In an attempt to get myself to focus on pairing up the lovely (and overflowing) fabrics I’ve got on hand with the lovely (and overflowing) patterns I’ve got on hand, I did a bit of mental and virtual pairing using my scanned catalogues of fabric and patterns and a bit a Photoshop wizardry. I don’t particularly like doing SWAP wardrobes as they’re so rigid they end up feeling like a chore by about the third garment, so instead I wanted to focus on partnerships of fabrics and garments that could go with each other.
The first is the most straightforward: a skirt and blouse combo.
The skirt is one from last October’s KnipMode and features two big chunky zippers on the wide waistband. I just took the plunge and bought two fantastic brass teethed ones with big ring pulls from Zipperstop’s eBay store, only to find out that the brown colour in their photo was actually bright purple. They’ll now definitely be a “feature”!. The blouse is from my beloved August issue and is the Marni catwalk clone – I’ll be sewing that in some pewter silk charmeuse from Goldhawk Road that really brings out the blue in the skirt’s wool flannel.
For the second pairing, I realised that the mostly cream and grey tweed I bought from Totally Fabrics has tiny flecks of peach in it which coordinates nicely with the nude stretch suiting, so I thought I’d like to be able to wear the suiting on its own or paired with the pale pink.
I always envisioned the nude suiting as a sheath dress, though whether it’ll end up as the origami pleated Nov 09 KnipMode dress or the Divine Details Vogue dress remains to be seen. So then I thought I could probably squeeze a skirt and a cropped jacket out of the tweed if I chose styles that didn’t use much fabric – I’m loving this pencil skirt in the new January KnipMode (I’m getting ahead of myself with these two Knip patterns – I will be showing them off properly in a few days!), and while flipping through my few precious copies of Patrones, I spotted two contenders in the cropped jacket category. I prefer the sleeves and the folded hem on the top one, but I like that the lower one has a collar and pockets and I can envision that one over a dress more easily. Hrmmm.
And the third pairing just screamed party/clubwear as soon as I unwrapped the fabric parcels! If we hadn’t already decided to stay in this year, it’d be perfect for New Year’s Eve!
The black techno fabric from Totally Fabrics and the Prada trompe l’oeil sequin stretch jersey were just born to be together. The techno fabric is quite thick so I wanted a pattern to make it stand up on its own – I’m just hoping I can squeeze the pleated Manequim skirt out of the 1m cut I have. The Prada jersey is so gorgeously flowy and drapey that I really wanted to choose a pattern to show off that to its best advantage, without too many seams to break up the print, either. So I’m considering either this bubble-hem Patrones top (I’ll just use plain black lycra jersey for the very top and the lining) or basardising the Simplicity cowl dress pattern again to have just a sleeveless tank. The only thing I’m concerned about there is that horizontal seam, however…
Anyone have any opinions over which of my choices I should go with? Cropped jacket, nude dresses, or sequin tops… My oh my, my mind’s in overdrive, and I already made a skirt and a jacket in their entirety today!