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Sew what do I wear - Professional Edition

This is my first blog tour!! I'm so excited to be a part of the Patterns for Pirates/Made for Mermaids Sew what do I wear - Professional Edition blog tour!
If you're read this blog ever before, you know I love wearing handmade items to work. Ever since I started sewing, my ultimate goal and dream was to make a fantastic work wardrobe that would fit well, look nice, and be well received! I believe I am well on my way. 75% of what I wear to work these days is handmade. I'm still working on getting the fit dialed in just right but each garment is an opportunity to improve.
SOS Pants and Favorite Tee


SOS Pants and Favorite Tee have been staples of my work wardrobe. If you have seen my Spring/Summer Sudoku you know that already :-) I made a couple of nicer additions for this blog tour. I wanted something a little special that would still work in a daytime work environment but elevate my looks a bit more.
SOS Pants and Favorite Tee


I'd been wanting to do a choker neck Tee but didn't want a whole new pattern for it so I hacked the Favorite tee to do it. I used the V neckline and made it like usual. Then I cut a separate choker piece and sewed it into a round and then attached it just at the back neckline. I love the way it came out. I also wanted the top to be a bit more swingy than usual so I made this adjustment shown below on another top. I just swung the hemline a little farther away from the fold and cut. Super simple!
SOS Pants and Favorite Tee

Now the moto pants. Moto pants are IN right now and I so badly wanted some. I even bought a pattern that came with it but since I love SOS pants so much, I decided to do my own hacking. It was also super simple. I drew the lines above thighs where I wanted the moto detailing and added 1/2" seam allowance and cut out the pattern pieces. I cut 2 sets of mirror images of the moto detail part and quilted it double layer. I thought quilting would stand out more if it was double layer and it worked very well! My fabric is a Techno scuba from fabric.com and it was perfect for this project. It has really awesome recovery and helps contain the thighs ;-)
This is my hacked SOS pant. You can see the pattern slashed above the knee and 1/2" SA added to each seam. 

As an apple shape, I am conscious of my mid section. I find the elastic in the pants helps smooth things out a lot. In this pair, I used 3" elastic instead of the regular 2" and that increase gave me the additional coverage for my back side. This fabric, while awesome for horizontal stretch and recovery, has NO vertical stretch and that additional inch saved me! 
Since it's fall, we can't go without a layer on top. I get loads of comments at work about how my handmade clothes don't look like I made them. I think the key is putting the RTW details into your handmade clothing and another big key is to mix them up with RTW pieces! I am still ways away from making a leather jacket with quilting. Judy needs to come out with one of these! This leather jacket completes the look nicely.
Hope you found some inspiration for professional looking clothing. Check out what the other bloggers have come up with for the Sew what do I wear - Professional Edition!



October 23 - daniKate Designs, Ma Moose

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Amy B. said…
This is fabulous, and I am totally impressed!
12:19 PM
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