Overall plan

here's what the whole thing will look like when finished off

Not quite finished jacket

And this is my final SWAP piece my teal wool jacket.
This was started more than 5 years ago and has been sitting around partly completed since then. I've worked on it a little more the last 2 weeks and the end is in sight.
Here it is with the lining inserted but the pressing, hems etc undone. I thought you would like to see it though as it helps with imagining the whole SWAP together.

RTW Knit top

This is the purchased knit top I am going to include in my SWAP.
I wanted to sew another top but this one works beautifully with everything else and time is short so I'd be stupid not to.
I will take a photo of my actual top as the print is arrnaged differently and its a larger size, but this gives you a good idea.
It is a lovely knit top from Wallis.

Knit top

Here's a photo of the too wide knit top. Once the jacket is finished I will alter this down maybe two sizes. The basic top itself is fine I just cut it out too big.

Butterick 3344

My knit top from Butterick 3344 is not going well.
Its huge and baggy. I think I basically cut too large a size - the shoulders hang off me and the body is shapeless. The whole front sits OK if I put a 1 inch pleat down the centre front. So I think I need to redo everything but the neckline(which has been redone once already). Well actually the neckband looks too wide as well.
I love the fabric but there is none spare so I have to be careful.

Maybe I will work on the jacket a bit and come back to this top another day. I will take the sleeves off, make the shoulder narrower, reattach the sleeve and trim some off the sides of the body (more from the front than the back) and see what that is like.

sleeves on the Jalie top

Although I have worn my Jalie crossover top I have been thinking again about the sleeves.
After the SWAP is over I think I might recut the sleeves longer and wider, and replace the existing ones accordingly. I have plenty of fabric.

Sleeve width in RTW is often a problem too, so I think it is my arms rather than the pattern.

wore the brown print top

No photos sorry but I wore the brown print top today with a previously sewn grey green wide leg pant suit and chocolate brown accessories. I liked it very much. The top was very comfortable to wear and tucked neatly into the belted pants.

I know some SWAPpers don't wear any of their SWAP clothes until the whole SWAP is complete and photographed, but I just love wearing my new things as soon as I can. I haven't worn everything yet but I am working up to it! Let's hope I don't spill anything and make a stain that won't come out.

This weekend is the last one I will have to sew as I have other committments the other weekends until the SWAP finishes. I am still finding it hard to be focused and follow everything through. Its fine when the garments go together smoothly but I am easily discoraged by poor fit or construction problems. However with 8 garments sewn I am so nearly there I just need to persevere a little more.

Then with the SWAP done I need to move on to some Vacation sewing for Arizona in late April, so time is short.....

The gore skirt for Morzel

here's a picture of the gore skirt on its own

and the pattern it uses. I sewed view D here

Wrap top being worn

Here's the Jalie wrap top being worn with the Loes Hinse 6 gore skirt. I had my eyes shut so I cropped my head off - anyway it helps you concentrate on the clothes!

For the SWAP page

Here are 8 of the garments from the SWAP which I have sewn so far, there are 2 tops and a jacket to come yet:-

Top Row: Butterick 5487 - brown and white floral print batwing top
Butterick 6768 - teal and brown leaf print wrap blouse with buckle fastening
New Look 6315 - princess seams, slubbed burnt orange blouse with cord button loops
Jalie 2449 - teal velvet burnout wrap front knit top
Bottom row: New Look 6054 - Wide leg pants in chocolate/black textured cotton/linen
New Look 6054 - Wide leg pants in dark teal viscose
Butterick 3972 - reversible brown/indigo denim skirt with flat fell seams, elastic waistband casing and serged hem
Loes Hinse 5007 - Teal melange 6 gore skirt with 6 godets.

Jalie Wrap top done

The Jalie wrap top in teal velvet burnout is pretty much done. It only has serged hems on the sleeves and body at the moment, and I may do a 'proper' hem once I work out what works best on this fabric.
It looks better on a real body and doesn't droop or anything.
As you can see I cut the back neckline lower and did a continuous band which was a nice easy finish.
I am very happy with this addition to the SWAP.

Blouse frustrations

The blouse pattern is obviously expecting lots of bust so ideal for all you FBA girls out there, plus easy to alter if it still doesn't give the room.
However since I am only a B cup but on a plus size body its a very badly fitting blouse right now.
I don't love it at the moment, and I think we may have to have a break from each other whilst I sew something quicker and less irritating.

On that note I have finally used the other pattern I bought from Timmels to cut out the Jalie Wrap top in a teal velvet burnout - polyester but still quite nice for all that.
Isn't velvet messy to cut out? I have little hairs of teal velvet all over my cutting area.
I had been procrastinating on the Jalie top becuase I would have to trace the pattern off which I have some deep objection to which I can't rationalise, so I bit the bullet and went for it.

