to remind me!)

Pieces that don't need to be touched at all:
                                                               Eileen Fisher Narrow Ankle Length Pants
                                                               Eileen Fisher Fold-over Waist Short Skirt
                                                               Eileen Fisher-fabric Scoop-neck T-shirt

Pieces that need various levels of alteration to be fabulous:
                                                              Old Navy Denim Dress to be a Tunic
                                                              Eileen Fisher Silk Dress to be a Tunic
                                                              Eileen Fisher Knot Dress to be Wrap Dress
                                                              Eileen Fisher Dirndl Skirt to be Tulip Skirt

Pieces that I need to make from patterns and fabric I already have:
                                                              Merino Cardi with Leather Sleeves
                                                              Drapey Blouse of Washed Rayon
                                                              Long Vest of RPL from Julie Timmel (tells you how old it is!)

Piece that I have no idea how to do but am plunging ahead anyway:
                                                             Sleeveless T-neck made from Eileen Fisher Knit Pants


I gave up on the idea that I could combine all the facets of my life in one group of garments. I write, half the time in yoga pants and a sweater. I will be meeting people to discuss marketing and web design, and quite possibly doing book signings (terrifying!) I live in an area where you can go to the fanciest restaurants in jeans and NO ONE dresses up except I like to so I do and deal with the odd looks. In my mind, this wardrobe covers 'going out in public/confident/creative/interesting' occasions. Because the rest of my life is jeans, Ts, and work out clothes and that is boring.

So did you notice the problem with this plan? I conceived this so I wouldn't have to sew but the odd garment to fill in a hole. All but 3 THREE! pieces need sewing or full on cutting/sewing/fitting. This is very poor planning on my part. Still I am excited to have these clothes hanging in my frugal closet. More to the point hanging on my frugal back!

Don't you hate when the day job interferes with your dream life?

November is NanoWriMo. Or for the rest of you National Novel Writing Month. I write romance novels as my day job (and I'm learning to do web coding but that is a whole other insanity!) Yeah, I wasn't expecting sympathy but it does explain why I haven't been here much in the last 2 weeks. I'm almost done with my 50,000 words, though the regency romance that I never planned to do won't be finished by then.

So this book made me think about planning and planning makes me think about SWAP and so ALTERswap since that is what I will be doing this year.

See I spent all of Sept. and Oct. planning a contemporary romance. I had character sheets, and plotting graphs, I'd done tons of research. I got 1/3 of the way through that book that I was positive was the basis for my next series. I even had a cover idea! I realized that the characters were fine but they didn't have that spark that makes you want to find out how they are going to unscrew up the mess they just made. They were like really boring neighbors, not bad to live next to, but you wouldn't go out of your way to say hi. But I spent all that time planning! I had all that research!

I dropped that book and ran with a title that my daughter came up with. In the space of an hour I had characters, setting, plot for not just this book but at least 3, possibly 7! more. I'm now farther in this book than I was in the other and I LOVE these characters. I dream about them and their world at night. I keep scribbling notes to myself when I should be doing other things. They have consumed me, and I love it!

So what does all of this have to do with sewing? Oh, now I need to have a point? Okay, I do, sort of. If you have a completely workable plan but it doesn't thrill you, it isn't worth spending the time on. You can have done everything, bought the patterns and fabrics, figured out your techniques, you name it, but if you don't love it, just don't do it!

Your time, energy and attention are worth more than your materials. And we should all want to love the heroine of our own story, yes I mean you!

The difference between want and need...

This is one of those why? kind of moments. I know I do not NEED new anything, even after cutting back on the amount of clothing I have over the last 3 years I still have a ridiculous amount of stuff. At least now I actually wear all of it, okay, most of it.

Still I WANT this sleeveless chunky knit turtleneck tabard from Everlane.com. You can see it here: https://www.everlane.com/collections/chunky-knit-collection-womens-alt/products/womens-chunky-wool-turtleneck-sweater-grey

Crazy! Living in the Upper Midwest there is no point in the seasons where this makes sense. It is too bare for winter (6 months of the year), too wooly for spring (a nanosecond), way too warm for summer (a whole two weeks where we act like the people in Atlanta do when they get snow-- Heatpocolypse!). Seriously it is a truly ridiculous garment that I have talked myself out of Every. Single. Damn. Day for the last month.
If by the 26th of Dec. I still want it, I am making it out of some Eileen Fisher pants that are a wonderful wool knit that should never have been produced as pants, most especially unlined ones! The reality is I would wear this like a vest and wear the heck out of it. I am thinking longer, maybe leave the 'tails' split and I like the hi/low look. But maybe more difference between them.

AlterSWAP is taking over my thoughts and I need to be writing actual stories!

In the beginning...

I used to sew, a lot. I sew much less at least in part because I write full time so I could live in yoga pants and no one would care but I like nice clothes even if I can't wear them. That said, I have become a BIG fan of minimalist movements like 6 items or less or Project 333. I blame the sewing ephemera from WWII and the Depression era that I collect and the 70's era crunchy granola environmentalists that raised me for the complete inability to throw out good clothes. So I donate like most everyone else but I have a ton of Eileen Fisher and other better Bridge designer lines that frankly, I don't want to give up but may not work for me anymore. So I am a big fan of the Make Do and Mend movement combine that with the fact that I can't ever leave well enough alone and you have the makings of an inveterate DIYer and compulsive tweaker. That is what you'll get here. If I really get my act together you may even get the odd tutorial. We'll see.