SWAP 2010 planning

I Digged out my blog again to share my plans and progress in the SWAP contest: http://artisanssquare.com/sg/index.php/topic, 8747.0.html

If I try to be realistic, I think I can't join the SWAP this time. I have too many other sewing plans. Most importantly my wedding dress. Something nice for Christmas. Some warm clothes for a winter vacation. My outfit for my husband's PhD-defense. And I can not make much time for sewing because I have to work on my own thesis, too!

Also, concerning my daily wardrobe, at the moment it is wiser to sew pieces to combine with things I already have. But for hot weather ... I do not even have enough pieces to fill in gaps, there is just one big gap and a SWAP would give my summer wardrobe a quick start. After the rules were posted, I had a 2-dresses-plan four hours later, I could not help it, I love planning. I think of a classy style based on black, beige and brown and white with some rust, and some Asiatic elements. This sounds pretty much like what I had planned for my first SWAP, but now for summer. Back then I made the mistake to try to include garments for all seasons.

I participated in two SWAP and never finished, but I made some of my most useful clothes and fabrics from these plans, also long after the deadline. Summer clothes are quick to sew ...

I finished my devoré velvet skirt! I wore it at my cousin’s confirmation, after I hemmend it during the train ride to his place. The boys decorated the front garden with regional flags from the European west coast. On the photo I am standing in front of a flag of the northern German islands. “Rüm Hart, klaar Kiming” means “Big heart, clear view”, something like that in a regional language.

The velvet is from rayon with a silk back so I could etch out the twig motif, which comes from the batik I am going to use for a blouse. I took the pattern from a good-fitting purchased skirt. The lining is white for the contrast. The shirt pattern is from burda magazine august 2006. It has a shawl collar that becomes bands that are wrapped around the body. I made it from wool jersey.

These are garments number 3 and 4, additionally I have a pair of pants almost finished and two tops cut out, so I’m never going to make it before the deadline. I had thought that in spite of my busy work I could make 11 garments if I sewed one day per week on average, but I did not think of the people coming to visit and the family celebrations in the weekends, and the time it took to change my bedroom into my office/sewing room and vice versa… So now my plan is to finish until the end of the year by making about one SWAP-garment per month. Another resolution: I am only allowed to buy new fabric each time I used three fabrics from my stash.