The Great Module Sew Along

When I first heard Whitney of Tomkatstitchery mention The Great Module Sew Along, I was intrigued. Could I really sew that many pieces in a short time?  Could I pick out patterns and fabric that would coordinate?  Well...maybe.

I came down with the flu three days ago and it's given me plenty of time to think about my patterns. I primarily sew dresses and tops because they're the easiest to fit. But if I'm honest, I could certainly use another pair of pants (or five) and a skirt in my wardrobe. I made a darling high low knit skirt from a McCalls pattern last year. With an elastic waistband, it was easy to fit. And while I work in an office that is business casual, the skirt, to me, is still more casual than business. So I've really been thinking about "what" I'd like to sew.  And knowing I will probably need to purchase some of the fabrics, I'm determined to use all patterns from my stash

Top 1:

Hot Patterns Plain & Simple Fitted T - This is a basic t-shirt that I can dress up or down.  I tend to favor v-neck as I find them more flattering, but a boatneck might be a little more business.  That being said, while the pattern is out, I might just sew up a couple of shirts from my stash because this is a very fast make and I never have enough t-shirts (well, I never buy casual clothes, but I'm sure that has nothing to do with it!)







Top 2

Butterick 6632 - I have some really lovely fabric that would work perfectly for this pattern. Between the pattern and the fabric, it would be a great jumping off place for the rest of the collection. This is flowy enough that it should take me through the beginning of June before it gets too warm to wear.  Houston summers are HOT but this is flowy and my fabric is lightweight so I think I could wear it for several more months. This is view C with full length sleeves.  I think I would make view B with 3/4 length sleeves. I definitely prefer the elasticized sleeve and the shaped hem.




Top 3

Simplicity 3789 (OOP) - Somehow this top has yet to be sewn up in my collection! While I love view B with the capped sleeve, I think view F (short sleeve and faux wrap front) would be the most figure flattering. Cap sleeves can sometimes hit me weird and make my arms look bigger than they are. I'd like to avoid that!! I love view C, which the model is wearing, but we'll be in summer soon and I wouldn't wear this top again until December (maybe, we've had the a/c on on Christmas Day...must love the south!). So I'm committed to view F.


Bottom 1

McCalls 6901 - and here is where I step out of my comfort zone!! Pants are not something I enjoy sewing. The crotch depth is always too high, and until recently, I never understood how to adjust this correctly.  But I subscribed to BluePrint this year and there is a Palmer Pletsch fitting video for this exact pattern.  I loved that they showed how you could fit yourself on this too. So, I am going to try this for a simple pair of slacks. I'm thinking that once I get the crotch depth correct, it will be easier to sew other pairs of pants. I'd really love a cute pair of cigarette crop pants for the summer but I've got to get the fit right first.



Bottom 2

Love Notions Sybil Illusions Skirt - since I chose a more challenging (for me) pattern for the first bottom, I decided to keep it nice and simple with the second one.  I'm going to stick with the classic pencil skirt for this one.  The patterns says that it has a hidden control panel which is a plus for me. Surprisingly, I have only 1 pencil skirt in my wardrobe. It's a leopard print, and I really like it (it's far more versatile than you'd think!) but I would like a solid pencil skirt to go with a variety of tops.





Topper

Simplicity 8887 - ok. I'm torn on this one.  On one hand, this is a lightweight topper, perfect for a light layer when my office "forgets" we aren't penguins who live in the North Pole. Ideally, I'd make this out of linen so it would be versatile.  But. Linen.  Ugh, I'd be a wrinkled mess most of the day.  Which is why I greatly prefer cardigans. But cardigans aren't really lacking in my wardrobe since I wear them frequently.  Too frequently?  And I have all the basic colors (navy, white, grey, black). Since I'm thinking the color palette for this collection will be navy blue, light blue, and white, I don't really "need" a cardigan.  But I could use a new style of topper to spruce up my wardrobe. Which is why I bought this in the first place.  So I "should" make this. But it will really mean finding the right fabric which I most definitely do not have in my stash right now.

Bonus Pattern

Hot Patterns Classic Nouveau Primavera Dress - yeah, so, a dress wasn't really part of the module. But my reality is that I actually love to wear dresses. Particularly in the summer months when it's hot and I need something breezy and comfortable.  I'm currently sewing up a muslin in this (boatneck, knee length) and I really like this dress.  I have some fabulous challis from LA Fabrics that I would love to make the maxi dress version of this with the v-neck (umh, ignore the fact that the muslin is a totally different bodice, right?!).  So IF the pants don't take too long to figure out (since I'm sure I'll need a muslin of those too) and if I can get the tops made up quickly - once I find all the fabrics I need, and if I can get the topper figured out...I definitely need this dress as part of my module.  Right?! Yeah, that's what I'm going with.

So this is a very ambitious project for me. But I'm excited to try it and I'm already shopping for fabrics to finish out my module.