Sewing Projects for the Summer

I have a very ambitious plan - I want to make my entire summer wardrobe myself. Yes, I know it's July and I've only just started. But in my defense, I live in the north, and it has been rather cold. It's hardly the time to wear play suits or sundresses.    

First up, the lounging pajamas. I've been meaning to make something like this for a long time.

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To be fair, I'm only making the pants. I have a pink silk button down shirt, which is a little too big for me. I removed the collar and the pockets and now it looks like a lose top with something resembling a Chinese collar. I am making the pants. I bought a very nice green cotton fabric with just a bit of a sheen to it. And I'm using McCall's Costume 2940 pattern.

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The pants turned out a little bulky and heavy. But I've never made pants before and did not dare make them out of light or slippery fabric. Now that I'm a little bit more confident, I'll make the next ones out of viscose (it's cheaper than silk).

Second, I will make a play suit based on Simplicity 9138 pattern. It's meant to be a swimsuit, but I thought a cute little sundress/play suit  would be easier to make and more fun to wear. The fabric I picked is a lovely light blue cotton with white flowers. It has a bit of stretch so it would be pretty comfortable to wear. 

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I got the fabric from Eurokangas. Unfortunately, they no longer have it on their website and the only picture I could find was of a dark blue version, but you get the idea. I will post pictures of the finished dress and my thoughts on the process very soon.

Third, I'm making this Butterick B5209 dress, view B. I have seen a lot of pics of this dress online which tells me that it's a good pattern. There is also a wonderful step-by-step video on making it. I'm working on a mock-up at the moment. In my naivete I thought this would be an easy project, but the dress turned out a bit more fiddly than I had expected. I was also a little unsure about the fabric. I wanted to do something floral, but the only affordable fabric I could find from Eurokangas is a brown polka dot cotton. It will have to do.  

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I know that this doesn't sound like a lot of sewing, but I have a photo shoot with my theater group based on tarot cards this summer (I will post pictures, I promise) and I need to make two costumes for that. 

One will be a simple linen tunic made out of an old bed sheet I picket up from the UFF thrift store. It is pretty easy to make. I based it loosely on this pattern.  

But to make it a little more fancy I will decorate the collar and the sleeves with some embroidery. 

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The second costume is going to be for tarot card the Star. And it's based on this lovely piece worn by Hedy Lamarr in Ziegfeld Girl (1941). 

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I bought a white dress I will use as a base and then some lovely poly material with silver and gold stars. I will add a bit more shine to it with sequin and large fabric stars covered in silver glitter. My friend is making a head piece for me.  

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Since I'm moving at a glacial speed, these will last me until the end of summer.