Vacation Sewing and Packing

Back in the spring Mr. Lucky proposed that we take a Rick Steves tour company https://www.ricksteves.com trip to Switzerland since my cousin had spoken so highly of her recent experience.  If he's willing to select and research it, then I'm good to go along.  In previous posts you've seen that we usually take outdoorsy, hiking/walking trips with maybe some city days before and after.  But this was going to be 12 days touring six cities in the three language (and food) regions so it's considered active but definitely more of a tour than we normally do.  I decided that meant that I needed to make some new garments for a somewhat coordinated but still small enough travel wardrobe.  I could pack the usual rtw travel blouses and pants that everyone else has, Travelsmith, Eddie Bauer, the standards, but I have enough of an ego that if I say sewing is my hobby then I should be wearing something to prove it.  
Let's start with the obvious basic black garments.and work from there.  
Black pants
I have black knit Style Arc Barb pants that can work as hiking pants or as evening with a tunic city pants. 

Barb pants by Style Arc get hydration in Zurich before a day up on Mount Pilatus

Add a second pair of black stretch denim jeans and there's a great base. 

Black skirt  White denim jacket
I already own a terrific rtw swirly mid-calf skirt in black slinky and this would be an opportunity to wear it for touring.  Imitating a great snoop shopping and sewing friend, @shoppingsleuth, (please, go to IG and follow her ideas) I decided that a cropped, deconstructed white denim jacket would be perfect for the skirt and that I could also wear the jacket with a black tank and those pants.  Now, I already have a rtw white denim jacket but I didn't want to cut it up in case I didn't like the look.  Enter my new shopping addiction...Poshmark.  For $12 I got the same brand jacket in a white stretch denim.  I cut off the collar, turned and edged it with narrow ribbon and cut the sleeves off to elbow length.  Eventually I want to embellish it around the neckline but I think it worked well just as it is.

Refashioned jacket with cut off sleeves and collar removed

Thanks, Michele, for a great idea

Dark wash denim jeans
No, I have not gotten on the make your own jeans bandwagon although I do love my pull on Jalie Elenore jeans pattern.  So I was packing dark denim rtw again and made a number of coordinating tops to wear in warm temps (Zurich hit 102F the week before we arrived!) or cool.  

White stretch jeans
Ok, this was totally unnecessary but I just love white jeans in the summer and all that dark is practical but sooooo dark.  I got a decent amount of wear out of this last minute decision and it kept my bottoms in rotation enough that I didn't have to do laundry in the two weeks.

So what did I actually sew, what else did I pack and how did they work in a small rolling suitcase?  Here they are:
Three very lightweight over blouse toppers with either a rtw or Margarita tank top underneath.  I only wore two of them when it was quite warm at the start of our trip and one of the hotels wasn't air-conditioned.  They roll up to the size of a cell phone so easy to stuff into a suitcase although probably not necessary.

This topper is my most pinned item since I first made them nine years ago..Chicos poncho knock off  This one works wonderfully with jeans since it has navy and black in that burnout polyester from Fabric Mart.

Again, an easy topper with a twist so I can cover my upper arms but wear a sleeveless tank.  Both sides of the fabric show...one is glittery navy that I think came from JoAnns and the other a tissue knit from Fabric Mart.  I thought I did a post about making one but can't find it at the moment. Tell me if you'd like directions.  

I am in love with waterfall jackets of all lengths and collar widths.  I made a sheer one from my very favorite Butterick 6244 and a border polyester fabric from Fabric Mart with a serger rolled edge.  Turquoise knit Margarita Tank top by LJ Designs, my go to tank.  

Butterick 6244

Then a knit version in a somewhat heavy ITY that needed a full facing.  The colors are perfect for denim and black but when wearing it, the extra weight of the large facing pulled it forward and I wasn't always happy with that.  I'll keep it for travel but not for regular at home wearing.

Butterick 6244

Butterick 6244

I'm grinning like a fool because we were ecstatic to reach the Lugano hotel where we got a whole pot of delicious coffee at breakfast.  Americans like us looove their morning coffee and a small cup isn't enough.  This was heaven.
There were some oldies that came along on the trip:
Vogue 8691 from three years ago

Yes, I found fabric stores and haberdashery departments just like a homing pigeon.
Vogue 8813 is a Marcy Tilton dress with great pockets and was perfect for market day and winery tour in Lausanne.

