Closet Core Pietra Pants

 This is the last item I finished for my resort wear wardrobe: the Pietra Pants by Closet Core.

I'm usually too much of a cheapskate to fork over the big bucks for indie patterns, but I've been admiring those pockets for quite some time. My sewing bud, Jessica, bought the pattern the same time I did. We egged each other on.

Since this is my first Closet Core pattern I wasn't too sure about sizing. I figured I'd pick the size based on my hips and let the waist take care of itself. My waist is a size or two bigger, but, hey, elastic.

I made a "wearable muslin" of the shorts version to test out my plan and it worked great. Very wearable, in fact. I was still a bit uncertain because the three views of this pattern have different pattern pieces for the legs, and the hip/leg on the shorts was looser than on these slim cut pants. I decided to trust the designer to make the hip ease work out across views. And she did! The hips are a closer fit with these pants, but not too close.

Here's the rear view, which I think looks pretty good for an elastic waist pant. 

I used a middle weight linen from the fabrics-store.com in the color Chocolate. I just love their write-ups, so let me share the description of Chocolate:

Warmth permeates Rembrandt van Rijn's paintings as golden, syrupy candlelight falls and disappears into velvet brown shadows. CHOCOLATE linen mirrors the earthy and enveloping darkness in Rembrandt's paintings, which swarms around the light and gives it torch lit radiance.

Mmmm. Good enough to eat. 

Here's a picture with my top tucked up to show the flat front. I've read that some folks feel the high-waist is too high, but for me it hits just where I like it for wearing with cropped tops. 

I wore these with my willow green oversize linen top for cocktails and chicken marsala overlooking the lake and I felt a little bit fancy and cool as a cucumber.

My pattern review is at PatternReview.com here.

Itch to Stitch Lemont Top

I had a small explosion of productivity in the sewing room earlier this month. We were getting ready for a trip up to Lake Tahoe and I figured I'd make myself a resort wear wardrobe. The first item was the Lacey dress from StyleArc and the second was the Lemont top from Itch to Stitch. Quite coincidentally, both patterns share a construction style that was, to me, unusual.

Both patterns have princess seams coming from the shoulder and for both the side-front, the side-back and the sleeve are one integrated piece. Which means you could have a ton of fun with color blocking or stripe manipulation. I'm too much of a stick-in-the-mud for that though.

The Lamont is like a woven tee with a twist. Those sleeves have a bit of a "statement" vibe without going too far and I like the shape of the neckline. 

I'm not usually a statement person, so I wanted the sleeves to be more on the subtle side. I used a drapey rayon, even though rayon is one of my least favorite fabrics to sew. Second only to tencel, which I find even more slippery and fray-ie. Rayon is limper, though, so maybe it's even worse than tencel.

Anyway, the drafting of Itch to Stitch patterns is so clean and the instructions are so good that I hardly had time to hate my rayon before I was done.

The only change I made to the pattern was to sub out pleats for the gathers at the shoulders. I feel that pleats are a touch more staid, as befits a woman of my age. 

The top is very comfortable to wear. It works with shorts to go casual and with black linen pants to get a bit more dressy. That's how I wore it for cocktails and a steak dinner, looking out over Late Tahoe at sunset. 

My pattern review is at PatternReview.com here.

StyleArc Lacey Dress

 This is another late night online shopping project. The web offered me a two-for-one deal on the Lacey dress, from StyleArc. I could buy the adult version and get the child version for free. I had an immediate vision of me and my granddaughter wearing matching dresses and I couldn't stop myself. 

The Lacey dress is described thusly: "Easy slip-on dress with an extended shoulder, square line bodice and slightly gathered skirt." I'm not sure what they mean by square line bodice. 

Well, I guess it does look pretty squared-off in the line drawing. I think of it as princess seamed. It's kind of an interesting construction because the side-front, side-back and sleeves are one integrated piece. Same kind of idea as the Itch to Stitch Lemont top, which I was sewing up at just about the same time. 

The fit is loose and breezy, which was what I was after. We've been having a hot spell here on the Central Coast, and it's still June. I'm expecting some oppressive heat as the summer moves along. 

Originally I was thinking of using a novelty print to amuse the grandchildren: dinosaurs or pirate ships or something. But I decided I don't always want to stand out as the wacky grandma so instead I ended up with a cotton sateen designed to be quilt backing. Somehow I don't have many light colored items in my wardrobe and this abstract square print struck me as summery.

This was a quick and easy sew and I look forward to lazing around the yard in it over the long, hot summer.

My pattern review is on PatternReview.com here.