I'm hoping this will be easy to sew given all the good reviews on Patternreview.com. I cut the second largest sleeve size and went between sizes W and X on the body, lengthened by 2 inches on the body and a teeny bit on the sleeve, cut the back neck down so the band can go all the way around and cut a long band all in one piece for the entire neckline. I have no idea what it'll be like but since I was told the fit was snug I thought it wise to err slightly on the large size and then cut down if required.

cut out Butterick 4659 View B

Tonight I cut out Butterick 4659 View B. This is a 3/4 sleeve blouse with princess seams and one piece facing and collar. I've used a stretch shirting with a white background and chocolate and turquoise stripes. I think it will work really well and be a very wearbale piece, especially for work. I love this type of shirt but the purchased ones don't fit very well. This pattern is new to me but I hope to do some tweaking to make the fit quite good.

And with the SWAP extras

And here are all the garments I have sewn so far for the SWAP (including the extra pieces on the bottom row).
They have been taken at different times and I can see now that some of the colours are off. For instance the brown pants and skirt on the bottom row are sewn in the same fabric as the wide leg pants at the far left of the middle row. Also the teal pants on the middle row and the gauchos on the bottom row are also in the same fabric as each other.
Seeing it all laid out like this feels more of an achievement than when they are stuffed in the wardrobe with everything else.
Tops are on my list with a shirting stripe blouse next and then two knit tops and the jacket.

SWAP Wardrobe Picture - sewn so far

Here's a merge of the pictures I have already taken of the SWAP items. Hopefully you can see how they would work together. The burnt orange blouse is my one query so far! I ask myself would I really wear an orange blouse with a teal green skirt and a lighter teal green jacket?

The details are
Top row from left to right:-
Top Butterick 5487 - brown and white floral print batwing top
Blouse Butterick 6768 - Teal and brown leaf print wrap blouse with buckle fastening.
Blouse New Look 6315 - Princess seamed, slubbed burnt orange blouse with cord button loops.
Bottom row left to right:-
Pants New Look 6054 - Wide leg pants with faced waist and side zip in chocolate/black textured cotton/linen fabric.
Pants New Look 6054 - Wide leg pants with faced waist and side zip in dark teal viscose fabric.
Skirt Butterick 3972
Reversible brown/indigo denim skirt with flat fell seams, elastic waistband casing and serged hem. (Indigo side showing)
Skirt Loes Hinse 5007 - Teal melange 6 gore skirt with 6 godets, very full and swishy!

Wardrobe Pic

Here are 6 of the garments photographed together. I sure need to work on my photography!
Top row from left to right:-
Top Butterick 5487 - brown and white floral print batwing top
Blouse Butterick 6768 - Teal and brown leaf print wrap blouse with buckle fastening.
Blouse New Look 6315 - Princess seams, slubbed burnt orange blouse with cord button loops.
Bottom row left to right:-
Pants New Look 6054 - Wide leg pants with faced waist and side zip in chocolate/black textured cotton/linen fabric.
Pants New Look 6054 - Wide leg pants with faced waist and side zip in dark teal viscose fabric.
Skirt Butterick 3972
Reversible brown/indigo denim skirt with flat fell seams, elastic waistband casing and serged hem. (Indigo side showing)

Print top complete

I sewed up a simple shell top from Butterick 5487 adapting View E.
I used a remnant of polyester viscose fabric in a startling brown on white tropical flower print. The piece was a odd shape which limited my pattern choices. The print is large and striking so I wanted a simple style to show it to its best advantage.
I used view E which has a round neck, back closure and cut on cap sleees. I used the basic body shape but extended the sleeves to be more like batwing sleeves, omitted the back closure and cut a scoop neck at the front. I omitted the facing and just serged all the edges and turned under and stitched, the fabric is a firm enough weave to take this.

New Fabric

I went to the fabric store this weekend and they had lots of stuff at £1 and £1.50 a metre.
So I picked up a white stretch shirting with turquoise and dark brown stripes which will be fab for a blouse for the SWAP.
Also a dark brown stretch woven with self fabric stripe, a suit for another day - maybe a new SWAP another time.
And several fabrics in denim/khaki colourways to make summer pants. I added to this pile from my fabric stash as well. I want some pants for my trip in April/May to Arizona and then for casual wear through the summer here in England.
My most comfortable and well fitting pants are PJs, so I will make elastic waist pants for daytime wear. The idea is to make quite a few pairs of pants and wash and wear them all before deciding which ones will be softest and least creasing to pack for the trip.

However I need to make some SWAP tops first, so I've put the pants fabrics away for now.

The tops promise

I hearby promise that I won't sew any more bottoms until I have done the tops for the SWAP (well maybe I'll finish off the partly made brown pinstripe pants, but nothing new honest)

I think I almost have enough extra bottoms for another SWAP plan. Bottoms in the shops don't fit me which is why I love to sew them for myself. But to do the SWAP I need to make the jacket and four more tops.

My latest tops thoughts is to make one loose top in brown and print white fabric and 3 knit tops in teal, turquoise and print.
Plus finish the parly made Burda wool jacket.

I think my kitchen will finish being repainted after the SWAP has finished!!

Culottes being worn

Here are the culottes (also known as cropped pants or gauchos) in action. Worn with dark brown boots and teal sweater.