Vogue 8813

A Simplicity 3678 dress that I cut down into a tunic and thought I might discard at the end of the trip but it got several compliments so it came home with me:

Simplicity 3678

And last sewing picure,  a McCalls 6444 jacket, another oldie but goodie, in lightweight nubby cotton with lots of fringing.  Jeans and travel friendly.

McCalls 6444

Oh, that bandage you've noticed....thank you for not saying anything.  I was so cocky and full of myself as our trip started out.  The first three days we were on our own in Zurich.  Day one we arrived, dropped our luggage and used the Rick Steves guide book for a marvelous walking tour of the city.  Cure for jet lag...walk  8 miles in the sun.  Day two we headed on the train for a whole day excursion to beautiful Mount Pilatus.  Trains, gondolas, cog wheel train, boat ride, hiking...another almost 8 mile day.  
Ah, day three, head out to take scheduled e-bike tour of Zurich.  Electric bikes are the ones with heavy electric batteries that give you power assist.  Mr. Lucky and I were there early, the woman trying to help me said all the bikes are the same, I didn't want to be a pushy American but saw that there were smaller ones more my size but I went along with her (listen to your instincts, ladies) and yes, the bike took me down with its weight and size and I have a badly sprained ankle.  I still did the whole trip and it could have been soooo much worse.  I'll see the ankle dr. when he's back from his vacation on Monday but I can still sew so all is not lost. And sewing wise, here are my souvenirs:

Sewing friends, feel free to move on....travel voyouers, keep looking for a few of our many pictures.  

The Rick Steves tour was a master work of planning for organized time and free time.  He's a real believer in getting to know local people, stay at family owned hotels and dine at local restaurants and that made this quite special.  We had a walk with a local city guide in each town, a wonderful full time guide/manager, Fabian, who set up our visits to behind the scenes tours of a monastery, an exclusive chocolatier, an Alp cheese farm, mountain WWII fortress, local village music, a risotto cooking class, winery tour, Roman ruins and travel by coach, by train, by boat, by tram and gondolas.  We were initially concerned that it wouldn't be active enough for us but we averaged five miles a day...me limping along but I didn't miss any activity except maybe the optional tandem para-gliding.  We'll definitely take another trip with such a terrific organization some time in the future.  Now, back to my sewing room and all the fun projects I have in store for the rest of 2019.

Mr. Lucky and the fire gear inside one of the WWII mountain fortresses which held 200 men

In Engleberg there was a local band concert and a music group which did Swiss yodeling songs that were beautiful.

Bellinzona has three castles, built to guard this narrow pass

Daily cheese-making after the forty cows have grazed on the high hills

The hills were alive with Alp horn music, some it more melodious than others.

On Lake Geneva the steamer passes the Castle of Chillon

We learned that a famous Bollywood film had been filmed in and on top of the gorgeous Mount Titlis

Mr. Lucky, now retired ski patroller, gets a great look at the Alps.

New Place, Old Patterns

Last month Mr. Lucky and I had the most marvelous month back in Florida renting a new-to-us condo via VRBO (Vacation Rental By Owner.)  There were on-line pictures, of course, and we got to see the unit's exterior the previous year but just like that mail order fabric, there's always some anxiety about what shows up in real life.  Well, we were absolutely thrilled with everything about our place and have already reserved it for next year.  That good luck was followed by the most marvelous March weather we had experienced in fifteen years of visiting Naples and so my sewing was replaced with numerous kayak and bike rides, long visits with old local friends and plenty of happy hours and beach sunsets.  

Packing for the 1300 mile drive south in mid-February is a challenge, especially this past February when we had record-setting cold days in Baltimore and pipes were bursting in neighborhood homes due to the sub-artic temps.  I wondered whether or not to bring sewing projects and my machines.  I say machines, plural, because as a garment sewer I also want my serger along even if it's just for seam finishing.  Of course it worked as I expected....if I pack up all the gear and plenty of already cut out projects, then the weather will be glorious and I will hardly find time to sew....but if I don't, then there will be cloudy cool days that would probably have me wishing for my "stuff."

Serger packed for car transport

I brought seven cut out projects but only stitched up these three, all TNT patterns.  They did come in handy while we were in Naples and for the drive north.  It's kind of funny to non-sewers that you have new clothes at the end of the month but didn't do any shopping.

