Sewing with a plan, again

It’s been years since I last made a real plan for my sewing. Back in the good old days of Stitcher’s Guild (RIP), the annual SWAP sew-along was a wonderful experience – lots of people participating, so tons of inspiration, and you ended up with at least a few new pieces to add to your rotation.

It’s different now, without that community.

But the concept is solid, so I’m going to use it. Sort of. 

Inspired by Nancy Nix-Rice’s idea of using 18 garments to create 74 outfits (watch it on YouTube), I reviewed that 2018 plan, and decided to start with a red, white, and black collection.

Here’s what I’m thinking:

• a pair of basic dressy pants from SureFit Designs in black wool suiting;
• Magic Pencil Skirt in black ponte;
• sleeveless shells from Butterick 3124 in three different knits: red and white stripe, red and white polka dot, and black and white stripe;
• a pair of black jeans – either the same SFD pants pattern, with added “jeans” detailing – back pockets, topstitching, maybe even a back yoke, or I might go with the Jalie Eleanor pattern for a narrower leg and pull-on styling.

I’ll also need a black long-sleeved top, probably from the same (copied-from-RTW) pattern as my red wool top. A black RTW cardigan that’s already in my wardrobe will go with all three shells, and I think that’s about all the black I want for now.

I only have one solid red fabric in this lineup – a nice wool suiting, which will be good for a pair of pants and a skirt. But a red sleeveless shell and a red cardigan would be nice too, so I’ll knit the cardigan and keep an eye out for the right shell fabric.

And then, maybe this:

I have a small collection of fabrics in emerald green that will work well with the black and white pieces from the previous collection. Not committing to anything specific yet because reasons.

On a separate note, I joined the 50-yard dash on PatternReview, so I’ll be keeping track of yardage sewn this year. 

So far, it’s only been muslin – to get those SFD pants to fit just right.

Happy sewing!