Another SWAP?

I had a very productive sewing day today, although the fan does tend to blow all my pattern pieces down the hall whenever I stop using my scissors as a paper weight - at least every 10 minutes. I played with knits. I had not used up 100% after all, there was a bit more under the bed, I so like my stash. I made several tops from my wardrobe pattern V2925 (pictured above), then moved on to Simplicity 3800 (pictured even further above), and while I was gleefully whipping up twist tops and making knickers with the scraps (inspired by lauralo's lingerie ( her blog is on her posts at artisianssquare) , but definitely not to the same standard) my older daughter came to sit with me in my sewing room, also known spuriously as her brother's bedroom (His bed,- yes, his room, - not quite yet.)
DD " You are making a lot of new things for yourself. I like all these new tops."
Me "I'm enjoying doing SWAP, it's great"
DD" I really like all the new clothes you made me before Christmas"
Me "I like them too."
DD " That twist top looks really nice, Mum, do you think I could have one?"
Me (thinking of Marji posting at artianssquare making a whole SWAP for her sister and feeling a bit guilty) "Sure" (thinking, that last top only took 30 minutes, this will be a snap). from further under the bed I pulled out some hot pink cotton knit with navy blue polka dots, courtesy of my mother's quilting group (i.e. the result of someone else clearing out their stash).

I made the short sleeved twist top from Simplicity 3800, scaled down to a size 4 and with a small bust adjustment for the 12 year old figure. It looked great, and I said so, as did her Dad, and her sister, who now wants one too. (Her brother was too busy playing with his truck to comment).

DD, reading the SWAP requirements ( in prime position behind my sewing machine) whilst I snipped off a few threads "You know Mum, if you put in my Christmas dress and the denim shorts you made me and this new top, it would be easy for you to do a SWAP for me too". Well you can't blame the girl, it is at least 3 weeks since I made her anything other than dinner.

This may be a good idea. We pulled out a lot of fabric, none in my colours, and mostly remnants that are much more likely to permit a garment for a slim 12 year old than they are to stretch around me. I truly want to reduce my stash, although mainly in order to make space for delicious new fabrics. At the moment we are thinking Simplicity Lizzie McGuire 5220 for the wardrobe pattern. I have just looked this up on the Simplicity website, but it is no longer in print, or available out of print, so I can't include a picture. This pattern has a Asian influence with a chongsang style top, a sleeveless top, capri pants, a skirt, a kimono style top/jacket and a handbag. The colours so far are denim and navy blue for the bottoms, and pink and white for the tops, possibly with a white knitted cardigan, for which I have the wool. I have already ordered some shirting fabric from Julie at Timmels Fabric that should fit in to the very preliminary plan, so I think this meets my qualifying purchase.

I have asked if doing two SWAPs is permissible, I have read that someone completed 2 in a previous year, so if the rules have not changed, I think it may be. I also am not sure if I can include a purchased item (I am thinking jeans, as DD fits nicely into RTW jeans) and a knitted item - a cardigan as a jacket. I will make up my mind when I get a reply. If I can enter the competition for DD, this means I have already completed 4 of 11 items for her, and there are still more than 2 months to go, so it is possible timewise.

I have completed 4 definite and 3 possible items for myself, without using a purchased or a knitted item, so my main problem for my own SWAP is finding pants fabric, and whether or not to attempt a jacket. I do have vague ideas of including a dress in my SWAP, even though I will not wear it to work, as I would love to copy a "smocked" linen Jag dress I bought in Melbourne. My version will have beautiful hand smocking and embroidery (at the moment, it is a vision in my head, and looks perfect, hence "beautiful"). I have the ideal fabric, but I will need at least a month to work on such a big project. I will see how I go. I have just looked at the Jag website to see if I could include a picture of my inspiration dress, but it is not there. I bought it in the January sales so it is probably very last season. Fortunately I am not at all fashionable.

I will look for the scanner programme disc tomorrow to see if I can get it working. I photographed my fabrics, but the camera has real trouble with the solid colours. My chocolate brown fabric looks a grey-white colour, and the camel fabric is almost green. I would like to make up digital storyboards for the plans.