An Ottobre outfit at Lake Jocasseeno. 10 Sculpture top and no. 14 Loose Fit pants

With this oh-so-fresh and summery outfit, a water background was needed, so thought I'd take you to one of my most favorite places Devil's Fork State Park with the beautiful Lake Jocassee behind me.  Jocassee, pronounced Joe-cass'-ee, was an area once home to our Cherokee Indians and you can read more about the legend behind the name here.  It is now the name of this manmade lake that is a part of Devil's Fork State Park in Upstate, South Carolina.

I love the way the mountains touch the waters.  Even on this overcast morning the lake is beautiful.  There is a public boat ramp to this side....

...with kayak and canoe rentals this side.  And as with all our mountain waters, this lake water is c-o-l-d, c-o-l-d, c-o-l-d!  The overall lake encompasses 7,500 acres with 75 miles of shoreline.

I'm on the small manmade beach side sharing my spot with this pretty thing who was completely unbothered by my close proximity.

Let's talk about this Ottobre outfit.... no. 10 Sculpture draped blouse and no. 14 Loose Fit casual linen pants.  My pants aren't out of linen.... that's just the name of the pattern.  :)

Both patterns were traced from the women's Ottobre magazine Spring/Summer 2/2015 edition that I picked up earlier this year at my local Barnes & Noble Bookstore.  (btw the Fall 2015 Ottobre women's should be out in August!)  May I say I LOVE this magazine!

This is the third time I've made this cute shirt.  You can see the first two here.  The first version was out of a crepe de chine, the second out of a soft knit and this one is out of 100% white linen.  Perfect!  Third time's the charm!  The magazine describes this top as "asymmetrically-draped" "otherwise loose-cut blouse is a snug fit around the hips."  You can see the pleating on the left shoulder in the line drawing below.  This cute top takes around 1 yard of fabric.

Another fabric purchase at Joann's.  Took a photo of the fabric bolt information for future reference and paid $8.50 per yard for 100% white linen fabric that retails for $16.99, taking advantage of another 50% off sale.  I think I'm liking shopping at Joann's.  :)

The instructions have you start right away with "fold and stitch narrow hem (5mm + 5mm) at front neckline" and from the past two experiences, I knew this was the hardest part about this top.  The neckline is cut almost on the bias, and is tricky to keep from puckering and laying wonky..... so this time I learned a new-to-me technique of how to hand-stitch a narrow rolled hem using Ami Simms awesome video 'How to Sew a Rolled Hem'.  Methinks this neckline turned out pretty darn good this time around.  No puckers, no wonkiness.... nice and flat.  I got the back neckline facing on correctly this time too.  She has you put it on in such a way the ends are all tucked in with less bulk.  All other seams are serged.  Hemmed with a 1 1/4" hem instead of 1" hem per pattern instructions.

I took a few photos at home before leaving for the lake, so here's a closer view of the top being worn.  The pleats at the left shoulder give it nice, unusual drape and design feature.  I also narrowed the hip area on this version, so you can see it fits me snug in the hips to allow the over part to 'drape'.  Love, love, loved working with the white linen. 

Now let's look at the pants.  I've not made these before but liked the look on the model and the line drawing.  Ummm, they say loose fit.....

....but mine fit kinda' snug.  I traced a 38 and probably should've traced a 40.  Do you ever do that?  Trace the size you 'want' to be.... not necessarily what you 'are' at the time?!  This fabric is a 100% cotton Ikat Dot Twill purchased at Hobby Lobby on clearance for $3.00 per yard.  I think I bought 3 yards and have 30" left over.  A pale aqua with white splashy dots of sorts on them.  I thought paired with this white top the look would be 'resort wear'.  Seams are serged and for the pockets I used a combination of Ottobre's instructions, my instructions for Tom's comfy pants I keep on hand and Handmade by Carolyn's In-seam Pockets tutorial.  I need all the help I can get sometimes!   Only other modification I made was to insert a 1 1/2" elastic in a casing instead of making 2 casings for 3/4" elastic then sew them down the middle to create a smaller channeled look per pattern instructions.  I'm just not sure about my fit and didn't want to be locked in to sewn-in elastic.

The magazine shows the model with the pants legs rolled up.... but I like them down.  Love this cropped, narrow leg look.

A little bit of blue sky began peeking out as I was packing up at the lake.....

..... and had to stop and snap a picture of the barn quilt on the Park Ranger's station.

And as everyone has probably figured out by now, there's always more to the story.....

Sooooooo, after I got home with the Ikat Dot Twill fabric and began making the pants, I was overcome by the most horrible feeling that I was making polka dot pajama-looking pants, instead of the classic resort wear I had imagined.   During one of the fittings I asked my husband what he thought.  Did I look like I was wearing pajamas?  No, he assured me..... I looked fine.  About that time my daughter walked in and said 'Hey Mom!  I love your new pajama pants!'   So, please dear readers, be honest with me..... what do you think.... Pajama Pants or Summer Pants.  :}

Happy Sewing Everyone!