Sunday's Best: Week 7

 "I can do all this through him who gives me strength." 

                                                                      Philippians 4:13

Happy Sunday! I am writing this to you all today from a place of renewed strength.  After what seemed like one of the hardest weeks i've endured in a long time. I am thankful that God gave me the strength to get through it, overcome and keep moving forward.

Ironically enough this week's Sunday's Best is a result of the realities of running a sewing blog with a weekly sewing challenge. The opportunity for your sewing project to not come out is real and in all actuality I was prepared for weeks where I may not have the time to finish a project but not for a project to somewhat fail. I say somewhat because I was working on a dress and the bodice came out beautifully.  Not perfect. but beautiful. I was proud of my work.  As I was finishing the skirt to attach it to the top I noticed that the hem was off but I figured no big deal I could fix it.  but in the process of fixing it. I made it worst..... ugh!  So what was a seamstress to do with my weekly time clock ticking and running out of time......? I tried to start another outfit.

I had the idea and fabric for next weeks post already laid out in my mind.  So I thought I could switch things around and finish next week's post for this week.  I even had the pattern pieces cut and ready to go.  So I decided to go for it. In under 2 hours I had the overall project assembled. The challenge came in finding the time to do the finishing.  Which is what takes the longest time.  Hems, zippers, waistbands. These are the parts of your project that requires time and technique.  You can't rush through finishing. At least I can't because history has taught me that i'll mess it up. So I decided to walk away and give it some real thought.  In the end I opted to wear one of my back up garments.  These were some things that I made before launching the blog in the event that I wasn't in a position to sew something by Sunday. Thank God for preparation.

This week's post is what I call my "Mad for Purple Plaid" pencil skirt.  I love this skirt for many reasons.

1) The first reason is that it is made from vintage plaid fabric that I inherited from my sister-in-laws grandmother's sewing collection.  This was such a great gift.  I received a vintage sewing machine with all of the parts, vintage steel hand sewing needles, vintage patterns, and vintage fabric, some sewing books.  I love! love! love! vintage sewing. That this skirt was made from a piece of history is amazing to me.

2) I love this skirt because it was my first time sewing with plaid.  If you are a sewist and have ever sewn with plaid fabric then you know what i'm talking about.  If your a reader who aspires to sew..... let me enlighten you.  Some fabrics such as plaid requires that you pay special attention to all the lines in the fabric pattern.  This small attention to detail pays off big if you do it right.  So this was my first attempt at plaid and I missed the mark in certain places but overall I didn't do bad. From the pictures below you can see the not so bad plaid alignment.  The side seams line up pretty ok and the trickiest part was getting the zipper in and making sure the plaid lined up. This was the not so perfect but pretty darn close.

3) I love this simple purple plaid loveliness because it has been a long time since I lined a pencil skirt and I am very pleased with the lining.  I used a cream colored anti-static lining from Jo-anns it usually runs 7.99/yd but of course I always have my coupons at hand.  but I like the weight and hand of this fabric.  Its not as nice as bemberg but very similar with a cheaper price tag.  They also usually have a decent selection of colors to choose from.

I just love the way the lining looks set into the waistband.  All the seams are tucked nice and neat underneath the lining.

From the picture above the zipper is sitting nice and secure in between the lining fabric and the plaid. It had been so long since I had sewn a lining that I forgot how to insert a zipper to the lining using my sewing machine.  With a little patience I finally remembered and with just a few practices I was able to get it in perfectly!!!

Now comes the second trickiest part of this project.  I had a hard time styling this lovely purple piece of American sewing history.  The colors in the plaid are so bold that I wasn't quite sure if I should have pulled a color from the plaid for my top selection or go with a more neutral color like cream. In the end I decided to go with my wardrobe workhorse this season. My button down denim shirt.  I belted it with a black leather belt and wore my black pumps and a pearl necklace.  In the end I didn't mind the outfit but I think the next time I wear it i'll pair it with a nice cream sweater or cardigan and tie in the colors of the skirt with my jewelry.

I even had a hard time figuring out what color tights to wear.  I prefer none altogether but the dropping temperatures outside makes it harder for that to happen. So I opted to wear nude colored pantyhose.  Not tights but pantyhose.  Its been a minute since i've worn those. Like a couple of decades. Even my 10 year old daughter asked me wear I got those tights from. She had never heard of pantyhose before today.

So there you have it. I had a challenging week that even challenged my 52 week wardrobe challenge but I thank God that I overcame all of it.

In closing, if your wondering why i'm not in this week's post its because my daughter who is my usual photographer wasn't feeling so well. So I had to opt for using my mannequin instead.  Just one more challenge that I blew my way through!

Have a blessed week!