bodner052

I volunteer each Wednesday at a food pantry. It's quite a large operation, providing a market-style experience to about 200 families each Wednesday. Several times a year we volunteers participate in city-wide activities that raise money for our operation and others providing a similar service. And we receive brightly colored T shirts. This year's is bright orange and last year's was purple. These T shirts are sized for men, wider through the shoulders and more narrow through the hips. I am not shaped like that and I never end up wearing these shirts. But I do like to combine them into a shirt that fits. I was not terribly adventuresome with this project, using Grainline Lark T shirt pattern pieces. This is a basic (ladies) T shirt pattern that fits me. I cut the front and back from the body of orange T shirt (sized XL), and the sleeves from the body of the purple one (sized M). Orange and purple is a cheerful color combination, I think. Makes me smile. This is a good remind...

Now that spring seems to be here to stay for a few weeks, I find myself wanting blues and greens in my wardrobe. When I finished my latest Tabula Rasa (Fit for Art) jacket in a blue-green cross dye , I wanted more. Just about a year ago I finished a pair of Fit for Art Eureka Pants in green linen . I pulled the remnants out and realized I could just barely squeeze out a MixIt Top from the Sewing Workshop . This is my go-to top, especially when I make pants and have enough left over. Since I've made it so many times, it goes together quickly. I fiddled around with the closure and may still come back to it. I also made the collar a bit taller. I had always thought this green linen was a cross dye. It reads that way, but when I cut a square for the back I saw that it is not. I guess the threads are just multi-colored so that it reads less flat that a solid colored linen. It looks a little stubby in this picture, but I think it'll look fine with the matching green pants. Or maybe i...

Tabula rasa means blank slate. And that is how I used it with this garment. the plain version This wonderful piece of fabric has been marinating in my stash for a number of years. It is a cross weave in light green and bright royal blue. It was purchased from Spanglish Fabrics. She travels to Guatemala and brings back gorgeous hand-woven fabric to sell. It's perfect for bags. There is not a lot of drape and it feels just a little coarse. But this piece needed to be a garment. the cross-weave needed to be highlighted Often I find that my sewing goal is to feature the fabric, even though this one is essentially a solid color. The Tabula Rasa pattern involves mostly narrow pieces, so it was just right for this 36" wide fabric. The sleeves on the pattern are the largest piece and I had to be careful to make sure I'd have enough for them. I did end up piecing the collar band with a small patch at the center back. You see it in the above picture because it is cut cross-grain and...