Miss Bossy Patterns, courtesy of The Monthly Stitch

I started following The Monthly Stitch at the end of 2013, and have enjoyed watching what others are sewing.  Members vote on the theme for the month and everyone sews and posts within that theme.  For March, it was decided to spice it up a bit.  We get to submit a choice of three patterns in our stash that we have not used and the other members will vote on what we get to sew!  May be intimidating.

I’m playing it safe.  There are so many things I want to sew that I will win regardless.  I had a hard time narrowing this down to three patterns.  Let’s see if I can do that.

The first pattern takes the most planning.  I have really been wanting to add a ‘shirt’ jacket to my wardrobe.  Something simple that I could put on over dress T’s or turtlenecks.  In Louisiana’s hotter months, it allows a cooler option that is still professional.  Recently I found this light weight, worsted wool plaid and fell in love with it.  One part of me wants to use this plaid for this shirt jacket and another part of me wants to use it on a skirt with pleats.  Your vote may help me with that decision.

This plaid is large and uneven.  The simplicity of this pattern, the lack of a center band and the minimum darts should help when matching plaids.   You can see below two possible pattern placements for the front piece.  Note that the right and left sides will not echo each other because of the uneven plaid, but I believe the general color columns should be the same.

I’m large busted and I’m attempting to keep the emphasis off the bust area.  Let me know what you think.  (Photos appear washed out because I used Illustrator to do an overlay of the pattern and fabric.)

And two other options are a couple I’ve had in my stash and have wanted to sew for a little while now.  One is the Scout tee by Grainline Studio.  I’d really like to make this with a mock  turtleneck or cowl neck and thee quarter length sleeves.  The other is Cynthia Rowley’s Simplicity 1783.  I really like the pleated, blousie look of this top.  Yet the pleats at the waist and hip brings it back to a fitted look.

The fabrics shown are a sage green polyester(??), toast colored polyester, and ice blue silk charmeuse.  The green is much prettier and a vivid shade of sage green.  (Can anyone tell me why greens photograph so badly!!??  So Frustrating!)  It has a silky, almost charmeuse, texture and fall.  The toast colored polyester leans towards a caramel color and has a very nice fall and texture.  And of course silk charmeuse speaks for itself!  It has a nice weight and not tissue thin.  All of these fabrics have a nice weight and ‘movement’ appropriate for these patterns.

Well, I had this post ready and was so proud that I kept the patterns to three.  But as I was proofing it, I remembered I had this one in the lineup as well.  Hmmm.  I got close, does that count?

There’s this blouse by Marfy.  Marfy recently released a jacket, skirt and blouse pattern as free pdf’s.  To get them, you go to there site, click on ‘My Account’, and either create an account or sign in.  At that point, you can click on ‘Patterns’ and there will be a ‘Free Sewing Patterns” option.  Fantastic way to try these patterns.  There are no instructions and no seam allowance, so they can be intimidating depending on your sewing experience.  I find them intuitive and have had fun with them.

I recently picked up this piece of rayon on a remnant table.  It just shouts ‘Spring’ to me.  It is Rayon and the feel and movement of a nice weight chiffon.  There is only a yard (55″ wide) and options are limited, but it’s perfect for this blouse.

So, there you go.  You’re turn.  Boss me around, why don’t you!  😉

Feel free to leave comments with fabric selections.  Thanks for visiting and have fun sewing!

Ramona