I Guess I'll Have to Change My Plan

Plans are important to me. I believe one should not go through life without a plan. Most of my sewing projects are planned several weeks in advance. Sometimes though, I've had to step away from the plan.

I'd originally planned to use an aqua colored tone-on-tone stripe for BWOF 06-09-136. As it turned out, the fabric wasn't wide enough to accommodate the extra width of the gathered sleeves. I would have had to cut the sleeves on a single layer and that type of layout required more fabric than I had.

So instead, I used Burda 7882 (OOP), a blouse pattern I redesigned back in December 2007 for the aqua and I was able to finish the blouse quickly and without incident.

I could not abandon my plan for BWOF 06-09-136. I've learned when BWOF shows a V-neck, it will be cut too low for my taste. After making the pattern changes to raise the neckline, I was eager to see those changes manifested in fabric. So, I reassigned the BWOF to the next fabric in my queue - a gray and black print I bought from Vogue Fabrics by Mail.

Plans are certainly necessary and helpful, but they are seldom chiseled in stone. When I was young, I thought, "Why bother to make a plan if you're not going to stick to it?" Now, I know better.

What's Right? What's Wrong?

Ultimately, the solution to my latest self-made quandary is totally up to me. But, my OCD is showing again and I have to know the truth.

The Backstory
I bought a piece of Italian wool on my last trip to Les Fabriques in Charlottesville, VA. I call the color "olive gray". Naturally, I wanted a coordinating fabric with which to make a blouse. Neither the salesperson nor I could find anything in the store and I was a little worried I'd have to settle for a cream color or something equally boring. When I got home, I checked my Vogue Fabrics by Mail swatches and I found a match! (Click photo to enlarge) I love Vogue Fabrics by Mail, but their swatches are very small. It is sometimes difficult to know what the fabric actually looks like when you have only a 2" x 3" swatch. This was the case with my fabric choice and the beginning of my quandary.

The Quandary
Way back in junior high school, I learned fabric on the bolt is folded right side in. If that is the case with this fabric, I'm in trouble. When I received the fabric, the right side was not at all what I expected. (Click photo to enlarge) There is very little of the olive gray in the fabric and more rust-brown. I couldn't see this in the small swatch. The wrong side of the fabric coordinates better with the wool. What's an obsessive person to do? Use the wrong side?!?!? (Let me sit down. I'm feeling light-headed.)

Fortunately, I have evolved enough to be able to use the side that matches best without any regard to the conventional right side or wrong side. (Well, almost.) Other than me, who's gonna know? But I am a recovering obsessive-compulsive. I still want to know which side is actually the right side.

Next: Two Blouses

I don't understand this mystery of the universe: every time I do my seasonal closet changeover, I discover some of my clothes have mysteriously disappeared. I usually toss out a few things when I put away off-season clothes, but I'm convinced some things just evaporate when I open the vacuum-sealed space saver bags. I feel like I have no fall/winter clothes and I'm desperate to replace the clothes that have vanished. I've already bought a few things. Now, I'm going to be sewing like a fiend for the next several days. Rain is forecast this weekend and I have to stay home and wait for a repairman on Saturday, so I should be able to accomplish a lot.
First in the queue is Kwik Sew 3586. I've made this blouse once before, so I consider it a TNT. Even if it weren't a TNT, Kwik Sew patterns really are kwik to sew and have no interesting design details to slow me down. At this point, my goal is to have blouses, not a meaningful sewing experience. For the meaningful sewing experience, I'll work on BWOF 06-09-136, a classic long sleeved blouse - BWOF style. The distinctive design detail is the collar. Somehow, BWOF patterns take a simple detail, like a stand up collar and make it a little different. In this case, the front bands extend up to the top of the collar instead of stopping at the attachment seam. I'm not totally sure I even like this treatment. It looks a little weird to me.

I prefer to make outfits, not individual pieces but I just finished black pants that can be worn with these blouses. Once these blouses are finished and my wardrobe crisis is minimized, I can go back to working on the meaningful outfits that offer opportunities for growth and learning.