Wear to Where? Fashion & Sewing Tour: Touring Your City

So there I was, hanging out on Facebook, when I saw this call for participants in an intriguing-sounding blog tour. The fabulous Katy McKinley of Wild & Wanderful and Angelica Ross of Gardening in High Heels came up with the idea to have a series of posts written by sewists and fashion bloggers dedicated to suggestions of outfits to wear to a variety of events and in a variety of situations. Naturally, I *had* to sign up for the tour – even if it meant I’d be modeling clothes a day before I hit 35 weeks pregnant.  

Be sure you read all the way to the bottom because there is a giveaway at the end, and you won’t want to miss that. Also, my general disclaimer – I do use affiliate links from time to time, it helps me to help feed my family at no extra cost to you. Should you click on a link marked with an (*) and make a purchase, I will receive a commission from the vendor.

So far, we’ve seen suggestions for office attire, brunch with the girls, date night in, date night out, the company holiday party, workout chic, and a coffee shop work/blog session. Now, it’s time for suggestions on what to wear when touring your city – you know, when you head over to your city’s museums, art shows, eateries, and libraries. Since we’re new in our city, I figured this would be a fun challenge to take on. 

I knew I wanted to do something that would be easy for someone who is just about ready to have a baby to pull off well. It also had to be comfortable because there was no way that I was going to wear something that was form-fitting. Initially, I thought I would do jeggings (I was thinking the SOS Knit Pants by Patterns for Pirates*), a flowy top (I was thinking of doing  Love Notion’s Laundry Day Tee*), a cardigan, and an infinity scarf. I figured that my pair of brown slouchy calf boots from Maurice’s and a pair of handmade earrings would top off the look.

After careful thought, I decided to instead make the Peg Legs by Patterns for Pirates since they are made with 4-way stretch fabric, and I figured that would be more pregnant-lady belly friendly than would be the SOS knit pants. I also decided that while I love the Laundry Day Tee and the idea of it with jeggings, that I wanted something that was longer and would provide better bottom and belly coverage with minimal alterations. So, I settled on  the Patterns for Pirates Boundless Dress*. I knew that Judy Hale had created it while pregnant and knew, from photos, that it would accommodate a full pregnant belly. I stuck with my initial decisions to make the Oslo Cardigan from the December, 2014 issue of Seamwork and to find a tutorial online for an infinity scarf. I wound up abandoning the idea that I would add handmade earrings (for reasons I’ll get to momentarily), and instead, I settled on a pair I had already, and although I’d initially toyed with the idea of making a bag, I wound up choosing one from my own collection that I’d picked up from a thrift store earlier this year. I like how things turned out.

Once I knew what I was making, it was time to set out and shop for fabric. I headed for our local Hancock fabrics. Initially, I’d wanted to do brown leggings, a bright but solid colored top, a pink cotton woven infinity scarf, and the red and black sweater knit cardigan. *The fabric links below are affiliate links.

 I then put together a Polyvore board to help me visualize how my creation would look all together. The more I thought about how everything would pair together, the more excited I became. 

And then…I got started.

Cutting fabric and patterns when you’re 34 weeks pregnant is HARD. Especially when you do not have a cutting table and you have to get down on the floor…and it’s baby #3…and he’s already dropped. Luckily, Wining Husband came to my rescue to help me fold fabric properly and place and pin patterns. Because I needed hubby’s help, I had to wait until he was available to help…and things got done slower than I’d imagined, but they still got done!

I rather like the way that the outfit turned out, and I had fun touring our city in my outfit. 

We started out by going to Reverie Coffee Roasters – arguably the best coffee in Wichita. I’ve been on a pumpkin kick lately, and I had to have their “real pumpkin latte” made with pumpkin puree and maple syrup, and yes, espresso. Don’t worry, I don’t drink too much coffee while pregnant, but it’s a necessity to chase a toddler around. 

I should know better than try on garments while I’m working on them. I tried on the cardigan before I hemmed it or put on the collar. I was like “uhhh, I don’t know.” But when I finished it, I absolutely loved it. It’s soooo snuggly in the sweater knit I used. 

The Peg Legs were just as easy and just as addictive to make as everyone has been saying. They fit! I was so nervous they wouldn’t fit. They’re super comfy. I see many, many more pairs of these in my future…

…I’m just not sewing those pairs while pregnant! Oh goodness. I’m at that point of pregnancy where I’m going to finish little guy’s blankets up and call it pretty much good on sewing…because yeah, cutting fabric? It’s a HUGE challenge!

