Pippi Longstocking, Marcy Tilton, and Me

So I know I'm missing the leggings, but still - aren't we just quite the little trio?   I seriously want to make some striped leggings and wear this with my Trippen boots!

I fell head over heels in love with this pattern, Marcy Tilton's V9108  - not in small part because of the stunning graphic on the front panel!  But of course one can't just copy everything about a pattern now, can one?   Even though, when I saw that fabric in person (shams made a GAWjuss shirt from it!), I wished I had it!   Wishful thinking only, since I'm sewing almost entirely from stash these days (and I really can't complain about the size of my stash! - thank the heavens for my greed foresight when I was still working and had an income lol!)

Wanting to make this, and choosing the fabrics, turned out not to be as easy as fabric mixing usually is for me.   Something about the layout & proportions of everything really presented a challenge for me.   I wasn't the only one!   My friend Ann (who, sadly, hasn't been blogging for ages - even longer than I) and I had a brainstorming session to help each other piece together our options.

In the end, I cut up an old pareu (rayon) I've had for years (that's the printed panel), and combined it with the stripe and the black (both knits), and ran a lovely ribbon on both sides of the panel for balance and a smooth  transition.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

The construction is just unusual enough that I felt it warranted a slapped-together muslin, and I'm REALLY glad I did this!   I somehow missed a rather crucial fitting bit - the fact that there are straps added on to the shoulders that connect the front and back.   I couldn't figure out why my top was SO much shorter than the pattern pic, until I finally found the extra pattern pieces.   And with the way it's constructed, it just isn't possible to fit as you go - it all finally comes together in the end.

Unfortunately given my absence from blogland and the fact that I didn't take pics or make notes along the way, I have no memory at all of whatever fitting changes I made!   I'm sure I made a small (I nearly always do with Marcy patterns), and I used my TNT for the t-shirt, adjusting the neckline to match the jumper's.

Oh yes, the t-shirt!    People who don't know the pattern usually think this is a one-piece, but it's actually a jumper with a t-shirt underneath.  (what do you Aussies and Brits call an American jumper?   In spite of my British Mum and some Britishisms that stuck with me, I'll never be able to refer to a sweater as a jumper...)

In the end, this outfit has been getting a LOT of rotation in the wardrobe!   Maybe not the most flattering of outfits, but super comfy and versatile - I've worn it with and without the t-shirt, depending on weather, and once I get my Pippi Longstocking leggings made, it will transition nicely into cooler weather too!

And the pockets!   LOVE the big pockets!

Yes, it is indeed shorter in the back than in the front.   (reverse mullet?)   A bit odd, and if I made it again, I think I would even out the hem.

All in all, I love this pattern!   Comfy to wear, great pockets, multi-seasonal, super fun options with color blocking... Marcy has done it again!

Note the newly painted front door?   AND new porch stain as well!   Big Big BIG thanks to my fabulously generous friends who put hours and hours of work into making this happen while I wasn't feeling up to much of anything!    I did do the door myself this month, after I started getting some pep back, but the whole project never would have been started if it weren't for some old friends (and old friends are best!!)  who showed up with tools and time and muscles and got it all started.    And it was a LOT of work!!!

Here's to more pep in our lives, fun sewing projects, and red front doors!

P.S.  I'm adding this edit because I just had a grammar discussion with some friends.   I thought  about titling this post "Pippi Longstocking, Marcy Tilton, and I", but I ended up opting for the "Me" instead of the proper grammar - because I thought it sounded a bit on the pretentious side.   Isn't that a little sad?  Was I just being silly, and most of my readers would actually notice the error?  What would you do?