Monday, April 16, 2007

Finished SWAP




Le Rouge et le Noir SWAP 2007

Tops

Simplicity 4047, blouse B, white poly satin
Brown Patterns basic shell, cotton batiste, lace, satin bias
SeeitSewit Cross Your Heart Top, stretch cotton
Jalie 2449, wrap top, mystery knit
Jalie 2564, cami, mystery knit and elastic lace
Copied after RTW, twist top, cotton/lycra

Bottoms

Modern sewing patterns, #5361, skirt, modified, houndstooth
Hot Patterns Artful Dodger Slouchy Man-Pants, black wool/poly
Copied after RTW, pants, grey wool/poly
Copied after RTW and modified (to copy Hot Patterns Bustle Back skirt), skirt, black wool/poly

Jacket
E-sewing patterns, 3100, jacket, modified, houndstooth

This is a wardrobe for my daily life, working and non-working. I am lucky enough to be able to wear anything I want at work – and I mean anything, from the smartest suit to jeans and a t-shirt. I’ve already worn everything in my SWAP at work and felt very good in it. It saved me a lot of time in the morning when deciding the outfit for the day. For work, I’m going to wear a cami underneath the reversible top, for going out I would wear it like it is (pretty sexy cleavage, I like it, because it makes the most out of my modest B cup). The Jalie cami is meant to be put in my purse and then worn when going out directly from the office.

I don’t plan on wearing the white sheer batiste Romanian-inspired blouse with just a bra underneath, I will wear it with a cami. The photos are taken with just a bra because I wanted you to see the lace, eyelet and satin bias stitched on the front of the blouse and it is hard to make them show on white.

It’s been such a great learning experience this SWAP. Briefly, I discovered a sewing community (there is none in my country and I know of nobody else sewing besides me in my city), the sharing and support within this community is just great! I ended up having a great coordinated wardrobe and been “forced” to sew more than I would normally sew when having no deadline, which was absolutely great. I’ve experienced new techniques I knew about but haven’t tried yet – like French seams, bound buttonholes, sewing reversible items – and am very pleased about the results. And last but not least, it definitely boosted my creativity, so once again, Julie from TimmelFabrics, a great big thanks!

I'll post more pictures when the SWAP page is unveiled. Don't want to spoil the surprise

11 comments:

Lori said...

Love your SWAP, terrific job. The blouse is beautiful.

Betty said...

This looks great, and you have managed to show some detail in your blacks, which is often very difficult. Your blouse is stunning.
I look forward to seeing the rest of your pictures on "opening day."

LauraLo said...

Thanks, Lori and Betty!I'm glad you like the blouse, the photo of the entire blouse is quite terrible...
I'm quite proud of that blouse actually, even if it was pain to sew, that sheer cotton batiste is lovely but soooo ravely! And I've still got another 4 meters of it, I'm already thinking of a nice summer dress.
Laura

Tany said...

Love it! You did a terrific job indeed! I like the colors, the styles, everything!!

Summerset said...

The white top is really beautiful! I do love your SWAP - the colors are my favorites.

LauraLo said...

The colors are my favorites too, Summerset!
LauraLo

Lisa Laree said...

Congratulations, Laura!

Melody said...

Congratulations Laura. You've done a beautiful job.

Teresa said...

Hello - Your SWAP was very inspring. I was wondering if you wouls hare some secrets on the white top you made that had lace on it . How did you go about sewing the lace on - Was there a special stitch to sew the lace onthe materal - was this the simplicity pattern that you used Thank you in advance

LauraLo said...

Thank you, Lisa, thank you, Melody!
Hi Theresa,
My lace top was made using Brown Patterns Basic Shell - you can see it here http://www.sewingpatterns.com/index-brownbag.html
I applied the lace on top of the finished top, using a fabric glue stick to keep the lace in place and stitched it with a small zigzgag - about 2 mm width and length. Any stitch would do just fine, I chose this one because it really disappeared in the lace.
Regarding the eyelet lace, I just sewed it in place with a regular stitch, than added the bias satin ribbon, fixed with Steam a Seam and stitched with the same zigzag as before.
Hope that helps.
LauraLo

Teresa said...

Thank you for your reply. It was very helpful. The blouse is really pretty. Good Luck with your SWAP at patternreview.