Simplicity 8351 (1993) Warm weather attire.

My Scandinavian and Swiss German genes really show themselves in the hot weather. I’m sure growing up on an island in the Puget Sound also contributes to my intolerance of weather above 75 degrees too. We recently hit a smidgen above 90 degrees here in the Seattle suburbs and I planned my attire accordingly.

A large hat, sandals and breathable cottons. I made this “peasant” top with ties in the front. The skirt has an one inch elastic waistband, that is easy to pull on and off. Nothing like a hot ass zipper next to your sticky skin in the hot weather. (No thanks.) I move around a lot at home, in the kitchen, garden, sewing room and our dedicated laser workspace daily, so I need comfortable non-annoying things to wear for those activities.

Fabric: The top is a vintage Peter Pan Fabrics calico. Evergreen with a microleaf print. I used vintage buttons too.

The skirt is made from a vintage French floral cotton from 1986.

Pattern: Simplicity 8351 (1993)

Alterations: No alterations to the top. The skirt I added pockets of course. I also halved the length of the bottom tier to suit my height.

I often get comments on my pockets. Personally, if it doesn’t have pockets - I don’t want it. It’s bad enough that I am the person that leaves their phone everywhere and has to back track my steps to find it. Life is much more pleasant for me if I have a pocket to shove my phone in to. But did you know pockets in women’s clothing is a feminist issue? Going back a couple of centuries if not more. The basic gist is that a woman was property, her man would carry anything of importance. I’ll dig up some resources on that topic for a future post.

Lastly, another comment I frequently get is that I never show the backs of my sewing projects. You right. I often just forget to snap up a photo of the back. I take all of these photos with my ancient iPhone set on a timer and try to get it done as swiftly as possible.

While I am trying to be better with blogging again, it is hard to remember to revert back to the early 2000s scheduled post thinking these days. I feel this is the best way to share more details about my projects here. But for quickie posts, I am on Instagram and Flickr. I don’t post much on my business Facebook pages these days though. The less I’m on Facebook, the better.

xo-Thea