The clothes I LOVE ❤️

I was going through my clothes this week, bringing out my warm weather clothes and I starting thinking about the things I've made that I wear over and over again. 

I noticed that the ones I liked best, weren't the fanciest, but did have really, really nice fabric. 

I don't always get it right. (I also have a few things that are in a pile ready for the Thrift Store) ... sigh ...

So, I will share my thoughts about why these garments work so well for me. I hope it will help me make better choices in the future.

I can't tell you how many times people have come up to me to comment on this jacket. It is 100% wool, bumpy fabric from Korea I accidentally found on eBay ... a complete fluke.

The fabric is unique, but not flashy. And I made a fairly simple shape. I wrote a couple blogs while making it. It is my "go to" spring and fall jacket.
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​Here are the blog links.
Dotty Jacket cutting
Dotty Jacket finishing

I live in this tunic dress all summer. It is so comfortable and cool. I made it over 1o years ago with Simplicity 2894.

It is made from Egyptian cotton from Egypt, which is ... ironically ... quite hard to find in Egypt, because they export most of their cotton. But, my son and daughter-in-law lived there for a while and knew of a place that sold hand woven Egyptian cotton. See the close up of how the design is woven in by reversing the contrast thread several time in the one place.

This is actually considered home decor fabric. But, it became a wonderful summer dress that withstands a lot of wear. I do chores inside and out in this. 

This is another favorite jacket I garners lots of compliments! I bought the blue wool a long time ago thinking I would make a little shorty jacket, but it never happened and then the jacket I wanted to make didn't suit me anymore. So I went on a quest to find a good fabric to add to it so I could make a more substantial jacket. I travel with this jacket to moderate climates in the winter, but always bring a down vest to wear under just in case. The tapestry is home dec fabric from Joann's. I still see it there. And I used Simplicity 1320.

The first blog I wrote about this project was all about choosing the tapestry fabric. It took some looking until I found what I liked.

And the second blog is how to create a lining, if the pattern you are using doesn't have one. 

​Tapestry Jacket fabrics
Tapestry Jacket lining

 
This is favorite nightie I made five years ago from some random fabric I had at home. I wear it over and over. Here is the blog I wrote about it.

Summer nightie

​I modified a basic dress pattern to make it.

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This is a very special dress. It is made using a hand drawn Batik sarong a friend of mine brought to me from Bali at least 15 years ago. A standard sarong is about 2 meters long and that was JUST enough to make this dress from Simplicity's original Amazing Fit dress #2648.

I wore this dress to the rehearsal diner for my son's wedding nine years ago, but it was already an old dress. It is just so versatile! I have a couple belts that work well with it, add some jewelry and a black shawl ... Voila!

You can see that the design is hand drawn, because at the two ends of the length of fabric, the pattern ran out. I actually think it looks kind of cool how the cloud design tapers to nothing leaving lots of black in the back.

One more ... a top I like to wear when teaching. This was a cool print I found at G-Street Fabrics here in the Washington DC area when they were in their old, old space on Rockville Pike ... sniff! It was such a great store then. I miss it.

Even though it doesn't say Simplicity on it, that is the font they used and the clothes are from the 30's.

So, all of you must have some much loved thing you've made. I would LOVE to see some of your long time favorite garments.

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