The Week Of Getting Ready

This post comes with a warning. There are some very grainy, poorly taken, brilliantly bad, images ahead of me modelling garments with no modelling skills, incomplete styling, little make-up, and a disintegrating hairstyle that has been frustrating me ever since I had it cut last week. HOWEVER...

... this is the week of getting ready and yesterday, I started packing clothes for my holiday. I tried everything on to see how it fit, felt, and what needed to be adjusted. At left, are the six outfits and jewelry pieces that made the cut and at right are the pieces that were eliminated. In the end, only two of the eleven garments are brand new and one is sort of new. 

I really wanted to wear the bicycle pants with a white top with black polka dots except I only wear black lingerie and didn't want to pack a white bra for one outfit so I switched to a black top with white polka dots that - unfortunately - looks like a clown outfit when combined with the bicycle pants. I would have been very uncomfortable wearing that. The top looks good with the striped pants fabric-wise but this is probably the last outing for these pants and I'm still debating. Are they too big on me? What do you think? Wearable or find something else? It might be easier to find a different top for the bike pants... or pack the white bra!

This grey top is pinned at the back with a big tuck that takes 10" out of the hip width and 8" out of the waist. Without adjustments, it looked frumpy with the skirt plus yesterday's temperature was the same as what I'm expecting in Ashland and based on that, it - a double knit - is going to be too warm even if I love the sleeves. At right, I've created a horizontal tuck to see what a shorter length looks like. I noticed with a few of these garments that with my weight loss I may need to hem tops shorter - somewhere between these two. 

This is the top with the ballet neckline from an earlier post. After taking this picture, I tightened the elastic in the skirt and cut the sleeves off at 3/4 length. Later, I remembered a dark blue top that could look good with the skirt so I'll try that on today when everything is dry from being laundered and see what I think. This top may become part of a later outfit. 

This outfit illustrates the dilemma I have with some clothes. I think the silhouette at left appears more flattering and yet I'm emotionally more comfortable with the print and shape of the top at right. What do you think? Both looks will benefit from heels.

This is the last outing for this dress as well. As much as I love it, it's also getting too big. I won't alter it but I will alter the pattern and make myself another one since it's very comfortable. I will probably wear it with the necklace shown unless...

 

... I have time to repair this one. The chain came apart on the left side where the copper wrap broke from too much twisting. A temporary fix would be to re-do the copper twist, and I might, however a better fix would be to make an oval shaped jump ring and solder it. 

These pants are new and they're also not. I made them a couple years ago thinking I was using the current size of the pattern only it was a smaller one. Since I had more fabric, I made an exact pair in a bigger size that I've worn a lot. Those are too big and these now fit and because they haven't been washed as often the print is much brighter. Again, I am emotionally more comfortable in the top at left and think the one at right - the ballet neckline - is more figure flattering. SO interesting. If I switch to the blue top with the colourful skirt, I'll switch to the ballet neckline with these pants. 

This outfit is one of my favourites. The pant fabric is denim-like and the black design is flocked. The top has black sequins with a slight shimmer and lovely drape. I tightened the elastic on the pants and they don't look too big but won't last much longer. I like these pants enough to alter them especially as they are a fairly recent sew. LOL - it looks like it'll be a skirt and dress summer if I continue losing weight. 

Part of the workshop includes draping so I am taking a mannequin. I have two and if I could take the top off one and stick it together with the bottom of the other, it'd be perfect. But I can't. One works better when I'm at a lower weight and the other at a higher weight. Apparently, I'm between the two right now so I've taken the "bigger" one and dialed the upper body measurements as close as possible and the lower body measurements to my current size. Since I'm working on a coat, slightly more bust ease is not likely to be an issue plus I never use a mannequin for final fittings. For that, I fit to my body. 

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - the fun of wardrobe planning