I had this ITY knit from Fabric Mart with two parts to its personality, the loud rainbow stripes and the quieter gray tones.  I think of it as my bright Florida color and suburban Baltimore hybrid.  I used this year's favorite new knit pattern, the Tabula Rasa Tunic Knit Tee and Tunic

Tabula Rasa Knit Tunic

The next pattern was a breeze to sew but I spent many hours unraveling the fabric to make the fringe. It's McCalls 6444 6444  It is designed for a knit but this loosely woven fabric had a lot of natural "give" after being washed so I gave it about 1/8 or 1/4 more on its four vertical seams and it fits just perfectly.  I fringed the horizontal bottom hem and sleeve hem without any incident, and the pretty turquoise threads mixed with white and navy looked quite nice.  But the collar and vertical front edges only unraveled with the black base threads.  I had to come up with another solution, which I did, but which involved a lot more unraveling.  I cut 1 1/2 inch strips and unraveled both sides, leaving about 3/8 intact in the middle.  I then basted those strips to enclose the outside edges of the collar and front opening before doing a light zig zag to hold them in place.  I love the lightweight jacket look with the fringe and have gotten many compliments including one from my very stylish younger cousin.  

McCalls 6444

Hem fringe before final "haircut"

Testing the double sided fringe idea

The third project was once that I have had cut out since last summer.  It's an extremely soft cotton shirting from Fabric Mart that is perfect for those hot humid summer days.  Not my most flattering top, Vogue 7281 7281, but one I will appreciate in August.  

Vogue 7281

It was a relaxing, refreshing month away and I enjoyed every moment in the beautiful outdoors and with beautiful friends.  I'll leave you with some of the pretty sunsets we got to experience and hope that your travels, local or afar, bring you as much joy.

Tried, True and Terrific

I can find great joy and excitement in repeating special experiences on a regular basis, my own happy "Groundhog Day" time.  Last week's sewing retreat and TNT patterns fit that description perfectly.  Our slightly smaller group of dedicated sewists returned to the beautiful George Washington Grand Wyndham hotel in Winchester, VA for three days of sewing, sharing, laughing, and enjoying the $5 happy hour martini designed for our group, the "Singer Zinger."   I was so busy doing all of those things that I didn't even take pictures so here's the link to previous posts about this special weekend and place. 2013 retreat  2012 retreat
But you probably came here to see what actually got sewn during those three days.  These are not new patterns, just TNT ones for expanding my winter wardrobe.  Mr. Lucky took some pics when there was a little sun and the temps were close to 40F yesterday.  I tried a few more famous blogger poses to spice up these classic but oft repeated patterns.

McCalls 6444 and Style Arc Elle pants

I adore this pattern, now OOP, but just on clearance at the McCalls site this past week.  This time I tried it in a wool herringbone tweed with lots of cross grain stretch.  I lengthened it six inches and then just serged the edges to finish them.  The pattern is designed for knits but by widening that sleeve slightly it works for wovens as well so I have a few more planned for the future.  It makes for a comfy second layer with some finesse.  One of my most stylish girlfriends said it has an Eileen Fisher look and I like that idea.  The pattern has a hooded version and I think I will give that a try as well.  

McCalls 6444 non-hooded version

She also mentioned trying it with leather sleeves and I love that idea.  I'm even considering playing up the brown and black fabric weave by adding a black wool jersey 1" binding on all the edges.  What do you think?

Maybe bind the edges, too?

Next up is a very loosely woven embellished sweater knit, also from Fabric Mart, which I combined with another favorite pattern, the Draped Front Cardigan from Pamela's Patterns. Draped Front Cardigan

Pamela's Patterns Draped Front Cardigan

On this one, the fabric really does the talking so I used another very simple pattern.  It is so easy to sew but this particular version involved a lot of hand sewing.  You can see in this pic how lacy the wool is on that front bottom edge.  I didn't serge the edges as suggested since the serger just added too much thread and weight to the edge.  So I hand sewed the turned edge in place to keep the feel light and airy.  I actually enjoy hand sewing and am happy that it kept the front swingy.
Speaking of swingy, it was also time to combine another Fabric mart sweater knit in my resource center with a swing edged pattern, the Tabula Rasa Tunic from Fit for Art Patterns. Tabula Rasa Knit Tunic

Yes, I did add another infinity scarf since my neck is cold all winter long.  The fabric is a wool and acrylic blend and fulfills my wardrobe need for something warm, cozy and comfortable that is one step above my usual LL Bean fleece pullovers.  
Last easy garment project from the retreat is this unfinished tunic top.  It's another sweater knit but this time extremely lightweight.  I used Kwik Sew 3740 Kwik Sew 3740 and lengthened it five inches to wear with jeans and boots.  But it is just too thin to hang nicely so I plan on adding a double wide 1 1/2-2" band on the bottom and see if the weight will help it.

