Garment Plans for November 2013

New to the garment-sewing-world, I recently came across some ladies' beautiful computer-generated images of their sewing plans for a SWAP.  Confused, I couldn't understand why they would want to make a garment to 'swap' with someone else's garment, until somewhere down the line it was spelled out for me as 'SWAP - Sewing With A Plan'!  Oh, 'now that makes sense' was my first thought, then 'wow, what a great idea - sew with a plan' was the next!  This inspired me to draw a collage of 'My Daily Life' thoughts in pencil, photo below.  This little collage of thoughts-on-paper has helped me focus in on what my clothing needs might be.....

....because this week time has been set aside to ponder..... to consciously think about my lifestyle..... the type of clothes  I need for the lifestyle I live.... the clothes I enjoy wearing..... the fabrics..... colors....

Living a rural, country life where most days are spent in enjoyable time tending the garden, cooking from scratch, taking care of my family and running the odd errand or two, I have become tired of the 'jeans-every-single-day' that seems to have become my unofficial 'uniform' and want to look nice and presentable but still wear clothes that will meet the practical needs of my daily living.  We also enjoy attending plays and concerts and 'city life' at our nearby large city, but right now it's my 'daily' needs I'm thinking of.

Being a part of the Make a Garment a Month Challenge and having made a personal pledge to only sew complete outfits I have come up with a plan for the month of November 2013.

Straight legged pants with a side zip will be sewn from Simplicity 7131, view D, in a chocolate brown twillish fabric that has a little stretch and a top from light/medium weight rustish colored knit from NEWLOOK 6735, view B.  The knit has brownish marks through it that will pair well with the chocolate brown.  This will be my first pair of fitted pants.  Until now, my pant-making experience has been limited to pajamas with elastic waists and shorts with elastic waists for my girls when they were little.  :)

A poncho is also in the plans and was cut out the other day from McCalls 6209, view B, no scarf and will add hood from view D.  This fabric is a dark olive green nubby woven that I'm hoping will make a great poncho for our South Carolina (usually!) mild winter.  I want something fun to simply throw on to go for a walk in the woods or run to town.  This was inspired by remembering a poncho I had years and years ago and how much fun it was to wear.  I drew my sketch before the pattern was purchased based on my previous poncho.  Will probably try to add pockets.

These are my plans for November and I am ready to begin!

UPDATE:  You can see the completed garments here

 and here.