I love fall, it’s my favorite season! The boots were bought sometime last year at Maurice’s’, and they are one of the few pairs of boots I found that come in a size 12 for my enormous size 12 feet. I love them!

Excuse me, it’s time to waddle on!

The next stop on our tour of the city was Wichita’s Keeper of the Plains. This sculpture is really neat all lit up at night, but I figured that it would be rough to photograph at night without a tripod for my camera. That’s okay, because it was beautiful out today!

See!

Did I mention that I love fall?

For the infinity scarf, I followed Simplicity’s instructions. I probably could have made it longer, but this will be good and warm through the rest of the fall. It’s a good thing to do with a yard of really pretty fabric that you don’t want to cut into too much.

C’mon go follow me to a tree. 

With the Boundless Dress, I wanted it to be knee length, but I was also worried about what my pregnant belly would do to the length, so I cut the fabric for the skirt extra-long with adjustments for my 5’10” height and my belly taken into account. 

It turned out I cut it too long (it hit me mid-calf), and I had to cut off some of that extra fabric. I’ve set it aside for using for something like cuffs or doll clothes. But I made it work.

Well, hello there baby boy, good to know you’re feeling active right now!

I lined the bodice with a lightweight burnout jersey that I’d initially bought to make myself leggings…or a sweater…or something. I wound up using it to make Toddler Girl some tights, and then I used more to line the dress. I was going to put pockets in, but I thought it might gape weirdly with the belly. I’ll save the pockets for another time.

I’ll admit it; I wasn’t 100% happy with the fit of the bodice on this dress. Normally, I have great luck with Patterns for Pirates’ fit – BUT – here, I had a bodice (Plus 3X) that was both too large across the shoulders and too small in the armscye. I think what would have been better is if I’d done my normal size in her patterns (Plus 1X) and then performed a full bust adjustment to get the proper fit in that area. 

Fit problems didn’t stop me from having fun, though! 

In all, I really liked how things came together. Wining Husband had to head off to work after our morning photo session, but later, we headed down to Wichita’s “Old Town” plaza for a couple more photos. I knew we were taking a chance trying to photograph after dark, but I had to share this little square with you. A few months ago, we watched fire dancers here. It reminds me of something off an old Hollywood set. 

I mean…

You can’t see my outfit as well here, but I would be remiss if I didn’t show you this place. There’s a huge theater, and there are a lot of great little eateries around this square.

There’s even a wine bar. Yeah, I know, I know. Don’t worry. I can wait a few more weeks! I’m looking forward to trying it out though! And then, when that happens, I’ll have to make a wine tasting outfit.

Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope you enjoyed my (very brief) tour of Wichita. There’s a lot to do here. We’ve got a really neat library, and I didn’t get a chance to take you on the Wichita State University Campus. I’ll have to do that another time!

Please check out the other stops on today’s Wear to Where tour! Friends Stitched Together, Making Mrs. M., and Absolute Mommy.  Be sure to head over to Wild+Wanderful or Gardening in High Heels to check out the other brilliant bloggers, sewists and stylistas on the tour, as well as be able to link up your own looks and show us what you would Wear to Where!

Here’s the schedule for the remainder of the tour!

• Tuesday, November 10: Office Attire
• Wednesday, November 11: Brunch with the Girls
• Thursday, November 12: Date Night In
• Friday, November 13: Date Night Out
• Saturday, November 14: Company Holiday Party
• Monday, November 16: Workout Chic
• Tuesday, November 17: Coffee Shop Work/Blog Session
• Wednesday, November 18: Touring Your City
• Thursday, November 19: Tailgate Attire

Now let’s talk giveaway prizes for this tour!!
For the sewists: Choice of 3 patterns from Cole’s Creations, Choice of 3 patterns from Made for Mermaids, Pattern of choice from Patterns for Pirates, Pattern of choice from Scientific Seamstress, Sewing-tee of choice from Sewing Stadium, Pattern of choice from Simple Life Pattern Co, Pattern of choice from StitchArt

For the Fashionistas: Set of 6 cards from Designs by Nicolina, 30 minute Social Media/Copy Consult by Gardening in High Heels, Tee of choice from Handmade Escapade, $20 Store Credit from Jenny Penny Designs, Tumbler from Joy+Tren

A big thanks to our amazing sponsors!
Cole’s Creations | Designs by Nicolina | Gardening in High Heels
Handmade Escapade | Jenny Penny Designs | Joy+Tren
Made for Mermaids | Patterns for Pirates | Scientific Seamstress
Sewing Stadium | Simple Life Pattern Co | Stitch Art

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