SWAP Thoughts I - The Plan (duh duh DUH!)

This year I'm in a very good position to actually participate in Sewing Guild's SWAP- what with sewing as a business and teaching sewing classes my machines are far more accessible than they've ever been before and I finally have a nice cutting table. Also sewing consistently has really helped me as a seamstress - I'm becoming better at eyeballing things, sewing quickly, serging, and even just cutting out. Additionally I should have the time, what with Christmas and winter break.

On top of that, my closet's hitting a point where I either need to spend time sewing or spend time shopping. Sewing is far more fun.

I don't have a 100% set plan yet, though I spent a good part of last night drawing and cutting out paper-doll clothes to figure out good shapes and I'm feeling fairly good about what I have. For whatever reason I find I'm drawn to empire waist tops with narrow bottoms. Paper-doll time convinced me that this is not a good look for me unless I like the baby-bump look. And while that's a recent trend, it's not one I really want to deal with right now, not here where everyone around us are testing just how many small kids can squeeze into a two-bedroom apartment. Current record holder was, I think, four with a fifth on the way. Yeow.

Anyway, no baby-bump clothing. Narrow tops. Narrow tops are good.

So figured that much out.

Beyond that I'm still playing around. One SWAPer brilliantly divided her weekly life into percentages and built her SWAP around that.

So what's my life look like?

Charted it out by dividing each day into thirds - Morning, Afternoon, and Evening.

I spend...
40% of my waking life at home either doing homework or working (building inventory, mending, or teaching classes).
35% of my waking life in class or the library
10% of my waking life at church (though 5% of that time is evening service so less formal)
10% of my waking life out and about, ranging from date night (what are those again? we need to get back in that habit) to shopping.
5% of my time working out (ok, that's a bit generous - but I'm an optimist).

Worked out that means I need ...
40% Business Casual (A)
45% Nice Casual (for design studio time, evening service, and errands) (B)
5% Sunday Morning Nice (C)
5% Date-worthy (D)
5% Work-out wear (E)


Right now I'm seeing that working out as...

- Pair of brown corduroy pants (A, B)
- Corduroy skirt (A, B, C, D)
- Yoga pants (B, E)
- Black (brown?) jumper (A, B, C, D)

- Scoop neck knit shirt (A, B, E)
- Cowl-neck sweater (A, B, C)
- Button-up blouse (A, B, C)
- Big shirt, tunic length (A, B, C)
- Pretty camisole (B, C, others when mixed with wrap
- Brianna tunic/wrap (can stand alone as top when wrapped) (B, C, D)

- Fun mid-weight coat (A, B, C, D, maybe E though I don't work out outside)

Playing with all the different combos, minus coat, that works out to pretty close to the right percentages. Yay!

Now to start looking for colors. I love the idea of Winery colors and have around here somewhere a great little collection of paint chips just the right shades. Somewhere. Sigh. Until then, think dark browns, blacks, berry red, wine purple, and olive greens with some California Blue skies. That's the broad idea, I'll narrow as I find the fabric. :)

A few of the pieces that didn't make the cut -