Back to School, Back to Sewing, Back to Blogging

In my little corner of the world children returned to school this week, there's a hint of autumn in the air and I am finally sitting down to post some sewing updates.  My summer has been filled with many miles of travel and lots of  fun activities and I have even squeezed in some sewing.  Let's start with the biggest event, our trip to England and Wales during the last two weeks of June.  It was fairly easy to find plenty of clothing combinations to select in my existing  wardrobe so I only stitched up a new Tabula Rasa knit tunic Fit for Art Knit Tunic  top to wear with black Style Arc Elle pants.  It is a border ITY print from Fabric Mart and I played with it a bit to get the layout I liked.  

Tabula Rasa Knit Tunic

Of course, since this pattern is so easy to sew up in about an hour, I made a Baltimore summer version for the far warmer temps and wore it to get my hair cut and colored before leaving on our trip:

I did sew up a simple infinity scarf to pull together a few pieces of previously sewn brown and black separates and also two versions of this Sholdit scarf that I had seen in a travel magazine. Sholdit on Amazon   I wanted an inconspicuous way to carry my passport and credit cards when we went out for the evening in London.  This worked out nicely although I would not really use it on a regular basis for something as big as an American passport, a little clumsy at your neckline.  (If anyone is interested, I will post a picture tutorial.)

Only one more England/Wales sewing project in this post so you can skip the mini-travel report that follows without hurting my feelings.  Just skim down and you'll see the sewing projects inspired by this summer trip.
Mr. Lucky and I had an exhilarating, exciting, simply wonderful holiday. We started with three action packed days in London.  We stayed near Hyde Park so loved walking through the Park to get everywhere since people watching is so much of the fun of traveling.  I first visited London in 1972 while I was back packing around Europe with girlfriends right at this same time of year so it was nostalgic  to feel how much things are the same and yet intriguing to notice the differences.  We loved the Victoria and Albert exhibits on clothing (seeing some fashions that would have been in the shops those four decades ago, of course)

Victoria and Albert Clothing through the years....and a theme for my recent sewing

and Shoe: Pleasure and Pain Shoes....especially since one of the first things I consider in packing is my shoe choice.
The World War I exhibit at the Imperial War Museum was engrossing and saddening.  Wars seem to be declared by the old but fought by the young, so very tragic.  It took far longer to view than we anticipated but I made sure I also saw the Fashion on the Ration exhibit about how ingenious people were with their clothing allowances during the war years.  I remember some older generation remarks about the re-fashioning part of the British Sewing Bee being a reminder of the hardship of those days so it may seem merely interesting and clever now but was probably demoralizing for many people at the time. 

Burda Twist top dress in black slinky and silk organza Vogue 8088

Each day we bought discount tickets for the the theater and saw three shows in our three London nights.  Monday night was the the marvelous Kristen Scott Thomas in "The Audience."  The Audience I had just watched the American Tony theatre awards go to Helen Mirren and Richard McCabe for their Broadway version so was thrilled we could see it in London.  Fantastic play that kept us engaged and discussing it over drinks afterward.  The following night we went in an entirely different direction back to America and "The Book of Mormon." Book of Mormon OMG we laughed and laughed and then laughed some more.  The last night we went for nostalgia and saw "Jersey Boys" which was light and fun and full of baby boomers like us....and maybe even some other former "Jersey girls" in the audience.  
In between we rode bikes in the Park one morning, 

had a tea in the afternoon, 

did some window shopping, including the famous Selfridge windows since we love the TV series, 

and had a great time back in a city we love. 

 Heather and Kathy, thank you so much for your tips for our trip.  We could not fit in the Dennis Severs house because of their slightly unusual schedule and location but we certainly wanted to see it after reading the reviews.  And the McQueen exhibit must have been wonderful but no luck with last minute tickets on our limited schedule.
It was hard for us to leave London but we caught the train that took us to Bangor, Wales for an overnight before heading to the village of Beddelgert and our week with HF Holidays hiking in Snowdonia.  Magic.  Yes, that's the word for this beautiful corner of the earth.  Green and dramatic and and striking and full of history and stories.  There were 24 of us and each day we could decide to take an easy, moderate or difficult hike.  Yikes, you Brits are mountain goats!  We were with experienced "Ramblers" and these were definitely challenging hikes for me but it was worth it to reach the tops of those peaks and see the views.  In five days of hiking, I did 8,200 ft. of ascents and 37 miles and Mr. Lucky did 10, 200 ft and 39 miles.  We have done six other group hiking trips in the last 17 years with other companies and this was definitely the most challenging but oh so exhilarating.  Here are a few of the happy moments:

After saying good-byes to our guides and travel companions we headed to the Shrewsbury area to visit with friends we had met seventeen years ago....and last visited 14 years ago when the footpaths in England were closed due to foot and mouth disease.  It was wonderful to see them in person, take a day trip in the area and to enjoy the village pub each evening.  I'm including this picture because I am wearing a travel souvenir, a kimono like  lightweight long jacket that I bought in London at Top Shop while we were strolling up Oxford Street.  

Lynn and I have tea in the garden in my new kimono jacket.

Back in my sewing room

I loved the print terribly and splurged on the garment even though it is about the simplest thing in the world to make.  But the fabric is just wonderful and I would rather have it for a souvenir than some little tchokte gathering dust.  And it turns out that I love the look.  I'm wearing the skinny jeans fashion some of these days but that means I need tunic tops and longer jackets in my wardrobe.  So yes, this long travelogue does end with a sewing project.  I decided to copy that simple kimono design and proportion and made myself two more kimono jackets that I have worn a few places this summer.  The first one is a handkerchief linen from Fabric Mart that I considered for a home dec project but seemed a good scale for this jacket/duster length.  

The second one is a rayon blend from Fabric Mart that seems to resemble a 50s bark cloth pattern.

I still like the TopShop one the most but it's a new fashion look for me and one that I am pursuing with some other versions in my next posts.  
Until then, I hope August is closing out as nicely in your part of the world and your sewing projects are making happy memories for you too.  And since school days are here, I thought you might enjoy this fun song that I think of at the end of summer: