Go-To Cape and Winter Boots

This week, the challenge over at Project Sewn is "If the Shoe Fits". The idea is to pick your favorite pair of shoes and sew an outfit to go with. I live in Minnesota. And right now we have tons of snow! So for this challenge, I chose my winter boots because they definitely keep my feet warm and dry, which is perfect if you have to walk around outside in this weather!

Do you wanna build a snowman??

 

In case you're wondering, yes, I did build a snowman, by myself, wearing my Lady Skater dress, leggings and boots. I put my cape on afterwards though.

 

I thought my Go-To cape would be perfect with my winter boots. It is a fully lined cape made using purple plaid wool and plain purple flannel for the lining. I was actully getting hot standing in the sun while I took pictures. It is 40 degrees today - a heat wave compared to the weather we've been having here!

 

The cape has an oversized hood, which is one of my favorite parts! I also made the peekaboo lining - you can see the lining "peeking out" on the hood. The pattern calls for four 3/4" buttons, but I thought that size was too small, so I used four 1 1/8" buttons. They worked perfectly!

 

 

Andrea, of Go-To Patterns, designed this cape to hit at the hip level. However, I wanted a longer cape, so I cut out the long length, which is for people taller than 5'9" (I'm 5'7").

 I was having fun with the photo shoot! You can see the plaid in this picture too. It's harder than you think setting up a tripod in the snow and running back and forth after every picture. The snow is pretty deep too! There must be over a foot accumulated in the back yard - the snow almost came to the top of my boots.

Here's the back. I have always been afraid of sewing with plaid, but I did it! And the back seam matches up!!

I received the plaid wool from a friend and have had it for a few years. I knew I was keeping it for a reason! It is so warm and pretty thick. I bought the flannel at Jo-Ann Fabrics when it was on sale, and I was able to use a gift card, so I only ended up spending $15 for 4 yards of flannel. That's a deal!

Oh, you know, just contemplating life. :)

 

Finally, here's a better picture of my boots, since the snow covered them in almost all my other pictures. They were the whole inspiration for my outfit. As you can see, they're pretty wet in this picture, but they kept my feet dry!

Would you wear a cape?

~Elizabeth

The Rose T-Shirt

I've been following Project Sewn and there sure are some amazing designers this season! I decided to sew along for this week's theme, Make It Pink.

I thought the Rose T-Shirt from Blank Slate Patterns would be perfect. There are so many options when it comes to sewing this T-shirt. You can choose from four different sleeve lengths and two different shirt lengths.

 

Melissa designed this T-shirt to be made with woven and knit fabric. She says it's great for showing off pricy designer fabric on the neckline because it only takes 1/4 yard of woven fabric. However, I did not have any plain knit fabric on hand and I really liked this pink and black polka dot fabric. It is very soft and nice to wear.

I decided to go an opposite route of other versions I've seen and use a printed knit for the main part of the shirt, along with a subtle printed fabric for the neckline. If you look closely, you will see there are music notes on the black neckline fabric.

 

My favorite part of this shirt is the simple gathers in the front and the sleeves. The sleeves were made extra long so you could hem them to your desired length - I love this because long sleeve shirts are always too short! These sleeves are perfect.

 

This is definitely a new favorite shirt of mine and I will be making more! The best part? It cost $0 because the woven fabric was from my stash and the knit was from my mom's stash.

 

Have you been doing any sewing? Are you following Project Sewn?

 

~Elizabeth

The Infinity Sweater

 

This is the Infinity Sweater, from One Girl Circus and it is a great pattern! I made it a few weeks ago before school started, and it has been getting so much wear! It's been perfect to wear on these subzero temperature days we've been having recently. I get cold easily and it adds just the right amount of warmth!

 

There are so many options when it comes to styling this sweater. One of my favorite ways to wear it is knotting it in the front. So easy, but cute!

 

The wrap around is another one of my favorite ways to wear it, and I'm actually wearing this style right now. You just wrap the front panels all the way around and either tie it in back or tuck it in. It's nice and cozy!

 

You can drape the front pieces across your shoulders.

 

 

It looks like this from the back. I haven't really styled the sweater this way yet.

 

Dress it up a little by adding a belt around the waist. I really like this style too!

 

Just have fun with it!!

 

For this project, I used a navy blue knit from the thrift store. Between my mom and I, we got so much use out of it! The infinity sweater calls for 2 yards of knit fabric and after I made it, there was plenty of fabric left. It's a thin knit, which works well for this project. It does roll a bit, which is mostly noticeable on the sleeves since there is no hem, but I don't mind. The pattern doesn't call for hemming or finishing the edges, but if you really wanted to, you could.

 

The pattern includes 3 pieces - sleeve, front panel, and back. It sews together very quickly and cutting took the longest. I think it only took me about 15 minutes after everything was cut. That's my kind of project!

 

How would you style this sweater?

 

~Elizabeth