How could I forget New York?

Wow, I have no idea how that happened but I totally forgot to blog about our stop in New York city as part of our epic holiday. I think this happened because NYC is the place I probably took the most pictures....so many iconic buildings and places. Anyways, I don't want you to miss out on some of them........

The flat iron building - My favourite building in NYC

I was wearing the skirt and top I made as part of the Spring Palette Challenge.

I tried to pull off a Marilyn on the subway vents but wasn't patient enough to wait long enough so no pictures... It did however happen later on when I wasn't expecting it. I hope everyone around me had a good laugh....

Another dress I never posted. I made this last year. Just a simple shift dress. Nothing special.

Husband had a great time on the Intrepid air craft carrier (I enjoyed it too...they had an exhibition on women in the 2nd world war)

Of course we had to go to the garment district so I could have my picture taken with the iconic button and needle...

.....and even more important with this guy. I think every seamstress that makes it to New York, comes home with a picture taken here.

Time square magic

And bye bye NYC........

Last Spring palette outfit finished. Nautical top and circle skirt and Me made March day 1 and 2

Finally the last outfit I made as part of the Colette Spring palette challenge and outfit one of Me Made March. The top is a lovely soft jersey. I drafted the pattern by tracing just one of my simple jersey tops I have in my wardrobe. Nothing fancy, just front and back piece...fits easily due to the stretch in the fabric. I made my own self fabric bias binding to finish the neckline, armholes and hem (not shown in the pictures). The skirt is just a simple circle skirt I drafted when I made the two (1 and 2) lace dresses. I just drafted a waistband for this one since it's not attached to a bodice and voila a circle skirt. I used the same button on the skirt, trousers and shorts to keep it all tied together.

I hope you like my little Spring palette collection of nautical loveliness. I am sure these pieces will occur quite frequently during Me Made March. Who else has joined Zoe's Me Made March? Let me know so I can check out your daily outfits.

This leads to another question, would you like to see my MMM outfit posts on a daily or weekly basis or something in between?

And today's outfit: The only thing MM I am wearing is the blouse. Blogged about here.

High waisted nautical trousers, Spring palette item number four and an outfit inspired by Gwen

Here it is, Spring Palette piece of clothing number four. A pair of nautical inspired high waisted navy trousers. I am in love with them. I prefer them to the Burda style I have made before here and here because they have pockets. I used Mc Calls M5592 that I have had for a while but always thought they might be a little complicated.

Nope they are not. They are straight forward to make and I am sure I will make them again. They are a tad big on me but that's OK. Means I can wear them out to dinner and have desert too ;-)

 I used the anchor buttons again, I used on the red shorts

 I lined the pockets with red start print fabric I had scraps of. I love using up scrap fabric!!!

When I was looking online for inspiration for future projects and outfits I stumbles across this picture of Gwen Stefani, who is one of my style icons for obvious reasons. After seeing that picture I thought, this is the look I want to go for today. So I did. Do you think I pulled it off?

Here are some shots of my hair and make up too. I went for a faux fringe and high pony tail (faux short ;-) pony tail ...my hair is a little longer than Gwen's) Have a great weekend everyone.

Spring palette outfit number 2 finished

This is actually the first outfit I finished for the Spring palette but didn't get it photographed for a while. I might not be able to wear it until later in the year but I am very happy with it.

I frankensteined the top from a 1960s pattern. It was just a simple boxy shaped top with a zip half way up the back and a stand up collar. So basically I just cut the front and back pieces from the pattern, added the front darts (it initially only had bust darts) , changed the collar completely by cutting it wider and using the scalloped selvages from the broderie anglaise fabric to make the ruffles.

 I also modified the back, cut the pieces slightly wider than asked for in the pattern and used the lovely scalloped selvages again as a cute detail. I also used buttons all the way down instead of a zip. I found those cute buttons in one of my local fabric shops and thought they are perfect to pick up on the bias binding collar detail. 

 The shorts are cut from the same patter that I drafted for the playsuit I made a while ago. I had some red gabardine left, just enough to make them. They are high waist which I love. To keep it nautical (as this is part of my brief for the Spring palette)  I used an anchor button.

And this is me freezing in my back yard just to to show off how cute this outfit is. I'll be going on a USA road trip with my husband in May and this will so be part of my holiday wardrobe. Most likely not combined with those heels though.

I hope you like! Let me know what you think.