Mother of the Bride outfit: Shoes??

So, in this weekend’s shopping (or as I like to call it: helping out the economy!), I found what I think to be the shoes for the wedding. I am not crazy about the open toe, but they are actually very comfortable. The right color for the dress and they flatter my foot. Still deciding whether to keep them or take them back. I won’t wear them of course until the wedding so if I find something else I can always return them.  Any thoughts???

Mother of the bride outfit! Fabric found!!

So! My trip to San Francisco last weekend was wonderful! Although I got home on Sunday night and had to be back at the airport Monday morning to fly to North Carolina for work! Busy Busy!!  But we did a great deal of wedding stuff while I was there, including finding the fabric for my dress!

I had been going back and forth about what color I should wear. Meghan was completely unconcerned about it; she left it up to me. I did however, need to coordinate with my husbands USMC dress blues uniform, so that really left out colors like yellow and light green, etc.

Even though it is a June wedding, I was really feeling red. I look good in red. I love the color. I bought a new car in red. It’s MY color! So we headed over to the orgasmic Britex Fabrics on Geary Street early Saturday morning. We looked at a couple of different fabrics, but when the salesclerk showed us a fabulous red silk faille, I was in love! It was a lovely red (not that orange red but a clear, blue red) and was a nice weight with some texture to it. 100% silk and just fabulous! I was sold! And so was Meghan. It has a nice weight that should drape wonderfully with the pattern I chose for the dress. This is not the type of fabric one could get at a Joanne’s or Hancock fabrics. (And at $95 per yard I can understand why!)

The button purchased for the dress!

100% silk faille

It's not nearly this pink

 

The pattern I chose. I will be making the short sleeve one.

The pictures don’t really do it justice; I blame the late afternoon sun in my sewing room! The plan is to do all gray accessories, with gray gloves, shoes and hat (and potentially a purse) to complement it. I also have been thinking of lining the front skirt drape with a lovely gray to bring out the gray accessories as well. Will think on that!

So, what do you think? Is it weird that I am wearing red to my daughter’s wedding. (Not that I care!)  I figure that as long as Meghan is happy, that is all that matters!

Stay tuned for shoes!  Ahhh….Shoes….

Plaid, Plaid, Plaid!!

So here we are another weekend and another weekend project! I know, it has been all sewing all the time for me! I attribute it to the cold weather. Or something. Not sure why I have been so busy in the sewing room, unless it is because I am getting close to making my mother of the bride dress!

This being said, I started work this weekend on a cute cardigan type jacket. I have a wonderful plaid wool that my daughter gave me for Christmas one year. I this it was 2 years ago and I have been dying to use it, but wanted to use it for something special. Plaid is tricky. You have to use just the right pattern or run the chance of looking like a 1970's throwback. Basically I feel that you should use a simple design for the garment the more "busy" the fabric is. I have never been a super fan of plaid but this is just a lovely fabric with a great "feel" and is very lightweight!

The plaid I am using is a beautiful lightweight wool with an all over brownish beige pattern. It is very lovely and just a joy to work with. Used as the lining is a rement that I bought a few years ago at Britex on their rement floor. It is a brown silk with a slight dotted pattern. Another lovely fabric!

Vogue basic cardigan style jacket

I used a simple Vogue pattern for a basic cardigan style jacket. No buttons or closures and patch pockets on the front. I used view B of the pattern.

Beautiful wool plaid!

Looks kind of funky 1/2 done!

Somehow, I managed to match up the pockets!

 Plaids are tricky. You have to make sure that if the design is very visable, you have to match up the plaid in certain areas. That means paying attention when you cut out the pattern, and it may be necessary to obtain extra fabric (more than the pattern calls for) to allow for the matching. Also, if you have pockets in the front, there will be a need to allow for the pattern to match up on the front. It is not difficult, but it does require more time and patience. Also, this wool was a loose weave. This means that it unravels easily so extra care will need to be taken to finish seams to discourage the fabric to unravel. I used both bias tape as well as finishing the seams to provide a more finished look (even though it is inside the jacket and will never be seen!

View of the inside lining

Hand sewing the lining on

The finished product!

I really like how the finished product came out. The picture above does not do it justice (and the pattern does match up on the jacket in the front, it just looks funky on my dress form! I really like the option of having a cute, lightweight jacket that I can dress up or down. I can pair this with a dressy skirt (brown or blue) and I have a suit for work. I can throw it on with a pair of jeans and a bright scarf (purple or pink would be nice) and I have a cute casual look.

 A view of the inside facing. 

I love my labels!

All in all I am very pleased with the outcome. It took both Saturday and Sunday (1/2 day each day) to complete the jacket (including the cutting out of the fabric and matching the plaid). I would use this pattern again, it was very simple. Hopefully I can post a much better picture of the finished product on me instead of the dress form. It looks much better on!

I intend to stay away from the sewing machine for the next few weeks to give myself a break. I plan on traveling to San Francisco to the fabulous Britex fabric on Geary Street to shop for fabric for my mother of the bride dress. I am leaving the weekend of the 22nd so stay tuned for fabric blogging!!