I learned from the best

Today is my mom's birthday! She's a great lady, a wonderful presence in my life, and the person who taught me to sew; it's very fitting, then, that I'm sharing a (sort of) finished sewing project on her anniversary of personhood.

Forgive the provisional photos; we've been having crazy torrential downpours here in Portland (as opposed to our normal steady gray drizzle), and I had to seize a few freakish moments of sunlight the other day to snap these. Of course, now that I've ripped out my sweater front and have no further progress to show, today is lovely, with a clear blue sky.

This is my new absolute FAVORITE skirt. I wore it to work on Monday, and every day since then it's been a struggle not to just wear it again. I went out last night and figured that wearing something I'd already worn to work that week, to a social function, was totally different and did not count as over-the-top heavy rotation. I will probably wear it out to dinner this weekend, too, and of course one time (maybe more!) next week to work. Love, love, love!

My love affair with this piece of clothing is mostly down to the fabric. It's an exquisitely soft and classic wool I picked up at Britex Fabrics a few trips to San Francisco ago; David and our good friend Leah were very patient while I ooh'ed and ahh'ed over the walls of amazing plaid and houndstooth woolens. I got two yards of this, and while it was definitely a splurge, I would say it was one hundred percent worth it based on how much I love the finished product. The skirt isn't lined, but it doesn't even need to be: despite the 100% wool content, this fabric is buttery soft next to my skin, and the finished skirt is cozy and warm for fall and winter days.

It's from this lovely, late-40's Simplicity pattern. I'm in the process of making up the short-sleeved blouse in a beige sateen, with neck and sleevebands in the skirt fabric. (I've tried to come up with a prettier word than "beige" for the color of this blouse, as it really is fetching in person, but no luck. It's lighter than toast or tan, darker than cream or eggshell, and ecru is somehow not quite right. Beige it is.) I think the whole look will be super-cute; I'm already excited about how the lines created by the blouse darts are extended down into the seams of the skirt.

I made a couple of alterations to the pattern; most notably, I just put in a zipper instead of dealing with a bunch of slide fasteners at the side. It just seemed cleaner and simpler. And I left the skirt at the length of the pattern pieces, rather than hemming it up as high as the pattern recommended. It makes for an unusual mid-calf length that I don't normally love, but it makes the skirt SO cozy to wear. It's the perfect garment for this time of year: a dash of style, a dash of cozy, and a dollop of lovely Italian wool!

Modeled shots soon, when I finish the blouse. And I have about three-quarters of a yard of this luscious fabric left over; any suggestions about what to do with it?