See how thin the lower edge is?

Now it is time this weekend to return to my herringbone coat project.  That delay might explain the funny and sweet gift I got from one of my friends at the retreat....this great pin:

Thank you, from the queen.

Cleaning Out Winter Posts

Have you ever noticed that irony doesn't always work so well in blogs?  Nonetheless, I am going to note the irony that my last post two months ago was about "why I blog".....and then I stopped blogging.  Thank you to those of you who asked me what's up.  If you didn't even notice I've been gone, feel free to move along to the pictures.
Yup, I wrote that post two months ago then spent a lot of time the following week prepping projects for the wonderful end of January American Sewing Guild Northern Virginia chapter sewing retreat.  This might have been my twelfth sewing retreat and was the fourth at the historic and beautiful George Washington Winchester Wyndham Hotel.  This year was especially enjoyable for me, relaxing and easy going.  Last year I was in the midst of prepping to sell our Florida condo and under a great deal of personal stress.  Last year I needed the sewing retreat.....this year was a delight because could just bask in enjoying the moments.  

A ballroom of happy sewists at work

The breakfast buffet awaits.....and a dinner one will look even more splendid

Sewing bloggers meet and greet one another:  lucky me, Julie from From These Hands   Welmoed from There She Sews  Audrey from SewTawdry

I did not take any new patterns to sew, just filled in winter wardrobe gaps so I was a little reluctant to blog about them....but here they are in their retrospective:

More Pamela's Patterns Magic Pencil skirts, these with dark brown and black in the prints so I could wear them with tights and black dancing shoes for the beginning Lindy class that Mr. Lucky and I took for four weeks in the winter.

Kwik Sew 3740 in a toasty warm sweater knit

McCalls 6444  in a glittery navy sweater knit, years old from Fabric Mart

Multiple versions of the Margarita tank top for layering all winter and spring, this one with a lingerie lace picot edge

I was remarkably cold this winter, my first winter back in Baltimore in ten years so I was working on sewing layers and cozy garments that still might be a little more fashionable than my beloved LL Bean polarfleece.  I have owned a luxurious pre-recession splurge light-as-air cashmere sweater but seldom worn it.  (The traditional cost per wear calculation would make me blush with shame.)  So I needed its warmth and use out of it and did some analysis in my sewing room mirrors.  One reason I didn't wear it was that it had wonderfully long sleeves (a gift on a sweater for a tall person like me) but they ended in this wide, frilly bell that slopped into everything.  I pinned the sleeves into a snug narrow version and immediately liked the sweater better.  Now I needed to make it stop falling off my shoulders when the front would slip and pull the sweater slides downward.  I had just watched my DVR'd last episode of "What Not to Wear" and was reminded how Stacey and Clinton encouraged women to fit in their slender places and let clothes skim over the "fluffier" parts.  I pulled out some brown grosgrain ribbon and pinned two pieces as an under the bust tie closure.  immediately the sweater looked brand new and flattering.  

Too wide a sleeve hem

Testing that front tie idea

Finished refashioning result

Final retreat project was a coordinated Margarita knit top and this burnout poly print from JoAnn's a half dozen years ago.  I made a top and lightweight jacket for our March Florida trip and the colors cheered me up in the midst of the brutal winter.  But even this jacket was a repeat pattern, Vogue 8088, a Marcy Tilton OOP pattern Vogue 8088 previous version  that I have fallen in love with this year.  

Marcy's wonderful directions include all these mitered corners and french seams

Since one of the other great parts of a sewing retreat is bringing your excess "stuff" for the giveaway table, I had also spent a great deal of time in late January filling boxes and bags with extra fabric, notions, patterns and books from our move north.  Hooray, they have moved on to better homes....but of course I did find a few treasures that came home from the giveaway table to my "resource center."  

Three pieces of fabric

Some tailoring supplies and a vintage tailoring book for next winter's coat project

So that takes me through the end of January. In my next posts I'll show you two new cardigan patterns that I sewed up last month and share more about my first icy winter in many years.  In the meantime, it's nice to be back in the blog world.  I've been busy with other parts of my life and haven't been reading my blog roll either so time to catch up with all of you virtual sewing friends.