Quick and Easy .......... NOT!

Even DD's prom dress didn't take this long! First of all, the pattern had more than 15 pieces! Collars, collar bands, welts, flaps, pleats -- just tracing it seemed to take 2 months. Then, life intervened right in the middle of sewing this outfit. Summer school started and I had to go back to work; DD's summer track schedule went into full gear and I had to take her to practice; DD got her first job and I had to pick her up from work - all of this using up valuable sewing time.

One of the reasons I liked this pattern was the details! And one of the reasons it took so long was the details. It has tons of top stitching that is barely visible because of the dark color. I thought about using white for the top stitching but that would have screamed "70's Leisure Suit". Another detail was the "Poacher's Pocket" on the sides. Sewing on these pockets was time consuming. Pleats were sewn into the face of the pocket, then a separate pleat piece was sewn the side of the pocket and then the pocket was sewn to the pants. And there are single welt pockets with a flap, on the back. Good thing I put myself through that little self taught Welt Workshop a while back.

The tank top was as quick and easy as the pants and jacket were time consuming. It took about one hour to sew it. The fabric is a cotton-type with a waffle pattern. The waffle pattern was the reason I bought the fabric, but the waffle pattern disappears when the fabric is pressed. I hope it comes back when the top is washed. It won't need any pressing after laundering, but it did need some pressing during construction.

When you look at this outfit, you don't see any of these details that drew me to this outfit (you certainly can't see them in my photography). No one will know they are there except me. Only I will know how much time went into this outfit and how hard I worked to make it look right. But, I'm satisfied with the results and that's all I should ask for.