My wardrobe is moving slightly in the direction of wearing ‘office wear’ more often. Blech and double blech.

I’ve been struggling to reconcile my taste to things that go with slacks. Secretly I hate dress pants. They make me feel like a cater waiter. I also have never found a pair that didn’t make me look like Eyeore from the back. I recently discovered that  I whipped out 3 new workable blouses and didn’t share them. Don’t be disheartened- my gaudy parade continues!

So here comes a Burda, an  old friend  Simplicity and a Vogue-

first victim:

This is a repeat- yes, Ms short attention span has repeats! This is my 3rd- I love the ease of this shape.

When I feed new sacrifices to the Textile Hoarding annex, I like to buy 5 yards of something. You just never know. Maybe I want a tank top, maybe I want to make a car cover. I will not be limited!!! So if I like it, I want 2 of it. Perhaps a summer dress and a top. Or leiderhosen and a hoodie. You get the idea. This Anna Sui fabric is in 2 prints- from selvage to selvage so it can give some fun mixes. Previously, it was a dress to match my fav Dr Marten flats. Now those flats will get even more out of the closet time paired with this.

I added the cuffs for contrast, but really, the location of the prints was based on how much fabric I had left. A roll of the matching dice as it were. I’m happy and I can consider this stash busting, right? Can I shop now? Please?

This years squirrely goal is more detail and structure in my makes- so Burda will be my target- lots of seemingly random seams going on in most of them- this was fun to sew- a nice saturday morning no-brainer with a nice reward. I let the print do the talkin’ and only added a little accent button for fancy. 7125-

Last but not so least is my take on Vogue 1367-

I used an embossed nylon ultrasuede snakey fabric for the yoke and a frisky chiffon for the body. No design changes or ‘that didn’t work- better get creative’ design changes. My other goal to combine more fabrics is still in effect- I love these two pieces together- a summer something will happen for these I’m sure!  It’s a little wide thru the shoulders- I will gladly announce that next time I will drop it down a size.  I will pause to reflect on that. Ahhhh…….

a little more fabric detail- I’m loving my faux fuzzy snake!

I would have made a 4th top but we only have 3 dogs and Flannery is away at her writers workshop in the Berkshires……

photo credits: pattern review, meadhawg, google images, Pattern Review. All images remain the property of their original owners.