Spring Coordinates - Tops, Pants, Skirts and a Jacket

The forsythia bushes are blooming along the front hill.   I haven't sewn any yellow but I have sewn several spring coordinates in grays that work very well with yellow and white and black - popular spring colors.    I like gray because it's elegant and sophisticated.    I've mixed different patterns and textures to keep these pieces modern and interesting. The beautiful double sided linen plaid with a great selvedge and the tweedy knit are from Apple Annie Fabrics - love her customer service and how she puts together coordinating color groups on her site.   I also have some yellow pieces in the works.

I sewed two pair of pants from Cutting Line Designs patterns I've sewn before - a pair of Discover Something Novel pants for this group in a blue-gray and white seersucker from Ralph Lauren and a pair of chambray blue Easy Ageless and Cool pants that go with another blue/white group - more on that later.

Here are two of Giorgio's Top by Silhouette Patterns.   This pattern has 4 main pieces and 8 seams.  I cut a size 2 B cup based on my measurements and it fits great without being snug anywhere.   I hate tight or snug fitting garments.    The top just skims the body and hangs nicely over the hips.    I used a lightweight, very stretchy woven pinstripe - probably Italian based on where I bought it in MD, to check the fit.   It has a ton of stretch along the pinstripes and doesn't press or hold a hem well so I just serge finished the edges.    Here's a close-up of the fabric and the finish.   My second Giorgio's top is in a blue-gray stretch lace.    I cut along the edges of the motifs on the hem and used the same neck binding technique from The Sewing Workshop's e-Dress/Skirt pattern.   I can wear the pinstripe top by itself or under the stretch lace one or wear the lace one over various camisoles as shown in the photos of it with coordinates here and on Flickr.

I used the stretch lace on the bottom of a charcoal gray rayon knit skirt to coordinate with the tops and other things.   I've got several more versions of the eSkirt in these colors planned,  so this is just the first one.  

I made another Pearl jacket from the new Pearl and Opal Jacket pattern by The Sewing Workshop since I liked the first one I made from the microfiber so well.   This one is in an interesting gauzy double sided linen plaid.   It has a wonderful sheerness and coordinates with many things.    I even matched the plaids pretty well, esp in the back.  I styled these together and with some other garments and those photos are on Flickr.    I'm working on a few more pieces and doing other interesting and productive things so I am just getting around to posting about these garments.   

I got to preview the Western North Carolina Orchid Show at the NC Arboretum yesterday afternoon since we are members.   I went in when it opened at 4 PM so I could get shots without crowds of people all around.   I took lots of great photos that I put on Flickr in their own set.