OWOP: Days 4-7

Continuing on with the one week, one pattern theme...

Day 4 was sunny but with a chill in the air...

Can you spot the difference with my other OWOP pictures?



Oops, no skirt!

I didn't know what to wear. I didn't want to wear the stripey skirt to work on two or three consecutive days, I hadn't finished the work version of the pattern that I'd started, I hadn't started sewing my printed silk version, and I knew I shouldn't wear the casual linen one.

At least this outfit is very me-made: I made the pants, the top, and the jacket. And I was very cosy.

Day 5:
I wore my new skirt - I said above it was a work version, but you could also call it an armchair version because that's what the fabric was probably intended for. I don't know if this looked odd for work but no one said anything.

I wore it to work like this:

a bagged lining

but the day quickly warmed up, and jettisoning the jacket improved my outfit no end:

 






















Anyway I love this fabric; I bought it years ago from an interior decorator sale or something (pre-kids, back when I had time to find and attend unusual sales).

It's heavy and rich looking, but on the wrong side there are a lot of loose embroidery threads so this incarnation of the skirt needed proper lining to stop me pulling the threads with a clumsy foot. So this skirt has a bagged (dark green) lining, which I am very happy with. The pocket lining is gold, cut from leftover bits from a kid's costume.

The other pattern changes I made were to reduce the pleats in the front, since I didn't have enough fabric for the pattern width, and to make a tie from the waistband in centre back. I don't seem to have done very well with the tie though as I forgot to leave room for a knot - so the waistband isn't properly snug now. I might need to go back and add a concealed fastening on the back waistband...

I don't think I'm going to blog the sewing details separately, so I'll just mention it quietly here - this skirt was FREE to make! Third time with a pattern = free, all the fabric was leftover from other projects (to tell you the truth I had bought this fabric to make a couple of lovely bolsters. There was quite a bit left over), and I even used up lots of half spools of thread and half used bobbins (serendipitous?).

Day 6:
My stripey skirt again. I just didn't have time to sew up the patterned silk version that I had cut out, and being tired and fluey it didn't seem sensible to burn the midnight oil.

On about Monday my partner commented that my skirt didn't really fit - too baggy across the rear - and when I checked myself out and looked carefully at the pattern envelope I saw he was right. I think I cut this skirt out extra large, expecting it to shrink; it didn't, and I ended up needing to insert elastic in the waistband. So I'm hoping this skirt is the largest of my trio and that the others are not too baggy from behind.

For a change I've paired this with something spotty and green - doesn't that sound nice!

There's good reason for face cropping...

 

It was late when I took my photos and the light was low but this is what the skirt + jumper look like together up close: 

Day 7:
Back into casual mode for Friday... possibly too casual for work's dress code, but I suppose a single trespass would probably be OK. And one of my Marketing colleagues gave me a skirt unsolicitation :-)

... and jump!

pose ...

And just as I'm getting used to skirts, skirts, skirts, we are all done! 

It hasn't been as intense as a me made month, but I have learnt something about my wardrobe.  Looking through my photos I realised that this skirt is not as flattering a shape as I had thought - at least not for someone with a high, wide waist.


For those who read my last post and might be wondering, my mum is still in hospital but after having some fluid aspirated from the lining around her lung her breathing is a lot more comfortable. Also the specialists seem to be making progress in finding out why that fluid was there - it's definitely an auto-immune disease - so hopefully within the next week they'll be able to give it a name and we'll find out if this is something that can be managed. 

Sunday 1st April 

Thank you so much for your kind thoughts; I think my mum is going to be OK.  Her specialists should be doing some final scans tomorrow and then starting her on steroids for the auto immune disease - there has been no sign of anything other than auto immune issues so far.

I've had some more bad news though. Today my father was also rushed to (a different) hospital. His partner says he has a blocked bowel and has been vomiting blood; it sounds pretty serious. I know a sewing blog is not the place for this, but you guys feel like dear friends and I don't think I'm going to be able to focus on sewing until my family has got through these crises.

OWOP: Days 1 - 3

I decided ages ago to have a go at Tilly's OWOP challenge - but I'd thought to have a bit more variety sewn up in time.  I currently have two skirts made from Vogue 1174 (yes, well spotted, it's a dress pattern), one that needs some finishing, and a fourth cut out.

Evidently there has been other stuff going on than sewing in my life. It's true - there have been camping, sewing room electrical issues, tiredness and flu. Less flippantly though my mum has been really ill: 2 weeks ago she quietly checked herself into hospital via the emergency department for painful breathing problems. She was discharged 5 days later with antibiotics and time off work but without an opinion as to what was (still) wrong, and after a week at home she was in a very bad state. She was rushed back to (another) hospital in an ambulance on Saturday morning, and the staff at the second hospital seem to be actively trying to work out what's going on.  The obvious but terrible contenders (pneumonia, a clot on the lung, cancer etc) have been ruled out, but there's a reasonable chance of an auto-immune disease being implicated. We're very anxious for the underlying cause to be identified so it can hopefully be treated.

So. I have been reading lots of blogs and adding heaps of stars in Google Reader but I'm really behind with my commenting, and with my sewing and blogging... 


Without further ado here are my OWOP days 1 - 3.

Day 1: What you might wear if you had thought it was going to be a regular weekend day at home... obviously OK too for accompanying your mum in the ambulance to hospital.

 

I hadn't planned to hop into the ambulance with my mum, but I think being a "+1" was useful.  I imagine it must be nice to have a close family member or friend with you when you're being rushed to hospital, but it also seems worthwhile to be able to help answer some of the detailed medical questions for paramedics, nurses and doctors on the trip and when you arrive at the hospital.

This skirt was originally blogged here.



Day 2: What you might wear after you slept in and missed your son's first soccer match of the season. Sorry!

You might wear this in the afternoon to take your daughter to the GP to get stitches in her eyebrow after she slipped over on her Fuzzy Felts and hit the coffee table (she was very brave). You might then wear this to visit your mum in hospital.

This skirt was originally blogged here.  I added some elastic in the waistband to correct the loose fit, since it didn't shrink in the wash as anticipated.

Day 3: What you might wear to work when you hadn't planned for the weather to get cooler again.  A small jacket helps, but stockings would have helped too.

I hadn't realised how similar this is to Day 2.

You can see that my daughter is fine and able to lead the dance as usual. She just has a small bandage over one eyebrow - a visual reminder to her kindy friends that they should play gently with her for now, and a good coverup for spidery looking black stitches. Her dress is from a sweet 1950s pattern; I'll write that up soonish.











Thanks for reading this!
Gabrielle