I’m back (and over the jet-lag) from our wonderful adventures in Italy and France and it could not have been more fun. The weather was perfect, in fact almost too warm for the cold weather clothes we packed! My BSF and I simply had a wonderful time, and our week with the Tilton sisters was fantastic.

The first two days were all travel to our first destination in Italy. Two planes, two trains and we were exhausted. Finally, a charming young Italian gentleman met us at the door of our train in Salerno. He was holding our name up on a sign, and Debra and I almost hugged him!  We were so relieved to be done with the complex travel changes of the last two days.

On the way, our driver calls the hotel and speaks Italian and then explains the streets are too small to park right in front. You have to picture this: the two of us get to our hotel and a porter meets us at the car and takes our two big bags. We start to follow him up some steps with out purses and carry on luggage. Then up a few more steps under a covered walkway. Then more steps to turn a corner, and then there are more steps! I had a breakdown at about 60 steps. My FORMER BSF, Debra looks down from the last 10 steps and starts laughing at me from the hotel entry! We both found it funny a few minutes later, and our adventure had officially begun.

My daughter Anna met us in Positano. She lives in Sicily and is getting married to a lovely Italian man in 2016…lots to talk about! She showed us the ropes of how to order fabulous food in Italy.

The view from our hotel balcony was stunning, and Italian linen and clothes made from the linen fills the stores in Positano. We both bought a piece of clothing since it was warmer than expected. It’s always good to have an excuse to shop! In one store the seamstress didn’t speak english, but we had one word in common, she was sewing on a “Bernina”. After 4 days of relaxation we were ready to head to Rome for a few days of true tourist. I won’t bore you with lots of tourist photos of Rome, but here are a few highlights.

We are by the Coliseum walking around the ruins, and just being tourists for a day. I’m wearing one of my 45 minute turtlenecks and a hidden zipper scarf. It was still too warm to wear the sweaters and coats that we both made for the trip.

Love this scene…so Rome!

We had a tour of the Vatican Museums including the Sistine Chapel. It’s an overwhelming museum and there were bits and pieces of sculpture lining the hallways. I call this photo “Big foot and the Putti”…I so wish I had a band.

The last night in Rome we had pizza and a movie in our room watching our iPad. Paris on the next post, and I promise we will be wearing the clothes we made!

I thought I was going to take this to Europe, but decided against it because of the weight. The two stripe knits are wool that I washed first, and while very comfy to wear it’s a little bulky to pack. I used my TNT pattern Vogue 8962 which I love to sew with striped fabric because of the back detail. Isn’t this a fun back? I didn’t have enough fabric so I cut the pieces out with a corner missing, thinking that something could be done with the other color to fill in the missing piece. I think the split tail is kind of fun, so I ended up just leaving it and adding the square on the upper back for balance. I also didn’t have enough fabric for the cowl neck. I pieced both colors for the top, then decided that it would be more comfortable to have cotton knit instead of wool around my neck. I love having a stash in my favorite colors just for something like this!I‘m in Paris at this point, but hoping to have photos to post soon!

It’s been over a month since I’ve posted an entry! I haven’t been idle, but busy getting ready for my trip. For the first part of the trip my BSF and I are flying to Rome, then visiting my step-daughter in Positano. Then we return to Rome for a few days and then off to Paris with Marcy and Katherine Tilton! I can barely sleep, but haven’t had the time to take photographs. I wanted to catch up before I left so I’ll be posting a couple of entries to show up now, and in a week or so. Posting on vacation will depend on lots of factors, so I won’t promise, but I’m sure to have a few photos to post on our return.

Without further ado, here is my last piece of clothing for the vacation.

I used Vogue 8746 for the basis of this heavy silk shirt, but with quite a few changes. The silk came from Elfriede’s Fabrics in Boulder. She can always find something for a special project.

