Interchange

Mix-n-match wardrobes are a useful thing as they tend to avoid things like closet orphans and the like.  In my observation, however, as with capsule wardrobes, these mix-n-match pieces tend to be neutrals in white, taupe, gray, or black.  Not really my jam.

Setting aside the fact that those colors make me look like death, they just don't suit my aesthetic.  But I do try to make pieces that work within a palette so that most of my closet goes with everything.  And although I didn't set out to make a mix-n-match set, I ended up with a nice one!

When I was deciding what to make with that Indian block print voile I bought last fall, I went back to the same etsy seller to have a browse.  As you do.  In browsing her shop, I found a few more prints I liked and bought dress lengths of three of them since the shipping was free and the price-per-yard was good.  

Admittedly, I don't wear prints like I once did, but I liked the hand of the fabric and thought it would be cool in the heat.  (I guess that means I'm no longer a printy-utilitarian and have turned more straight utilitarian).  

On the screen, the print looked more violet and green, but it turned out to be that lovely beet-purple and green turquoise that are in my color palette.  By the time I got to sewing this fabric, I had made several dresses from new patterns, and hadn't really found a dress pattern that sang to me, so I decided to make a two-piece set that I could wear as a dress or separates.  (As an aside, I seem to keep trying to find a magic dress pattern and mostly failing--I had one spectacular win this spring--but I just don't reach for dresses much outside of Sunday mornings.  Maybe that is a sign I should stop looking?  I dunno).

I made my simple woven tee pattern for the top and the Free Range skirt hack for the bottom.  My only complaint is that I have to wear a slip with the skirt because it doesn't hang well otherwise, but that is minor.  I've tried to make things that don't require slips because the nylon just makes me hot, but the voile is thin enough that it is okay.  

The print top goes very well with my beet linen skirt, and after wearing the matching 3/4 sleeve top as a two-piece dress a bunch, I sort of wanted a short-sleeve version for the heat.  The Peppermint wrap top I made in the fall didn't fit me by the spring (and frankly, wasn't a great fit for me style-wise), but I couldn't figure out how to reconfigure it to make it wearable.  

I tried a bunch of things to restyle it but to no avail.  I ended up unpicking the entire top twice before giving up and deciding to make a pieced simple tee, which was what I really wanted anyway.  I wasn't sure I'd like the finished piece, since the piecing is very, uh, piecemeal (ha!) but I do! 

I've worn it a lot since finishing it. It's a bit hard to see in the photos, but I did some decorative top-stitching to make the piecing look more interesting, so there is a wide zig-zag down the center panel, and two triangles that radiate out from the side panels. It looks good with the voile skirt and several others in my closet, but I also like it as a two-piece dress with the beet skirt. So 4+ outfits out of everything! (Plus using up almost every scrap of that beet linen--super happy about that).

In other news, the water pipe that connects our house to the main is broken and we have to have a major plumbing repair this week.  The water department shut our water off on Friday morning and we had to wait until Saturday afternoon for the plumber to make a temporary connection to our awesome next door neighbor so that we can have water until the main fix is accomplished.  I'm very grateful to have discovered the leak when I did, since it came in under the front steps in our basement, where there is little to damage.  I don't go back in that corner often but had to retrieve something from back there when I noticed the standing water (almost 3" in the corner!  The floor slopes slightly toward the street so it pooled at the front of the house under the steps by the old coal access).  

The upshot is we now have an outside bib on the back of the house--something we've talked about doing for years but never got around to--so I'll be able to water the garden much more easily once this is all over.  My awkward hose-attached-to-kitchen-sink-running-out-the-back-door setup was getting a bit old. 

While the wheels of the water department churned a bit slowly, once we determined the issue and who was responsible, we were able to find an emergency plumber right away. They are working on the permits and will hopefully fix it all this week.  Thank God for small mercies!  On reflection, I do think that pipe has been struggling for some time, as our water pressure is greatly improved with the neighbor's water, and that pipe may be the original one from 100 years ago.  

But enough about that!  Our berries are producing well (although the blueberries are still immature) and I'm still fighting the good fight against the aggressive birds.  Double netting has helped, but I still lost two berries yesterday to the thieves.  The summer heat has arrived, so I'm trying to keep up with watering but trying to avoid waterlogging the strawberries--such a careful balance!  The watermelon has a tiny watermelon on it, about the size of an olive, plus another nascent one, so we'll see what we get.  

The plumbers have just arrived to start breaking up the sidewalk, so off we go!