While I’m so enthusiastic about sewing with a plan, I thought I would share some thoughts about my own SWAP. I’m not officially in yet, but if I do decide I’ll keep it relatively simple and achievable (I’m still annoyed with myself about the PR Sewing Bee skirt).

The rules are as before, 11 garments, (5 tops, 3 bottoms, 3 wildcards), everything goes with everything else and something must be re-used/recycled/reversible. A maximum of 2 items can be previously sewn/purchased. Sewing starts on December 26th and ends on April 30th.

2 options for reusing: a chenille throw from Ikea that would make a lovely jacket (deep turquoise/teal), and a vintage piano shawl, bright embroidery of birds and flowers on a cream background. This will probably be a) fragile and b) not colourfast, so a bit of testing is in order.

I’ll plan for spring/summer, so the bright colours will work well.

Apart from the shawl, all solids, no pattern.

Simple garments like shell tops, pull-on pants, straight or A line skirts. Makes sewing faster.
BUT one complicated item that uses the shawl: a red trench coat. I have the fabric and a couple of patterns. I’m thinking of using the shawl as lining,  pocket flap facings, under collar.

Here’s a Flickr album for the SWAP:

So it’s a lot of sewing to fit into 18 weeks. Especially as DH is quite excited about his SWAP too!

To do beforehand: prep and muslin the trench coat
Test shawl for robustness/colourfastness
Purchase/settle on fabrics and patterns (in fact most will come from my stash)
Sketch plan and post on SG

More later!

Thanks for reading. Comments are welcome!