The discharge dying is what really stands out and I had so much fun dipping this beautiful dark brown silk in (horrors!) bleach. Yes, I know silk can dissolve in bleach, but I didn’t have the patience to order the appropriate product from Dharma Trading. I tested about 5 samples, which serendipitously turned mustard yellow a color in my travel palette. I did have a stop-bleach product so at least that part of the discharge process was correct. I decided to go for it. What happened? Some of the shirt panels started to dissolve!! Arggh!…Cool… a design opportunity is knocking.
I took some soft fusible knit interfacing and ironed it on the back of golden part of the fabric. Then I started to scribble with my sewing machine to hold the fabric together. Vertical red lines connect the scribbles. While it would be smarter in the future to order the correct product, I’m thrilled with the result.

There were several alterations to the pattern. I brought the shoulders in, and added a pleat in the back stitched closed at the neck and waist. A piece of LFN labyrinth tape at the top adds design and strength.

The original hem is a shirt-tail hem and I extended the straight hem to the bottom of the tail, then added slits to the side. Then finally, I didn’t want the fussiness of a cuff, but kept the little pleat at the cuff line.

I almost forgot! In the end I made another hidden zipper scarf to match!

I’ve been holding off blogging about this vest because it is almost done. Yes, I made a mistake, which I’m prone to do more often than I admit on this blog! It’s not a big deal and I have an interesting fix in mind, but I had photographed it before I realized the problem. So here is the vest just the way it is, and yes I can wear it this way. If I have time to fix the mistake, I’ll re-blog the fix. In the meantime the only hint is that the collar isn’t correct.

The khaki color reminded me of a safari vest, but I think embroidered silk is a fun replacement for canvas. The lining is the mat side of a red silk charmeuse. Both fabrics are from the fabulous Elfriede’s Fabrics in Boulder, Colorado.

I used Kwik Sew #3930 as the base pattern. I like the ties at the neck, but wanted a button at the waist. To keep the gathered waist, lining the vest allowed for a casing between the fashion fabric and the lining with a bit of ribbon and a piece of elastic for comfort. The zipper pocket detail from the Moto Jacket replaced the patch pockets giving me another safe spot for valuables or just glasses and lip gloss.

Of course, I need a scarf or two for stylish Paris. On the internet, I noticed a scarf with a hidden pocket for travel. Oooh! good idea! My BSF and I got together and made one, and then I made a second one today. These fabrics coordinate with my travel wardrobe so they should look great with my outfits.
See that little white piece of paper sticking out of the scarf on the left side? That’s where the pocket is. Pretty handy place to keep that extra stash of important stuff.

A cozy knit will feel good against the skin for this second scarf. The fabric is left over from my two recent 45-minute turtlenecks. Now you see it, now you don’t! 

Simply add an invisible zipper to the first side seam while sewing up the scarf. Above is the open zipper and the two pieces of fabric that will turn into the pockets. Then I just finish the tube up with a twist to make an infinity scarf.

Two scarves should be plenty, however I have yet to do a travel mock-up of my outfits. The next week should include some sewing and some planning to find where the missing pieces are. There is still time to sew another piece or two! 5 weeks and 4 days to Paris and Rome!

After last week’s post of the complicated moto jacket I decided to give myself some instant gratification. Turtlenecks are inexpensive to buy as long as you want black! A muted teal green or the perfect taupe is almost impossible to find. I used to have a purchased funnel neck turtleneck (in black of course) that I loved, but it faded and I tossed it into the Goodwill pile.The Debra Zebra Top by Style ARC is a simple three-piece pattern that sews up in 45-minutes! If you add cutting the three pieces then maybe an hour from start to finish. I did have to make alterations before it became the 45-minute wonder. One must purchase a Style Arc pattern in a single size. I choose a 12 and my first try fit perfectly…too perfectly. Every lump, bump and bra strap showed! The shoulders, sleeves and armhole fit well, but the neck was even too tight. I have very little experience with pattern alterations, but it seemed to me that a pivot from the shoulder would open up the pattern to the bust area and then another pivot would keep that open line straight down. It looks like a FBA but flatter and no dart in the end. It worked! The neck was a simple addition to the seams.

I proceeded to make two more tops in about 2-1/2 hours, including changing thread etc.

The seams are serged with very little pinning. The hems are finished with a double needle in my sewing machine. I can do a cover stitch with my serger, but not in 45 minutes! The other advantage of a double needle is the wider choice of thread colors for the hem. BTW, do you know that double needles come in a stretch needle? I didn’t until my Amazon account suggested them.