Project Spiral

I hate to shop.
I avoid the mall at all cost.
Today I decided to suck it up and go in search of a pair of boots in a style that  I've been looking for for 9 months.

They exist in theory, but when I went to order them it turns out that my size is not available anywhere via my local retailer.

I consoled myself by checking out the clearance rack at several high end stores.  Very dangerous for someone with a love of shoes.

Dillard's is having an amazing clearance.  Quite honestly, these are not the most comfortable shoes that I ever tried on....but for $10.50...I can wear them on a day I'll be spending most of my time sitting behind a desk.

Oh, and I have this Vogue 1302 pattern in my stash.

And certainly I MUST have some fabric in the stash to match.

(OOOOh, wow, the color went weird here, but you can see that the color value and tone are still the same. )

Problem is that the pattern I was thinking about using  is a stretch knit pattern, so I went to the knit bin and pulled out the perfect match knit fabric.  Unfortunately, the knit has very little stretch and wouldn't work for the original pattern.  Poo.

The V1302 pattern is for a lovely, drapey, charmeuse.  I am hoping that a knit will have enough drape to pulls this off and have the bonus of not having to be fully lined.    

I could be totally wrong.

I have all the parts cut out now.

I read a review on Aliza's Blog that outlined the fitting horrors that she had.  I am still new enough to the "fitting" game to not know for sure which adjustments to make and her comments made me nervous.

The one thing that I figured out this spring when I was doing the T-shirt fitting experiment (including some pattern drafting tutorials that I never posted...seen here), is that many of my upper bodice issues are caused by the fact that I need to cut a higher arm pit.

My conclusion about my body shape is that my broad shoulders and large rib cage make me a pattern size 18.  But I lack the fleshiness that other size 18's might have since I don't store padding above the belly button.  

When I weigh 30 pounds less than I do now, I have the same  measurements at the shoulders and rib cage.   The extra pounds give me boob volume and  lower torso / hip fluff.  

So, in conclusion.  I went to buy a pair of boots to wear with my fall wardrobe, and now I have a stupid sewing project to finish.